Battery problem after being on hook up for night

[Poodle1]

Hi,
Please could anyone help...???
Our recently bought Bongo is struggling to start after we have had it on hook up overnight and we’re not sure if we’re doing something wrong re battery charging/not charging/ no idea!!

It has a new starter battery and it has started every time, so far after being sat on the drive for a few days. The problem is when we go away (only been twice but only had it a few weeks).
Both times we have used electric hook up for an over night stay the Bongo really struggles to start.
Does anyone have a similar problem who could share what they did please? I know that this isn’t uncommon but I have absolutely no idea how/what/where or even when re engines.
Thank you

[g8dhe]

Not all conversions include a charger to run the 12 volts when on EHU. Its best to have a Leisure battery installed, coupled with the Split Charge Relay, this charges the LB when driving, but if your going to park up for several nights then you need a Charger to run the 12 volts and charge the LB as a minimum.

[gilly99]

Has your conversion got a battery selector panel, with a rocker switch with three positions "Car" "Off" or "Van"> Depending on the conversion / detail electrical wiring, the position of this switch could affect which battery gets charged from the hookup.
https://tnaew4dtuh736c6mwiemai6w-wpengi ... /meter.jpg

[Bob]

Good point Geoff.

Some basic hook up systems only supply one or two mains sockets, nowt else.

Also good thinking from Gilly99.

[Poodle1]

Hi, thank you for your reply, yes we have a standard set up leisure battery split charging system. On the power mains system board it has the switches to go from van, off to leisure.
We’ve just been testing a few things, when not on hook up the 2 power sockets in the van(normal 3 pin ones) don’t work. Everything else does. But the battery charging light goes from medium to normal quiet quickly (30 secs). So not sure if that should happen so quickly, only had the fridge on at the time. We we’re wandering, is the leisure battery a bit old and taking charge from the starter battery (??)
If we turn the engine on it goes to high within again approximately 30 secs.
Gilly99 yes we do have that so we made sure that they were switched to van.
Thank you so much for your advice everyone

[Poodle1]

Sorry the power system board is car off van so when on hook up we make sure it’s switched to van. All the rest of the time it’s on off.
Sorry my camper van lingo is shocking

[gilly99]

If your rocker switch is set to "Van", does the meter show a voltage?? If it does, then this is almost certainly the state of the leisure battery. Without hookup, this would show in the high amber or green zone when under load (eg your fridge running) on a nominally charged battery. If the battery is receiving charge when on hookup, this voltage would normally instantly rise to show high end of the green scale. Similar when charging from the alternator when driving.

On some conversions, if you move this switch to "Car" the volt meter then shows the starter battery condition, and if so you could then see if the hookup is also charging this battery.

However, if all above normal, that then does not explain why starter battery is draining or not having enough power to crank the engine after a night on hookup. You could ask other friendly campers with some knowledge and a volt meter to try identify how your system works, or take the van back to where you bought it for a demonstration.

Note, there will also be a 240v fuse box local to the hookup entry point. Essentially, this is similar to a consumer unit in your house - DO NOT mess around with that, especially when on 240v hookup.

[Poodle1]

Yep it does all that just as you say....
thank you for making sense of my rambling and providing advice.
I think we need to do some more investigation.
We still keep wondering if even when on hook up if there’s a fault in the system, could that lead to draining the starter battery??
Thank you again x

[gilly99]

A fault in system or battery is possible, but maybe just thought of a much more simple explanation...... are you turning on the vehicle courtesy lights? Either in the cab or in the rear of van near tailgate?? They are so dim as near useless, so easy to ignore and assume low power, but they are a large drain and almost certainly still connnected to the main starter battery as were not worth the hassle to change over during the camper conversion.

Or are you connecting anything to the factory standard vehicle 12v cigarette sockets in the cab or rear ? Again, these are likely connected to the main starter battery.

If so, could be a real easy fix!!!!

[Bob]

I've been caught by storing stuff in the driver's footwell on site.

Pedal pressed and brake lights come on - not wired through ignition.

[Poodle1]

Arh yes we did use the lights for a short while, so that could be the culprit!! Thank you for that.
Thanks for the heads up on the brake light pedal Bob, I will watch for that one too.
Thanks again for all the advice, amazing