Battery keeps going flat

[Darcy]

Due to my own stupidity of neglecting the bongo over winter, I had to have the starter battery replaced a few months ago. Since then it went flat on 2 separate occasions whilst I was camping (with EHU). Good old AA man told me the 'new' battery was only working at 2 thirds capacity, so I got it checked out at my local garage (they fitted it).They couldn't find anything wrong, fully charged it & sent me on my way.

Few days later wouldn't start, garage came & started it, took it back in for a few days to test, bought it back & said all ok, battery fine & can't find any drain. Few days later, wouldn't start, same scenario with the garage. This happened a 3rd time too.

Went to start it yesterday, almost started 1st time, but died, and now won't start again. Currently waiting for the garage to come pick it up.

So obviously I'm annoyed that my garage are not sussing out what the problem is and I was wondering if anyone could offer some advice. Please bear in mind that I'm not technical & would not be able to carry out any checks/work myself.

Also, on the database I saw a garage in Hatfield Peveral, Essex (not that far away-if I can get started!) that deals with Bongo's, can anyone confirm that is still the case?

Vehicle:Ford Freda 2.5td 4wd 1995 Full camper conversion

[g8dhe]

There are several things that could be wrong;
1. The alternator may not be working correctly and is not adequately charging the battery.
2. A faulty door switch is leaving a light on.
3. Some other device has been fitted and is drawing current.

If you have a multi-meter then you could check the current being drawn when everything is off from the battery.

You have a full camper conversion did that not include a Leisure Battery ?

[Darcy]

Hi Geoff,
yes, it did include a leisure battery. Also, the garage advised that the alternator was fine. I've seen a few posts that mention split relay chargers not being fitted properly or fit for purpose? Could this be an issue?

[g8dhe]

Yes that's why I was querying it, who did the Camper conversion, was it one of the larger companies or a local garage type ?
Do you know if the L/B is holding up OK - if you are always on EHU then it may however be being charged thru that route.

Basically the easiest way of locating these types of faults is to measure the current being taken from the battery when everything is switched off and then tracking down which device is using any excessive current. Have the 12 volt sockets been switched over the L/B ?

[Darcy]

Yes, one of the larger reputable importers did the conversion.
There is a green light on the leisure battery, so presume ok. Just switched the zig unit on and the internal spot lights came on ok. Internal car lights are very weak and the sliding door very laboured, which I presuime is to be expected.
As I said before, I'm no techie, so I'm kinda struggling with all this.
When my local garage replaced the starter battery, is there somthing they could've missed to cause this problem? Like somthing to do with the split charger relay? It just seems that everything was ok previous to that.

[Simon Jones]

You mention a Zig unit: what position is the Touring / On site switch? When set to Touring, it joins the two batteries together which means they will also drain down together.

[Darcy]

When I am camping all switches are pressed down and I always have electric hook-up. When just driving all the switches are up in the off position (I haven't camped since August, so have not touched the zig unit).

[briwy]

I agree with Simon, possibly had the switch in the wrong position by accident.

Happened to us in France recently. Both batteries flat. My own fault but I do think the Zig is nowhere near foolproof in this respect. If it set stuff to run off one battery or the other then at least one battery would be OK and the starter battery could be jumped.

I'm going to have a look at the internal wiring sometime on the Zig and see if it can be modified.

[Darcy]

I can understand that happening when in & out of the van when camping etc, especially with the position of ours as you could easily knock a switch when you pull out the rock & roll bed.

However, that doesn't explain why the battery is going flat every few days when no one has even been in the back of the van, therefore nowhere near the zig & I've double checked (since the AA man advised me!) all switches are off. In the current instance I hadn't even driven for 3 days.

[wormey]

[quote="Darcy"]Due to my own stupidity Also, on the database I saw a garage in Hatfield Peveral, Essex (not that far away-if I can get started!) that deals with Bongo's, can anyone confirm that is still the case?

Darcy,

I live in the area and use the above garage, there very good and know there bongo stuff, I would fully recommend them.

Ps you can always pop in for a cuppa as you pass.

daz

[Darcy]

That's most kind Daz!
I just spoke to them, but they said the Bongo expert had left!
I presume they don't just rely on one chap, and the other mechanics would be knowledgable about Bongo's?

[wonkanoby]

do you not have a descent auto electrical place near you

[Darcy]

No idea, have been relying on the local garage so far, but time to widen the net.

[terrybull]

I may have an answer for you as my Bongo runs fine if used every day, but when it was left over the weekend the battery was too low to turn the starter. 321away sorted it out today (under warranty) as there was still a constant 0.4amp drain when everything was switched off, and they knew which relay under the bonnet didn't close properly so wired in another relay to shut the offender down.

[wormey]

That's most kind Daz!
I just spoke to them, but they said the Bongo expert had left!
I presume they don't just rely on one chap, and the other mechanics would be knowledgable about Bongo's?

Johnny Bee (forum member) is a good mate of the bongo expert, he may be able to tell us where he's gone.
Very sad I've lost him.