Van alarm going off at 6am
- Thread starter czmate1999
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- alarm flat battery
I am only trying to really discount the ghost, and with the assurance of absolut5 that it would not be their kit causing the drain, that is the only other thing, van battery side, that’s been added. If I can reasonably discount that then I’ll call VW to check it out under warranty... that’s the plan anyways...
Took the van on a run and then switched ghost into service mode... as you can see the drain is still there... ho hum...
I've been watching your thread for a while @czmate1999 and it has prompted me to get the recommended battery monitor too. If you recall, I too had a battery drain issue which was traced to the Westfalia towbar module, which Richard at TB swapped out. Whilst I haven't had a flat battery since, I have had a warning appear on my media unit.
My BM shows the battery being full at 12.5v after either driving or putting it on hook-up, but it then slowly drops and the BM issues a warning that it is 'low' once it drops below 12.35v. The drop is far more gradual than yours and from the graph it shows that the solar must be topping it up during the day. However - and this is probably a case of too much knowledge being a dangerous thing - I don't know if I should be concerned by the drop (and the fact that the BM issues a warning at only 0.15v below where it says the battery is full and 'ok'? Also, whilst my cranking voltage is apparently 'OK', it's only just so. Should I be taking this up with VW as a warranty issue before it lets me down??
Perhaps @Dellmassive or @Flyingspanner can throw some light on the subject?
My BM shows the battery being full at 12.5v after either driving or putting it on hook-up, but it then slowly drops and the BM issues a warning that it is 'low' once it drops below 12.35v. The drop is far more gradual than yours and from the graph it shows that the solar must be topping it up during the day. However - and this is probably a case of too much knowledge being a dangerous thing - I don't know if I should be concerned by the drop (and the fact that the BM issues a warning at only 0.15v below where it says the battery is full and 'ok'? Also, whilst my cranking voltage is apparently 'OK', it's only just so. Should I be taking this up with VW as a warranty issue before it lets me down??
Perhaps @Dellmassive or @Flyingspanner can throw some light on the subject?
What year is your van? Which starter battery do you have fitted?
The first thing the dealer will advise you to do before they even look at it is ask to to remove all non factory fitted from the van circuits. Insurance dongles in the OBD port, dash cams, non factory fitted radios etc etc as the factory will not pay for warranty claims if something else could interfere with the vans normal shut down cycle.
I am told the CAN bus starts and stops randomly due to messages passed when insurance dongles wake the network up causing a drain on the battery as one example.
The factory says NOTHING should be left in the OBD port or hardwired to the CAN bus and expect the van systems to shut down correctly. Any issue should be passed to the manufacturer of the device, not VW or have that disconnected prior to a workshop visit as they are only interested in how the van came from the factory.
The first thing the dealer will advise you to do before they even look at it is ask to to remove all non factory fitted from the van circuits. Insurance dongles in the OBD port, dash cams, non factory fitted radios etc etc as the factory will not pay for warranty claims if something else could interfere with the vans normal shut down cycle.
I am told the CAN bus starts and stops randomly due to messages passed when insurance dongles wake the network up causing a drain on the battery as one example.
The factory says NOTHING should be left in the OBD port or hardwired to the CAN bus and expect the van systems to shut down correctly. Any issue should be passed to the manufacturer of the device, not VW or have that disconnected prior to a workshop visit as they are only interested in how the van came from the factory.
Hi Spanner. Nothing in my OBD, dash cams wired back to twin 100Ah leisure batteries, and only post production change wired to CAN bus is the Westfalia towbar loom. Van is MY2019. I'm not sure if I've even got a problem - at least not like @czmate1999 - it's just I'm not clear what charge level to expect and whether with the van locked up the line should be completely straight and level or whether there's always stuff going on which creates the tiny spikes. Like I say, until I fitted the BM2 I was blissfully unaware of any of this, so it could just be too much information. My greater concern is the cranking voltage as this seems to be on the edge.
