Flat battery?

[Carp catcher]

I have just been out to start the van, flat battery.
I noticed yesterday that the interior lights did not stay on when the door was opened, as they would normally do,& then fade out after approx 30 seconds after the door was shut, they just went out after approx 30 seconds, no fade out as usual, just turned off.
Has anyone any ideas as to where to start looking?

 

[Dellmassive]

Charge the battery for 24hrs with a smart charger. And retest.

• Charging:
• Battery Chargers - How I Did It -
• Battery Charging - Main Battery Earth Point -
• Battery Monitoring -- How I Done It --
• [Guide] Battery Maintainer (for Starter battery) -- How I Done It --
• Which Jump Starter?
• Seat Base Electrics, EHU+Charger+solar+install - How We Done It -
• Noco Genius 10 not working c

 

[Carp catcher]

Thanks for the reply.
I have got the RAC on the way.
I will post how I get on.

 

[Carp catcher]

The guy tested the battery & found it to have 11.4 volts, flat.
He said I had 2 options, new battery or charge the old one as dellmassive had said & se if that resolves the issue.
I don't have a smart charger, I didn't realise I needed one, so that's something else I can buy now!
I went for the new battery as I need the van today,so hopefully it it all sorted.
The guy carried out a check on the alternator & starter motor & said they where fine, so hopefully everything is now sorted out.

 

[Pete C]

How long had the van been left before you found you had a flat battery ?

Pete

 

[Loz]

The guy tested the battery & found it to have 11.4 volts, flat.
He said I had 2 options, new battery or charge the old one as dellmassive had said & se if that resolves the issue.
I don't have a smart charger, I didn't realise I needed one, so that's something else I can buy now!
I went for the new battery as I need the van today,so hopefully it it all sorted.
The guy carried out a check on the alternator & starter motor & said they where fine, so hopefully everything is now sorted out.

Did the new battery get adapted after it was fitted?

 

[Dave Mac]

You have to wonder if the battery and charge system are up to the job really, my T5 was 10years old and still on the original Varta battery when I sold it. I approach the T6 on every cold morning thinking is it going to go or not.

 

[Qnapper]

We transferred from our old motorhome a battery maintainer which worked perfectly without drawing to much from leisure battery. Been fitted now since January this year and vehicle battery never goes below 12.8volts whilst parked up (sometimes for weeks in end).

This one:

Battery Maintainer

Instruction Manual PDF Product Information PDF Battery maintainer / charger includes 1m of cable.Save money on batteries and stop them from being destroyed by discharging. A flat battery means you need an expensive replacement.The auxiliary battery charger maintainer is simple to install and is...

sterling-power.com

 

[Loz]

You have to wonder if the battery and charge system are up to the job really, my T5 was 10years old and still on the original Varta battery when I sold it. I approach the T6 on every cold morning thinking is it going to go or not.

Less overall charge in a T6.. as it keeps 20% free for regenerative braking.

 

[Dellmassive]

If you don't want to get stuck ...

Get your own jump starter, that's what we all do. (I say we, but obviously not everyone)

That way instead of calling the AA you just jumpstart yourself.

See here: Which Jump Starter?


And get yourself a smart charger:

Battery Chargers - How I Did It -

Battery Chargers - How I Did It - So its that time of year again, cold, rainy. . . . . . . flat battery =[ This time we look at Battery Chargers. Our vans will most likely come with a AGM style starter battery, for this type of battery we need a "Smart Charger" . . . . but what does this...

www.t6forum.com

.

It's worth mentioning that short drive cycles will never full charge the battery this time of year (winter).

It's all lights,heater, seats etc so a big draw on the electrics.... You need a good 1-3hr drive to recharge the battery fully.

So get a smart charger and put the van on charge over night now and again.

Once a week, once a fortnight, once a month, . . . Whatever is needed, depending on how often you use the van and how long you drive it for.


.

 

[Dellmassive]

Here are some BM-2 , BM-3 plots showing my battery voltage s. - Battery Monitoring -- How I Done It --


The purple trace is the starter and green trace is the LB (currently a Poweroad 100ah lithium charged via a ctek d250se @ 20A )

...



....

