Vehicle Battery (1 Viewer)

Tommy_harry

Free Member
May 30, 2010
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County Durham
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2 days
Finally managed to get through the snow to the motorhome... to find that the vehicle battery wont turn over the engine...

The van is an autotrail cheiftain on a fiat chassis.

The panel says the battery has 11.5 volts left in it.

I have 3 questions...

Will the battery have suffered damage and need replacing as it has dropped to 11.5volts?

If it does need replacing does anyone have a good battery to suggest?

There is no EHU at our storage compound - will hooking up to a 1kva genny put some life into the battery and if so how long would you expect it to take?

Many thanks

Des
 

hilldweller

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Dec 5, 2008
605
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Macclesfield
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Zilch Mk1
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From Aug 2007
Finally managed to get through the snow to the motorhome... to find that the vehicle battery wont turn over the engine...

The van is an autotrail cheiftain on a fiat chassis.

The panel says the battery has 11.5 volts left in it.

I have 3 questions...

Will the battery have suffered damage and need replacing as it has dropped to 11.5volts?

If it does need replacing does anyone have a good battery to suggest?

There is no EHU at our storage compound - will hooking up to a 1kva genny put some life into the battery and if so how long would you expect it to take?

Many thanks

Des

You've a fighting chance but get it on charge ASAP, that genny is plenty, your charger will only be 300W or so. 4 hours should do it.
 

scotjimland

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Jul 25, 2007
2,076
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It's at death's door, but it with a bit of luck should recover ok ...

Charging from a genny without a proper charger will be slow .. maybe a few hours.. then after letting it rest for half an hour re check the voltage . 12.6 v is fully charged , should start the engine if it's reached 12.3v

I just bought a Varta for my Honda CRV from these people ,Link Removed 24 hour delivery service.

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davejen

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Aug 21, 2008
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Hi, Des, I have a A/T Dakota, I keep the engine battery topped up with one of those small trickle chargers placed in the windscreen area. They are about £20 from Maplins. Last xmas down Cornwall the engine battery went flat after about 3 weeks parked on a site , on hookup- I didn't realise the engine batt was not being charged with the leisure ones and there is no provision on the controller to do so.
I have just been and started the van after 3 weeks and it started straight away, even after the freezing weather of late.
Hope this helps, Cheers, Dave:thumb:
 

Jaws

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Sep 26, 2008
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A suggestion

Once you have the battery charged up and you are happy it is ok, take off one side or other and leave it off

Any lead acid battery will slowly lose charge over time but disconnecting it will make that time many many months ..

Clocks, alarms even alternators all drain a few mA which eventually flaten the battery

By disconnecting one side you completely eliminate any drain

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Terry

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Dec 27, 2007
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A suggestion

Once you have the battery charged up and you are happy it is ok, take off one side or other and leave it off

Any lead acid battery will slowly lose charge over time but disconnecting it will make that time many many months ..

Clocks, alarms even alternators all drain a few mA which eventually flaten the battery

By disconnecting one side you completely eliminate any drain
It may cause it to loose memory - van not battery :Doh:- also radio
terry
 

Jaws

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Sep 26, 2008
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It may cause it to loose memory - van not battery :Doh:- also radio
terry


Not MAY, but WILL !

However, I personally always find it easier to put the radio memories back in and reset the clocks than trying to start a van with a flat battery !! :winky:

Oh !! ! WARNING !!!!

If your radio is coded, do make sure you have the code BEFORE undoing one side of the battery :thumb:
 

davejen

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Aug 21, 2008
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A suggestion

Once you have the battery charged up and you are happy it is ok, take off one side or other and leave it off

Any lead acid battery will slowly lose charge over time but disconnecting it will make that time many many months ..

Clocks, alarms even alternators all drain a few mA which eventually flaten the battery

By disconnecting one side you completely eliminate any drain

Trouble is so is the alarm/immobiliser!
Cheers, Dave:Smile:
 

Jaws

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Sep 26, 2008
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In all honesty, alarms are a joke..
When was the last time you ran out to see why a car alarm was going off ?

This has been VERY heavily debated on insurance group forums and motorcycle forums.

The immobiliser is still operational no matter what as it requires battery power to turn off ! ( as in allow the vehicle to be started )
It is just the alarm that will not function and realistically that can be a blessing as well as a curse

Long long debate... To cut short

Alarm if fitted MAY deter the opportunist thief IF the vehicle is within earshot of people

Alarm will NOT deter professional thief one iota. They will simply ignore it as they know full well 99% of the population do any way

If you want to retain some sort of alarm there are battery powered units with movement detection and remote controls for under a tenner .. Pop one of those in side the door and as soon as the van is opened it will fire .. No wiring, nothing to do but fit new batteries every 4 months or so
( And yes, I kknow the price as I actually have 'em in stock ! )

If you are serious about van security fit decent locks on the doors, fit bars in the bottom of all the slide windows, and get a decent BIG chain and chain a drive shaft or tow bar or whatever to a proper ground anchor :
Link Removed Link Removed

Orrrr.. To another vehicle or even something like a huge old wheel

Do not think that a three bob chain will be any good though, if you want to stop a thief you really need a decent chain... A couple of metres of Cro-Mo Thatcham approved chain will proly set you back about £60 or so but will defeat an angle grinder for several minutes.. and THAT is a shed load of noice and spraks and stuff ::bigsmile:

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scotjimland

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Jul 25, 2007
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Suffolk Coastal District, UK
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Timberland
If your radio is coded, do make sure you have the code BEFORE undoing one side of the battery :thumb:

Word of advice..

Safest practice is to remove the Negative ( Earth ) rather then Positive ..
reason being, if your spanner accidentally touches the body you won't get a nasty spark that could cause an explosion.
 
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Tommy_harry

Tommy_harry

Free Member
May 30, 2010
184
28
County Durham
Funster No
11,847
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c class
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2 days
Many thanks all for the help...

In all honestly I agree with John re alarms and Im not too worried about not having an alarm on whilst its in storage. there is 24 hour security plus key cards etc to get in and out so I think that I will start to disconnect the battery when its going to be parked up for a while.

Having looked at the battery im glad its best to take off the -ve, the live is a nightmare to get at Jim !!!

Des

Ps Terry - I am just keeping up my reputation as the funster with the most battery problems ever !
 

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