New Battery - what Ah & spec?
- Thread starter Mike23864
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Have a look here.....
www.t6forum.com
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Upgrading Starter Battery - how to guide
My van (April 2017 T28) is fitted with a Moll battery. I am experiencing some issues with it not starting after a few days sitting on the drive. Now this could be due to the tracker I have fitted draining it but I doubt it, I'll do some drain current tests before taking the plunge. If I were to...
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Evening all!
I'm thinking my starter battery is on the way out but want to be sure before I go any further...so I think most of the indicators are there.... apart from it starts fine!
Noticed randomly a few months back when we were away and parked up for the night the CBE control panel beeped and warned me the starter battery showed a lower than normal voltage (Normal 12.5V?)but cant remember what that was although under 12v i'm pretty sure. Only did it the once and we were driving out most days. Not a daily driver and been parked up a week or so now. Decided to put the starter battery on charge this afternoon with my Ctek...then noticed later this evening the Ctek was very warm and had been on 3/4 charge for quite a long while, and the Sterling Power charger in the back was warm with the fan operating and some of the little LED lights are lit up.
Its all been professionally fitted and wired up and been perfect in every other way.
Your knowledge and wisdom are appreciated, as always. Thanks guys.
I'm thinking my starter battery is on the way out but want to be sure before I go any further...so I think most of the indicators are there.... apart from it starts fine!
Noticed randomly a few months back when we were away and parked up for the night the CBE control panel beeped and warned me the starter battery showed a lower than normal voltage (Normal 12.5V?)but cant remember what that was although under 12v i'm pretty sure. Only did it the once and we were driving out most days. Not a daily driver and been parked up a week or so now. Decided to put the starter battery on charge this afternoon with my Ctek...then noticed later this evening the Ctek was very warm and had been on 3/4 charge for quite a long while, and the Sterling Power charger in the back was warm with the fan operating and some of the little LED lights are lit up.
Its all been professionally fitted and wired up and been perfect in every other way.
Your knowledge and wisdom are appreciated, as always. Thanks guys.
Sorry, van info would of been useful...2016 T32 102ps HL, stop/start but no Adblue...or do I need to check under the bonnet?
Also check you don’t have a Moll brand battery, these are sub-standard, known issue at VW.
I replaced my 70Ah Moll EFB with a 95Ah AGM (in fact, this one thats currently on a 5% off offer - 019 AGM Powerline Start Stop Car Battery 95Ah | eBay ). it is fractionally larger in size, but fits well within the space in the engine bay, it also needed coding with VCDS to change battery type from EFB to AGM and also capacity updating, but its been as good as gold ever since...as mentioned, VW had issues with the Moll brand EFB batterys and were swapping them under warranty, however i elected just to change my own to save multiple trips/arguments with VW.
lots of info here - [Guide] Upgrading Starter Battery - how to
lots of info here - [Guide] Upgrading Starter Battery - how to
I've read through a lot of the posts on here about starter replacement batteries but think I still need a bit more info please. My battery is the original Varta 70Ah EFB and although it's never actually let me down yet (I suspect because I usually put it on charge if the van is unused for a week), I've never been over-convinced by it. After sitting unused for just a day, the power shown on the little plug in meter that I use sits in the 11.4 - 11.9V region and very rarely goes above 12V. I plugged a CTek MXS5 charger into [permanently live] 12V socket yesterday afternoon and it was still showing at just three orange LEDs 15 minutes ago. Now here's where I need some extra advice:
1. Is it definitely time for a new battery or can I do some tests myself to check whether it's that time - I've got a BM2 fitted to it if that's any use and also a multi-meter.
2. Everything that I've read on here tells me that if I change it myself, the new one would need to be coded to the van - my plan would be to go for an AGM and as powerful as possible whilst still fitting in the existing space (I think somebody suggested that there was a 95Ah which would fit). I'm raising that issue again as I have just phoned my local 'battery specialist' (JE Clarke, Stroud) who told me that if I went AGM, regardless of power, it would NOT need coding in a stop start T6.
As always, any advice for an electrical numpty would be much appreciated.
1. Is it definitely time for a new battery or can I do some tests myself to check whether it's that time - I've got a BM2 fitted to it if that's any use and also a multi-meter.
