I think we should but I am not sure so what do you lot suggest
The leisure battery is totally flat after around a week of not using the Motorhome as the new style control panel is draining it (according to the dealer,this is the culprit!)
The dealer suggest taking the fuse out when the Motorhome is standing for a week or two.
It soon charges up but won't it do some damage if it is draining down to nothing on a regular basis?
I can not see any reason why your control panel should drain the leisure battery.
But if there is a constant current load, the 12V circuits need to be isolated.
I have no idea of your wiring, but if removing the fuse achieves it, then do it. As long as your leisure battery/ies are in good condition, there ought to be no problems.
I built my own control-panel with a 12V isolation switch/relay. My split-charge system is isolated by a 160A power relay...so no power drain.
Val, you could hook up your van to the mains if you are parked on your own drive as we do and never had a flat leisure battery, we also keep a small low wattage heater going to keep any damp at bay. mind you that wont solve any faults you may have on your van. hope you get it solved soon,
Wouldn,t have thought that was correct DOD , mind you if its not inside in this weather any battery will have reduced voltage at the cold temperatures we have had lately, and by gum it,ll be cald up ont hill were thaas sited, will it not ?
------------- Keep smiling, its later than you think !
"I will ring the manufacturer and see what their explanation"
Under the sale of Goods act your dealer is the guy responsible.
I would suggest you return the vehicle to the dealer and demand he fixes it or returns your money. Your liesure battery and vehicle battery should have no appreciable drain when not in use. Obviously the battery is either shorting to earth, is faulty or is wired wrong and it could take a lot of time and effort to find the fault.
We had this fault on a new car and it took the dealer 3 years to fix it.
Hi Val, i do the same,ie. i hook up on my drive and every 3 days i switch over from leisure/battery to main/vehicle battery, but going back to your query, doesn't your control panel switch off? I would also carry out a voltage drop check too actually determine how many volts if any, is the battery depleted by. Happy New Year anyway.
It will be going to the dealer for a new roof light fitting in the next week or so (one of them was badly scratched and needs changing!),the service dept at the dealership is excellent and they will have a look at it for me whilst it is there.
The reason I am going to ring the manufacturer,Autocruise,is that the new 2008 model (complete with new control panel!) is so new they have not printed an instruction manual for it yet so they are very happy to take your call to help with any technical problems so it will not harm to run this problem by them.
The control panel does switch off but the service department at the dealership thought it could still be draining the leisure battery!
We shall investigate this situation further this weekend,as I say we use it in winter at least everyother weekend and the previous van,also an Autocruise,never lost all its charge in the leisure battery but this new one is totally different!
And Brian,it IS a cold and windy spot here,nothing between us and Pudsey to shield us from the elements!!!
The new control panel is a touch screen and you have to make sure that it is totally switched off!
It is easy to think you have switched it off when it is still on,it needs about three sequences to fully close it down!
Just spoken to Autocruise who have identified this for me,we DID fully switch it off last Sunday and we still have charge in the leisure battery so hopefully problem solved!
Happy New Year to you too,by the way my number plate is on order but it is not as cheeky as yours!
You have got something running to ground BUT this is not your problem. Go back to the Dealer, be polite but firm. If no joy, don't get into an argument, just walk out and say " I am sorry that you have not been able to sort out this. We have no option but to take this further. Good Day".
Go straight to Trading Standards together with all the bits of paper, receipts etc and they'll tell you the next step.
Glad you got it sorted, its very easy to overlook things in new camper, i did the same travelling down to Spain, we stopped for a cuppa and forgot to switch the control off, at the next stop we couldn't understand why the panel would not come on and it kept telling that the engine was started, by this time my ears were aching re, what was coming from my other half, it took me about half an hour to sort it out, i disconnected the leisure battery, that didn't work, then disconnected both main and leisure and that did the trick, so there a lesson to be learned here, maybe you control panel is the same, so beware don't drive off with it on! Now where has she put that bottle?
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Topic: Should we disconnect the leisure battery?
. ellroy. keep waving.
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