Confused over leisure battery reading!!

[Will-I-Am85]

Hi all, very new to camper game and confused over the 12V leisure battery reading and hoping somebody can help.

We have a brand new Numax Leisure 95ah LV26MF battery. I have just plugged a SubCold Trek32 portable compressor fridge in on the lowest eco setting and the display drops from 12.7 to 12.1 on the battery display. From my limited knowledge this means the battery is drained? When you unplug the fridge it jumps back up to 12.7.

Any help appreciated as I don’t want to ruin a brand new battery!

Thanks : )

 

[T6ChrisO]

Will be the initial draw Id assume. Portable compressor fridges can be quite power hungry, especially from warm, trying to get to cold. If I ever need a portable fridge, I get it cold from the mains in the house first and then move it into the van (if thats a possibility)

 

[Will-I-Am85]

Will be the initial draw Id assume. Portable compressor fridges can be quite power hungry, especially from warm, trying to get to cold. If I ever need a portable fridge, I get it cold from the mains in the house first and then move it into the van (if thats a possibility)

Thanks, I will give that a a go! So am I doing the battery damage with that reading or will it be fine?

 

[T6ChrisO]

It will be fine, its just losing power due to the draw from the fridge. Obviously it would be better if you could charge it via mains (EHU). You just dont want to run the leisure battery flat as that can cause damage

 

[Will-I-Am85]

It will be fine, its just losing power due to the draw from the fridge. Obviously it would be better if you could charge it via mains (EHU). You just dont want to run the leisure battery flat as that can cause damage

Thank you Chris. One last question.. online I read that 12.1 was virtually flat. How do I know if the battery is nearly flat when the reading is already so low?

 

[T6ChrisO]

I’m sure my old van power setup use to have a table next to the reading and if memory serves it’s not flat until around 10v

 

[TallPaul_S]

Thank you Chris. One last question.. online I read that 12.1 was virtually flat. How do I know if the battery is nearly flat when the reading is already so low?

12.0v on a lead battery is around 50% state of charge, however that's a reading with zero load on the battery.

When you pull current from the battery, the voltage will drop - that's completely normal. If it's going back up to 12.6v once the fridge has turned off, then you should be all good.