Utterly Flat Batteries...

[cuchillo]

Hello all,

Need a bit of advise/help (as usual)

Got the Bongo back at the end of August after being converted (two new batteries were also installed with a split charge relay). Drove it around for the 1st week but it has been standing for the last 2 weeks.

Now, the Bongo has a solar panel (from solarcampersolutions) to keep the fridge going. The 1st week, as the Bongo was on the driveway I checked the solar meter and it was getting a charge. However the last week the wife needed to use the driveway so the Bongo was parked on the street and was not being monitored.

Went to get into it today but the batteries were absolutely dead. Put a meter across them and both the starter and leisure batteries were reading 2.x volts each!!

No idea what sort of parasitic drain would have caused both batteries to flat-line in such a short time!

(Solar panel is still working in that the PV is reading 20V at the moment)

So...

1st off any thoughts?

2ndly, can the batteries be recovered or do I need to buy two new ones?

3rdly, could anyone recommend an auto electrician in the Surrey/Sussex area who would be able to track down and fix this issue.

Many thanks

[g8dhe]

You need to charge the batteries fully ASAP, otherwise they will certainly be dead if left for more than a week or two in that condition, if they aren't already. Use a mains charger on them for several days each.
The Solar panel indicating 20 volts merely means that the panel is in sunlight, you need to set the display to show the battery voltage and charging current. However its unlikely to do any charging when the battery is so low.
Not sure of garages in Surrey so can't comment on that.

[cuchillo]

Wife mentioned that she drove it last Thursday and it was fine.

Have put the jump start pack on charge, will then bring the Bongo back on to the drive and put the batteries on charge.

Yes, the leisure battery is too low for it to show up on the solar panel. Needs to be a min of 9 volts for the solar charger to charge the battery.

The Auto Electrician need not be in Surrey only, Sussex (or even Kent) would be fine.

Many thanks

[Jillygumbo]

Not sure why both batteries are flat but what can drain a leisure battery is - leaving the fridge on 24/7 without ehu hookup. There is a switch near the electrics that you must switch on to charge up the LB from EHU. Just having it plugged in isn't enough.

Even with solar, the days are getting shorter and cloudier! What type of CD/radio thingy do you have? If it's one of these fancy jobs it may be draining the leisure battery all the time. I've had a switch put in so I can switch the CD/radio off altogether if I want.

I went away for a weekend recently when there was bad weather. I didn't even think of it until the fridge wouldn't kick in and I noticed the solar controller was not showing a smiley face anymore. After I'd run the engine a while it was fine but I've got to consider this over the coming months.

[cuchillo]

Hello

I had the solar panel put in specifically so that the fridge could be left on 24/7 as I don't always have access to EHU

The audio head unit is a basic one (out of a JCB I think!). I just use it to Bluetooth my phone to it and everything runs off the phone. I make it a point to turn it off when I get out of the car as it's powered by the leisure battery.

Non of this explains why/how the starter battery died though. <sigh>

Cuch.

[Bongolia]

Hi
AA Auto Electrics , Conaught Way Business Centre, Imperial Way
Croydon, Surrey.
020 8 681 8644
They deal with our "awkward" ones.
They have been around for a number of years and have an excellent rep.

Tell them Orchard Garage suggested you ring them.

[g8dhe]

Regarding the Solar Panel, it can run the fridge 24/365, but you do have to think about placement of the van to achieve that 365 days of the year!
We used to park the van in a back drive, which was about 20-30m from either row of houses and no trees, this worked very well as it would see sun from basically 1 after sunrise to an hour before sunset all year long, no problem 24/365 running on the fridge.
However when we moved it to the front drive, it doesn't see the sun until 10:30-11:00 especially during winter and likewise from about 15:00 it would be in shade again, OK the panel will produce power from the scattered light but not to the same extent even if your using an MPPT controller, consequently its fine during summer but come autumn and winter its not enough to power the fridge 24/7.

[cuchillo]

Thanks Bongolia

Hi
AA Auto Electrics , Conaught Way Business Centre, Imperial Way
Croydon, Surrey.
020 8 681 8644
They deal with our "awkward" ones.
They have been around for a number of years and have an excellent rep.

Tell them Orchard Garage suggested you ring them.

[cuchillo]

Hello

The side of the road I tend to park it on has the "best" sun exposure on the road. So much so that I have to cover as much of the glass as possible as the interior temperature climbs into the high 30's.

Yes, also using an MPPT to help "smooth out" the available light.

Regarding the Solar Panel, it can run the fridge 24/365, but you do have to think about placement of the van to achieve that 365 days of the year!
We used to park the van in a back drive, which was about 20-30m from either row of houses and no trees, this worked very well as it would see sun from basically 1 after sunrise to an hour before sunset all year long, no problem 24/365 running on the fridge.
However when we moved it to the front drive, it doesn't see the sun until 10:30-11:00 especially during winter and likewise from about 15:00 it would be in shade again, OK the panel will produce power from the scattered light but not to the same extent even if your using an MPPT controller, consequently its fine during summer but come autumn and winter its not enough to power the fridge 24/7.

[Bob]

It honestly is asking a lot to leave the fridge on permanently.

Might be worth turning it off when not in use.

[windywatson]

Hi
You say that you have just had the conversion done. Sounds to me like the installers have wired something up incorrectly to flatten both batteries. I could think of a number of reasons that the LB might be dead after a week or so if something had been left on like the fridge. However the conversion equipment shouldn't be effecting the starter battery. I would get it back to the converters. And if it's their fault get them to replace the batteries if they are not recoverable. The batteries will be linked via a split charge system, so it is possible that there could be a fault within this area of the wiring as that's common to both. Best of luck getting it fixed.

Cheers

[roosmith]

We have a compressor fridge so might not be applicable however it has a safety cut out, so that the battery can never get that low. What fridge have you got, is there not a safety cut off on it?

There must be a number of factors at play here but leaving the fridge on will be top of the list. The split charge relay must be wired wrong as well for the starter to have been drained.

[cuchillo]

Hello,

Hi
You say that you have just had the conversion done. Sounds to me like the installers have wired something up incorrectly to flatten both batteries. I could think of a number of reasons that the LB might be dead after a week or so if something had been left on like the fridge. However the conversion equipment shouldn't be effecting the starter battery. I would get it back to the converters. And if it's their fault get them to replace the batteries if they are not recoverable. The batteries will be linked via a split charge system, so it is possible that there could be a fault within this area of the wiring as that's common to both. Best of luck getting it fixed.

Cheers

Hard to tell if it was something that got messed up during the installation or not as prior to the conversion the Bongo had always been on a trickle charger when not being used as its an occasional vehicle.

But yes, it is very strange that both batteries died.

[cuchillo]

We have a compressor fridge so might not be applicable however it has a safety cut out, so that the battery can never get that low. What fridge have you got, is there not a safety cut off on it?

There must be a number of factors at play here but leaving the fridge on will be top of the list. The split charge relay must be wired wrong as well for the starter to have been drained.

The fridge is a Waeco CB36 or CB40 which does claim to have an under-voltage protection mechanism, so, in theory it should not have been the fridge that drained the battery. However, if not that then what? I did not have anything obvious left on (no habitation or courtesy light were left on. The radio was switched off. Nothing plugged into the cigarette lighter sockets or a wall/usb sockets ..... What else could have been draining it?

[rita]

Maybe the "under-voltage protection mechanism" is not working/operating as it should.

Good Luck.