Electrickery

[steffanstringer]

is the radio memory wire going to one of the fuses( did it loose its memorys when you did the fuse check?

is there a interior light in the roof( is it a pop top or high top)?

is there any non standard wires going striaght off the battery?

I seem to think the interior lights in a westy do not go through the fuse box, but im not too up on westys......

think id be taking all the fuses out at once, and then checking again,
and also taking the main wires off the battery live one at a time, and re checking..... it must be on one of them!

Some progress!

There are two extra wires on the battery +ve terminal (see photo).



I took them both off and there is now no load (0 A) and no bulb lighting up. I don't know what either of them do and didn't test them separately. Anyone got a notion?

Don't know about the radio. Haven't had the face plate on and the battery had been completely dead for some weeks, so maybe the memories would have been gone anyway. There's no interior light in the roof (pop-top) just the standard ones in the 'kitchen' and the 'bedroom'. One of the tubes is blown and I've taken it out. Looks like it was suspect to a bit of a melty episode in the past.

Haven't taken all the fuses out yet, but might not need to now.

Will be taking a look under the back seat tomorrow as there is an Eberspacher in there. Maybe the extra wires are feeding that and it has a fuse of its own I can test.

Ta,

Steff

[Mocki]

argh, now then......... that ebber, is it the type with the clock and timer?
it will have a constant live.......

however,that aside, those two "extra wires" have in your fingers, they go to the main fuse box and to the ignition switch, the other large wire goes to the startermotor.......i dont think they are actually "extra"

[Dan Wood]

I know that I'll sound like a bit of a nanny, but wearing a metal strapped watch isn't a good idea with car batteries. Same for wedding rings and the like..

Those 'cold cranking' amps (several 100 of them!) will heat up your watch until it glows quicker than you can say "Captain Hook" if you see what I mean!



Still, sounds like you've made progress. My van's 0.2 A drain was on an extra wire, so I just disconnected it! Everything I need still works

[steffanstringer]

argh, now then......... that ebber, is it the type with the clock and timer?
it will have a constant live.......

however,that aside, those two "extra wires" have in your fingers, they go to the main fuse box and to the ignition switch, the other large wire goes to the startermotor.......i dont think they are actually "extra"

Yes on the clock/timer. Previous owner mentioned something about grief getting the Eber working before a big trip up to Norway. Got a picture of it somewhere. Will dig it out or take another tomorrow.

So I need those 'extra' wires then ?

Suppose I better put them back.

Steff

[steffanstringer]

I know that I'll sound like a bit of a nanny, but wearing a metal strapped watch isn't a good idea with car batteries. Same for wedding rings and the like..

Those 'cold cranking' amps (several 100 of them!) will heat up your watch until it glows quicker than you can say "Captain Hook" if you see what I mean!



Still, sounds like you've made progress. My van's 0.2 A drain was on an extra wire, so I just disconnected it! Everything I need still works

Dan - I am liking that sense of humour

So - I'll take the watch off then when fooling around with me Amps.

Cheers

Steff

[Grun]

Steff,
You wrote.........

So I need those 'extra' wires then ?

Suppose I better put them back.

If t'were me, I would check with the meter (or Bulb) each of the two 'Extra' wires, in turn, to see whether both, or just the one, gives you that drain that you are searching for.
It might just narrow things down a bit more.

Like you I enjoyed Dan Wood's gentle advice...
Mike

[ghost123uk]

Note it is really bad for a battery to let it go anywhere near completely flat.
You only have to let that happen o couple or 3 times and the battery will be pretty shot.


The pulsing nature of the drain does seem to indicate summat "electronic" like an alarm or the Eber etc.

[steffanstringer]

If t'were me, I would check with the meter (or Bulb) each of the two 'Extra' wires, in turn, to see whether both, or just the one, gives you that drain that you are searching for.
It might just narrow things down a bit more.

Mike

I am getting the drain when only one of the 'extra' wires is connected.



It's the red one in the picture (sorry - bit blurry, auto-focus not happy in low light) and it comes into the battery compartment through the forward grommet in the base. If I wiggle it I can see daylight so it must go 'outside'. Mocki said that these extra wires go to the main fuse box/ignition and to the starter motor. Just wondered if my LPG electronics could be getting involved here? I have a switch and fuel gauge for the LPG under the steering column.

argh, now then......... that ebber, is it the type with the clock and timer?
it will have a constant live....... Mocki

Here's the current analogue timer for the Eber...



I tried unplugging these two sets of connectors and it made no difference to the load.....

and



At the risk of turning this into an Eber thread, I found this ribbon cable with multi-pin connector taking a snooze beside my rear seat. It's not connected to anything. I guess it was part of the original heating system.



The previous owner also gave me this alternate digital timer that's not currently fitted....



After all that Eber stuff - not sure it's related to my problem because disconnecting all the connectors (admittedly only one at a time) didn't have an effect.

Any suggestions for my next move?

