Battery Woes

[spitineye]

Hello all, hope you are enjoying the holiday season,

I've come to realise my leisure battery is toast, as it wont hold a charge. I 1st thought it was my smart relay set wrong, but having 'hard-wired' the batteries together (disconnecting the adjoining fuse when using the leisure battery) it is indeed the battery that is gubbed.

Now, as we're just back from holidays and have been lazing about all weekend, i discovered this morning i forgot to remove the fuse from said joeyed up contraption and the main battery has been discharged, possibly due to stereo being left on! Had to pinch the missus' car to get to work.
I have a new leisure battery still to fit, so would it be safe enough to connect him up in this fashion in the hope that it will trickle into the main battery enough to start it? or maybe use the leisure battery in parallel to start 'em up?

hmm.

any help would be great
Craig

[westonwarrior]

use jump leads and jump start it that way and charge the main battery before fitting the new leisure battery.

Thats what I would do. the power draw trying to start the car may cause thiner cable to overheat and leaving it to trickle charge from the leisure battery may leave you with 2 flat batterys

[francophile1947]

I agree with Rob. The new leisure battery will only be flattened by the flat starter battery (which was probably flattened by the old leisure battery, rather than the radio) and probably won't have the power to start your Bongo. Jump leads from your wife's car, or a battery charger, are your best bet.

[MountainGoat]

It's just happened to me. I have a Willinton Split charging wiring loom with clock, radio, lights and blinds working off the Leisure battery. Not used the Bongo since I returned from York six weeks ago and failed to keep check on my Leisure battery's condition as I have been slaving away in the garden. First indication was that the internal lights would not work, wipped out the multimeter to check the batteries. Starter battery was fine but Leisure battery was toast, had gone down to 2.5 volts. Have ordered a new battey from Tayna, a Elecsol 100v Carbon Fibre battery; just hoping that it arrives by Friday morning or I am stuck for Allithwaite on Friday night.

I've got to do something to avoid this happening again (it's expensive writting off batteries prematurely). I have come to think that the best course of action would be to fit a Digital Voltmeter on the dash connected to the Leisure battery. This one comes in mind. Any better suggestions from you experts out there.

Tony

http://www1.conrad-uk.com/scripts/wgate ... akt_image=

http://www1.conrad-uk.com/scripts/wgate ... results=20

[BrixhamBongo]

It's just happened to me. I have a Willinton Split charging wiring loom with clock, radio, lights and blinds working off the Leisure battery. Not used the Bongo since I returned from York six weeks ago and failed to keep check on my Leisure battery's condition as I have been slaving away in the garden. First indication was that the internal lights would not work, wipped out the multimeter to check the batteries. Starter battery was fine but Leisure battery was toast, had gone down to 2.5 volts. Have ordered a new battey from Tayna, a Elecsol 100v Carbon Fibre battery; just hoping that it arrives by Friday morning or I am stuck for Allithwaite on Friday night.

I've got to do something to avoid this happening again (it's expensive writting off batteries prematurely). I have come to think that the best course of action would be to fit a Digital Voltmeter on the dash connected to the Leisure battery. This one comes in mind. Any better suggestions from you experts out there.

surely with the willinton kit this shouldnt happen?

[MountainGoat]

That is what I thought but I can't find any blown fuses, might have missed one though. But as I said my bongo has not been driven for six weeks, could the radio and the clock have emptied the Leisure Battery.

Tony

[BrixhamBongo]

only if you left it on for 6 weeks

seriously though you wouldnt expect this unless the battery was really low to start of with
what size ah battery is it and how old ?

[MountainGoat]

85Amp and 2½ years.

Tony

[spitineye]

lets just say we were all wrong....or right

Yesterday lunchtime, i popped home to have a fiddle .
I fitted the new leisure battery and connected up in the afore-mentioned rough manner in an attempt to starting it up. It obviously blew the fuses with such a big draw, so i replaced the fuses and returned to work, in vain, leaving it to (hopefully) trickle through. I went to Halfrauds to get a charger after work then home again only to find the Bongo started first time! Leisure battery seems relatively unaffected too.

[francophile1947]

To be honest, a battery charger is the best thing you could do. I always give my LB an overnight boost before going away

[BongoMTBer]

It's just happened to me. I have a Willinton Split charging wiring loom with clock, radio, lights and blinds working off the Leisure battery. Not used the Bongo since I returned from York six weeks ago and failed to keep check on my Leisure battery's condition as I have been slaving away in the garden. First indication was that the internal lights would not work, wipped out the multimeter to check the batteries. Starter battery was fine but Leisure battery was toast, had gone down to 2.5 volts. Have ordered a new battey from Tayna, a Elecsol 100v Carbon Fibre battery; just hoping that it arrives by Friday morning or I am stuck for Allithwaite on Friday night.

I've got to do something to avoid this happening again (it's expensive writting off batteries prematurely). I have come to think that the best course of action would be to fit a Digital Voltmeter on the dash connected to the Leisure battery. This one comes in mind. Any better suggestions from you experts out there.

Tony

http://www1.conrad-uk.com/scripts/wgate ... akt_image=

http://www1.conrad-uk.com/scripts/wgate ... results=20

Mountain Goat, your links don't work.

However, I bought a 200 amp ammeter with shunt: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DC-50V-200A-Blue- ... 7C294%3A30

.. and a voltmeter: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/20V-Blue-LED-Volt ... 7C294%3A30

I mounted them in a black plastic box with a switch on them in the back on the kitchen unit. I spliced the shunt which I fused with a 60 amp car audio unit from maplin into the main lead into the LB. It tells me the current draw and gives a negative figure when charging with the engin running or when on hook-up. You can also use it to set up the voltage threshold on your VSR if you want. I think the intelligent charger cost around £40, and the meters and shunt around £45. I also put some very high current wire from the LB to the kitchen unit where I have a 600w inverter (can draw upto 60 amps when I run a compressor off it) which has reduced the voltage drop from front to rear.

So, for well under £100 I have all the funtionality of a Zig unit.

It is also ubseful to see what rate the LB is charging at when the engine is running and the LB has had a bit of a workout with no hook-up.

The LEDs draw less than o.1 amp, so no worries about leaving them on for a long time and draining the LB.

It works a treat!

[MountainGoat]

Blast! they seemed to work when I tested them but I can't find them now. Anyway the Led voltage meters that you have is probablly just what I need. But I want with green leds to match all the other dials on my dash. The website you got yours from seems to have meters with only red or blue leds.

Tony

[malabar]

While we're on the subject - we have a leisure battery run down. It's one of the original Japanese batteries that was used for a leisure battery when we had the van coverted. I am amazed that an original would last so long, as presumably it has to be over 10 years old! However! Now that it has to be replaced, can any of you wizards tell me a battery type that would be OK with the main battery, and where to get it? (The main is also the original Japanese, but running right up to charge, as checked by Halfords.) All advice gratefully received, as ever. Cheers! Malabar.

[BrixhamBongo]

i bought this one http://www.tayna.co.uk/Numax-CXV27MF-P3665.html

got it online came in a couple of days, you just need to check the dimensions

[missfixit70]

I got one like this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/20V-DC-ON-OFF-BLU ... 286.c0.m14 rigged it with a small on-off-on toggle switch so I can check LB & Starter battery. Mounted it in the small storage cubby above the fuse box, had to trim the corners to make it an interference fit, but it works & looks great.