Flat Battery in Storage

[Stewart J]

Evening all,

Went to pick up my Autotrail Tracker this morning after 34 days in storage, found the engine battery totally flat, not a glimmer even the fiat display (clock) was blank

Took some time to get it jump started. The alarm was not set when it went into storage so no battery drain there, I'm at a loss as to why it should have happened. Battery was fully charged on the day it went into storage which is 30 miles from home so it had a good run.

MH first registered 1st Sept this year, so battery should be good, we made sure everything was off prior to leaving it.

Totally perplexed so I ask you my learned peers what could be causing it, I work away from home at sea for 4-5 weeks at a stretch so MH needs to stand for a month without charging.

Many thanks in anticipation

Stewart

 

[hilldweller]

The alarm was not set when it went into storage so no battery drain there
Stewart

All alarms I know take the same current armed or not.

It seems a modern vehicle can flatten it's battery in 3 weeks or less -- ridiculous.

 

[Loujess]

We had to jump start ours yesterday and gave it a good run on the M62 to charge it up but with this weather, it will probably be flat again in a couple of weeks.

Ivy

 

[Stewart J]

Interestingly while I was trying to get mine started a guy turned up for his Hymer (5 years old) been in storage 6 weeks and fired up no problem!!!

Stewart

 

[1_man_and_his_dob(lo)]

All alarms I know take the same current armed or not.

It seems a modern vehicle can flatten it's battery in 3 weeks or less -- ridiculous.

That might explain why mine was dead after almost a month....and I guess it wouldn't have helped that I'd jump started a car with it just before I took it into storage. oh:

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[scotjimland]

A fully charged battery in good condition will last many weeks in cold weather..

To prevent a recurrence remove the earth strap from the battery, a two minute job, or fit a battery disconnect switch which is fitted in place of the regular battery post clamp.

one example..

Link Removed

 

[hilldweller]

Interestingly while I was trying to get mine started a guy turned up for his Hymer (5 years old) been in storage 6 weeks and fired up no problem!!!

Stewart

The older the chassis the less electronics chewing away at the batteries.

If the MH sees daylight a solar panel could save it.

 

[Stewart J]

A fully charged battery in good condition will last many weeks in cold weather..

To prevent a recurrence remove the earth strap from the battery, a two minute job, or fit a battery disconnect switch which is fitted in place of the regular battery post clamp.

one example..

Link Removed

That sound just the jobbie, where can I purchase one Jim

Stewart:thumb:

 

[scotjimland]

That sound just the jobbie, where can I purchase one Jim

Stewart:thumb:

Start with the usual suspect .. Halfords, then when they look bemused, any decent motor factors..

I simply undo the earth strap , only takes a couple of minutes with a 10mm spanner, but then again I'm a tight jock

 

[hilldweller]

To prevent a recurrence remove the earth strap from the battery

Checking first that you have the radio reset code and that any other electronics on board are good to power down.

I know my bike alarm has an internal battery so removing the main battery is not a good option, I keep it permanently on charge.

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[wasp]

I`ve gotone of them little solar chargers on the dash that seems to keep the van battery up, it is plugged into the fag lighter

 

[scotjimland]

Checking first that you have the radio reset code and that any other electronics on board are good to power down.

I know my bike alarm has an internal battery so removing the main battery is not a good option, I keep it permanently on charge.

Yes, good points, on my old Fiat disconnecting the battery reset the ECU to factory defaults, not in itself a problem .. it soon 'learned' again.

On my Honda CR-V the only thing it affects is the radio .. which I forgot about oh:

but as Stewart has had no problem after flattening the battery it's fair to assume the ECU isn't affected ..

 

[Stewart J]

A different beast I know, but I leave my newish car with the alarm set for 4-5 weeks winter and summer whilst away at sea and its never let me down seemingly having loads of "oomph" left in battery???


Stewart:Sad:

 

[1_man_and_his_dob(lo)]

I`ve gotone of them little solar chargers on the dash that seems to keep the van battery up, it is plugged into the fag lighter

Oh..that sounds like a good solution...no DIY involved. I presume you can pick these up from the usual suspects?

 

[Reallyretired]

Although Stuart has not had a problem with the battery going flat, this may just have been that it may not have been completely dead, just too low to start.