Steff

[Grun]

steff,
I hesitate to say too much as I have none of the accessories that you do.
Mocki is the ace with Ebbers and LPG fuelled engines.

Obvious answer, to this simple mind, is 'Follow that wire', (the one that goes 'outside' and causes the power drain).

If that is too difficult, I would be inclined to connect the remaining wires... (thick red goes to starter)... at the battery positive, (leaving the suspect wire off and clear of the battery terminal)... connect the earth lead to battery negative, and try switching on a few things to see what does and does not work. No meter or bulb involved!!!

Sequence for battery terminals for safety is..... when disconnecting.. earth first....... when re-connecting.. earth last.

Mike

[Grun]

steff,

I have had a look at my main battery and I only have one 'extra' factory fitted red wire from the positive terminal.

Haynes has two wiring diagrams in the '88 to '90 petrol transporter manual,

The first titled 'Battery, starter and alternator (1.9 litre carburettor engine only'). shows only one 'extra' wire from the positive terminal.

The second titled 'Typical battery starter alternator' shows two 'extra' wires one of which feeds two fuses under the rear seat and from the fuses all sorts of luxury items like tailgate lights, heated rear window, reading lamps, and delay relays for lights, are powered.

Could be this is your second (battery draining) wire.

Mike

[ghost123uk]

I have had an alternator with a leaky diode that caused battery drain when parked up ( though not of the pulsing nature you mentioned ).

I think one of those wires is the main charging wire that comes from the alternator ( tho I could easily be wrong !! )

Try disconnecting the alternator with your bulb in line, taking safety precautions with the live cables you will be "leaving dangling". Really, because a short from live to earth as in doing this can be really dangerous to you and / or the vans wiring !!

[Mocki]

the "main charging wire from the alternator connects at the starter motor, and shares the big starter cable to connect to the battery....... really need a better pic of the rougue wire at the battery connection to be able to say anything from here, from what i could see from the pic you did put up it wasnt a added wire......

the lpg should only have a power source when the ignition is on...... it may be fed from the engine bay, or from the ignition switch, but which ever, put your control switch in the middle and it wont be in the equasion....

as i said before, im NOT familiar with westys, but i seem to remember the interior lighting that westy fit does not go through the main fuse box.( i stand to be corrected on this)

So the wire that has the drain on it goes out of the battery box through the floor, downwards? does it go accross to the second battery?
Disconnect the leisure battery and see if you still have drain on it, it could be a leaky split charge system causeing the problem

[Ivybvus]

Sorry to butt into this thread - but it has provided some useful advice so far - result avoided cooked flesh for one , I seem to have a similar problem - battery goes flat over a two/three week period. The battery has the following on it - CCAEN = 410 amps, AH (20h) = 50 amps and is about ten months old. Borrowed a mates multimeter and got the following results:

On disconecting the earth and then re-making the circuit the CD player pulled in 0.45amps as it "charged up" - this then settled back to 0.003 amps (yes you did read right the meter goes to three decimal places).

Then tested the voltage across the battery - this came in at 11.95 volts - that was after I blew the 10amp internal fuse on the meter I had neglected to move the cable from the 10amp hole to one rated a bit higher!

Tried to start the van - it turned over - almost caught - but on another go it ground very slowly to the onimous "ticking" of the starter motor engaging but not turning.

Checked the electrolyte levels - all fine, and put the battery on charge - the charger is rated at 4 amps - the battery drew between 2&3 Amps and after half an hour this had dropped to between 1&2 amps - I propose to leave it charging over night and see what happens when I get in from work tomorrow.

On the basis of you can not have too much information, just went out to check what is connected to the live side of the battery and found that the charger had now dropped to 1 amp.

On the live side I have three wires - two belong to the van - a big thick black one and a slightly thinner red one - the third runs to a fuse and then to a green Zig relay box - this must provide for the camper "accessroies" lights etc.

So apart from the obvious question - what's not working right? Have I got the right battery for the job, and or is it likely to be "shot"?

Any helpful hints or tips?

Thanks in anticipation

[Mocki]

the battery should be a 65Ah or 75Ah or 85Ah depending on age and engine,

the battery should be disconnected from the van before charging really

the "green Zig" relay will be for either the fridge , or if no 12v fridge the split charge( if you have a leisure batt fitted)......

i guess the answer is , or maybe is a combination of a poorly battery and the cd player ......

fully charge the battery, (leave it over night) and when you disconnectt he charger, leave it a hours then come back and check the voltage with no load, then leave it 24hrs, and check it again..... if the voltage has dropped a volt or more, its not good.

[Ivybvus]

Cheers Steve - looks like the battery is "underpowered" for the job so a replacement may have to go on the shopping list - if so (and assuming it's not knackered) - would it do as a liesure battery? - I dont currently have one - although it has been on my wish list - the pictures I've come across as to how to wire one in seem a bit daunting.

I'll remember to take the battery out next time I have to charge it and will monitor it as suggested.

?why after all this time are we still using lead/acid batteries it is the 21st Century after all