Battery problem
Nice day, went to start the van for a run out as it hasn't been out for 4 weeks (I know, I'm an idiot!). Battery flat so no run out.
This happened last spring as well so when the AA man came and started us up we bought a small solar panel that sits in front of the steering wheel. Also we have had it on hook up for December with a little de longhi heater on.
Foolishly I thought this would keep the vehicle battery charged as well, not so.
Next step is to buy a battery charger but there are so many out there. What do I need and what is a 'smart' battery charger. The van is a Marquis Majestic 115 on a Peugeot base.
grateful for any advice...and I know the best advise is take it for a good run every couple of weeks.
Comments
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CTech are generally accepted as very good and are small.
My vehicle battery is charged for a few hours to 24 hours every 2 to 3 weeks.
I check with a multimeter and charge when the voltage is down to about 12.3 ish.
If static for more than a couple of weeks I leave the charger in situ in the engine bay and mains lead set up but only switch the mains on to charge.
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if your van lives on the drive at home, why not get a roof solar panel fitted, which can be set up to charge the vehicle battery as well as the leisure batteries....getting really good value now....
another advantage is that you will be able to park off grid without worrying..
Incidently, if you're van doesnt charge the vehicle battery when on site with ehu, the cab battery is draing all the time despite being on the mains...
nagain, this is easy to remedy with a little device called a Battery Master which takes charge from the leisure batteries (kept up by the ehu) and passed to the vehicle battery.
IMHO any van not charging the vehicle battery when on hook up (by design) is blooming well poorly designed....its not a caravan Elddis/Marquis, its a motorhome that needs its cab battery charged....
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You may have already checked this and I may be telling you how to suck eggs, but is the 12volt socket you plug the small solar panel into switched by the ignition key, if it is the solar panel will not be connected to your battery, so cannot charge it.
Most of the Fiat vans from 2006 onwards have switched ignition.
Thought I would mention in the event you were not aware.
Stewart
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Thanks BB, we had thought about a solar panel for the future but caring responsibilities at present mean we are restricted to a week away at any one time for now so didn't think we would need one.
i agree about the badly designed charging system and the manuals that came with the Motorhome don't make it clear either...you live and learn!
Stewertwebr, the small solar panel (not much bigger than A4 size) is plugged in to the diagnostics socket of the vehicle. Was told the charge would be enough to compensate for the loss from immobiliser etc but obviously not enough.
Anyway, the smart charger arrived today so that's on now so should resolve the problem.
Wish I had known about the Lidl one though. Never mind, if we wanted to save money we would have bought a tent.
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Hi AnnB
What do you mean by the diagnostic socket? This type of small solar panels normally plug into the cigarette lighter socket or the 12 volt one next to it which is identical. The problem is these sockets are turned off and on when you stop and start the vehicle. So if the panel is plugged into one of these when you stop the van it breaks the wiring to the battery so the solar panel cannot charge it.
To test where you have it plugged in plug in a phone charger or similar with the engine running then turn the engine off and see if it still charging, if not that is why your batteries are not being charged from the solar panel.
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Im with Stewart, ive not heard of plugging into the diagnostic socket... this suggests something under tha bonnet?
also, now youve taken the extra charger route, while on site with ehu, youre going to have to plug in a seperate charger (wires traiping under the bonnet?) to stop your vehicle battery running down.
these chargers are good, but this sounds a bit cumbersome...perhaps it could be wired in permanently so that, once on hook up, it just works?..
IMHO, much better to just have a Battery Master which will do exactly this, charge your vehicle battery when on ehu....
£69.99 from Vanbitz....fit and forget....
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I agree too, Battery Master is the best option. I fitted one to my first new MH way back in 1997 and then transferred it to my next van. My current van has a smart charge system so doesn't require one. Mind you, it's not that smart as it needs some manual intervention where the leisure batteries are concerned, but that's another story.
I too am confused by the "plugging in to the diagnostic socket", not heard that one before. Perhaps the OP was advised to do so as the cigar lighter sockets are only ignition fed. I wouldn't want to plug anything into that socket without being 100% sure it was safe to do so.0 -
It uses a Scart lead to plug into the socket that the garage uses to run the diagnostics programme on the engine. Ours is just the the right and below the steering wheel under a plastic cover.
Battery fully charged now and we are due to go to family in Bristol in 2 weeks so van gets a good run then.
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Same here, flat battery. Sorted with jump leads. Had been on 240V on the drive and thought vehicle battery was charged. ON reading manual (Autocruise) I found that the charging defaults to leisure battery. but you can change to vehicle by pressing centre button. Looks that there is no need for separate charger. Have look at your manual. Mind you I cpuld not find the vehicle battery at first with 2 leisure batteries under the front seats. Vehicle battery was under the passenger footwell.
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Fish, autocruise will probably have a Sargent PSU.... as you say you can change the charge direction by using the button, but there is a better way...
the PSU is user controllable, and there are options to change the charging regime....from memory of our Bolero, it can be Leisure (priority to leisure batteries), Vehicle (priority to the cab battery) or Smart, which should check all batteries and charge accordingly.
the same settings are available when prioritising solar commected via the Sargent unit.
setting required would be 'charging to Smart'
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There is a discussion going on about this on the Autosleeper owners forum........apparently on the lower specced sargent units you have to select manually whether you want the charge to go to cab or hab battery, on the higher spec Sargents it is automatic (or "smart").
On my previous Elddis M/H I just hardwired a Ctek from one of the additional sockets I had installed to the cab battery (with an inline fuse obviously). With careful shopping around at the time I got the Ctek for £30 (you dont need an expensive one for trickle/maintenance charging). Then whenever the van was on EHU (on site or at home) both batteries were being charged.
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I use my van as a large car - especially for the fortnightly shop. I feel that not only does it keep the battery topped up, but keeps the mechanics, brakes etc.. in good order too.
Some time ago I bought a small charger from Lidl. OK for small batteries, but isn't at all happy trying to top up the van's starter battery.
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Battery’s like engine fuel are the life blood of a motor home and unfortunately most motor-homes don’t have an accurate voltage meter fitted as standard, usually just a couple of led's or a meter that is marked red and green. For a pound or two you can buy a voltage meter modal from China on Ebay,
This would allow you to check the battery voltage and as it draws next to nothing itself you can leave it on all the time, I have mine visible through the windscreen.
You may have to wait a week or two before it arrives.
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Just a bit more of the same - we have been having trouble with our AutoTrail Apache cab battery failing. We purchased a new battery last year after two or three occasions when the old battery failed us.
Recently, we had reason to call out Green Flag to assist us and the helpful gent mentioned solar chargers which use the 'diagnostics socket'. (I didn't even know there was such a thing, but it's well-concealed . . .) If a solar charger was to be used, on the dashboard, then this option would avoid a connection via crocodile clips/cables through window, etc. The cigar lighter appears not to be working in our MH.
Also, we have now removed the control panel of our radio as, in the past, we believe this has been the culprit of the flat battery.
Have been having a look on-line and the AA one previously mentioned appears to have a different connection to the socket in our cab.
Maplins have a number of solar panels, but can't identify one with a suitable connection. Does anyone have any advice?
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A nice idea but you would need about 40 of them to provide enough power! Maybe there is a limit on the amount of charging current you can push through the diagnostic plug but in deep winter you probably need a 40 - 60 watt panel to keep the battery healthy, allowing for alarm etc.
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