Battery drain whilst laid up

[Jake Royd]

I maintain a Ducato minibus (2014 X250) which had a new battery in July.
It has not run for a month during Lockdown 2.
The battery , this morning, was totally discharged to a 'black dash' level.
I got it going with jump leads and all should be well , apart from the battery not liking being discharged that low.

I have a Ducato based motorhome. I've left that for 2 months and it still started, albeit reluctantly.

So Ducato's perhaps don't have a parasitic drain any higher then any other modern vehicle?

The only thing I can think of that is different is that it has a VDO tachograph. This could be the source of the problem , I will ask VDO.

But I would also ask on here, what is your experience of this whilst your Ducato's have been laid up without any trickle chargers or battery maintainers?
TIA

 

[Vipar]

My Peugeot drain comes from the radio

 

[Jake Royd]

I've just , with some considerable Googling, checked with the spec.
It says 30mA at 12 whilst in standby , 3A when operating.
I must check it's actually off when the vehicle is at rest.

The radio is a standard one, completely off when the ign is off?

 

[Ridgeway]

It's the CanBus system that drains away your battery, i used to have to disconnect my battery to stop what just happened to you until i installed solar

 

[Jake Royd]

Thinking out loud, 30mA equals about 22Ah over a month which is quite a lot considering the battery total capacity is say 100Ah.
But a new battery should have coped with that?

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[Jake Royd]

It's the CanBus system that drains away your battery, i used to have to disconnect my battery to stop what just happened to you until i installed solar

My motorhome now has a 200w solar panel so it's fine now.

 

[Jake Royd]

Yes, might consider just disconnecting the battery.
However, this can cause problems with the tachograph which is on the CANBus.
It has a 2 day backup battery, don't know what happens when this runs out.
The tachograph, I understand, can inhibit starting.

 

[Ridgeway]

My motorhome now has a 200w solar panel so it's fine now.

You've installed that since you battery was flat this morning

 

[ManTheVan]

There’s also a drain from the alarm and there may be other items too. A battery master is your friend! (As long as you have solar).

 

[Ingwe]

There’s also a drain from the alarm and there may be other items too. A battery master is your friend! (As long as you have solar).

Or you have hook up as we do. We use a timer that turns on for two hours, twice a day.

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[Jake Royd]

There’s also a drain from the alarm and there may be other items too. A battery master is your friend! (As long as you have solar).

I'm OK , I have a dual battery regulator charging both cab and hab batteries.