VW T4 Topaz - What leisure battery ?

Hi,

I have a 2003 VW T4 Topaz and when I bought it a couple of years ok it had a brand new 80 Ah Leisure battery fitted.

However it doesn't seem to have enough power to fire up the Eberspacher night heater.

If on hook up heater works fine.

If on leisure battery heater fan comes on but no heat comes out and after a couple of minutes fan switches off.

If I start engine and switch heater on whilst on leisure battery heater fires up ok

I am thinking of getting a higher output battery with 100 Ah and 900 cca but before I do I was just wondering if any other T4 Topaz owners have had this problem or if your heater works ok what battery do you have fitted ?

Many Thanks,
Dave

Thanks for quick reply - maybe my description was a bit vague ;-) but heater didn't work when battery was brand new - didn't bother too much as generally on sites with hook up but would like to fix now as have camping planned with no hook up available - have charged battery fully (green indicator says battery good) and tried a different make of battery - also 80 Ah and heater still doesn't fire up from battery alone.

!f you read the user manual for the Eber, you will find that it specifies that the glow pin should be cleaned or replaced annually, and the glow pin screen should be replaced each time. I had the same symptoms exactly as  stated above, as have several other members which have been reported here.
I visited a local battery specialist with the intention of buying a replacement. They tested my battery, found it to be near 100%, replaced it temporarily with a brand new battery to prove the point..........and still the heater would not start !
Girded my loins, bough a service kit, ramped the Topaz and did the service as stated above. Bingo ! The moral here is, don't spend money on a new battery before first testing as my local battery specialist did. Then service the Eber!
Keith

Thanks for the replies.
Peter - will have a look at that ;-)
Keith - sounds possible - Eber was serviced when we bought van 2 years ago but still sounds like a good possibility - can I just confirm that your eber would start ok on hook up but not on battery ?
Cheers,
Dave

Eber's need a really good kick to get them going which they easily get on hook up, but on leisure alone any problems will be easily noticed as Keith points out.

On my previous T25 I would occasionally have to fire the engine in the night just to get the added voltage to start the eber up.

Once it's 'ignited' the power draw is minimal again and will be fine.  

As above, a higher capacity battery wont help it start, the only benefit is if you've been using 12V a lot during the day and the lower capacity doesn't have enough left to fire the eber, but otherwise I'd leave it.

Instead of upgrading battery I found fitting the solar panel a better use of the money.  The battery will kept topped up during the day so is more likely to be in good shape to kick it into action in the evenings.

Dave,
Yes, the Eber would start with the engine running or when on hook-up. Occasionally also if I stared it immediately after a long run when the battery voltage was elevated. In other conditions it would not fire.
There are a couple of very good service/repair manuals available to download from the Eber website and they stress the need to clean or replace the glow pin annually. Mine was moderately coked-up, as was the screen. I think the normal battery voltage ( 12.7 ish ) is insufficient to get the pin glowing through this muck. Running the engine raises the voltage to about 14.4v which achieves the required temperature to overcome the coking.
Glow pins are expensive at about £80, but an engineer told me they should last a few years, so it's worth cleaning the pin and replacing the screen (eBay) as a first shot.
Keith

Hi Keith,

Thanks for the detailed answer - much appreciated.

I will look into servicing it ;-) Sounds like that's the problem !

Cheers,
Dave