2018 T6.0 California Beach Leisure Battery Upgrade

[Ashley B]

Hello All

I'm looking fto upgrade my 2018 T6.0 California Beach Leisure Battery to something with more capacity.

I would hope to simply replace the current leisure battery located under the passenger seat, I'm led to believe the size of the area available is likely to restrict it to a 100-120Ah.

Any recommendations would be much appreciated.

Thank you

Ashley

 

[WelshGas]

Hello All

I'm looking fto upgrade my 2018 T6.0 California Beach Leisure Battery to something with more capacity.

I would hope to simply replace the current leisure battery located under the passenger seat, I'm led to believe the size of the area available is likely to restrict it to a 100-120Ah.

Any recommendations would be much appreciated.

Thank you

Ashley

I doubt if there is an AGM battery of that size that will fit in the space available. Most upgrades involve fitting a LiPo4 lithium battery, higher capacity for the space available. BUT this should also involve replacing the VW split charge relay with a DC to DC chargers with a Lithium charging profile and also the built in EHU mains charger, if you have one fitted.

 

[Ashley B]

I doubt if there is an AGM battery of that size that will fit in the space available. Most upgrades involve fitting a LiPo4 lithium battery, higher capacity for the space available. BUT this should also involve replacing the VW split charge relay with a DC to DC chargers with a Lithium charging profile and also the built in EHU mains charger, if you have one fitted.

Hello Buddy thanks for getting back, yes I've read all this, I'm struggling to find someone to do it so I thought a simple battery upgrade and a portable battery option might actually be a more practical alternative.

I need to physically measure the space I believe its 315 X 175 X 190, ChatGPT is recomending

• Stock 2018 VW California Beach flooded SLI (75 Ah)
• Victron AGM Super Cycle 100 Ah
• Varta LA80 AGM (≈80 Ah)

But says I'll need to check the space size for the Victron.

Thanks for your reply

 

[WelshGas]

Hello Buddy thanks for getting back, yes I've read all this, I'm struggling to find someone to do it so I thought a simple battery upgrade and a portable battery option might actually be a more practical alternative.

I need to physically measure the space I believe its 315 X 175 X 190, ChatGPT is recomending

• Stock 2018 VW California Beach flooded SLI (75 Ah)
• Victron AGM Super Cycle 100 Ah
• Varta LA80 AGM (≈80 Ah)

But says I'll need to check the space size for the Victron.

Thanks for your reply

With AGM batteries you can only use about 50% of the amps without damaging the battery whereas with a Lithium battery you can use 100%.
A good autoelectrician should be upto the job. There is a How to guide to fit a DC-DC charger in the VIP Resources section of the Forum. Have you tried Celtic Conversions , they are well recommended.

 

[Ashley B]

With AGM batteries you can only use about 50% of the amps without damaging the battery whereas with a Lithium battery you can use 100%.
A good autoelectrician should be upto the job. There is a How to guide to fit a DC-DC charger in the VIP Resources section of the Forum. Have you tried Celtic Conversions , they are well recommended.

Thanks again for the response, sadly it looks as though Celtic have gone in to liquidation

 

[Arnoud64]

Our California T6.1 was upgraded with a 70A Votronic charge booster and two light weight Super B Epsilon 100Ah LiFePO4 leisure batteries, transplanted from our previous California T5. Additionally a 1000W Xenteq pure sine inverter was installed under the passenger seat.
A Volkswagen certified Car-Electric software upgrade ensures direct Bluetooth communication between the BMS of both batteries and the camper for correct representation of charge currents and actual battery SOC.

 

[Tarquers]

Another option is to fit a second battery under the other seat. Relatively straightforward running some thick cables between the two batteries.

 

[Tall Andrew]

What are you doing that the leisure battery is insufficient? You can reduce the cut off voltage on your fridge to extend the run time and use the cars main battery for some functions.

There are some cheap foldable solar panels which you can hang on the side of the van in the summer. That would also extend the battery.

I read also that you can force the leisure battery to charge to 100% instead of 80% by activating the heated seats.

I didn’t try or research this factoid, someone will probably correct me.

Most important thing is to get some sort of battery monitoring fitted to reduce range anxiety and provide notification if your voltage drops too far and you need to run the engine a bit.

 

[Ashley B]

What are you doing that the leisure battery is insufficient? You can reduce the cut off voltage on your fridge to extend the run time and use the cars main battery for some functions.

There are some cheap foldable solar panels which you can hang on the side of the van in the summer. That would also extend the battery.

I read also that you can force the leisure battery to charge to 100% instead of 80% by activating the heated seats.

I didn’t try or research this factoid, someone will probably correct me.

Most important thing is to get some sort of battery monitoring fitted to reduce range anxiety and provide notification if your voltage drops too far and you need to run the engine a bit.

Hello, thanks for getting back

What are you doing that the leisure battery is insufficient? You can reduce the cut off voltage on your fridge to extend the run time and use the cars main battery for some functions.

There are some cheap foldable solar panels which you can hang on the side of the van in the summer. That would also extend the battery.

I read also that you can force the leisure battery to charge to 100% instead of 80% by activating the heated seats.

I didn’t try or research this factoid, someone will probably correct me.

Most important thing is to get some sort of battery monitoring fitted to reduce range anxiety and provide notification if your voltage drops too far and you need to run the engine a bit.

Hello, thanks for getting back to me on this, the fridge that came with the van is a bit of a guzzler so in summer I dont even getr a day out of the existing battery, its a beach and I only have one battery under the passenger seat. I've checked the existing battery and its still healthy, so after much deliberation and advice from AI and a black friday deal I've plumbed for a Jackery 3000 V2 with fold out 200W solar panels, I then dont have to carry it on my daily commute to work and it, with a more efficient fridge should allow me to go affgrid for a few days.

Next upgrade I need is heating so window trips are a little more comfortable.

I'll give the video a look now, thanks again

a

 

[Wannabecamperman]

Hello, thanks for getting back to me on this, the fridge that came with the van is a bit of a guzzler so in summer I dont even getr a day out of the existing battery, its a beach and I only have one battery under the passenger seat. I've checked the existing battery and its still healthy, so after much deliberation and advice from AI and a black friday deal I've plumbed for a Jackery 3000 V2 with fold out 200W solar panels, I then dont have to carry it on my daily commute to work and it, with a more efficient fridge should allow me to go affgrid for a few days.

Next upgrade I need is heating so window trips are a little more comfortable.

I'll give the video a look now, thanks again

a

That Jackery will run a 20L Alpicool compressor fridge for many many weeks if fully charged.

 

[Tall Andrew]

Oh my 1 day is bad. I think I got 3 days with standard leisure battery, dometic cfx3 35 litre fridge in the summer.

I like the sound of your fold out solar.

I’d like to do that solution too. I like the flexibility, price relative to roof mount system and that there’s no dismantling of the car required.

Did you see you can hook it onto the rail profile and hang it down the left hand side of the van. That keeps it safely off the ground.

Regarding heating make sure you install a 3kw or more heater. The previous owner of my beach put in a 2kw planer heater and it’s just not sufficient to heat the van with the roof up when the temperature is bellow 4 degrees.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

1 or 2 roof mounted solar panels + a decent fridge (cfx35) will solve your issue. No need for an additional battery,