Auto-Trail Imala battery flat

[JaneyBMotorhomer In Hants]

Hiya

Anyone who can give me some tips? We have a 2018 Imala with a solar panel on it. We had the switch set to main (not leisure) battery. Last time we took it out was 26th January. It is on a storage site. Today it wouldn't start. I thought that the solar panel would charge the battery enough for this not to happen.

Anyone got any tips? We have a battery charger (where is the battery, it seems hard to get to?) or we can borrow some jump leads. How do we stop this happening again. Maybe visit every 2 weeks and start it up and let it run for a few minutes, taking it out for a spin every 4 weeks?

Incidentally we have a Phantom alarm and the battery indicator on the Phantom app has not dipped, it is more or less in a straight line - hope I am making sense!

Any advice much appreciated.

 

[Blackadder]

Yes

+1 Having said that, the battery is quite a long way from the terminal so there is little chance of sparks igniting escaping gases.
In the Fiat book it says you have to disconnect the battery before charging it. However it also says you can jump-start it in situ. That never made sense to me or anyone else I asked (both procedures are merely putting 12V directly across the battery) but no-one would risk saying the book was wrong - until I spoke to a guy from Fiat Professional last week who told me that connecting a "smart charger" whilst the battery was still connected was perfectly OK - BUT - he emphasised that the negative lead must be connected to the negative terminal in the middle of the bulhead. Apparently many people have just used a convenient piece of bracketry (often the wiper motor bracket) which results in melted wiring

 

[ABZSteve]

Seven vans in the Imala range, which one(s) are we talking about.

 

[JaneyBMotorhomer In Hants]

It is an Imala 730 hi line, 2018 model. In the end I decided that the best way to deal with it was to buy a good charger from Amazon. Didn't want to risk blowing any electrics by jump starting of any kind. Got this one:

CTEK MXS 7.0 Fully Automatic Battery Charger (Charges, Maintains and Reconditions Car, Caravan & Motorhome batteries) 12V, 7 Amp - UK Plug

It only took about an hour (as the battery was not completely flat) to charge it up enough to start it, bring it home out of storage and charge it overnight. We actually connected it to the battery which is under the passenger set but the dealer said we could do it using the points under the bonnet in future. Note that the positive attachment unit is housed in a plastic box and that you need to use a screwdriver in the slot at the side to flip it open to access the attachment point.

I also have one of these - and instructions from my brother - as to how I can check that the correct battery is charging using the rocker switch on the Sargent unit

ULTRICSÂ Digital LCD Multimeter Voltmeter Ammeter OHM AC DC Circuit Checker Tester Buzzer 1000V 10A Probes

It is still strange that some folks do not have a problem with batteries going flat and they are adequately charged by the solar panel yet we did have a problem.

 

[Spriddler]

t is still strange that some folks do not have a problem with batteries going flat and they are adequately charged by the solar panel yet we did have a problem.

Not sayin' this is the case with you, but it could be because their batteries aren't on their last legs due to age or misuse.

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[JaneyBMotorhomer In Hants]

Our motor home is only 8 months old so it shouldn't be a problem for us . . . . yet!

 

[Misterg]

we have a Phantom alarm and the battery indicator on the Phantom app has not dipped, it is more or less in a straight line

The app is actually telling you that the battery has been very low for some time, but you may not be aware of how to interpret what it's telling you:

This is a *rough* guide to what the battery voltage means for the state of charge. Anything below 50% is bad news for the life of the battery.

This is what the app was telling you:

Your battery was barely reading 12V (40-50%) on the 20th Jan, and the run you gave it only brought it back to 12.2 / 12.3V (~65%). It dipped below 12V again about the 2nd Feb and proceeded down to ~11.5V (basically flat) by 19th Feb.

It would need a significantly longer run to bring the state of charge up to (say) 90% plus - as the battery "fills up" the rate of charging drops off. IMVHO it does the engine no good whatsoever to start it periodically unless it's going to be used hard enough and for long enough to get thoroughly warmed up and continue to run for long enough to boil off all the condensation that's created as it warms up. A trickle charger (either solar or EHU) would be a much, much better option.

Hopefully you will be able to keep an eye on it with the app in any case.

 

[Spriddler]

Our motor home is only 8 months old so it shouldn't be a problem for us . . . . yet!

Indeed so, but if it has been close to discharged a couple of times or left discharged for a while it can affect its longevity.

----------
Oops, my post crossed with Misterg's.

 

[JaneyBMotorhomer In Hants]

Thanks Misterg! That really helps me understand. I will be careful to not let it run down in future and give it a decent run regularly. It is all a learning curve. As I said all the guff they gave me when I bought it is next to useless.

