Van alarm going off at 6am

[JOG]

I am tracking this thread out of interest, and admit that much of it is going over my head....but, I am learning some things! I must say, it is fantastic to observe the “remote diagnosis” that is taking place trying to get to the bottom of this.

Well done guys!

 

[czmate1999]

Get a current clamp around the battery negative lead and see what current is draining out, anything more than 70mA indicates something on the van is draining the battery which is why it could be going flat, unless the battery is on it's way out for whatever reason. Otherwise it is just guess work, if you have a hole in the bucket, the water will leak out.

Will do. Just got one from Amazon . Just need to read the instructions

 

[czmate1999]

Update:

So went for a good drive on Friday and when finished the battery was as per the first picture. As a test for comparison i reconnected the dash cams so I can compare power drain against the last set of graphs the cam was disconnected... As you can see on Friday things were fine.



Its Sunday eve and I just checked the battery and it is now down to below 12v and its only a couple of days later...



Here is the map of the drain over the weekend:





Additional info: I have an absolute 5 audio set up and a wabesto heater - the heater is powered of the leisure system and the audio set-up is currently powered off the vehicle side but i assume that all powers off when the van systems power down...

 

[czmate1999]

Here is a comparison. On the 16th the van battery had also been charged overnight (from 9pm on the 15th) from the mains.



Still very puzzled by this...

 

[Flyingspanner]

Nothing puzzling about it from what I can see, you simply have a constant slow drain on your battery. No idea where from, but something must be draining it.
Or to put it simplistically, you have a small hole in the bottom of your bucket, doesn’t matter how often you fill your bucket ( charge or taken for a drive) you still have the hole.
UNTIL you plug that hole, your bucket will leak until it’s empty again. Charging and topping it up won’t fix the underlying problem.

 

[czmate1999]

Nothing puzzling about it from what I can see, you simply have a constant slow drain on your battery. No idea where from, but something must be draining it.
Or to put it simplistically, you have a small hole in the bottom of your bucket, doesn’t matter how often you fill your bucket ( charge or taken for a drive) you still have the hole.
UNTIL you plug that hole, your bucket will leak until it’s empty again. Charging and topping it up won’t fix the underlying problem.

I get it, but i just can’t figure where from. Over the summer (got the van back from converters just before lockdown 1) the solar kept the batteries topped up so I didn’t notice an issue, but now...

will get the clamp meter on it tomorrow and see what it says...

 

[Ads_Essex]

Nothing puzzling about it from what I can see, you simply have a constant slow drain on your battery. No idea where from, but something must be draining it.
Or to put it simplistically, you have a small hole in the bottom of your bucket, doesn’t matter how often you fill your bucket ( charge or taken for a drive) you still have the hole.
UNTIL you plug that hole, your bucket will leak until it’s empty again. Charging and topping it up won’t fix the underlying problem.

Playing devils advocate here, are we saying that his screenshots indicate a slow drain? Because if so, how can we be sure that it isn’t the battery losing power solely because it’s knackered?

 

[Flyingspanner]

We don’t, that is why we need a current clamp to measure anything draining OR a scan device to read MVB of 61

 

[Flyingspanner]

Or you could test the battery if you have a tool for that too.

 

[Ads_Essex]

We don’t, that is why we need a current clamp to measure anything drain. OR a scan device to read MBNA of 61

Cheers. I ask as my BM2 readout looks the same.
It used to be that after a fortnight the van would struggle to charge. Now it’s nearer 7 days. The battery is a Varta brand, is as old as the van and has been flattened a few times.
Nothing is left plugged in. The only thing connected is the BM, with the Ring DC-DC charger being fed via the factory-fit aux cable.

 

[Flyingspanner]

If you belong to a breakdown provider, you could call them out to test your battery, they have expensive battery testers which would give you a quick result if you did suspect the battery is faulty, or they could tell you if you at least had a drain on the battery, they wouldn’t necessarily have time to get to the consumer draining it, but would at least be able to detect the drain.

 

[czmate1999]

Hi,

not used this before, so hopefully the settings are correct. below are with the engine off.

with dash cam on, engine off for 2 minute and doors closed.



With dash cam off.



after 50 minute with the engine off anddoors closed.



Current battery condition:



would welcome any thoughts on this continuing issue. it’s driving me crazy.

Cheers.

 

[Flyingspanner]

The current clamp should be around the cable and the jaws closed. Don’t worry, you have not had experience of using one of these tools, so please don’t feel silly.

 

[Jlo]

Hi,

not used this before, so hopefully the settings are correct. below are with the engine off.

with dash cam on, engine off for 2 minute and doors closed.

View attachment 93096

With dash cam off.

View attachment 93097

after 50 minute with the engine off anddoors closed.

View attachment 93098

Current battery condition:

View attachment 93099

would welcome any thoughts on this continuing issue. it’s driving me crazy.

Cheers.

You need to clamp the meter around the wire... like this:

 

[Flyingspanner]

Also ensure the setting is set to DC current, hold the closed loop close to the wire and hit reset to calibrate the tool. Then open the jaws and place around the negative cable with the arrow facing away from the battery (current flows from negative to positive though some may tell you different). It is just an indicator tool to give you an idea of the current flowing in the circuit. You are measuring the body earth circuit here. You may need to loosen your battery clamp and move the battery forward to get better access for fitting the tool around the lead. The jaws must be closed though to get a reading.

 

[Flyingspanner]

Also latch the bonnet switch, turn off your traffic info updates if you have it set (original radio fitted) close all the doors, lock the van and check the reading. You will have around 4 amps as the indicators flash then it will drop to around 1 or 2 amps for up to 11 mins, after 20 mins you should have no more than 0.07A showing on the display. You may find that your tool turns itself off before that. Remove reset and refit without disturbing the van if it does that.

 

[Flyingspanner]

The reason for latching the bonnet (but leaving the lid open) is so you can take measurements while the van is in the locked state.

 

[czmate1999]

Hi all,

A quick update, still having the battery issue. Thought I had tracked it down to the dash cam and power magic pro, but on disconnection the drain still seems to be there -see charts below. The only other thing connected, starter battery side (other than audio stuff), is an Autowatch Ghost - this could possibly cause the drain if the Can Bus is not shutting down properly. My next action is to take the van on a run and charge up the battery, then switch the Ghost into service mode And leave the van idle for a few days. This should allow me to see whether the Ghost is causing the problem Or to discount it...

shout out to @Flyingspanner who has been very helpful over DM.

cz.

 

[Davenjo]

@czmate1999 I can't comment on whether the Ghost is responsible or not but I'm not sure you putting into service mode would prove anything either way, i.e. the Ghost will still be connecting in the same way and waiting for the van to be driven outside of parameters (30mph+ for extended period, etc.) to automatically switch back to normal operation mode???

 

[czmate1999]

@czmate1999 I can't comment on whether the Ghost is responsible or not but I'm not sure you putting into service mode would prove anything either way, i.e. the Ghost will still be connecting in the same way and waiting for the van to be driven outside of parameters (30mph+ for extended period, etc.) to automatically switch back to normal operation mode???

yeah, I would think the same, but I’m just going by what the installer said to try. I am in the process of booking an appointment with him to physically check it as well...