70 mA is the accepted factory limit for parasitic current drain, you will get spikes due to any traffic reports or TMC updates going on in the background.
Being a 2019 van it won’t be affected by a certain battery manufacturer as they were sorted after week 5 ish 2018 which was my thinking so you should be sound.
Being a 2019 van it won’t be affected by a certain battery manufacturer as they were sorted after week 5 ish 2018 which was my thinking so you should be sound.
Yours looks to be a mild drain and I would imagine your battery would take a reasonable time to go below 12v...
My two crank tests from today,
for further context,
Hi all,
another update. Had VW Assist out. The battery was below 12v. The chap ran the engine for an hour then tested it and said the battery is good and couldn’t see a drain. He said he cleared some errors that were there. In the graphs below you can see where he had the engine on and the subsequent discharge over the next day and a half. Next steps for me is to get the Ghost checked and then run it back to convertors for them to check that there is nothing wrong their side. After that, I guess it’s back to a VW garage to try and sort it... ho hum.
another update. Had VW Assist out. The battery was below 12v. The chap ran the engine for an hour then tested it and said the battery is good and couldn’t see a drain. He said he cleared some errors that were there. In the graphs below you can see where he had the engine on and the subsequent discharge over the next day and a half. Next steps for me is to get the Ghost checked and then run it back to convertors for them to check that there is nothing wrong their side. After that, I guess it’s back to a VW garage to try and sort it... ho hum.
Last edited:
Hi,
Latest update. Van still doing the same thing.Had Ghost checked today and short of taking it out as a final check the installer can see a problem. He suggested to remove what appear to be the leisure system feeds (the red cables in photo below) to the battery and leave them off for a a few day to check if anything changes.
Have charged the battery (image 1 is with engine running and image 2 and will now leave it alone for a few days and see if the drain persists.
Have charged the battery (image 1 is with engine running and image 2 is with engine off and alarm set) and will now leave it alone for a few days and see if the drain persists.
image 1
image 2
On the below image you can see where I have been charging and disconnecting cables.
Anyway, this record is as much to aid my memory as anything. So not expecting any replies, unless you want to
.
CZ
Latest update. Van still doing the same thing.Had Ghost checked today and short of taking it out as a final check the installer can see a problem. He suggested to remove what appear to be the leisure system feeds (the red cables in photo below) to the battery and leave them off for a a few day to check if anything changes.
Have charged the battery (image 1 is with engine running and image 2 and will now leave it alone for a few days and see if the drain persists.
Have charged the battery (image 1 is with engine running and image 2 is with engine off and alarm set) and will now leave it alone for a few days and see if the drain persists.
image 1
image 2
On the below image you can see where I have been charging and disconnecting cables.
Anyway, this record is as much to aid my memory as anything. So not expecting any replies, unless you want to
.CZ
The monitor has a Bluetooth transmitter in it so is sending a signal all the time so it is drawing something off your battery, I’ve read on here nothing should be connected to the negative battery terminal as it confuses the vans battery monitoring system - I’m sure someone else with more knowledge will be along shortly but if you are trying to eliminate all potential draw connect it to the light housing bolt near by instead
i have very knowledge of vehicle electrics but the draw from the device is so tiny i doubt it could flatten the battery in two days...
happy to do if though if it does not impact the effectiveness of the device.
Mines connected to the bolt holding the headlamp and works fine. I’m sure the draw is minimal but it it’s worth a try
OK - so I'm confused @czmate1999. I've been following your thread with interest bearing in mind our vans and conversions are pretty similar, and I had a serious battery drain issue in the days following collection which was overcome by swapping out the Westfalia towbar control unit. I fitted a BM2 (direct to +ve and -ve terminals) and apart from my initial concerns about charge and cranking levels, I'm happy that I don't have a drain issue as illustrated by these screenshots:
NOTE the voltage and % here in comparison to your post above. For your van, 12.23% is apparently 98%, whereas for me, 12.24v is only 40%.
