Charging of main battery and leisure battery

[Andy B]

Can anyone advise me if by hooking up a mains connection to the MP it will charge both the leisure battery and the main battery simultaneously. If not, by using a normal battery charger connected to the main battery, will this also charge the leisure battery ? Any comments / advice gratefully appreciated. Thanks

 

[mptripsaway]

Can anyone advise me if by hooking up a mains connection to the MP it will charge both the leisure battery and the main battery simultaneously. If not, by using a normal battery charger connected to the main battery, will this also charge the leisure battery ? Any comments / advice gratefully appreciated. Thanks

Hi Andy, The following is copied from operating manual, hope it helps you.

As soon as the 230 V power supply is connected and the residual current circuit breaker is switched on, the battery charger automatically starts charging. It charges the additional battery and also supplies the 12 V power supply. When the battery is fully charged, its charge is maintained at an almost constant level.
The central control panel display shows the charge status of the additional battery as a bar graph . The bars flash one after the other during the charging process.

If the following conditions are fulfilled, the battery charger also charges the starter battery of the vehicle:
the voltage of the starter battery must be between 9.5 V and 13.85 V
the voltage of the additional battery must be at least 13.9 V

Note:
This is an auxiliary charge (4 A) which compensates for the self-discharging of the battery and which ensures that the vehicle can be started. The starter battery is not fully charged.

 

[Andy B]

Many thanks for your response - much appreciated. I had checked the online manual and could find no reference to this subject. Maybe this proves that you can’t beat paper manuals ! Interestingly enough, I called MB Technical Support in Milton Keynes on this point and I was advised that the electrical hookup connection would not charge the main battery. Seems they too don’t read paper manuals. My thanks again.

 

[Roy C]

Many thanks for your response - much appreciated. I had checked the online manual and could find no reference to this subject. Maybe this proves that you can’t beat paper manuals ! Interestingly enough, I called MB Technical Support in Milton Keynes on this point and I was advised that the electrical hookup connection would not charge the main battery. Seems they too don’t read paper manuals. My thanks again.

This is in the digital manual accessed via the Mercedes Guides app but it is in the supplementary Marco Polo manual not the standard V-Class manual. Both together give you the complete set of operating manuals.

 

[mptripsaway]

Many thanks for your response - much appreciated. I had checked the online manual and could find no reference to this subject. Maybe this proves that you can’t beat paper manuals ! Interestingly enough, I called MB Technical Support in Milton Keynes on this point and I was advised that the electrical hookup connection would not charge the main battery. Seems they too don’t read paper manuals. My thanks again.

I just cut and pasted from digital MB guide, like you I think some bits are quite hard to find.

 

[Richard DL]

Hi
I have a similar question to AndyB. Had MO since Dec 2017 and have noticed in last 24 hrs that the leisure battery is not charging when driving. I’m no mechanic so need help please. There appear to be two leisure batteries one under both front seats. Do they both do the same thing? Are they connected? The power drop now means nothing works like the pop up, the lowering of rear sites for bed layout etc. Local dealer not very helpful. I assume the problem is something to do wth the charging system and not the batteries themselves. The main battery seems to be fine. Any help appreciated. Thanks.

 

[BabaJen]

Hi
I have a similar question to AndyB. Had MO since Dec 2017 and have noticed in last 24 hrs that the leisure battery is not charging when driving. I’m no mechanic so need help please. There appear to be two leisure batteries one under both front seats. Do they both do the same thing? Are they connected? The power drop now means nothing works like the pop up, the lowering of rear sites for bed layout etc. Local dealer not very helpful. I assume the problem is something to do wth the charging system and not the batteries themselves. The main battery seems to be fine. Any help appreciated. Thanks.

I am not an MP owner .. but...

As far as I know the MP has only one leisure battery.

Dec 2017 means it is still in warranty.

If the leisure battery is not charging when driving that means there is a serious fault, especially as you seem to have so many essential functions disabled because of low voltage.

It should be back at the dealers being urgently rectified under warranty. The issues you describe means that you have a Camper that is unfit for purpose. No issue... dealer, fix it please and MB supply me with a replacement vehicle until it is fixed and doing what a camper should do.

 

[GeorgeG]

Hi
I have a similar question to AndyB. Had MO since Dec 2017 and have noticed in last 24 hrs that the leisure battery is not charging when driving. I’m no mechanic so need help please. There appear to be two leisure batteries one under both front seats. Do they both do the same thing? Are they connected? The power drop now means nothing works like the pop up, the lowering of rear sites for bed layout etc. Local dealer not very helpful. I assume the problem is something to do wth the charging system and not the batteries themselves. The main battery seems to be fine. Any help appreciated. Thanks.

