Flat Vehicle battery [Resolved]

If it's charging the leisure battery is the van either running or the starter battery on a charger?
 
I don’t know what solid red means as the instructions only refer to a flashing LED which is either red, amber, or green. I would ask Jonathan at Ablemail as it may have something to do with why your starter batt is draining.
 
Higgidav said:
I don’t know what solid red means as the instructions only refer to a flashing LED which is either red, amber, or green. I would ask Jonathan at Ablemail as it may have something to do with why your starter batt is draining.
Click to expand...
Yes took van to my conversion man today and he was stumped as well. He contacted Johnathon at Ablemail twice and the upshot was he thought it was knackered.
The symptoms were:
Red light on all the while, even with van switched off. Johnathon told him to take both earths off, the starter and leisure, hopefully to reset. Didn't work, still solid red. Tried both positive removal, still nothing different. Here's the thing though, when starter battery terminals put on again all the van conversion lights came on, this was with the leisure battery disconnected. So what was happening? I'm assuming he done the wiring correctly. I understand if the relay was stuck open drawing the starter down, but the lights seem to come off the starter battery? So, another relay on order and he thinks the leisure battery is sus as well as only reading 7.5 volts (with solar panel also).
The only time the red light on the relay went out and the internal lights, is when the earth disconnected from starter battery.
So left feed from starter to leisure battery off to isolate rear of van cimpletely
But... When I got home and looked at relay the light was green with engine off as well as running! Any ideas before I fork out loads of dosh?
Hope this all makes sense

IMG_20230829_195730.jpg
 
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Which relay do you mean? Do you mean the DC-DC charger?

Normally a DC-DC charger is wired directly and is set to either charge when it sees a high voltage on the starter (sometimes called "auto VSR" or "engine run detection") or it has a signal line from ignition live (or BCM)

Screenshot_20230829-201241.png

Sometimes it makes sense to reuse the signal to the factory split charge relay when upgrading to a DC-DC charger but it would be unusual to leave the relay in place.

There should be no connection between your starter battery and your leisure battery apart from the charger.

Are your leisure battery electrics wired such that they were still connected to the charger/battery cables even if they were disconnected? What might be happening is if the DC-DC charger has a fault that it's always charging then the lights came on because of the output of the charger.

It's up to you but these chargers are handling heavy loads and are under the seats you are sitting on, personally I'd want complete confidence in them as the cost of fixing is small compared to the cost of bailing out of van with an electrical fire or being towed because it won't start. It sounds like it's already cost you 2 batteries.

If you're in a position to monitor it to see if it has reset then do so but do so regularly and check voltage on both batteries. If you get the fault light that isn't in the manual again I'd disconnect the charger straight away and seak advice.

I would also take the advice of your converter and Ablemail over mine as I'm only working on a few pictures and a manual :thumbsup:
 
Thanks for your reply and input. Yes DC to DC charger. Yes prior to the green light eventually coming on when leisure battery disconnected, the red light was on all the time ignition on and running or off. There is no mention of solid red light in Ablemail manual. So I'm not sure, as I know diddly about electrics, if charger is faulty or not. Ablemail is sending one out tomorrow to my conversion man. I have since shown him the pic with green light on so things might change .
Thanks for your time and help.
 
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Once again there is no relay in your system, you have a DC-DC charger. A relay just connects two switch contacts together, a DC-DC charger takes DC in from the starter battery, transforms it to high frequency AC and then transforms that to the exact DC voltage required by the leisure battery at that point in the charge cycle.

If your converter is changing over the Ablemail I would also ask them to move the grounds off the starter battery terminal as advised here and in the original thread. I fear otherwise you are going to be eating batteries.
 
roadtripper said:
Once again there is no relay in your system, you have a DC-DC charger. A relay just connects two switch contacts together, a DC-DC charger takes DC in from the starter battery, transforms it to high frequency AC and then transforms that to the exact DC voltage required by the leisure battery at that point in the charge cycle.
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Yes understood, I keep calling it relay
 
roadtripper said:
Once again there is no relay in your system, you have a DC-DC charger. A relay just connects two switch contacts together, a DC-DC charger takes DC in from the starter battery, transforms it to high frequency AC and then transforms that to the exact DC voltage required by the leisure battery at that point in the charge cycle.

If your converter is changing over the Ablemail I would also ask them to move the grounds off the starter battery terminal as advised here and in the original thread. I fear otherwise you are going to be eating batteries.
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The white tails on the negative starter terminal are to do with the tow bar. I took it to another towbar fitter and they assured me it was fitted correctly (wiring 2 option) they also told me that the block on the negative post was to do with the start/stop function only. I'm even more confused now.
 
The towbar fitter is wrong and doesn't understand the function of the current shunt. VW are very clear about not connecting directly to the negative post even when jump starting or charging.

You have a towbar electric system fitted that bypasses the battery monitor, you also mention you leave your bike carrier electrics plugged in. That sounds like a classic parasitic drain if the towbar module stays awake and that drain will not be seen by the van so it will not put it back.

Your towbar has been fitted very tidily, the wiring and crimp work looks very good, but it is using the wrong ground.
 
roadtripper said:
The towbar fitter is wrong and doesn't understand the function of the current shunt. VW are very clear about not connecting directly to the negative post even when jump starting or charging.

You have a towbar electric system fitted that bypasses the battery monitor, you also mention you leave your bike carrier electrics plugged in. That sounds like a classic parasitic drain if the towbar module stays awake and that drain will not be seen by the van so it will not put it back.

Your towbar has been fitted very tidily, the wiring and crimp work looks very good, but it is using the wrong ground.
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Understood re the towbar module staying awake and I have now learnt from that, Thankyou.
Ran van into VW dealership this morning regarding tails on negative terminal, they said they have come across wiring by towbar fitters like this before and not that uncommon, however, they said deffo not good practise and advised I move them to ground for reasons already stated in post re battery monitoring. I will be doing this so thanks to all who commented.
The other mentioned possible drain has been pinned down to dcdc charger staying open and failure to reset, New one being fitted tomorrow hopefully.
Thanks to all again.
 
All done now. It was the charger stuck open. New one fitted and unit lights working correctly.
Ablemail DC - DC charger owners.... it pays to periodically check charger status, but you all probably do.
Thanks to all who helped, this is a great forum with knowledgeable people and I recommended it.
 
Glad you got it sorted - and you now know a useful bit more about your van :thumbsup:

I wouldn't obsess with monitoring but it's useful to get to know the ebb and flow of energy in your van the way you use it - will allow you to spot anything "odd" and investigate.

Now the important thing is to get out and enjoy it before winter is upon us :cool:
 
roadtripper said:
Glad you got it sorted - and you now know a useful bit more about your van :thumbsup:

I wouldn't obsess with monitoring but it's useful to get to know the ebb and flow of energy in your van the way you use it - will allow you to spot anything "odd" and investigate.

Now the important thing is to get out and enjoy it before winter is upon us :cool:
Click to expand...
Yup, 6 week road trip starting Monday, France and Spain.
 
I left my van for 3 weeks. Came back to a flat battery. Phone Vw assist. Chap told me it was the dash cam that was draining the battery. It’s plugged into the 12 volt cigarette lighter supply. Although I cannot charge the phone through the usb connection that’s included with the camera in the adapter When the ignition is off. Thought it strange why the camera which does not work with the ignition off should be draining the battery. But there you go that the official reason from Vw assist. Oh and by the way, I am no longer covered for Vw assist if the battery goes flat again.
 
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