leisure Battery

We're off to Santander and a bit of Southern France for 8 days, but I'm fully intent on still being a nuisance.

I was just going to drift further off topic but though better of it!

From TravelKat's OH: back out of my sickbed. With apologies to the OP, still off topic but just want to make this last point, it's all good-natured banter, just like sitting in the pub where a conversation ends up miles from how it started off.

Well, I certainly opened (unintentionally) a can of worms with my posting.  At the time, I was seriously annoyed with AS and wanted to make a point.  I thought posting it here would amuse the readers.  I fully admit any typos because of not checking my post.  I basically agree with you all.

1. Yes, a coulomb is actually the SI unit of charge, ie 1 amp flowing for 1 second;

2. Power is measured in watts, ie amps x volts;

3. Energy is measured in joules, so, going back: 1 coulomb x 1 volt = 1 joule = 1 watt second.

Leisure batteries are very powerful, and joules are too small a unit to really express the energy content.  So, the voltage is imagined constant, ie 12 volts and the battery energy is incorrectly expressed in ampere hours.  So, yes, you were all correct, I was just being difficult and b......minded

Charge (Q) is a quantity derived from current (I) and is not measured in the joule (J). It is measured in the coulomb (C) and 1C = 1As  (amp-second).

Electrical energy, measured in the joule (J), is equal to power x time, so 1 J = 1 Ws.

A rate of charge (dQ/dt) is just current (I).


Keith

Seconds out:

Round 2:

Just returned after getting my awning fabric replaced FOC and while there asked about a check on the leisure battery. Yes it is faulty they said due to not holding voltage as it was sitting at 11.0v after a short time.
Warranty claim has been rejected by A/S as it is outside the time period at 20 months!

I did ask about possible causes and they rejected a circuit drawing current as not the reason, after all that is what batteries are for. So I will see what happens after the new battery is fitted.

One thing came to light from the Thule engineer was do not wind the awning in with great force, just turn it back a little bit, allowing for movement due to temperature change while retracted.

rgermain wrote:Just returned after getting my awning fabric replaced FOC and while there asked about a check on the leisure battery. Yes it is faulty they said due to not holding voltage as it was sitting at 11.0v after a short time.
Warranty claim has been rejected by A/S as it is outside the time period at 20 months!

I did ask about possible causes and they rejected a circuit drawing current as not the reason, after all that is what batteries are for. So I will see what happens after the new battery is fitted.

One thing came to light from the Thule engineer was do not wind the awning in with great force, just turn it back a little bit, allowing for movement due to temperature change while retracted.

Thanks for the update; not surprised at all at AS rejecting the warranty claim, as we were told batteries are only guaranteed for the first 90 days, and if we sent it in for checking,  "I fear it would be an unproductive exercise and that we will find that a lack of charging has caused it to fail"(quoted from their reply).  We weren't prepared to send it back, as it seemed to be a foregone conclusion we were at fault.  Looks like the solar panels on smart charge to the batteries count for nothing!

This is the advice I have been given when I enquired about a new battery.


"To extend the life of the battery you should always recharge it fully after use and during periods of inactivity disconnect the battery once you have fully charged it. If the vehicle is not used for 2+months then recharge the battery every 10-12 weeks and once full disconnect again"



Kind regards

Stuart Robinson
Office and Distribution Manager
Barden UK Ltd.

T: +44 (0)1489 570770
F: +44 (0)1489 579913
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No wonder it failed at 20mths, given that I would be very surprised if A/S or the dealer did any of the above during building the van or while is was a demo model.

If I was to buy another new van, I might jolly well ask for a brand new battery to be fitted at their cost before I took delivery. Ha Ha.

New battery should be arriving Monday.