See my reply to your post on ‘Leisure battery not always charging’ thread.

 

[Richard DL]

Thanks Baba Jen and George. There are it seems two leisure batteries one under each front seat which can be accessed by removing the outer side panels of each seat. I agree not good form so it’s back to MB with my MP!!!

 

[Roy C]

Thanks Baba Jen and George. There are it seems two leisure batteries one under each front seat which can be accessed by removing the outer side panels of each seat. I agree not good form so it’s back to MB with my MP!!!

Actually I believe the battery under the right hand seat (driver’s seat in the UK) is the main / starter battery.

 

[Richard DL]

Thanks Roy C. I’m completely useless when it comes to cars so you are probably right.

 

[Roy C]

Well as long as your dealer knows which one is which then you'll be okay. I hope you get it sorted out and then it doesn't really matter where it is.

 

[Andy B]

Don't know if this helps, but my MP has the Auxiliary Heating option. This sits under the passenger seat (nearside of MP), the leisure battery is under the driver's seat, and the main battery is in the engine compartment. Seems there are various positions for the various batteries !!

 

[Ian]

Don't know if this helps, but my MP has the Auxiliary Heating option. This sits under the passenger seat (nearside of MP), the leisure battery is under the driver's seat, and the main battery is in the engine compartment. Seems there are various positions for the various batteries !!

Are you sure about this? I find it hard to believe that Mercedes would vary the position of the batteries depending on which options are fitted? There are certainly batteries under both front seats of our MP. I've not looked for one in the engine bay. Whilst not 100% sure I was lead to believe on another thread that the leisure battery is the one under the UK passenger seat.

 

[GeorgeG]

Are you sure about this? I find it hard to believe that Mercedes would vary the position of the batteries depending on which options are fitted? There are certainly batteries under both front seats of our MP. I've not looked for one in the engine bay. Whilst not 100% sure I was lead to believe on another thread that the leisure battery is the one under the UK passenger seat.

When I had my leisure battery replaced under warranty it was definitely under the front passenger seat and the starter/cab battery was under the drivers seat. The dealer emailed me a video of the work as carried out.

 

[Andy B]

Thanks for the response. This has made me look a bit further under the bonnet ! What I took to be a battery (has terminals) turns out to be the jump start point ! Given this, the fact that the auxiliary heater sits under the near side passenger seat, I have to assume that in my MP both the leisure and main battery are under the drivers seat. Unless someone knows otherwise ........ ? ;-)

 

[Andy B]

Refer to my post earlier post !1

 

[Ian]

Thanks for the response. This has made me look a bit further under the bonnet ! What I took to be a battery (has terminals) turns out to be the jump start point ! Given this, the fact that the auxiliary heater sits under the near side passenger seat, I have to assume that in my MP both the leisure and main battery are under the drivers seat. Unless someone knows otherwise ........ ? ;-)

I think there is room for both the heater and battery under the passenger seat. Try pushing the passenger seat back as far as it will go. You should then be able to see a large battery through a gap in the metal base. Confusingly in mine this has a label of ‘starter battery’.

 

[GeorgeG]

Thanks for the response. This has made me look a bit further under the bonnet ! What I took to be a battery (has terminals) turns out to be the jump start point ! Given this, the fact that the auxiliary heater sits under the near side passenger seat, I have to assume that in my MP both the leisure and main battery are under the drivers seat. Unless someone knows otherwise ........ ? ;-)

I believe the aux hot air heater is in the floor below the seat compartment. You can see the exhaust protruding from the underside of the vehicle. I’ve no idea where how you gain access to it. The usual advice is that they are maintenance free and if anything goes wrong they should be replaced.

However, when I visited the Westfalia factory in Rheda-Wiedenbrück last year, my contact told me they can be serviced, much like a domestic oil central heating boiler - you clean off the carbon deposits and maybe change the burner nozzle. I had a Westfalia Columbus (Fiat based) then and the Webssto heater was clearly visible and detached below the van floor, but there was of course much more ground clearance.

My 2007 California had the Webasto heater and in 4 years I had no issues with it. I seem to remember at the time reading some advice online (maybe YouTube) on diy servicing of the heater. There maybe advice on the California Owners Club Forum which has of course been running for much longer than this forum.

 

[GeorgeG]

When my leisure battery was replaced, the senior technician who carried out the work at my local Mercedes dealer tested both batteries and said they are identical. I assume, therefore, that both batteries could be labeled ‘starter battery’. I had a video of them sent to me at the time, but have unfortunately deleted it by mistake.