Geoff Bell Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 I have this problem and would appreciate a plan of action to try and sort it out. My vehicle battery loses its charge over the course of 1 week. Brand new MH in May 06 (Transit not new shape) The leisure battery stays charged. Can some one give me a checklist or a plan of action to try and find the cause, if necessary by a process of ellimination. Its parked up for the winter so I don't really want to take it back to Brownhills (100 miles) for them to turn round and say its Fords problem. My local Ford main dealer won't come to site, says I have to take it to them.By the way It takes a charge fine on the hook up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Hi geoff how are you . I recently have had untold problems with my battery , my leisure but mine hold the charge until you put on the lights and stuff and then it plumets. Obviously something is wrong with yours but what ? you say it takes a charge I wonder if you can balance the two batteries maybe your leisure is taking the balance thus switching the charge ? I hope that makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Geoff, I can think of only two possibilities: 1. Your battery is u/s. It may be from a bad batch, have been accidentally shorted out at some point. But it's not unusual to get a battery becoming faulty this quickly. And it will still take charge OK - it just won't hold it. 2. You have something that is drawing current from the battery. An alarm system wouldn't flatten it so quickly. What I would do in these curcumstances is to disconnect the positive from the battery and connect an ammeter between the battery terminal and the positive lead to see if there is a significant current flow. If it is (2) above then to flatten a fully charged 80 amp hour battery in a week means the current will be of the order of half an amp, so very noticeable. BUT, BEFORE disconnecting the battery, you MUST follow the procedure for dealing with the alarm and immobilisation system, otherwise, when you re-connect, you will have neither and nor will the vehicle move. Frankly, if the vehicle battery - which is not a deep discharge one like the leisure battery should be - has been discharged to flat every week for 18 months, then it's probably b******d anyway, so whatever you diagnose, a fresh battery would be a good idea. Mel E ==== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Bell Posted December 6, 2007 Author Share Posted December 6, 2007 The battery has been fine up until now although I did experience a similar problem after only 3 months and the battery was changed. This is therefore the second battery in 18 months, could I be that unlucky and have 2 duff brand new batterys or is something on my MH causing the problem? I don't have an ammeter is their some other way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Geoff, We got ours at Maplins for £6 a good little thing to have I know that wont help you now but since we have had it it has come in handy for allsorts of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Bell Posted December 6, 2007 Author Share Posted December 6, 2007 I,ll go and get an ammeter, we don't have a maplins round here but I guess Halfords will. Then I will report my findings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 A digital multi meter is what you need Geoff. It will accurately measure, amongst other things, current in milliamps (but only under half an amp - unless you get a very expensive one), volts at various scales from 1 volt up to and beyond mains voltage, and resistance (ohms) which can be used to check continuity. I find mine a very handy bit of kit for checking all manor of electrical thingys at home and automotive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Hi Geoff, I've got an ampmeter that you can borrow & I live in Southwater so quite nearby. If you want it, give me a ring on 07976 618 526 & we'll arrange delivery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Bob - it is probably better NOT to put your phone number in the public domain. Instead I would use the 'private message' facility. You may wish to edit out the number from your last posting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Thanks for the tip Tracker.........I probably would......if I knew how !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Cole Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Hi Geoff I don't think its your battery if its starting the vehicle ok. can you tell me what the voltage of the battery is dropping to and what the off charge voltage is when you have charged it up? have Brownhills fitted a sigma 30 alarm to your vehicle? I have one off these fitted to my Fiat based camper and find that this, coupled with Fiats own immobiliser plus the fact that there is always a small amount of current drawn by the ECU when everything is shut down does in fact very slowly drain the battery. I run mine at least every 2 weeks and also move it around to save getting flats on the tyres. If you have one of these immobilisers fitted DO NOTdisconnect the battery. you need to connect another battery to the battery cables to maintain a feed to the alarm. hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 bob b - 2007-12-06 4:36 PM Thanks for the tip Tracker.........I probably would......if I knew how !!! Click on 'edit' and then just, er, edit! But you have to do it within 30 minutes of posting or it becomes permanent. The only other way is to email the moderators (aka mods) and ask them to do it for you. To contact the mods click on 'contact administrator' at bottom of home pages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Bob - I think you might be out of time to edit your previous post. I think the way it works is that you get 30 minutes after you publish a post to go back and edit it (if you look at a post that you've put up within the 30 minutes, you'll see an "Edit" button to the bottom right of it - click on that and your words come up again but with the facility to change them - then just click "Submit" again and your edited post appears in place of the original words. But now you're stuffed, and all the ladies will be ringing you in the wee small hours night after night asking if you could show them how your multi-function tool works (oo-er!!). Or maybe that was your cunning plan all along....... B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Soz Tracker to repeat what you've said - you must have posted just as I was concocting mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Received and understood Bruce. A single, goodlooking fella like myself is well used to receiving "nuisance"phone calls. 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 bob b - 2007-12-06 4:59 PM Received and understood Bruce. A single, goodlooking fella like myself is well used to receiving "nuisance"phone calls. 8-) We can pass your number on to Syd then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Bell Posted December 6, 2007 Author Share Posted December 6, 2007 Thanks Geoff for the tip, I will get those readings for you, and Brownhills did fit a sigma alarm when I bought it so when parked up I my dashboard is abit like Blackpool illuminations, but that dosen't explain why it has been ok in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Bell Posted December 6, 2007 Author Share Posted December 6, 2007 Bob, I have sent you a personal message Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Cole Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Hi geoff, the reason I asked about the alarm was that on my camper the battery suddenly went flat, whilst touring in France (its a long story) but the out come was that the alarm had a wiring fault, which drained the battery. Also if you have one of the new radios they can also not allways switch off properly so it may be worth taking it out, as a course of ellimination. Battery problems this time of year are a real pain in the neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Bell Posted December 7, 2007 Author Share Posted December 7, 2007 If I want to remove the battery without upsetting the signa alarm, Geoff has made the point that I need to connect another battery before disconnection. I have a spare battery so can I connect that using the dedicated positive and negative terminal under the bonnet normally for jump starting from another vehicle , I don't want to damage any sensitve electronics. I can then take the duff battery (If that is the case) back to my Ford main dealer for exchange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Cole Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 If you are going to connect a spare battery then make sure it is charged up and connect it carefully making sure the connections are secure then you will be ok to disconnect your battery.Make sure that you insulate the positive lead of your battery when removing, it will be live from the battery you have connected so it must not be able to come in contact with any surrounding metal, a rubber glove is handy for this. good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Bell Posted December 7, 2007 Author Share Posted December 7, 2007 Thanks Geoff, I understand what you mean, sounds like a job for the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philman Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 I think it is usually safer to remove the negative (earth) connection first. Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Geoffffffffffffff bahhhhhhhhhhhhumbugggggggg . I will visit you in hospital again dont blow the van up this time :D :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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