Problems with flat battery

has anyone else experienced problems with the main van battery On their Fairford retaining its charge? We have only been out for two short breaks since new in September but are quite bewildered to why when starting the van after 2weeks the battery was flat as a pancake . Had the battery on charge over night at a BMW garage and the same thing happened a week to 10 days later. The van is now at the dealer and we don't want it back if this will keep happening 

Read this recent thread and you'll soon realise that this is all too common on motorhomes not just Auto-sleeper. Google something along the lines of 'motorhome flat battery' and you'll find that virtually every make has the problem.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

You'll also find you'll get more responses if you introduce yourself first.

Thankyou, I am new to this so sorry i didnt introduce my self first. I am lesley and my husband and i recently bought our first motor home . Thankyou for the link

Hi and welcome to this most friendly and informative forum. As Paulmold has highlighted, the problems of unexplained battery failures has been most prevalent of late. We've been there and £85 poorer despite an 80 watt solar panel and so called smart charging from the PSU. Currently new starter battery has been discontented after recent need to jump start (van in storage). Tomorrow, residing at our daughter and son in law for a few days whilst they are away on foreign holiday to connect to their EHU to hopefully give battery good charge. Thereafter trip to dealer for final warranty work and will request a electrics check. Go luck resolving your same problem. Regards

Unless you know the history of the battery concerned, it would be unwise to make any hasty judgements. It's not unusual for dealer-supplied secondhand vans to sit around on a forecourt for months and if the dealer lets the battery go flat there's a good chance it will need replacing. Once that's done, you can then figure out if you have a long-term problem with battery drain or not.

[Edit - but by the look of your profile it's new - in which case all you can do is what you've done already - tell the supplying dealer to fix it!]

Neilles wrote:has anyone else experienced problems with the main van battery On their Fairford retaining its charge? We have only been out for two short breaks since new in September but are quite bewildered to why when starting the van after 2weeks the battery was flat as a pancake . Had the battery on charge over night at a BMW garage and the same thing happened a week to 10 days later. The van is now at the dealer and we don't want it back if this will keep happening 

Hi and welcome to the forum

You are not alone with this problem, you do not mention whether you have a solar panel ?

As you will have seen from my postings I am also troubled with this problem. My van batteries were both 12.7v last Monday after running the van (van is kept in storage). Today they were both down to 11.9v so have gone flat within 10 days, even with an 80W solar panel like Paramedic's. There has also been plenty of sunshine here during the last week. I have now had to bring the batteries home to be charged again.

Should your dealer come up with a solution to this problem I would be grateful if you would share it.

My van is booked in for it's habitation check and respraying of the front bumper, due to paint bubbling, when I will also get them to check my electrics.

Enjoy the van

Regards

Hubert

Hi fellow sufferers
My 2001 Symbol is currently with my garage man who is trying to find a solution for me. I have a plug in solar panel bought specifically for the job, plugged into the cig lighter socket which is live without the ignition being on. I thought this would do the job but I still should have started the engine on a regular basis to keep the battery charged. He is checking this out for me. I have little excuse for not starting it as I store it at home. I know the solar panel works as I top up the leisure battery with the clips in place.
I will report my findings when I get it back.
Weedaf.

Well, with some trepidation connected up neg terminal today and hooray, engine started up immediately so no apparent loss of charge over the four days disconnected. Now on pre planned EHU at daughter and son in law's house (whilst they are away on holiday) and both batteries showing 14v on EC480 control panel. It appears that when the starter battery is disconnected, it interrupts the EC500 PSU solar panel input that resulted in LOW leisure battery this morning. It will remain a mystery as to why the original engine battery died despite 80 watt solar panel always showing + amps input however small on the blackest of days. But as previously mentioned on this thread, perhaps it's not enough to counter any unknown discharge. The van is at the dealer on Monday for final warranty work (replace faulty habitation step motor and resealent around EHU and LPG points) due to water ingress discovered at recent habitation check. Will also request check for any ?? parasitic drain somewhere in the system?

Neilles wrote:Thankyou, I am new to this so sorry i didnt introduce my self first. I am lesley and my husband and i recently bought our first motor home . Thankyou for the link

Hi and welcome to the forum from chilly Bridlington 
Boaby

I wonder if all the "battery problems" are to do with newish batteries being made a different way, a bit like a bar of chocolate still costing the same but being 45% smaller than 5 years ago.
Reason for my questioning the battery is that I also still have my caravan which I have to keep in storage and it has a proper "Tracker System" installed since new in 2009. In winter the battery that I bought in 2009 used to keep charged with a 2.4 Maplins solar panel as there was a drain by the Tracker being live but in 2015 i bought it a new battery (long story but i killed the old one) and the new battery 110a dies in about 3 weeks, and i have now had 3 new ones all do the same so have given up taking them back. Have checked out the panel and it still works fine so its not that

So I got my Symbol back today. The battery is sound, no long term damage.The conclusion drawn was just that my solar panel isn't up to the task asked of it. I am guilty of not keeping up the starting regime and will in future do my best to be more diligent. I could just disconnect it over the winter but then the whole vehicle doesn't get a bit of TLC in the off season.
My garage man said that even the digital clock over a long period is enough drain to drop the battery to a level below the required state. As you can see, numbers of amps or watts, whichever they are are not in my knowledge. I could learn about that but am concentrating on remembering to just go out and start it up.
A Happier Owner

Hi there, my trophy battery (main) is flat, tried starting it yesterday (not done it for nearly 3 weeks!!) Nothing there, not a surprise really. Only bought the camper last October so don't know how old the battery is, have looked on it but can't find date. The leisure battery was new in May 2013 & have invoice so I'd presume the main one is older. 
I couldn't find a charger switch for the Zig X3 but after reading posts on here I think I've found it in the cupboard under the fridge!