 

[ABZSteve]

It is an Imala 730 hi line, 2018 model. In the end I decided that the best way to deal with it was to buy a good charger from Amazon. Didn't want to risk blowing any electrics by jump starting of any kind. Got this one:

CTEK MXS 7.0 Fully Automatic Battery Charger (Charges, Maintains and Reconditions Car, Caravan & Motorhome batteries) 12V, 7 Amp - UK Plug

It only took about an hour (as the battery was not completely flat) to charge it up enough to start it, bring it home out of storage and charge it overnight. We actually connected it to the battery which is under the passenger set but the dealer said we could do it using the points under the bonnet in future. Note that the positive attachment unit is housed in a plastic box and that you need to use a screwdriver in the slot at the side to flip it open to access the attachment point.

I also have one of these - and instructions from my brother - as to how I can check that the correct battery is charging using the rocker switch on the Sargent unit

ULTRICSÂ Digital LCD Multimeter Voltmeter Ammeter OHM AC DC Circuit Checker Tester Buzzer 1000V 10A Probes

It is still strange that some folks do not have a problem with batteries going flat and they are adequately charged by the solar panel yet we did have a problem.

I have the 5.0 version. My old Imala 615 would drain the battery within three weeks so I used the conditioner on the advice of the RAC. Use it on the new Apache, permanently attached to battery but having the split connector, I can unplug at any time without removing the connectors from the battery terminals. Good luck

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[JimJams]

Hiya

Anyone who can give me some tips? We have a 2018 Imala with a solar panel on it. We had the switch set to main (not leisure) battery. Last time we took it out was 26th January. It is on a storage site. Today it wouldn't start. I thought that the solar panel would charge the battery enough for this not to happen.

Anyone got any tips? We have a battery charger (where is the battery, it seems hard to get to?) or we can borrow some jump leads. How do we stop this happening again. Maybe visit every 2 weeks and start it up and let it run for a few minutes, taking it out for a spin every 4 weeks?

Incidentally we have a Phantom alarm and the battery indicator on the Phantom app has not dipped, it is more or less in a straight line - hope I am making sense!

Any advice much appreciated.

Hi i have been reading all these posts.

If you are still at a loose end you are more than welcome to call me here in the office and i will explain a very easy solution to your problem with your existing setup..

01580 883060
James

 

[Jasz]

We have the sargent unit. See picture attached. The switch at the bottom has three settings - I, O and II. We were told to set it at "I" to charge the vehicle battery when the vehicle is not being used. Hope that is correct! I assume O is off and II is to charge the leisure battery. Are you saying that if we switch it to the bottom setting - II - the vehicle might start off the leisure battery?

Blimey, hope I have made sense!

I was told the same as you when we bought our Imala. As someone else has said we have had a Van Bitz battery master fitted. Our van is also in storage and I take ours out once a month with no problems so far. Seems as though you have a larger drain on your battery than us. We also have an alarm fitted.

 

[JaneyBMotorhomer In Hants]

Janey, our first van was an Imala and it lost power quite quickly too. It didn't help that some technical 'yoof' at the factory had wired up my solar button incorrectly -- I thought the solar panel was charging the hab battery when in fact it was charging the engine battery and vice versa.

Blue Knight - you were right!

 

[Brucek]

So was I! See post #20

 

[JaneyBMotorhomer In Hants]

Yes, you were! Sorry not to mention you, I remembered that Blue Knight had mentioned it as he has commented on Auto trails before. It was because of these posts that we checked. You don't imagine that they can make such a basic error do you? Or that there is such a simple explanation for a problem. Thanks so much!

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[Brucek]

It is hard to believe, glad it's all sorted out for you.

 

[JaneyBMotorhomer In Hants]

Yes - OH took some convincing, hence the delay between your posts and us finding it. Has anyone told Auto Trail I wonder? I think I will!

 

[Blue Knight]

Blue Knight - you were right!

We had 47 other problems with our Imala - I should really send you the list but I think I've chucked it

 

[JaneyBMotorhomer In Hants]

Bet I can beat that with the problems we had with our previous motor home - an Adria! I am quite pleased with the Imala in comparison.

 

[Blue Knight]

Bet I can beat that with the problems we had with our previous motor home - an Adria! I am quite pleased with the Imala in comparison.

Now that does surprise me Janey. Good to know though.

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[PaulD]

Hello, sorry if I'm slow... can I confirm, that plugging the habitation into the mains at home, will ALSO charge the vehicle battery ?