Starter battery change

[AlunandFelicie]

Our van failed to start yesterday after a long lay up on EHU ,the panel shows 12.3v and we have a battery master fitted ,it tried to start all the lights on dash as normal but didn’t kick over , as far as I know the battery is the original (18 plate) so time to renew?

 

[Keep Right On]

On a 10 month old van, I hope that was done for you under warranty?

Didnt have time to faff about as due to go to dealers for px.....

 

[AdrianChen]

AA mobile replaced my stop/start - so had to have an AGM (or AMG?) £264 supplied and fitted including recoding.
Diagnosed old battery first - voltage good but ampage not. Interesting that on 10 month old van - 2500 miles - that existing battery was 835 days old....

Absorbed Glass Mat

My theory is on a lot of the delayed 21/22 vans the batteries sat around in stores before being added to whatever production actually occurred at the vehicle manufacturer, and then again when at the "converter" and possibly again in the 2-3 months it was taking for vans to come from Europe to the UK. A lot of that time I don't think they were being maintained at all - - our 2021 plate Merc starter (AGM) voltages looked fine, but the capacity meant it was flat in about 3 days if there was no solar. On our 22 plate Carthago, the starter battery is definitely well down on capacity, and only viable because of the solar/leisure batts and Ablemail battery maintainer. It wouldn't surprise me if it was less than half of it's sticker capacity but can still start the engine. Its voltage does drop very steeply when the ignition is turned on and the blind motor starts, usually followed by the pump topping up the air suspension tank.....