Battery Alert

[Fatboy1960]

Hi just picked up my motorhome in Feb and for the past month it’s been in storage. I’ve just an email alert saying vehicle battery alert trigggered - do I need to do anything it’s stored 20 miles away

 

[DavidG58]

If you don’t have one already buy a jump start pack ? sounds pretty typical for alarmed vehicles to have flat batteries after a month ??

 

[Vipar]

Got to keep jump packs on charge all the time I read the instructions after mine stopped working so £75 down the drain??I bought a trickle charger much better

 

[funflair]

Has it got solar on? if it has I guess it's not charging the vehicle battery, a battery master would sort that out when you can get to the van.

Martin

 

[Fatboy1960]

Thanks for the prompt responses folks

No solar panel?It’s parked up remotely and if I read it right you need trickle charger to be plugged in so that’s not does not appear to be an option. Jump packs sounds like you need to ensure they are kept charged so again not ideal but an option Could I not use jump leads from my car to the motorhome?

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[2x2camper]

In a similar position of I assume my stater battery is starting to get low. It's been 3 weeks now since it was last used, which is the longest we have left it, not by choice though as it is in storage 12 miles away.

I was going to install solar buf the government restrictions came in a week to quickly for me.

So once we are all released I would like to install a battery monitor that will let me know the battery level. Does any one know of a reasonable priced one that will send me the data over the mobile network?

 

[Spriddler]

Jump packs sounds like you need to ensure they are kept charged so again not ideal but an option

I keep my (portable) jump pack on charge at home and take it to a vehicle when needed.

Could I not use jump leads from my car to the motorhome?

Yes, I've always done that to all my vehicles but some Funsters have said that their handbook says not to jump start. Wait a couple of minutes after you've connected the car battery and before you start the m/h.
Bring the hab battery home and keep it on an intelligent charger.

 

[pappajohn]

Two options...
1..Go now and sort it with a booster pack.
2..Go when they next use it and take a new battery

 

[funflair]

Thanks for the prompt responses folks

No solar panel?It’s parked up remotely and if I read it right you need trickle charger to be plugged in so that’s not does not appear to be an option. Jump packs sounds like you need to ensure they are kept charged so again not ideal but an option Could I not use jump leads from my car to the motorhome?

OK that needs to be your first job when you get chance.

Martin

 

[68c]

Cannot make up mind if batteries are going to be cheap or dear once this virus is all over. Perhaps everyone will need a new battery pushing the price up, or the dealers will want to shift all the batteries that have been sitting around in their stores slowly going out of date.

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[SuperMike]

Two options...
1..Go now and sort it with a booster pack.
2..Go when they next use it and take a new battery

Not essential Uncle PPJ. Its buy a new battery, in due course, and stay at home time for now.

 

[Fatboy1960]

Agree not essential at moment given the circumstances. Having considered the thread I’m minded to buy a jump pack but if the vehicle battery is totally flat will that work? ( MH is less than a year old)?

 

[DaveandJen]

Hi just picked up my motorhome in Feb and for the past month it’s been in storage. I’ve just an email alert saying vehicle battery alert trigggered - do I need to do anything it’s stored 20 miles away

Yes you do. The reason you are getting these alerts is because your habitation battery that powers the tracker fitted to your new Swift Motorhome is getting low on power and you need to address the problem quickly by changing your habitation battery, replace it with a charged battery, or contacting the tracker company and tell them you are aware of the problem.

 

[autorouter]

Any chance of the storage people getting their elbow in gear and providing a hookup - once a fortnight or once a month? In view of the special circumstances.

 

[Fatboy1960]

Yes you do. The reason you are getting these alerts is because your habitation battery that powers the tracker fitted to your new Swift Motorhome is getting low on power and you need to address the problem quickly by changing your habitation battery, replace it with a charged battery, or contacting the tracker company and tell them you are aware of the problem.

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[Fatboy1960]

The alert says it’s the vehicle battery not the leisure battery

I was going to buy a jump pack and use it on the vehicle battery are you thinking it is the leisure battery that I need to apply the jump pack to?

 

[DaveandJen]

Because motorhomes are a bit unique with a battery up front for the engine and one at the back looking after our creature comforts its best not to assume that the vehicle battery that starts the engine is the one that powers your tracker. In the past Swift have connected their trackers to the leisure battery and I think you will find that's what's causing you to get tracker alerts due to low battery power. The habitation batteries fitted by Swift from new are of a good make but are C class batteries that need to be charged up reguarly.

 

[Matt Alber]

I've had 2 alerts from Swift in the past 4 days, I said MH is here and the last call said it could be the battery. The auto battery (the one under the floor passenger side) is completely flat. Like the OP we picked up March spent 2 nights in it, drove home about 50 miles and is now parked up on lockdown, I was surprised the battery is flat after 4 weeks but from reading this thread and others it appears to be a common problem.

What is drawing down on the power apart from the tracker?

 

[Fatboy1960]

This is an excellent forum thanks for all the help Next question ?So if it is the habitation battery is the one that is draining Am I right to assumethat it will simply recharge when I eventually get to take my MH on a run? And therefore I need to do nothing at present?

 

[Twincam Escort]

My 2018 Swift is on a Ducato base and has a cab power disconnection feature.
There is a red plastic tab around the ignition and when pushed in allows you to turn the key an extra bit anti clockwise and pull out the key.
This kills all the items that are draining the vehicle battery - there are quite a few. This will preserve the cab battery power for longer. You will have to reset the clock etc after restarting.
Your handbook will have a section on this if you have this feature.

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[autorouter]

So if it is the habitation battery is the one that is draining Am I right to assumethat it will simply recharge when I eventually get to take my MH on a run? And therefore I need to do nothing at present?

Yes and no. Yes it will recharge when you run the engine. But if you let the battery discharge too far (below 20% for example) it will cause problems and can reduce the battery life. If you drain it completely flat it might well never recover properly.

 

[autorouter]

I was going to buy a jump pack and use it on the vehicle battery are you thinking it is the leisure battery that I need to apply the jump pack to?

Sorry to say this, but you need to measure the battery voltage, at the battery terminals. Any old cheap multimeter will be fine for this job. Set it to 20V DC. It should read between 10 and 15 volts.

12.7 to 12.8V is more or less fully charged. 12.0V is about as low as you would like it to go. Below 12.0V it needs charging.

 

[Pausim]

Sooner or later your tracker and alarm are going to stop working. They ought to kick in again as soon as the engine is started so hopefully Messrs Scrote and Sons would not get far before the monitoring company were alerted. I get a 15% insurance discount for having a tracker so I would probably volunteer to return the discount if my tracker shut down.