peterc
Free Member
Hi all,
Had our motorhome since August so really new to the scene. However having had a few times away I have to say this is one of the best purchases we've ever made.
It's a 2007 Swift Sundance 590rs, (Fiat Ducato cab).
When we went to take it away over Christmas from our storage site there was not enough power in the battery to start the engine. We had left it for 5 weeks though so I guess looking back this wasn't the most shocking outcome in the world!
We called out the AA who got us started and he suggested we should get a solar panel to keep the battery topped up while it's not being used. Nice easy statement what what a nightmare issue this seems to be.
Despite research I am struggling to find out what size panel I would need to perform this task. Dealers cannot offer assistance as there are too many variables about how much power is being drawn from the battery when the vehicle is in storage and none of them are offering to try and help us find out.
As far as we are aware there isn't a massive amount of draw on the battery. There is no alarm system so I'm guessing that it's just the immobiliser and the memory for the radio, (assuming of course that isn't wired to the leisure side).
I have seen panels that connect via all sort of means, (cigarette lighter, Crocodile clips to the battery and even via the diagnostics port on the vehicle. Not sure I'd trust the latter one and the cigarette lighter is not live with engine turned off).
So I guess what I'm asking you good people is for a little bit of advise on how to get round this problem. Is there any way I can work out myself how much power is being drawn from the starter battery while the vehicle is just sitting in storage?
I know I can probably simply disconnect the battery before leaving it but there must be a better solution where I can leave it connected and still have enough power to get it started after a lay up.
Many thanks in anticipation of your thoughts.
Peter
Had our motorhome since August so really new to the scene. However having had a few times away I have to say this is one of the best purchases we've ever made.
It's a 2007 Swift Sundance 590rs, (Fiat Ducato cab).
When we went to take it away over Christmas from our storage site there was not enough power in the battery to start the engine. We had left it for 5 weeks though so I guess looking back this wasn't the most shocking outcome in the world!
We called out the AA who got us started and he suggested we should get a solar panel to keep the battery topped up while it's not being used. Nice easy statement what what a nightmare issue this seems to be.
Despite research I am struggling to find out what size panel I would need to perform this task. Dealers cannot offer assistance as there are too many variables about how much power is being drawn from the battery when the vehicle is in storage and none of them are offering to try and help us find out.
As far as we are aware there isn't a massive amount of draw on the battery. There is no alarm system so I'm guessing that it's just the immobiliser and the memory for the radio, (assuming of course that isn't wired to the leisure side).
I have seen panels that connect via all sort of means, (cigarette lighter, Crocodile clips to the battery and even via the diagnostics port on the vehicle. Not sure I'd trust the latter one and the cigarette lighter is not live with engine turned off).
So I guess what I'm asking you good people is for a little bit of advise on how to get round this problem. Is there any way I can work out myself how much power is being drawn from the starter battery while the vehicle is just sitting in storage?
I know I can probably simply disconnect the battery before leaving it but there must be a better solution where I can leave it connected and still have enough power to get it started after a lay up.
Many thanks in anticipation of your thoughts.
Peter