Habitation battery

The habitation battery in our 2008 Topaz has started to apparently loose capacity after only 2+years.
It has been well treated, hardly used for the Eberspacher as we are well aware that they are power hungry.
Intelligently charged at regular intervals and as we mainly are on electric hook up when away is not caned being off grid.
So it is with some disappointment that a known battery (all being a 75ah one as its largest that will fit in the Topaz trough) 
is failing to fire up the Eber. when occasionally needed unless on charger or the engine is run.
Maybe a std. vehicle battery is the way to go and change every couple of years as on can get two for the price of ones  old friend.
Needless to say help is scarce at the suppliers end, other than words of already known wisdom.
frederic

Hi. Battery life is one of those mysteries of life.
However did  it need any water to top up in its life to date?
Batteries are usually hidden   and as such get little attention.

Regards

Micky

Hi Micky
no it was cosseted, watered regularly, charged and well greased, kept warm & cool and never caned except for the occasional 2mins at 20 A to fire up the Eber. mind you as people have already mentioned the wiring gauge between the battery under the o/s bench and the Eber. under the drivers foot-well as fitted by A/S should have been much thicker, though as the voltage drop is being measured at the battery this does not relate to the battery state. 
It seems that this unit may have been a bad lot though the manufacturer seems to think that I know little about the treatment of wet cells! 
frederic

Readings done in the last month. For those with a technical inquisitiveness.

Voltage across battery (no standby drain) 12.7V
Voltage across battery with charger ON 13.4V 
Voltage across battery with ENGINE RUNNING 14V
Battery fluid levels checked regularly, all correct.
Temp outside 10C 
Battery (no load)   12.7V   Load applied:- One 8w strip on 12.5V , three 8w strips on 12.2V.
Battery (no load)   12.7V   Load applied:- Eberspacher ON, (start up approx 20A to glow plug for 2 mins.) 10.9V, Ignition failure!  12.46V Eberspacher OFF
In-car charger ON. 13.42V Load applied:-Eberspacher ON, (start up approx 20A to glow plug for 2 mins ) 13.16V, Eberspacher started. 13.40V RUNNING
Charger turned OFF, terminal voltage fell to 11.13v after 5mins. 
On turning the Eberspacher OFF the battery voltage rose to 12.47V
 
The battery was given a good charge with a free-standing unit at 14.5V at 2.5A approx. initially, dropping to 2A at 15.5V, after 4hrs.
This has made no difference.

Interesting what you say Mike re little attention. I witnessed sealed the seat bolts before the last hab check (which have to be removed to check the batteries) and surprise surprise the witness seals were unbroken. So batteries left to me to check I presume 

Frederic
I have the manual for the Airtronic D2 and it states that the startup demand is <100 watts. This gives a draw of 8amps or less. This is held until the sensors detect ignition. This should be in about 20 seconds. If no flame is detected the system has a second go and finally shuts down in about one minute.
If it detects a low voltage (min. 10.5) in the first sensor-sweep, it will not even attempt ignition. Smoky heater exhaust indicates that the ECU has decided the voltage is OK and attempts ignition.....but fails.
I have the same problem as did several other members reporting in a previous thread! I investigated the alleged "voltage drop due to undersized cabling" by measuring the voltage at the multiblock connector immediately adjacent to the heater. The loss  was less than 0.3v 
I concluded that the problem was a coked up glow pin screen. This is a metal tube screen that surrounds the glow pin. The extra voltage from the engine alternator raises the pin temperature, and consequently the screen temperature, sufficiently to support ignition.
The cure is almost certainly to follow the recommendations given in the manual by removing and cleaning (or replacing) the glow pin and  replacing the screen at 12 month intervals. 
Both these were done at an expensive (£280) service about 15 months ago. I have purchased a service kit (Ebay) which includes a screen and intend to do this myself.
You can download an excellent Diagnostic and Repair Manual from the Eber website, but this describes maintenance based on the diagnostic facilities provided by the Eber Digi (diagnostic) Controller. I have just replaced the original Mini Controller with one of these (Ebay !) in order to have the diagnostic functions 
Meanwhile I run the engine !!
Keith

Hi Frederick. Very interesting figures.
Myself i would not be concerned with a battery at 12.7 v.
Batteries will have losses. That battery could easily go on for many years with your care and attention.
My car has a battery that drops to 12.28. Its 11 years old. It's been the same for the last 2 years.
I keep expecting it to fail ,but so far so good.

Regards

Micky

Thanks Keith & Micky
as Keith pointed out the strike current is in the order 9A not the 20A I had assumed (From the fuse rating ,must be age!)
This makes the perceived battery problem more puzzling.
So will make sure that I start the Eber. with the engine running or the charger on in future.
Never had this trouble with the Propex units in older vans!
frederic

I had similar issues with my 2009 Topaz.  When I bought it in 2013, the Eber would not start.  I spoke to a local Eberspacher service dept. who advised I checked the battery before bringing the van to them.  I found that the live wire soldered on to the clamp was hanging on only by a couple of strands.  One properly crimped fitting later, and all worked fine.

Recently, the battery has only been powering the Eber for a few hours before running out of juice and everything turning off.  Not so good for winter camping.  Out with the multimeter, and although it shows 12.65 at rest, turning on the Eber brings it down to 11.9. A sign that it is getting old.  It's not the voltage at rest that is the best sign of health, it is what it is with a load.  I would suggest that if turning on the Eber brings yours down to 10.9v, it is on the way out.

In my case the battery in the van was a Lucas LL22MF, 75Ah, I presumed it was the one that was supplied with the van new.  The Lucas website says that this LL series is for light camping use only where usually an electric hook-up is used.  Not for me, as we often wild camp.  Last week i replaced it with a Lucas LX27MF, 100Ah, the LX series being their up-rated line. 

As you said the bigger battery does not fit in the auto-sleeper trough, so I threw that away and fitted a slightly bigger plywood base and plastic tray and have strapped it down to that.  It's not much bigger, and only about £14 more, as well.

So now I'm hoping I can have a couple of days without starting the engine when camping in winter - time will tell!

Hope this is helpful - i have certainly learned a lot from this forum, being new to camper vans 3 years ago!

Thanks Belvenie,
What grieved me was the fact that after buying a well known Energy battery for it to 
show ageing signs in such a short time though just outside the 2yrs that the makers (not the sellers 3yrs) stated. and yes one does need a 100+AH battery for wild camping not a 70/80Ah as A/S fitted to the Topaz so for the moment as we rarely wild camp I will monitor the situation and when the time comes will perhaps get an Exide ER350 or Numax XV24MF which will fit the holder.
Thanks to all for the good info 
frederic

Balvenie wrote:It's not the voltage at rest that is the best sign of health, it is what it is with a load.

A lot of people miss this.  For years on bike and car forums I've pointed out that a dead battery can still appear to be fully charged with a voltmeter (especially if recently just off the charger), but as soon as you put a load on it the voltage collapses.