Habitation battery

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

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

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!

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.