I would recommend getting a solar panel, even one of the tiny ones you can get for £10-20 would probably be enough if the storage place gets a bit of light. Disconnecting the battery on a modern vehicle can sometimes cause some problems.

I used to suffer from the batteries going flat after a few weeks, no longer though

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[scotjimland]

Oh..that sounds like a good solution...no DIY involved. I presume you can pick these up from the usual suspects?

Only if the ciggy lighter is 'live' with the ignition off .. otherwise it won't work ..

Alternatively it can be connected directly to the battery with a couple of croc clips .. or for the more ambitious, fit a separate ciggy lighter just for that purpose.

 

[scotjimland]

Although Stuart has not had a problem with the battery going flat, this may just have been that it may not have been completely dead, just too low to start.

If the dash clock was dead it's fair to assume the battery was flat

 

[Reallyretired]

If the dash clock was dead it's fair to assume the battery was flat

Quite right, I should read the original post more carefully

 

[Larrynwin]

Reversing Camera.
My brother in law has an Auto Trail Tracker which is in my drive at present.
After he left it he asked me to check that the reversing camera is isolated as it flattens the battery even if switched off.
Hope this helps

 

[Stewart J]

Battery was completely dead, not even a glimmer on door light or any sort of audible click when ignition turned on, clock blank never ever seen one this far down, as an engineer I'd say voltage down to minimal probably only a few volts otherwise internal light filament would have at least "glowed"

This cannot be allowed to happen regularly or battery will be damaged permanently.

Stewart

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[Stewart J]

Reversing Camera.
My brother in law has an Auto Trail Tracker which is in my drive at present.
After he left it he asked me to check that the reversing camera is isolated as it flattens the battery even if switched off.
Hope this helps

Hi Larry and thanks for that, any idea how to isolate the reversing camera??

Cheers

Stewart

 

[Larrynwin]

Hi Larry and thanks for that, any idea how to isolate the reversing camera??

Cheers

Stewart

It is in the power unit area above the drivers seat.
If you can't find it I will have a look in the morning to double check

Larry

 

[hilldweller]

A different beast I know, but I leave my newish car with the alarm set for 4-5 weeks winter and summer whilst away at sea and its never let me down seemingly having loads of "oomph" left in battery???
Stewart:Sad:

There are good electronic engineers and crap ones.

When confronted by a 100Ah battery a bad engineer will just think "infinite power" and fritter away your amps. A good one will see the big picture and have the electronics running below the self discharge rate of the battery.

 

[Gonewiththewind]

My Bus as a switch to connect the hab bat, through to the cab bat, just for such occasions.

Don

O and a merry Christmas to all.

 

[tiggs]

Hi we had the same problem with our Swift now a 10mm spanner is kept in the door pocket and the battery gets disconnected when it goes into storage and also when we are on site for any length of time becouse my hubby got fed up with the horn going off when you are sat in the swivel seat and lean on the steering wheel

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[Stewart J]

It is in the power unit area above the drivers seat.
If you can't find it I will have a look in the morning to double check

Larry

Hi again Larry have had a good look at all the fuse identifiers on the power unit nothing is marked as "reversing camera"?

ATB

Stewart

 

[Larrynwin]

Hi again Larry have had a good look at all the fuse identifiers on the power unit nothing is marked as "reversing camera"?

ATB

Stewart

Hi Stewart will go and have a look now

Larry

 

[Larrynwin]

Hi Stewart took a couple of pics, this tracker is on an 09 plate , yours may be different.
The reversing camera switch is the little rocker on the extreme right

Hope this helps

Larry

 

[hilldweller]

Hope this helps

Larry

Grim, frightens me to death.

At first sight "Oh what a neat control panel".

But the reality is all the mains, the battery charger and fuses in one unit means that at some time if any one part goes wrong you are ripping so many wires and the whole van is shut down while an expensive new unit appears.

 

[Larrynwin]

Grim, frightens me to death.

At first sight "Oh what a neat control panel".

But the reality is all the mains, the battery charger and fuses in one unit means that at some time if any one part goes wrong you are ripping so many wires and the whole van is shut down while an expensive new unit appears.

I don't know what is best Brian, in my RV, 12v and mains at a glance are all over the place, for me to find anything would be a nightmare . I don't think they refer to drawings oh:
Larry