I haven't driven it since the 21st December, and having just unlocked it to lift the bonnet and take the photo of the BM2, the monitor sent me this update:
Now I've always been slightly mystified by the % readout given by the BM2, since it indicates 100% at around 12.98v and as can be seen from the shot above, 38% at 12.08v. So by my calculation, 0.9v equates to 62%. However, I'm utterly confused as to what the figures given are a percentage of, and what is to be expected for a battery/charging system in good condition. My confusion was compounded a few days ago when I walked past the van and got this alert on my watch/phone....
121% of what, and how can this be 'low'???
Can @Dellmassive or @travelvolts throw any light on this???
NOTE the voltage and % here in comparison to your post above. For your van, 12.23% is apparently 98%, whereas for me, 12.24v is only 40%.
I haven't driven it since the 21st December, and having just unlocked it to lift the bonnet and take the photo of the BM2, the monitor sent me this update:
Now I've always been slightly mystified by the % readout given by the BM2, since it indicates 100% at around 12.98v and as can be seen from the shot above, 38% at 12.08v. So by my calculation, 0.9v equates to 62%. However, I'm utterly confused as to what the figures given are a percentage of, and what is to be expected for a battery/charging system in good condition. My confusion was compounded a few days ago when I walked past the van and got this alert on my watch/phone....
121% of what, and how can this be 'low'???
Can @Dellmassive or @travelvolts throw any light on this???
OK. So since I have disconnected the cables the leisure cables from the main battery (which also includes the feed to the amp) the drain seems to have stopped or significantly reduced. See below charts,
so the VW systems seem to be good - which is a relief. I have spoken to Three Bridge and, as usual, they have been very good and I am making plans to pop up there for them to find and sort out the issue. This will coincide with me popping into rainbow screens for a thermal pop top wrap.
While this power drain has been a pita at least I am ‘slightly’ more familiar with the van-side electrics. I will continue to update on here as and when I have more to report.
with regards to the BM2 I can only leave that to others to respond - but I have never had a +100% reading.
UPDATE
Went for a drive and charged up the battery and reconnected the leisure system feed back to the starter battery - left the feed to the amp off. The drain started up again. I was glad to pin down where the drain was coming from. Spent some time on phone with convertor, who were very happy for me to bring the van in for a once over - when restrictions allow. Got a call after a couple of hours from them - they had reviewed their files of the build and discovered a potential flaw in the wiring of the Voltronic triple charger. Mine was the first van they had used this system on and they had connected up a relay (TR relay - a high current bypass relay), it that wasn’t actually required and caused a vehicle side draw. I have now disconnected this and the drain appears to have stopped. Good work by the converter to be able to spot the issue from their paperwork - bearing in mind it was converted nearly a year ago.
you can see a black cable running into the TR port below. Now removed.
below you can see I removed the wire at around 1530.
as you can see in above charts, the drain appears to have stopped.
Very glad to have this ‘hopefully’ sorted out!
Went for a drive and charged up the battery and reconnected the leisure system feed back to the starter battery - left the feed to the amp off. The drain started up again. I was glad to pin down where the drain was coming from. Spent some time on phone with convertor, who were very happy for me to bring the van in for a once over - when restrictions allow. Got a call after a couple of hours from them - they had reviewed their files of the build and discovered a potential flaw in the wiring of the Voltronic triple charger. Mine was the first van they had used this system on and they had connected up a relay (TR relay - a high current bypass relay), it that wasn’t actually required and caused a vehicle side draw. I have now disconnected this and the drain appears to have stopped. Good work by the converter to be able to spot the issue from their paperwork - bearing in mind it was converted nearly a year ago.
you can see a black cable running into the TR port below. Now removed.
below you can see I removed the wire at around 1530.
as you can see in above charts, the drain appears to have stopped.
Very glad to have this ‘hopefully’ sorted out!
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