Help. Van won't start. totally dead

[hogger]

Hi Campers

Not been on for months as we've managed a weekend in van since we got it last September. I went over today and it's totally dead. No lights, alarm, central locking...nothing.
I was going over each month to pay the storage rent and starting it up and running for a while, I brought it home and hooked it up overnight before Christmas too.
I realise it's not ideal to leave the van all that time without a good run. Van's a hymer 568. fiat ducato. I'm not sure where the cab battery is on my van but I found a battery under a panel in cab floor so hooked up a battery booster pack. Nothing.
I think I'm going to put in a new one, any ideas on brand/cost ?
I'm going to have to call Green Flag tomorrow to try and get it going and take it to a local repair place.

any advice welcome and thanks in advance

 

[Wabs]

Sadly lockdown started just after I took it back to storage and before I was able go into storage again

Same for me, I have solar,and all the gubbins,,but there’s been bugger all sun,,and she’s been in storage for 4 months,,had to buy a new cab battery,,but that’s fine,it was old anyway,,I’m not going to upset myself over it,,one of the joys of MHs,, if I had to buy a new battery every year no problem, a drop in the ocean in the big scheme of things

 

[hogger]

Update. Got my battery delivered on Tuesday but still to fit and get van running. I didn't see the point in rushing over to the storage place to then leave the van lying there again while we're still in lockdown. I'm going over today to fit it and get the van started. After that I will be taking the van out every two weeks or so and giving it a run.
I think I may need a Hab battery too as it's flat as well.
I contacted the Motorhome Repair Centre to get the van booked in for a Solar Panel, Tyres and a C rail. Going to be ££££££
Thanks everyone for your input on this. Still to get van started though so wish me luck

 

[hogger]

Hi All,

Well went over and fitted the battery. Started first time The old battery was showing 11.9v resting charge and the new one 12.9v I didn't realise such a small difference would make a difference??
The Hab battery is showing 9.1v.
I've got the van home and will put it on hook up overnight. Do you think it will charge up and be ok again? or should I just get a new one considering they are not that expensive?

 

[uzsnowdrop]

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll have a look at that one

Another vote for Tayna, really helpful firm, I bought a non brand battery from them its been brilliant

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[donkey]

Do you think it will charge up and be ok again?

Hang on my crystal ball is away being serviced. Should be back in a day or two and then I will be in a better position to answer your question

Geoff

 

[hogger]

Hang on my crystal ball is away being serviced. Should be back in a day or two and then I will be in a better position to answer your question

Geoff

That's funny. Thanks for your words of wisdom. I'm a baker/Pastry chef. I know nothing about electrics and new to motor homing. If you want to know how to temper chocolate or about the sourdough process I'd be happy to advise.
You get out of bed the wrong side this morning?

 

[hogger]

Hi All

recommendations for a leisure battery?

 

[Googlebot]

Hi All

recommendations for a leisure battery?

I like the Halfords ones. If you can get one with a trade card, even better.

I think they are rebadged Yuasa.

 

[jockaneezer]

Hi All,

Well went over and fitted the battery. Started first time The old battery was showing 11.9v resting charge and the new one 12.9v I didn't realise such a small difference would make a difference??
The Hab battery is showing 9.1v.
I've got the van home and will put it on hook up overnight. Do you think it will charge up and be ok again? or should I just get a new one considering they are not that expensive?

Your battery was showing 11.9 volts at rest, I bet if you kept your meter on it as you tried to crank it over, it would probably drop to 8 or 9 volts ?
There's no harm in putting your hab battery on charge, might even be worth "cycling" it a couple of times by putting a load (headlamp bulb or similar ?) on it to see if it still has adequate capacity, if not, the scrap man will give you a tenner for it !

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[hogger]

I like the Halfords ones. If you can get one with a trade card, even better.

I think they are rebadged Yuasa.

No trade card but will have a look thanks. I'm on the Tanya website now having a look. It's a Varta that's in the Van now. I had a read through the bumph I got with the van and its says if the leisure battery is discharged below 11v there's the danger of damage so I think it's time for a new one

 

[hogger]

Your battery was showing 11.9 volts at rest, I bet if you kept your meter on it as you tried to crank it over, it would probably drop to 8 or 9 volts ?
There's no harm in putting your hab battery on charge, might even be worth "cycling" it a couple of times by putting a load (headlamp bulb or similar ?) on it to see if it still has adequate capacity, if not, the scrap man will give you a tenner for it !