Serves me right, crowing over my battery condition. I dutifully started my Symbol last weekend and ran the engine for 20 mins. No problem. This weekend I went out to do the same and it is flat again. Guess where I am going in the morning? Back to my friendly garage man.
Weedaf.

I had this problem initially and found that what was, if I am not using the van I have to shut down the electrics in habitation at it's source. I have a Warwick and it's situated under one of the bench seats. Switching it off at the control panel above the door was not enough it has to be done at the main console. Result, no more flat battery.

I have arranged for an Auto Electrician to come and have a look at my Symbol hopefully next week. I will ask him if this could be the same problem with mine, no idea if I have a main switch, but if I have he will find it.
Weedaf

Hi, update on my flat battery problem.
Had to jump start every time (about 2/3 week intervals) Took to my sons garage so he could test the battery etc & try to find the problem.
Checked the main battery which was ok though not fully charged. The leisure battery was fully charged. Connected the EHU & switched the switch in cupboard under sink = nothing! Then remembered to turn the power on! Tried again with the switch in both positions (no markings on it) still nothing.
There were wires from main battery into a relay then fuse box then to the leisure battery. After checking this, found it was used as a charger for the leisure battery when the engine is running. Probably fitted when the charger packed in! Was thinking of getting a battery master but not sure now? Going to try jump start off the leisure battery next time...
Any (relevant) suggestions appreciated.

They all have a split charge system to charge leisure battery when engine running, so I don't think that's your problem.

I found that my vehicle battery was flat even after only a week of the van being unused. I found that I had to switch the habitat electrics off at the main  board. This solved the problem.

Hi  

collector wrote:There were wires from main battery into a relay then fuse box then to the leisure battery. After checking this, found it was used as a charger for the leisure battery when the engine is running. Probably fitted when the charger packed in!

Paulmold wrote:They all have a split charge system to charge leisure battery when engine running, so I don't think that's your problem.

I agree that’s normal. The battery is charged from the alternator when the engine is running and that’s the primary charging system. If it’s on hookup it can be charged from the mains power supply but it’s by no means certain that a hookup will be available. It has nothing to do with the mains charger packing up.

Brod

I seem to have solved my immediate problem. I had the Auto Electrician come to test my Symbol and he found the only drain on the vehicle battery was the fuse for the clock, radio, interior light and cigarette lighter. We disabled these, took the fuse out, and left it to check later. Later came and still wouldn't start. He came back and his next suggestion was that the battery probably needed a long slow charge to bring it back up. So he took it away and it took 3 days to bring it back up. He returned after checking the health of it and reconnected it. Success, engine started, yippee. He asked me to leave it with the fuse out for a week and try it again which I did and since then it has behaved. I have started it three times since then, taking it a run twice, even treated it to a new leisure battery, so all systems go now for my first trip away.
The moral for me of this story is don't just leave it standing, start it and take it out for a run. Just need to remember to do it through the off season.
A much happier Weedaf.

Sorry to be a "glass half empty" type person, but it would be advisable to set some money aside for a new engine battery. The existing one may cope OK for a while now that we're out of winter, but it ~probably~ won't last far into next winter, as they self-discharge quicker as the temperature drops. If you don't already have one, a plug-in voltmeter can tell you a lot about what's happening to the battery, so you may be able to see it coming and plan for a replacement:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

(the above is just an example - I should add that I have never used that specific product).

In very rough terms, when the battery has no load on it and it has been "resting" (i.e. not on charge) for an hour or more, 12.6V and above means that it's in reasonably good state of charge, and 11.8V or less means that is as close to dead as makes no difference - it will light LED lighting for a while in that state, but it probably won't be able to start the engine.

Or this one, which I have and used. Currently £1.60 inc postage.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Hi mojo
My battery was new March 2016, which is why I sought the advice of the auto electrician. I learned loads from him through this and is the reason I let him take it away to charge and check. I have had a look at the item you pointed to, looks like a good idea.
Ploughlin thanks, how do they do goods at that price?
Weedaf

Weedaf wrote:
My battery was new March 2016

It may survive, but generally they don't ever return to full capacity if they have been taken that low several times.

Weedaf wrote:
how do they do goods at that price?

Typically it's because the Chinese government subsidises shipping out of China to such an extent that it's cheaper to ship from China to the UK than it is from the UK to the UK. And of course production costs in China are ultra-low because they make millions of them to the lowest quality standards that they can get away with.

Hi  

Weedaf wrote: how do they do goods at that price?

-mojo- wrote: production costs in China are ultra-low because they make millions of them to the lowest quality standards that they can get away with

Agreed up to a point,  that’s often true but not always.

The Chinese can produce high products an an unbelievably low price. After all the likes of Apple and others get their products made in China.

I’ve found Chinese quality variable. I’ve seen some very good and some incredibly bad quality and downright dangerous items. Problem is it can be difficult to tell which is which.

There are two concerns main I have with have with products from China:

1) is it going to electrocute me?
2) Is it going to catch fire?

I purchased five of these cigar lighter voltage meters and I have to say they were remarkably good for the price.  Clearly the electrocution possibility is not a concern and they were well fused so I’m confident they won’t catch fire.
I decided to check the accuracy of my particular examples and the worst of them was 0.03V in error.  Not perfect but perfectly adequate for the purpose a product like is likely to be used for.



Of course that’s only a random sample and so can’t necessarily be extended to all of them!

Brod