 

[Dave Mac]

I have a jump starter but find it annoying that my discovery sport can stand 10 weeks and still start straight off and the T6 turns over like a slow gramophone record if left for a week. We paid for a premium work horse and received a very poor Lada. Vw baulk at changing batteries inside warranty periods knowing they built a second rate electrical system into the T6 and are not admitting it or any other problem. The soap box is now vacant.

 

[Dellmassive]

We transferred from our old motorhome a battery maintainer which worked perfectly without drawing to much from leisure battery. Been fitted now since January this year and vehicle battery never goes below 12.8volts whilst parked up (sometimes for weeks in end).

This one:

Battery Maintainer

Instruction Manual PDF Product Information PDF Battery maintainer / charger includes 1m of cable.Save money on batteries and stop them from being destroyed by discharging. A flat battery means you need an expensive replacement.The auxiliary battery charger maintainer is simple to install and is...

sterling-power.com

OOI - what have you got on the LB side? . . . . so whats feeding the starter via this device, and how large capacity?



I've been using the AMT12-2 ( I've got it on Anderson plugs so i can plug it in/out as and when) -

[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

AMT12-2 12V 2AMP Trickle Charger - Battery Maintainer - Battery Saver | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for AMT12-2 12V 2AMP Trickle Charger - Battery Maintainer - Battery Saver at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

rover.ebay.com

.

 

[Qnapper]

OOI - what have you got on the LB side? . . . . so whats feeding the starter via this device, and how large capacity?

It was 120amp AGM until 2 weeks ago now the LB is LiFePO4 12.8V 180Ah. I have 200watt (10.5amp) solar on the roof, so everything ticks along like clockwork.

Feed from LB to vehicle.

 

[Dellmassive]

It was 120amp AGM until 2 weeks ago now the LB is LiFePO4 12.8V 180Ah. I have 200watt (10.5amp) solar on the roof, so everything ticks along like clockwork.

very nice, what brand Lithium did you go with?

 

[Qnapper]

very nice, what brand Lithium did you go with?

In the end, after looking for weeks, went for ULTIMATRON LiFePO4 12.8V 180Ah LX Smart BMS Motorhome battery sub seat. With mm to spare, it fitted under driver's seat

ULTIMATRON LiFePO4 12,8V 180Ah LX Smart BMS Autocaravana batería sub asiento | Battery Fox

batteryfox.es

 

[Dellmassive]

In the end, after looking for weeks, went for ULTIMATRON LiFePO4 12.8V 180Ah LX Smart BMS Motorhome battery sub seat. With mm to spare, it fitted under driver's seat

ULTIMATRON LiFePO4 12,8V 180Ah LX Smart BMS Autocaravana batería sub asiento | Battery Fox

batteryfox.es

View attachment 138794

Nice.... I go have a look at that.

 

[Dellmassive]

The guy tested the battery & found it to have 11.4 volts, flat.
He said I had 2 options, new battery or charge the old one as dellmassive had said & se if that resolves the issue.
I don't have a smart charger, I didn't realise I needed one, so that's something else I can buy now!
I went for the new battery as I need the van today,so hopefully it it all sorted.
The guy carried out a check on the alternator & starter motor & said they where fine, so hopefully everything is now sorted out.

did you keep the old battery . . . . ?

take it home and charge it with your new charger. - it might be ok.


you need a tester like this to test it properly. ( fully charge first, then connect to the tester for the results)

https://amzn.to/3DLVlsj

.

 

[Carp catcher]

I have kept the old battery & will now buy a smart charger to keep it as a spare.
The RAC man did re code the van to the new battery.
Everything has been working fine today.
In reality, the van doesn't get used very much as I use my scooter to go to work on.
It stands there sometimes not started for a couple of weeks, which I know isn't good for the van.
The interior lights not working as they should was the first warning, its very clever that the van appeared to be trying to save power by turning the interior lights off, & I now know about the smart charger , which is a new idea for me, which I didn't realise

 

[Thegee6]

If I can resurrect this. I’ve had a similar issue today. Took the van out for approx a 20 mile drive a few days before Christmas and then was parked up till today. Came out to go out in it and battery flat. Had to call VW Assist who sent a AA van out to me. The AA guy got it jump started and also ran a test on the battery. His computer he uses to test the battery found no parasitic drain on the vehicle or the battery was knackered. But it perplexed him as to why the battery would flatten in just 10 days?