Wouldn't crank over. No dash lights, nothing. No alarm, central locking or cab lights. Totally dead. Put new battery in and no problem.

 

[Raul]

Hi All,

Well went over and fitted the battery. Started first time The old battery was showing 11.9v resting charge and the new one 12.9v I didn't realise such a small difference would make a difference??
The Hab battery is showing 9.1v.
I've got the van home and will put it on hook up overnight. Do you think it will charge up and be ok again? or should I just get a new one considering they are not that expensive?

You can try giving them a good charge and keep them in float for 2-3 days. Then, Disconnect the charge and let it rest. After 2-3hrs if it shows 12,65v or above, they may have some capacity left. Some capacity will not be recovered due to time sat discharged. Usually a few days sat around 50% charge 12v, is no problem and they can recover. But sat 2-3 weeks or more, they will sulphate and loose capacity, irreversible forever.

 

[mikeandmary]

If your in CMC you can get extra 10% off at Tayna for leisure battery.

 

[Landy Andy]

Hi All

recommendations for a leisure battery?

This are what I’ve fitted in mine, and am very very happy with them.
(Various models/sizes available)

From Tayna again.

GF12065Y Sonnenschein Battery (GF1265Y / GF 12 65 Y)

GF 12 65 Y Sonnenschein GEL/VRLA Battery Sonnenschein is owned by the battery manufacturing giant Exide. With over 130 years in the battery business, Exide are known for their quality in the industry. Sonnenschein were one of the first companies to develop VRLA GEL batteries and to this day they...

www.tayna.co.uk

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Wack]

You could try recovering the battery with one of these , I leave it connected when not in use

CTEK MXS 5.0 12V Charger and Conditioner MULTI XS 5.0 (56-975) MXS5

CTEK MXS 5.0 12V Charger and Conditioner MULTI XS 5.0 (56-975) The MXS 5.0 is a charger that offers state of the art technology that was previously only found in CTEK's professional product range. The charger can solve a broad range of battery-related problems and is the perfect charger for...

www.tayna.co.uk

 

[Wabs]

Hi All,

Well went over and fitted the battery. Started first time The old battery was showing 11.9v resting charge and the new one 12.9v I didn't realise such a small difference would make a difference??
The Hab battery is showing 9.1v.
I've got the van home and will put it on hook up overnight. Do you think it will charge up and be ok again? or should I just get a new one considering they are not that expensive?

Hab batteries are designed to be run almost flat,,you shouldn’t have a problem,,are you using a CTEK on it,?

 

[Wabs]

Sorry didn’t see the previous post,,,

 

[VXman]

Any battery run flat is not good for it. The hab battery in mine is the same as the cab battery so no difference in its operation.

Lead Acid batteries (i.e. flooded, Enhanced Flooded Batteries and Advanced Glass Mat types) prefer to be kept at 90-100% charge (above 12.5 volts), otherwise they sulphate internally. This reduces their capacity and shortens their lives.

If the battery drains completely, there is a risk that it will never recover. The possibility increases the longer the battery has been left discharged and for how much its state-of-charge has dipped below 12.5 volts.

 

[donkey]

That's funny. Thanks for your words of wisdom. I'm a baker/Pastry chef. I know nothing about electrics and new to motor homing. If you want to know how to temper chocolate or about the sourdough process I'd be happy to advise.
You get out of bed the wrong side this morning?

It was never intended to be a serious comment.

I don't even own a crystal ball.

Geoff

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[hogger]

You can try giving them a good charge and keep them in float for 2-3 days. Then, Disconnect the charge and let it rest. After 2-3hrs if it shows 12,65v or above, they may have some capacity left. Some capacity will not be recovered due to time sat discharged. Usually a few days sat around 50% charge 12v, is no problem and they can recover. But sat 2-3 weeks or more, they will sulphate and loose capacity, irreversible forever.