2. Everything that I've read on here tells me that if I change it myself, the new one would need to be coded to the van - my plan would be to go for an AGM and as powerful as possible whilst still fitting in the existing space (I think somebody suggested that there was a 95Ah which would fit). I'm raising that issue again as I have just phoned my local 'battery specialist' (JE Clarke, Stroud) who told me that if I went AGM, regardless of power, it would NOT need coding in a stop start T6.
As always, any advice for an electrical numpty would be much appreciated.
To test the battery for SOH & SOC you need more than a meter and BM2.
i use one of these Battery Tester meters:
They work on all SLA battery's (not lithium though)
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see here for more info about replacing the starter battery.
www.t6forum.com
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i use one of these Battery Tester meters:
They work on all SLA battery's (not lithium though)
....
see here for more info about replacing the starter battery.
Upgrading Starter Battery - how to guide
My van (April 2017 T28) is fitted with a Moll battery. I am experiencing some issues with it not starting after a few days sitting on the drive. Now this could be due to the tracker I have fitted draining it but I doubt it, I'll do some drain current tests before taking the plunge. If I were to...
.
Update. Shortly after my first post, I unplugged the charger and plugged it back in. I'm not sure whether that really made a difference but I do know that the charger is now showing 4 lit LEDs (from 3 yesterday to this morning) - maybe it's little electronic brain hit a glitch and the good old restart button worked!
@Dellmassive. Cheers for that. Can I take it that the shop was wrong about the battery NOT needing to be coded in?
@Dellmassive. Cheers for that. Can I take it that the shop was wrong about the battery NOT needing to be coded in?
Yes & No.
A new battery does need coding in - it effectively clears the SOH/SOC values back to 100% and tells the van the capacity of the new battery as it may differ from the original. These values are then used for the van to evaluate the power management and stop start system.
BUT . . .
you CAN just drop in a new battery and drive - that will work, but its not ideal.
the van will slowly adapt to the better battery, you may see the stop/start doesnt kick in for 20 or so start cycles.?
the best way is to have the battery coded in when its fitted, if not then have it coded at some point - but sooner rather than later.
you can code it yourself with VCDS or OBD11, or take it to a VW indy place and ask them to do it?
or find a local T6F member that can code it for you (for Beer Tokens) . =]
A new battery does need coding in - it effectively clears the SOH/SOC values back to 100% and tells the van the capacity of the new battery as it may differ from the original. These values are then used for the van to evaluate the power management and stop start system.
BUT . . .
you CAN just drop in a new battery and drive - that will work, but its not ideal.
the van will slowly adapt to the better battery, you may see the stop/start doesnt kick in for 20 or so start cycles.?
the best way is to have the battery coded in when its fitted, if not then have it coded at some point - but sooner rather than later.
you can code it yourself with VCDS or OBD11, or take it to a VW indy place and ask them to do it?
or find a local T6F member that can code it for you (for Beer Tokens) . =]
@Dellmassive. Again, thanks. 2 things come out of this. You can always be depended upon for reliable advice and it would seem that the so called battery 'specialist' was talking ballox.
Your mention of VCDS and OBD11 prompted my memory and I have now confirmed that from their website that Carista can also register a new battery - I've already got one of those and would just need to buy months subscription for a tenner if necessary. I say 'if necessary' as about an hour after my second post above, the Ctek charger was showing 5 orange and one green (fully charged) LED - I'll leave it alone for now but it's good to know that I can fit a new battery with minimum drama if it comes to it.
Again, thanks.
Your mention of VCDS and OBD11 prompted my memory and I have now confirmed that from their website that Carista can also register a new battery - I've already got one of those and would just need to buy months subscription for a tenner if necessary. I say 'if necessary' as about an hour after my second post above, the Ctek charger was showing 5 orange and one green (fully charged) LED - I'll leave it alone for now but it's good to know that I can fit a new battery with minimum drama if it comes to it.
Again, thanks.
he buddy ,A could be wrong but a don't think the transporter is one of the vehicles to have the option on carista to install a new battery , well I don't have the option lol, ad double check before you purchase a subscription if that's what your wanting it for ,ano it gives you live data so you can see the voltage of the battery but a haven't saw the option to replace a battery
