Leisure battery draining.....

[Vrichings]

Hello,
I have had a look on the forums and am not sure where to go next with this....

It may be unrelated, but my silencer fell off last week (and I am awaiting the part with the pipe secured underneath).
The day after I did an hour drive and then was out the van for 4 hours and noticed that my clock had stopped when I got back in.
I have a split charge relay, so I thought it was odd that the clock would stop as it means the leisure battery has run out of power.

Later that day (after another hours drive) when I parked up with the ignition off, I went to flip my mirrors in and they didn't work...another power issue. I restarted the van and the glowplug/coil light didn't go off but slowly flashed. I had a look on here and it seemed that it was telling me that my LB was knackered.

I decided to order a new LB, as mine is 75Ah and a good few years old. I got a 100Ah one and fitted it yesterday.
All was well when I went pack to the van after 2 hours, the clock was working etc. Then I drove for 20 mins, parked up for 3 hours and when I got back in the clock had stopped the moment I had stopped the engine 3 hours ago.

I do have a squeal from a belt at the moment (which sounds like it's from the front engine bay), but I am going to try and look at that once the torrential rain has stopped here. If it is the alternator, could that be the problem?

I am also going to check fuses, but the van came to me with the SCR and I am unsure what one it is and what fuses relate to it. I have looked at some videos of fitting them, but if mine is different.....well.

I have a battery isolater for the LB coming from amazon today, I will fit that, give the LB a charge tonight and then isolate it to stop it draining my lovely new LB for now until I find the issue.

Please can anyone suggest what I should do/look at/sort out next?
The van is my daily drive and it just seems to be falling apart right now!

Sorry for the long post, I am happy to give stuff a go, but I don't want to make things worse!

[g8dhe]

There are several possibilities, but one stands out to as you say the clock driven by the LB stopped as you switched off, this is indicative of the two charging fuses - one close to each battery - having blown, in fact it suggests that the one closest to the LB has failed but you must always replace BOTH charging fuses as when one blows the other was just milliseconds behind and will be damaged as well. However there are other possibilities. If one of the charging fuses has blown then replace both and then either charge the LB from a charger or if you can only charge from the alternator, then don't rev the engine at all just let it tickover for as long as you possibly can otherwise with a flat LB the charging current will soar again and likely blow the fuse so get as much charge in the LB when the alternator is not generating its full output!

[Vrichings]

Thank you very much for replying. I am going to have a look at the fuses today.
I have a trickle charger, so I’ll use that to rejuice the LB.

Fingers crossed it is something simple such as the fuses.

[Vrichings]

Update
I bloody love this place.
Just ventured out in the rain and found that one of the big flat fuses closest to the LB has indeed blown.
Thank you so much.

They should be 50amp strip fuses as far as I can see from other posts. Is that right?
I’m off to Halfrauds later then!

[g8dhe]

Fuses are selected on the basis of the wire they are protecting, so you would expect the fuse to be rated at around or just below the wire rating in most cases (there can be exceptions where it could be less).
The wire size is selected on the basis of both the current being drawn thru the wire and the length of the wire, the point being to ensure that there isn't a significant voltage drop across the length of wire. So a wire going the full length of the van might be a bigger gauge than one just crossing the bonnet, however the fuse will always be equal to or below the rating of the wire, and hence always greater than the current being drawn by what the wire connects to.

[mikeonb4c]

That's a big fuse to go pop for no reason, there must be something that caused that, maybe when changed battery... Or possibly alternator related, you mentioned a squeal, investigate that still maybe

Tend to agree. And this bit puzzled me

I restarted the van and the glowplug/coil light didn't go off but slowly flashed. I had a look on here and it seemed that it was telling me that my LB was knackered.

Not heard that one before and Bongo factory systems were not (as far as i know) designed to report on leisure battery issues (because one was not fitted as a factory option - the twin battery option is something different). Happy to be wrong but...

[g8dhe]

What the flashing glowplug light is telling you is that there is an error, however one of the errors can be loss of backup supply, which can be caused of course by a flat LB as the swap loom moves that circuit across to the LB. You won't find any error code for "Flat leisure battery" nor is there a code that I've found for "Loss of backup supply" it just flashes without any error code to be read out it would seem. The best you will find is on the OBDII error numbers is ECM/TCM battery voltage low P1562 & P1566 but not seen on a Bongo it would appear.

[mikeonb4c]

What the flashing glowplug light is telling you is that there is an error, however one of the errors can be loss of backup supply, which can be caused of course by a flat LB as the swap loom moves that circuit across to the LB. You won't find any error code for "Flat leisure battery" nor is there a code that I've found for "Loss of backup supply" it just flashes without any error code to be read out it would seem. The best you will find is on the OBDII error numbers is ECM/TCM battery voltage low P1562 & P1566 but not seen on a Bongo it would appear.

Great authoritative info as ever Geoff

[Vrichings]

Thank you so much everyone.
The LB and two strip fuses have now been replace and I have tightened up the alternator belts too.
No more squeal!
Everything seems okay for now....

Now it has be thinking about a compressor fridge to replace my coolbox and a solar panel....

[mikeonb4c]

Now it has be thinking about a compressor fridge to replace my coolbox and a solar panel....

Thats what i did. Expensive but incredibly nice to have as it gives me off grid ability

[Vrichings]

Now it has be thinking about a compressor fridge to replace my coolbox and a solar panel....

Thats what i did. Expensive but incredibly nice to have as it gives me off grid ability

Out of interest, what fridge did you get?

[mikeonb4c]

Now it has be thinking about a compressor fridge to replace my coolbox and a solar panel....

Thats what i did. Expensive but incredibly nice to have as it gives me off grid ability

Out of interest, what fridge did you get?

Waeco cf18 2nd hand excellent condition with insulating jacket. V well priced from a BF member at around £250 i think. 100w Solar panel kit with mppt victron controller and bluetooth thing best part of £500 i think from Solar Camper Solutions cos he's ex Bongo and does a quality components diy kit which i felt worth paying the extra for peace of mind. No regrets as they"ve both served me very well.