Technical Starter battery damage

[Nigel Dinnes]

I have a 2020 Sunlight Cliff XV on a Fiat Ducato base vehicle. I believe that the starter battery and the two leisure batteries are set up to charge from vehicle alternator, solar panel and electric hookup.
The problem is that in 4 years I have been through two starter batteries.
The Fiat main dealer has conducted extensive diagnostic tests and cannot find anything wrong with the Fiat end. Their suggestion is that the solar panel may be over charging the starter battery, causing the damage. They have recommended that I have a campervan workshop completely separate the habitation electrics from the vehicle system. They maintain that it is not necessary to have additional charging of the starter battery from solar/EHU.

Anyone had a similar problem?

 

[rayc]

Thousands of motorhome owners have systems where the vehicle battery is charged from the electric hookup charger and solar. The habitation battery is also charged from the alternator. This is the way it has been for decades without any problem. The regulators should ensure no excessive charging, perhaps your charger / solar regulators are set for a different charging regime than the vehicle one viz: Lithium and lead acid?
It appears to me the dealer has no idea of the demands of motorhome owners.

 

[jackwhoo]

Is it left unused for long periods ?

 

[chris3234]

Solar systems are quite known t for over charging issues especially on poor quality charge regulators

 

[Nigel Dinnes]

Is it left unused for long periods ?

No. Rarely left unused for more than a month.

 

[Communicator]

It is quite possible for an alarm system to drain a starter battery in a month.

My PVC is on near permanent charge from EHU via its CBE 516 charger and DS 520 distribution board which limits the starter battery charge to 2A, and the blocking diode effectively holds the starter battery at about 0.6V to 0.8V below hab batttery. The CBE charger does stop charging when the hab battery is deened to be fully charged.

I changed the OEM starter battery at 11 years as a precaution, but I think that changing at 10 years would be a sensible policy.

 

[the green vanper]

Just found this thread and I can see no one pointed a very important thing:

This is the way it has been for decades without any problem.

For decades the leisure batteries were classical lead-acid batteries. It has changed since.

Although starter batteries are still usually classical lead-acid batteries, leisure batteries can be of different types (lead-acid, gel, AGM, liion, lifepo4, lifespo4, lto...) which require different charging voltages and currents.

So every case should be analyzed individually depending on the components used.

Separators (and also inverters) available on the internet are usually dedicated for lead-acid and derivate types, however cheap solar charge regulators are dedicated for lithium (liion, lifepo4, lifespo4) types. The more expensive ones have wider possibilities BUT usually one battery type is permitted.

I've seen models that have two charging outputs that allows 2 different battery types to be connected and configured separately.

Upgrading the leisure battery from one type to another MAY require installation modification which no one thinks about before the upgrade.

 

[Communicator]

Just found this thread and I can see no one pointed a very important thing:



For decades the leisure batteries were classical lead-acid batteries. It has changed since.

Although starter batteries are still usually classical lead-acid batteries, leisure batteries can be of different types (lead-acid, gel, AGM, liion, lifepo4, lifespo4, lto...) which require different charging voltages and currents.

So every case should be analyzed individually depending on the components used.

Separators (and also inverters) available on the internet are usually dedicated for lead-acid and derivate types, however cheap solar charge regulators are dedicated for lithium (liion, lifepo4, lifespo4) types. The more expensive ones have wider possibilities BUT usually one battery type is permitted.

I've seen models that have two charging outputs that allows 2 different battery types to be connected and configured separately.

Upgrading the leisure battery from one type to another MAY require installation modification which no one thinks about before the upgrade.

My understanding is that the description "leisure battery" orignally indicated a lead acid battery designed to withstand a a considerable depth of discharge over many cycles. The original caravan batteries were leisure batteries. Unfortunately this name has become used to refer to any battery used to power the habitation of a motorhome. At least one British manufacturer of 12V systems incorrectly labels the habitation battery as "leisure battery" instead of using the more general name "habitation battery", thus encouraging the misuse of the leisure battery label. My PVC has two habitation batteries. They are not leisure batteries, they are dual purpose batteries used in the habitation role. Each of those two batteries has a CCA rating which exceeds that of the starter battery.

Sorry rant over, but the misuse of the name leisure battery does annoy me.

 

[the green vanper]

My understanding is that the description "leisure battery" orignally indicated a lead acid battery designed to withstand a a considerable depth of discharge over many cycles. The original caravan batteries were leisure batteries. Unfortunately this name has become used to refer to any battery used to power the habitation of a motorhome. At least one British manufacturer of 12V systems incorectly labels the habitation battery as "leisure battery" instead of using the more general name "habitation battery", thus encouraging the misuse of the leisure battery label. My PVC has two habitation batteries. They are not leisure batteries, they are dual purpose batteries used in the habitation role. Each of those two batteries has a CCA rating which exceeds that of the starter battery.

Sorry rant over, but the misuse of the name leisure battery does annoy me.

Good point @Communicator, thanks for clearing it out to me. English is only my third language so I was not even aware of the primary meaning of the 'leisure' battery, which in fact now makes sense to me.

I promise from now on I will use the proper term 'habitation battery'

I've also edited some previous posts.