Help, power issues and away camping.

V

VdubVirgin

Member
VIP Member
Hi, sorry to bother you. Come across a massive issue on our first trip.
So.....

I have dc dc charger, all working well.
Sargent system, but only plugged into leisure battery. Didn't run any cables to starter battery at all...

Yesterday was fine. Plugged into hook up and turned charger on Sargent unit to top up leisure battery. Worked fine saw Volts go up on reader.

however, today did same and didn't seem to charge. Not only that it totally flattened my starter battery despite it no being connected at all?

Totally confused.... the only thing connected to starter battery is my dc dc charger. Which in tun connects to my leisure battery.

all seemed fine, but once booked up seem to draw power from starter battery? Only has common earth of chassis?
 
What dc charger have you. What feed triggers the dc charger?
The dc charger may be charging the leisure battery when the engine is switched off(draining the van battery).
 
paddy26 said:
What dc charger have you. What feed triggers the dc charger?
The dc charger may be charging the leisure battery when the engine is switched off(draining the van battery).
Click to expand...
it's the CTEK one... followed the instructions, used a piggy bag fuse. But could have the wrong one.... I was using the 7.5 amp. Middle row near top
 
Hi and sorry your first trip is causing stress.
On the Sargent side once the battery is charged and you are on hook up then it won’t show any anything going into the leisure batt as it’s sitting there fully charged.
If the Sargent has no connections whatsoever to the vehicle battery then I think you can ignore it as a possible culprit.
The Ctek I don’t have myself so will leave to others to comment on.
Before you get involved in taking things apart just check the other possibilities of flattening the vehicle battery - did you leave the ignition on, did you leave something plugged into one of the cig lighters etc?
 
Nigel W said:
Before you get involved in taking things apart just check the other possibilities of flattening the vehicle battery - did you leave the ignition on, did you leave something plugged into one of the cig lighters etc?
Click to expand...
Or do you have power-latching @VdubVirgin?
 
So, it's happened again.
Starter battery was fully charged this morning, checked that the CTEK was only lighting up and charging when the engine was running.
Driven on the motorway for over an hour. When we stopped, the van wouldn't start again.
appear to be getting a voltage to the starter battery from the alternator. So can't understand why the battery would be flat ...

Randomly, notice the red hazard button is always illuminated. Even when the ignition is off, and all the doors locked ?

Oddly, when van wouldn't start, still appeared to have enough power for the windows and radio ..??
 
VdubVirgin said:
So, it's happened again.
Starter battery was fully charged this morning, checked that the CTEK was only lighting up and charging when the engine was running.
Driven on the motorway for over an hour. When we stopped, the van wouldn't start again.
appear to be getting a voltage to the starter battery from the alternator. So can't understand why the battery would be flat ...

Randomly, notice the red hazard button is always illuminated. Even when the ignition is off, and all the doors locked ?

Oddly, when van wouldn't start, still appeared to have enough power for the windows and radio ..??
Click to expand...
Are you sure its actually a flat battery that's the issue. Does the engine try to start or is it completely dead & not even trying? Could be an immobiliser issue or some other electrical gremlin.
 
you haven't connected anything directly to the vehicle battery negative post have you?
nothing should ever be connected here other than the original VW shunt (battery monitor)
 
Nigel W said:
you haven't connected anything directly to the vehicle battery negative post have you?
nothing should ever be connected here other than the original VW shunt (battery monitor)
Click to expand...
No. Only thing connected to the starter battery is the positive line to the CTEK .

the leisure battery obviously has a negative to the chassis point under the seat.

Salty Spuds said:
Are you sure its actually a flat battery that's the issue. Does the engine try to start or is it completely dead & not even trying? Could be an immobiliser issue or some other electrical gremlin.
Click to expand...
Funny you should say that, doesn't even try to start, and windows/ radio were still working .
I think there may be an electrical gremlin, as sometimes the hazards don't work when locking, the interior convenience light only goes off with the doors sometimes .
And hazard button stays illuminated when engine off and doors locked .
 
Nigel W said:
Worth a read and perhaps try
www.t6forum.com

[Guide] Full Van ECU Reset (Capacitive Discharge) -- How I Done It --

Full Van ECU Reset (Capacitive Discharge) -- How I Done It -- The T6 is full of ECU`s, Modules, CAN Buses and Data packets . . . . . Just like your Phone or PC right. The motor vehicle industry has spent years with research and development making the modern car/van Data and electrical system...
www.t6forum.com www.t6forum.com
Click to expand...
Cheers. I will give it shot.
Something Definitely seems wrong with whole system now. The Sargent system isn't charging my leisure battery. Get 230 ac in van when hooked up and charger light comes on. But doesn't seem to charge.
 
Wow, personally I wouldn’t run the ECU reset until you have resolved the Sargent charging issue as that plays no part in the VW system and should be stand alone.
if the mains is on and the charger says it is chucking out a charge then something is very wrong between the charger and the leisure battery - best you investigate that issue first.
Are you 100% sure you have connected the Ctek up correctly, perhaps you should disconnect this for the time being just to take it out of the loop to try and narrow down where the issue is?
 
VdubVirgin said:
Cheers. I will give it shot.
Something Definitely seems wrong with whole system now. The Sargent system isn't charging my leisure battery. Get 230 ac in van when hooked up and charger light comes on. But doesn't seem to charge.
Click to expand...
Checked the fuses in the Sargent box?
 
Why do you have the CTEK charger? Is it thru choice as I have a Sargent EC155 and it has the charger built in so no need for external. On your van panel select "L" and ensure red charger light is illuminated and thats it. Your unit may be different I do understand that. You will have 2 wires to leisure + and 2 to vehicle + from Sargent unit as they are the power supply wires.
 
Okay, all sorted. Turns out had a few issues going on.

Faulty Sargent unit, the built in cahrger wasn't working so had no dc when on hook up. That's why it wouldn't charge the leisure battery.

DC-DC Charger seems fine. Just had a faulty starter battery that wouldn't hold its charge.

Big Al said:
Why do you have the CTEK charger? Is it thru choice as I have a Sargent EC155 and it has the charger built in so no need for external. On your van panel select "L" and ensure red charger light is illuminated and thats it. Your unit may be different I do understand that. You will have 2 wires to leisure + and 2 to vehicle + from Sargent unit as they are the power supply wires.
Click to expand...
Because I have a euro 6 stop start engine. Ideally should run a dc dc charger

Nigel W said:
Wow, personally I wouldn’t run the ECU reset until you have resolved the Sargent charging issue as that plays no part in the VW system and should be stand alone.
if the mains is on and the charger says it is chucking out a charge then something is very wrong between the charger and the leisure battery - best you investigate that issue first.
Are you 100% sure you have connected the Ctek up correctly, perhaps you should disconnect this for the time being just to take it out of the loop to try and narrow down where the issue is?
Click to expand...
Yeah thanks, took the dc dc out the loop straight away. Still had the same issue with starter battery failing. Appears to just have been a knackered battery.

was able to confirm the internal charger on Sargent unit wasn't working.

If anyone else has an issue where they think the charger on the Sergeants system isn't working. A quick way to onfirm this is to remove the leisure and start a battery fuses from the sergeant system.
Go onto a mains hook up.
Turn on the rocker switch on the unit.
you should be able to have DC power on your main system As the sergeant charger is also a power is the van leisure DC.
 
If your starter battery turns the engine but it doesn’t start it’s worth trying it again after turning stop/start off. If the ecu doesn’t think there’s enough cranking voltage in the starter battery to allow start/stop then it won’t start it at all.
 
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