# draw down on battery puzzle



## mauramac (May 24, 2005)

At the outset can I just say I am totally ignorant when it comes to tech/mech problems so please bare with me when I try to explain our problem.....which I hope someone may be able to help us with.

For some time we have been having problems with a flat battery which we incorrectly thought was down to our complicated Alarm system. I called out an alarm specialist and he suggested a new and simpler system which was a huge relief to us as the old system often left us stranded and unable to start the engine. This did not help the battery which despite being on charge overnight would go flat a day or so later. We were then told the starter motor had gone and we had that replaced. Still the battery would not hold a charge and would be flat again a day after charging.
Today the mechanic has called out again and fitted a temporary new battery to see if that solves the problem. 
When he put the meter on after disconnecting everything it was still registering about .25 amp which he said was low but surprising. He went through the whole van and could find nothing on so could not track down what might be causing the draw down. He said it was enough to make the battery flat over a period of time (it is unused quite a bit).

So thats about it so far, any thoughts?


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## 747 (Oct 2, 2009)

My leisure batteries used to have a discharge which puzzled me.

I found that it was the fridge light. If I left the fridge switched to 12 volt (for travelling) and left the door ajar, the light was on.

I only found out by going into the van for something one night. It was not possible to notice in daylight.


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## mauramac (May 24, 2005)

Thanks for suggestion - it seems the leisure battery is flat as well, so I assume it's not able to power anything - but our fridge is closed so I dont think it's that but I will check it again.
Thanks.


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## geraldandannie (Jun 4, 2006)

mauramac said:


> it seems the leisure battery is flat as well


Hi Maura

I presume that the problem you're talking about then is the engine battery? What year is your van? Fiat vans from 2006/7 onwards (the X2/50) do have a continuous current drain on them due to the way that the systems are designed.

Failing that, could it be the radio which is causing it? Some radios have been known to have a current drain, even when they're turned off.

Gerald


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## Rosbotham (May 4, 2008)

The old battery not holding a charge could be down to it having been repeatedly flattened totally.

As to what is flattening it, 0.25 amp latent current does seem high. That'd equate to 6AH per day, so would flatten a good battery in a week or two : that's not normal even on an X/250 or with an alarm.

I'm surprised your auto-electrician didn't try to track down what was pulling the current.

Do you have a reversing camera at all? Numpties wiring these to the permanent rather than ignition-switched 12V supply is a common issue.

Paul


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## mauramac (May 24, 2005)

Yes Gerald it is the engine battery. The vehicle is a 2006 VW T5 on a Transporter base. Conversion by Autosleeper.
So far the mechanic has removed everything - including the radio and we dont have a tracker fitted or a reversing camera.

He did find something odd - which I will struggle to explain but here goes.

Close to where the battery is fitted there is a splitter box (correct term?) which I think he said splits the charge (presumably to the leisure battery?) anyway when he removed the cover of this little box the reading on his meter fluctuated and started to go down. It didn't go completely down but reduced to about 0.14amps when he touched the outside of it. I'm not sure how significant that was.

He is coming back again in a few days to see how it's doing with new battery on and is going to put our battery on charge in his workshop. It could be knackered after being flattened so often.

He said something about it going into sleep mode and maybe it takes a bit longer to do that. He is hoping to investigate it a bit further in a day or so and will take it back to workshop and isolate one thing at a time if necessary. 
I do trust him as have known him for about 13 years and he has fitted all our car alarms for us in the past. He works on all sorts of vehicles including high performance race cars but doesn't know too much about van conversions. If he cant work it out he wont charge me.

I was just hoping that someone on here might be able to suggest something we/he wouldn't know about.
Thanks for helping - it is much appreciated.


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## MicknPat (Jul 18, 2005)

mauramac, Does your motor home have ANY clocks in the radio/CD player or microwave for example?

Have you a smoke or carbon dioxide detectors that are wired into the 12 volt system?

Any control panel LED lights that are lit, ALL these can add up and obviously constantly drain your battery.

I believe this sort of 'problem' is know as PARASITIC CURRENT DRAIN

type that into Google to learn more.

A battery disconnect switch may solve the problem but then you may have to to go around resetting the clocks and pre-set radio stations etc

Hope this helps?

Mick


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

Why fight it?.

Do what I did fit a solar panel on the roof which charges all the batteries engine and the two 120 amp leisure batteries.

Flat batteries a thing of the past, they are always fully charged and ready to go :wink:


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## mauramac (May 24, 2005)

Hi Mick - I'll have another look but cannot think of any clocks anywhere. Trouble is we know very little about the camper and use it (rarely) only for driving in....(lots of reasons for lack of use but nothing to do with camper which is a lovely vehicle). We have decided to sell it if we dont use it this year because it is a crime to have it sitting on drive.

The shower has never been used, nor the kitchen area and we have never slept in it so we are maintaining a very expensive vehicle and not getting the use it deserves.

We have ordered a trickle feed gadget from the mechanic who is looking into problem for us but he doesn't want to fit it until he has solved the problem. So far we have just paid out almost £600 for new starter motor and new alarm system and it looks like we will need a new battery now as well. Considering we rarely use it I think it will soon have to go


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

I know it is a long shot but have you contacted AutoSleepers? 
There should be a wiring diagram in your handbook which could help your electrician but it is also just possible that you have a known fault that A/S can advise on.
Alan


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## mauramac (May 24, 2005)

Thanks Alan - worth a shot. I'll give it a go.


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## mauramac (May 24, 2005)

Autosleepers service guy very helpful and called me back within 15 mins. He wasn't aware of any known problems with that amount of draw down and suggested usual things like lights, clock etc that we have already checked out.

However he did tell me that we could have been trickle charging our batteries by plugging van into our outside mains supply and switching the panel in the van to either HAB or VEH   

How very embarrassing is that. I never felt so stupid. We really are ignorant of even the basics. He was kind enough to say not to feel too bad about it as he gets asked about that switch every week.

I still felt stupid  

Not quite solved the mystery of the 0.25 amp draw down but at least we wont have to fit a trickle feed now.


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## Ken38 (Mar 24, 2009)

Maplin do a gadget to check each circuit in the fuse box to look for such drain.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/automotive-current-tester-217879

Once you find the circuit you can identify the drain.

But your electrician should be able do the same with his meter.


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## kaacee (Nov 29, 2008)

rayrecrok said:


> Hi.
> 
> Why fight it?.
> 
> ...


Following on from a problem I had with flat battery/battery master etc. I think this is the way to go in ensuring both leisure and vehicle battery are being charged.

What "size" have you fitted, price and company to fit them rayrecrok?

Thanks

Keith


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## mauramac (May 24, 2005)

Ken38 said:


> Maplin do a gadget to check each circuit in the fuse box to look for such drain.
> http://www.maplin.co.uk/automotive-current-tester-217879
> 
> Once you find the circuit you can identify the drain.
> ...


Thanks Ken
I'm certainly hoping he will be able to get to the bottom of it.
Maura


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## RichardandMary (May 9, 2005)

Hi Keith (gudlucker}

We had a 125w solar panel the largest one we could get on the roof fitted by Solar Solutions http://www.solarsolutionsltd.co.uk/ at the Peterborough show in 2009 cost approx £700 & would recommend them.

Regards

R/M


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