How to monitor how much charge in LB

[steviebongo]

Tony I got it on ebay aboot 9 months ago,the topic and item were mentioned on this page i think as to fitting i could wire it up depending how ure l/b is wired mines is a willintonkit fitted.and where u want it fitted too ifitted into the spare switch blank space but was fidly to get it to stay put eventually using a old carpet tile as surround



cheers stevie

[MountainGoat]

Stevie. My Bongo has a Willinton Wiring Loom fitted too, voltmeter will go besides the clock the same as Dave's Bongo. All the other possible places for it to go are full up. I would prefer a switched one like Dave's but in Green if I can find one.

Tony

[steviebongo]

Hi tony had a quik look back to see if they still do the same meter ,better than that ifound a meter with a built in on/off button in green that looks very similar to mine albeit newer spec.the ebay no is250497635523,it.s a wee bit dearer but it has a the on/off button whitch means u dont have to fit one.hope this helps.




cheers stevie

[hembramacho]

Had a volt tester on my Leisure Battery tonight and it looks like I've got a dud! With nothing coming off it you could see it just ticking down slowly. Is under warranty so will get it changed next week - will just have to be careful in Silverdale this weekend to make sure we don't run it down.

Andrew

[missfixit70]

How long after driving/runnning the engine was that & what voltages was it goingfrom/to?

[hembramacho]

How long after driving/runnning the engine was that & what voltages was it goingfrom/to?

After driving 10 mins and having it standing about an hour it was on about 12.50 volts and was basically ticking down one digit every 10 seconds.

Andrew

[missfixit70]

May be you've got a current draw rather than the battery's goosed? disconnect it & see what it stands at in the morning.

[MountainGoat]

When my Leisure battery kept running down not long ago we found that I had left the fridge on High drawing about 3Amps and somehow turning off the power management Unit /Zig Unit was not shutting the fridge down. I now double check that the fridge if off from the control inside it and have fitted an insolator to my leisure battery for when my Bongo is parked up and unused.

Tony

[hembramacho]

The reason I think the the battery is up the duff is that when there was absolutely nothing switched on it was still losing charge at quite a quick rate. The company I got it from is more than happy to replace it under warranty so I might as well take the new one. Hopefully I can then monitor my new one with my new volt meter courtesy of daveblueozzie!

Andrew

[missfixit70]

If you've got your stereo on the LB that could be drawing current even switched off, that can be quite a lot on some of the newer ones with bluetooth etc, I like many other, have fitted a switch to switch it off completely as if the ignition was being switched off, made a hell of a difference to what was being drawn fronm the battery with nothing apparantly on.

[hembramacho]

If you've got your stereo on the LB that could be drawing current even switched off, that can be quite a lot on some of the newer ones with bluetooth etc, I like many other, have fitted a switch to switch it off completely as if the ignition was being switched off, made a hell of a difference to what was being drawn fronm the battery with nothing apparantly on.

Fair point. I believe stereos have 2 power sources so that you don't lose the code when you switch it off - ie there is a constant live to it. Even with this in mind I can't see it would take so much power from the LB. With the switch that switches it off completely, does that mean you need to input the security code each time you switch it on?

Andrew

[missfixit70]

No, it's just doing the same thing as switching off the ignition, which doesn't happen when it's on the LB, it remains on standby I think with some of them, there is still a memory feed on mine.

[hembramacho]

No, it's just doing the same thing as switching off the ignition, which doesn't happen when it's on the LB, it remains on standby I think with some of them, there is still a memory feed on mine.

As far as i can work out if you switch the power off on the actual stereo then the power is off and it's just using minimal power for the secondary 'no need to put the code in' system.

Andrew

[missfixit70]

Have you checked to see if it's drawing any current, or are you just assuming? If you disconnect the LB & see if it carries on losing charge over 24 hours or so, you'll know if it's the battery or a current draw elsewhere.

[missfixit70]

This post - http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... ch#p250974 particularly Stringman's post may be of interest.