Cheers. The van sat for a six months without being charged apart from going over every month to pay the rent and running the van for 10 minutes or so. Not ideal at all as already knew but new to this and didn't even know where the battery was. I should have taken the batteries home and kept them on charge seeing as we weren't allowed to take the van out due to covid. Going to get a new leisure battery

 

[hogger]

This are what I’ve fitted in mine, and am very very happy with them.
(Various models/sizes available)

From Tayna again.

GF12065Y Sonnenschein Battery (GF1265Y / GF 12 65 Y)

GF 12 65 Y Sonnenschein GEL/VRLA Battery Sonnenschein is owned by the battery manufacturing giant Exide. With over 130 years in the battery business, Exide are known for their quality in the industry. Sonnenschein were one of the first companies to develop VRLA GEL batteries and to this day they...

www.tayna.co.uk

Cheers I'm on their site now, will have a look at them

 

[hogger]

You could try recovering the battery with one of these , I leave it connected when not in use

CTEK MXS 5.0 12V Charger and Conditioner MULTI XS 5.0 (56-975) MXS5

CTEK MXS 5.0 12V Charger and Conditioner MULTI XS 5.0 (56-975) The MXS 5.0 is a charger that offers state of the art technology that was previously only found in CTEK's professional product range. The charger can solve a broad range of battery-related problems and is the perfect charger for...

www.tayna.co.uk

View attachment 475331

Yes got one after recommendation on here. I have the van at home on hook up now so could put it on the hab battery. For peace of mind though I'm more inclined to replace it. I've replaced the cab one so at least I'll know where I'm starting from. I don't know how old the ones fitted were

 

[hogger]

If your in CMC you can get extra 10% off at Tayna for leisure battery.

CMC? caravan and motorhome club? last year I paid membership of this one and one other and that might be it although I'm never on it as I find this site better. I'll check today though. I don't remember seeing anything about the discount on Tanya website. Oh well, lost my 10% discount on cab battery

 

[hogger]

Any battery run flat is not good for it. The hab battery in mine is the same as the cab battery so no difference in its operation.

Lead Acid batteries (i.e. flooded, Enhanced Flooded Batteries and Advanced Glass Mat types) prefer to be kept at 90-100% charge (above 12.5 volts), otherwise they sulphate internally. This reduces their capacity and shortens their lives.

If the battery drains completely, there is a risk that it will never recover. The possibility increases the longer the battery has been left discharged and for how much its state-of-charge has dipped below 12.5 volts.

Thanks for info. The Hab battery was showing 9.1 when I checked it yesterday and been lying like that for a few weeks so going to replace

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Raul]

Thanks for info. The Hab battery was showing 9.1 when I checked it yesterday and been lying like that for a few weeks so going to replace

Bin it, or take it to local scrap merchant, you may get 80p per kg or there abouts for batteries.

 

[VXman]

It's quite surprising the tiny difference in voltage between fully charged and useless. Particularly for a starting battery

 

[Ginster]

Just got back from checking my van after 4 months in storage, leisure battery was good at 13.9, starter battery, flat as a pancake at 0.7. Luckily storage owner is gonna charge it up before my next visit in a couple of weeks happy days!

 

[Scattycat]

When we parked ours up for the winter (or any length of time > a few weeks) we've needed to isolate the battery. On our ducato there's a position on the ignition key to do this. View attachment 472779

Interesting, on our Citroen that's for parking lights

 

[Ginster]

Interesting, on our Citroen that's for parking lights

When we parked ours up for the winter (or any length of time > a few weeks) we've needed to isolate the battery. On our ducato there's a position on the ignition key to do this. View attachment 472779

Mine's a Ducato, wish I'd known that before but will know for next time. Thanks rbescape

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[hogger]

It's quite surprising the tiny difference in voltage between fully charged and useless. Particularly for a starting battery

View attachment 475454

Thanks for the table. I had the van on hook up over the weekend and out for a decent run a couple of times. Despite this the hab battery was showing 12.7 but when I had a couple of lights on, use of stairs and waste pump on it dropped to 12.2 quick so looks like it's not holding charge. I'll leave it until the weekend and check it again and see if it has recovered and holding charge after sitting for a few days. If not I'll be buying a new one to give me peace of mind