Too many batteries

[JonWM]

So. I tried to start my bongo this evening and it only took a few minutes, it didn't start first time and it wasn't long before the battery was flat.
Now under the bonner I have two batteries. Is one for leisure (i have it fitted with a rear kitchen unit) and one for engine?
if so which is the engine one.
My guess is that it is the one on the driver side which looks a bit ropey.

If both are engines ones then .....

Jon

[mister munkey]

Some Bongos come fitted with twin batteries, this is known as the Winter Pack. If yours has a split charge relay fitted then its likely that the passenger side battery has been changed to a lesiure battery leaving the drivers side one running as a starter.

Firstly you should be looking as to why its a troublesome starter before wasting money on bits you don't need. When you say it

looks a bit ropey

, what exactly do you mean?

[Rhod]

Factory fitted kitchen (Mazda Cube) or aftermarket? The Cube & the occasional aftermarket unit have the leisure battery fitted inside them, rather than under the bonnet.

[JonWM]

I don't think the kitchen is a Mazda Cube, also I am not sure what one of this is, but the kitchen doesn't look cubic.

Anyway the kitchen thing looks a bit old and is mainly grey. It spans the entire back of the van and from the left (drivers side) it has a sink, double burner and then cupboard to the ceiling and a fridge underneath the cupboard.
When you open the tailgate you can get access to the back of the fridge, water bottle and gas bottle and junk.

I think the second battery is a leisure one as the sink pump works when the engine is off but that could be a naive analysis.
The guy who sold it to me said the right hand battery was a leisure battery but he aslo told me there were no problems with the van and given the number of faults on it then he can't be trusted.

My definition of ropey for the other battery is that it looks old. But then again so do I.

Jon

[mister munkey]

The Mazda unit looks like this



If yours has no battery inside the unit, its a fair bet that one of the batteries has at least been wired up to the sink (as mine is, but mine isn't a lesiure battery set up yet) As far as I know, its generally the passenger side one that gets switched to a LB but only after installing a Split Charge Relay kit.

[Rhod]

No, it's not a factory fit kitchen.
Most likely the nearside battery is a leisure battery, in which case there will be a split charge relay between the two batteries. While unlikely, it's not impossible that you have a standard Mazda winter battery set-up with two batteries & the converter has simply wired the kitchen unit straight into the starter battery set-up - it will work whether or not the engine is on. Unlikely I'd have thought, & fairly obvious due to the lack of a split-charge relay. If you disconnect the main (offside)battery & the sink pump still works then that should confirm that it is running off the nearside battery, which is a leisure battery.

[stilldesperate]

Hi Jon,

I 'd back up Rhods post (evenin Rhod ), and add that if the batteries don't have a split charge relay, then your kitchen might be using power out of both batteries when stood.

Some thoughts are:

Look at the positive wire between the batteries, does it connect straigh across (no split charge system), or is there a relay in-between?

If there is a split charge relay, disconnect one positive (careful not to ground it, just in case) and see if your kitchen unit works. This will identify which battery does what.

Charge the starting battery, and see if it holds it's voltage overnight when not connected.

SD

[Bob]

Pretty much any garage or tyre/exhaust centre can test your battery in a few seconds.

Might pay to take it along, even if it means removing it and taking it by car.

[JonWM]

Firstly thanks for all the replies.

Secondly my kitchen doesn't look anywhere near as modern as the one shown by Mister Munkey.

Thirdly i check out the wires and relay stuff in the morning and get back to you.

Fourthly and it may be a clues but I read somewhere on another thread that problems with the engine starting may be battery problems. I do hear the click when the glow plug light goes on and if the engine doesn't start the very first time (which it has done a couple of times) then you need to keep turning it over till it kicks in (with piles of smoke for a short while). The van had been in a run to Cardiff from Swindon on Saturday and the battery should have been fully charged.

One final comment is tha the bloke i bought it from said the batteries were fully charged - which in hindsight is an odd thing to say - you wouldn't normally bring up battery charge during a sale.

Jon

[westonwarrior]

I think you should consider getting your glow plugs checked/changed

[Alison01326]

Are you the person who asked about the winter engine switch thingy? Did you disconnect it? Are you sure you disconnected the right wires?

I know nothing about anything electrical but just thought I'd mention that.

[JonWM]

Rob - have got some glo plugs on order.
Alison - No i haven't disconnected that switch thing yet but it is in the off position just now.

Have got a lot of time on my hands tonight so shall fiddle with things.

Jon

[Bob]

The valve in the exhaust system can jam in the 'On' position. even if the switch is 'Off'.

Try a search with something like 'Winter And Pack', or 'Exhaust And Valve'.

[JonWM]

OK.

I have been fiddling. The wiring between the batteries is a lead between the 2 positive with some kind of box within the lead - presume this is the charging relay thingy. The driver side battery seems to be the engine one as there are loads of fuses and other leads etc connected to it. The passenger side battery one only has 2 leads from the +ve - one going to the other battery and another looking like it goes into the glove compartment area and has an inline fuse. Presume this goes off to the kitchen area.

However when i remove the engine battery nothing in the van works not even the sink pump - so not sure what is going on there. Will investigate further once it stops bl**dy raining.

Jon

[Alison01326]

Has it stopped raining yet? How are you doing with your batteries?