Hymer starter battery drain
hi, don't know if I'm on the right site for tech problems as I am a new member, but I'm sure someone will tell me if I am not.
anyway, the problem I've got is my hymer b578 starter battery goes flat after a few days.it's a new battery but something seems to be dragging it down,I've switched off the living battery's on the transformer and made sure pioneer radio is off, although it's not connected via ignition circuit. Any help appreciated.
thanks Phil hr
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Hi, This discussion category is fine for your query.
I don't know anything about your MH, so my comments are general.
Unless your 'new' battery is faulty, something is clearly draining it. (Even a 1Amp continuous drain would deplete a typical battery in less than 3 days).
You say you have "switched off the living battery's on the transformer". I don't understand this. I assume you are saying you have switched off the battery charger which would charge your domestic batteries when on EHU?
I would expect the domestic batteries to be isolated from the starter battery when the MH engine is not running. Do the domestic batteries also discharge over the several days, or do they remain fully charged?
(We can then progress from there with suggestions)
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Remove one terminal of the battery. When you go to reconnect it see if you get slight sparks as you touch the clamp to the post. If you do then something is drawing current. This can be measured if you have and know how to use a meter. Make sure your doors are not open as the interior light will show as a spark.
You can then remove fuses one by one to see if you can isolate the problem.
Make sure you have the radio code before you disconnect though.
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Hi, the living battery's hold their charge ok ,its only the starter battery drains down. I Will check with a meter what current is being drawn with everything off and try and pull fuses to isolate problem. New battery on charge at moment .will get it checked Monday.
thank you both.
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It's fairly normal for the starter battery to drain in perhaps two to four weeks with the draw from alarms and other live systems.
The leisure battery doesn't normally have anything live so will stay charged for months.
Edited as we cross posted, I only check voltages unless I think there is an undue draw on the battery which I have never had cause to do!
HTH.
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it will be the Pioneer head unit...
when we got this new van in Jan, we went away for 10 weeks (mainly on ehu) in Spain.....no problems
returned home and left the van on the drive, as i have always done (we have an SP to keep charge up....) but the battery went flat after 3/4 days.....the SP couldnt keepup with the drain in March
i traced it to the drain from the Pioneer unit, even with it 'switched off'.
i contacted Pioneer who gaily told me that a 1.8 amp drain (when in standby) was 'perfectly normal'!......yet would drain a battery in a few days.....when running all functions like the satnav, DAB, DVD, equalizer etc, etc, it can draw 10 amps!!!
with a unit like this in a car, the battery will get charged by the alternater, almost, every day.....with. mH not so likely .....
my solution is to turn off the 'entertainment' button, which kills all these systems.....a working workaround for when on the drive, but not my chosen permanent solution.
Carthago have received plenty of complaints (im not surprised) about this and 2018 models 'have been modified'....
i am awaiting news on this specific mod so that i can have it fitted...it many be as simple as an isolation switch on the dash?....
goodluck.
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Sorry I'm so long getting back about this problem.
i found the current being drawn with everything switched off was 800milliamps, much too high. Traced the problem to a pioneer radio which was wired live all the time,not connected to acc of ignition switch.
now wired correctly I hope this solves the problem. Thanks.
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....however, when on site, youll perhaps want to listen to the radio?...bit you wont want to tirn your ignition on all the time.....hence that radios are sometimes wired to the vehicle battery via some sort of 'entertainment' switch in the leisure area....
this is my (similar) problem.....the unit is wired correctly to the ignition AUX but remains in standby via the entertainment switch, which obviously continues the drain....
i will need to get an inline switch inserted into the radio live feed so that the entertainment systems (tv/sat, etc) can be ON without the radio killing everything.
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That's amazing and by my reckoning definitely a design oversight. After all, if you left a car at the airport and it had a 0.8 amp current drain ithe battery wouldn't last a week.
I don't use my entertainment system but a recent post discussed the fact that the radio on many Peugeot/Fiat models would switch off after about 15 minutes. There are work-arounds but I guess the feature was built in to avoid the current drain that you have experienced.
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hitch, youre right....there have even been posts bemoaning the fact that the radio turns off after 15mins.....probably didnt realise these things had such a massive draw.....when away from EHU we use a separate radio which has a rechargable battery.
on our Bolero, the radio (by choice) was wired to the leisure batteries.
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