Advice for battery life when your van is not used

[revdecal]

I have just bought a daily driver so my van will not be used so heavily. I will be parking it at my business but it will not be near any power source for a trickle charger. For some reason the battery goes flat after a few days.
Any advice for battery life when your van is not used as regular? I will turn off dash cams to limit any drain on the battery.

 

[BognorMotors]

The fact your battery goes flat after a few days indicats the battery is faulty and/or there is a drain on your battery. I would get it looked into

 

[revdecal]

The fact your battery goes flat after a few days indicated the battery is faulty and/or there is a drain on your battery. I would get it looked into

Thanks for the advice. It's a new battery from last winter. Where would you suggest I get it looked at? Would a standard garage do that?

 

[BognorMotors]

Yes any decent mechanic or auto electrician

 

[revdecal]

Yes any decent mechanic or auto electrician

Thank you. Really appreciate it. When it gets super cold overnight its worse.

 

[JumpShip]

Yeah I'd say your battery is suspect .
Longer term you could just take the positive terminal off .

 

[Dellmassive]

As above.

A standard battery on a standard van should last 3-4 weeks average before being flat.

But a low battery health will limit it's ability to store charge.

If you run the battery down very low it will also degrade its health.

So a battery health check is needed..... Ie a trip to Halfords etc for a battery test.

Aside from that the main cause of batterys running low is aftermarket loads.

A dashcam can run the battery flat over a three day weekend.

Other items like alarms,trackers,USB chargers etc etc will all add up.

So look at moving them over to the leisure battery side if you have one.

Fitting a battery monitor will help you to see what's going on.

 

[Dellmassive]

Battery Monitoring -- How I Done It --

Battery Monitoring -- How I Done It -- Part #1 Battery monitoring is a very important part of your 12v system . . . . whether its just the vans starter battery or your leisure setup keeping an eye on the power in your battery bank will keep you from breaking down and make sure your weekends...

www.t6forum.com

 

[revdecal]

As above.

A standard battery on a standard van should last 3-4 weeks average before being flat.

But a low battery health will limit it's ability to store charge.

If you run the battery down very low it will also degrade its health.

So a battery health check is needed..... Ie a trip to Halfords etc for a battery test.

Aside from that the main cause of batterys running low is aftermarket loads.

A dashcam can run the battery flat over a three day weekend.

Other items like alarms,trackers,USB chargers etc etc will all add up.

So look at moving them over to the leisure battery side if you have one.

Fitting a battery monitor will help you to see what's going on.

I suspect you're right about the dash cam and that it is wired into the main battery rather than the leisure battery. If I fly out for a long weekend and leave the van at the airport carpark it will go flat by the time I get back. I have booked it into the garage for them to take a look for me.

 

[Dellmassive]

You could move the dashcam onto an ignition feed...... So it only runs when the engine is on.

Apart from that, look at getting a leisure battery fitted.

 

[ginkster]

If you have a leisure battery I’d recommend fitting an Ablemail AMT12-2 to keep the starter battery topped up. It sacrifices some LB power to ensure the SB keeps sufficiently charged. If you have solar then it becomes an everlasting trickle charger with no worry about leaving dash cams plugged in etc. They cost about £65 and are really easy to fit. Comments above regarding the health of your current battery still stand true but it may make it last a bit longer and will protect a new one if you go that route.

 

[Dellmassive]

More on the AMT here.....

[Guide] Battery Maintainer (for Starter battery) -- How I Done It --

[Guide] Battery Maintainer (for Starter battery) -- How I Done It -- Right so its that time of year again . . . . . . . . Winter & (Lockdown 2020) The van might be layed up not being used, which will lead to a flat battery in around 3 weeks. The cold weather doesn't help the battery's...

www.t6forum.com

.

 

[Sasquatch]

More on the AMT here.....

[Guide] Battery Maintainer (for Starter battery) -- How I Done It --

[Guide] Battery Maintainer (for Starter battery) -- How I Done It -- Right so its that time of year again . . . . . . . . Winter & (Lockdown 2020) The van might be layed up not being used, which will lead to a flat battery in around 3 weeks. The cold weather doesn't help the battery's...

www.t6forum.com

.

Just fitted one myself this very week. 20 minutes with my hammers and crowbar and its all good.