Battery drain issues

[Texxaco]

Evening all,

I am hoping that someone can offer some help with my battery issue.

Over the past few days my battery has been draining overnight hence when I try to start the van I need to use my Noco Booster to get it started,

I have used my Noco Genius10 to charge the battery once disconnected from the van, when this was completed the battery voltage was 12.88. I then connected it up to the van and the van started, the voltage on starting dropped to 11.46v, when the van was running the voltage increased to 13.15v.

Once the van was shutdown I could not start the van again with the voltage being 11.29v.

Chris @Dav-Tec has been trying to help me solve the issue however we have hit a dead end, Chris said to post on the forum for any advise you can offer.

The battery is Bosch unit which is only a few months old.

I have attached the scan I did on my van post the van starting up.

Thanks

Pete

 

[Pete C]

How quickly does the battery drop to the 11.29v stated ?

Pete

 

[Dav-Tec]

It's worth noting I'm 2 hours away and diagnostics being done remotely and Pete has has limited electrical "knowledge".

It's also worth mentioning up until last night Pete had unknowingly been bridging the battery monitor after forgetting the info I told him about connecting the charger to a ground and not the battery to prevent bridging this little "intelligent" module.

A full charge done today I then asked Pete to record some data. Results below.

Before start up 12.69v
Staring it drops to 11.46v
Battery voltage at 13.15v when running.
Switched the van off and the battery is at 12.32v and going up.

He the. Tried to start the van again and it cranked but not enough to start.

New battery replaced 3 or 4 months back is a Bosch 5 year jobbie. Nothing changed recently wondering if it's the battery monitor itself but no physical signs of failure. Is there a way to test these? I know the ignition switch is also a possible issue.

Doors latch properly interior lights go out as do the puddle lights etc. I'm now at a bit of a loss where to go next especially with it being far away and... No offence Pete... He's not the best multimeter operator

 

[Samro]

Is your dc-dc charger set to run using engine shutdown protection or hardwired to the ignition?
Do you have solar panel connected directly to your starter battery?
Do you have a dashcam with VS parking cable?

 

[Dav-Tec]

He has t got a leisure battery but has a thinkware dash cam has a parking mode and has both permanent and ignition feeds so it knows when it's on or off.

Never had issues with one killing a battery though

 

[Samro]

He has t got a leisure battery but has a thinkware dash cam has a parking mode and has both permanent and ignition feeds so it knows when it's on or off.

Never had issues with one killing a battery though

My T6.1 is crap at charging the starter battery properly and my parking cable will fail to keep the dashcam alive due to low voltage when locking the van. Due to the low voltage causing a fairly early disconnect, the voltage recovers after the van is locked and left for around 1/2 hour, but if Pete's parking cable is slow to disconnect, then this could cause the battery to fall to a point that it can't recover to a level that it fails to start the van?

 

[Dav-Tec]

Possibly but the camera has been in since February and this has only just started plus on the Thinkware you can set the safe voltage when parked to 11.6V or whatever you want with reason and it's set to 11.6 or 11.8 not discounting it though

 

[Texxaco]

I did disconnect the dash cam a while back as I thought this may the be the issue. On returning to the van the next morning the battery was low on voltage although I did not check it with my multimeter. All I can say is it would not start the van.

I had driven the van earlier in the day after having used my booster to start it. All be it the incorrect way as Chris mentions.

 

[Samro]

Do you have solar pete?

 

[Texxaco]

Do you have solar pete?

No solar panel fitted or leisure battery.

 

[Samro]

If you have no leisure battery or solar to lose power through, it seems the most likely candidate is the parking mode of the dashcam.
If you properly charge the battery with a decent charger and turn off parking mode it would be interesting to see how things go.
As I say my T6.1 is an absolute pain in the arse for favouring polar bears over charging my battery properly. Now and again I charge my starter battery properly because otherwise I get ACC errors at startup due to low voltage. Not a problem in summer as I have an Ablemail charger from my leisure battery, but the amount of charge that the alternator delivers is not ideal.

 

[Texxaco]

Thanks for the heads up @Samro, I am no sparky hence why I have asked Chris @Dav-Tec to help me with this issue.

It’s a bloody PITA, not knowing what is causing the problem.

 

[Dav-Tec]

You have had an issue with ACC Pete leading up to this and it's worth trying but I've never seen it on over 100 dash cams fitted but there's always a first

 

[Texxaco]

Me neither. ACC, adaptive cruise control? I don’t have it on the van.

 

[Pauly]

If a fully charged battery wont start the van after one start cycle then you have to question the battery ?
I know its quite new but if its been run flat it wont like it and you could have a failing cell pulling it down, you could always take it to a local battery place and get them to do a load test on it ?

 

[Dav-Tec]

Yeah I considered this to and got him to take the battery off the van and stick the charger in repair mode then pop to halfrauds or kick fit in the morning for them to drop it on. Could be a faulty battery or that the drain has caused damage but again at this point inconclusive

 

[Texxaco]

Thanks @Pauly this is something that Chris has mentioned as a possible issue.

I will look at companies near me who offer such a service but I don’t have much knowledge in this arena, never had the need.

Anyone know of a company who could help in the Chester area?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Samro]

Did you end up with a new battery @Texxaco?

 

[Texxaco]

Yup got it on warranty, the battery was duff.