Anyone fitted a higher ah starter battery for petrol van?

[RobH]

Wasn't a guess, I borrowed a multimeter when it first started happening, had a issue with added internal lights being cobbled together and coming on when the fuse for the standard lights was removed, resolved that and not had the battery issue for a while, but I remembered the 4 and that it was an amout that shouldn't have caused too much issue, so trying to remember 0.4 clearly could cause an issue so must have been lower than that.

Starts OK on jump leads, and on a fully charged battery, will start OK if it's just been left for a couple of days but leave it longer than 4 and it's fingers crossed. WOrse if it's cold or damp, better generally in the summer months.

[ghost123uk]

Sorry Rob, still a bit confusing = is it .4A or .004A ? (or even .04A = 40 milliamps) 40 Milliamps would be about right for most radios (though many are more like 100 Milliamps) and should not be a problem on a good battery over 6 days.

I have seen radios that pull .25 Amps (which is stupid) for the memory / clock/ standby display. Ours pulls .08A ( 800 Milliamps ) and I have it on the leisure battery (via a fuse block under the seat, next to the split charge / fridge relay)

[California Dreamin]

I'm intrigued to see if a CODE 110 fits .....175 X 175 X 315.....it's just that I posted the figures on Wiki and put the absolutes at 175W X 185H X 310L...I'm just wondering if there is just the extra 5mm length available.
In the back of my head I'm thinking a CODE 110 (80ah) might just fit.

Code 100 definately does fit.....175W X 175H by about 285 I think......with a good 70 - 74ah.
Martin

[RobH]

I don't currently have a multimeter, going to get another, could be .04 can't remember, annoying thing is resetting the stereo each time I change the battery. Larger battery may help 110 appears to be too high: http://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/batter ... r-battery/

Height (mm): 190
Width (mm): 172
Length (mm): 310

Any idea where to get and what type of cable I should use in order to get the power under the van from the leisure to the front? Should I be protecting it with split conveluted pipe or similar, any known safe/easy routes to use?

[California Dreamin]

190mm high..... yeah..you've gotta be very careful even though the majority of Code 110's are low profile there are some standard height as well.

Anyway..Just did a search on EuroCarParts for code 110 batteries and it came up with these and ALL are 175mm high

http://www.eurocarparts.com/110-car-batteries" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Minus 20% on the prices shown plus the discounted price includes FREE delivery.
Plus loads on fleabay around £65.00 for quality Lucas/Varta (see below)

Martin

[California Dreamin]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110-12V-80AH- ... 2c6ac5264d" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

According to the measurments this next one is 310 wide?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-1-SERIES- ... 2a298783ac" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110-12V-80AH- ... 3a7d5d7631" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110-12V-80AH- ... 3f20f0e83b" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Martin

[AdrianC]

could be .04 can't remember

That's what I meant about "guessing" - there's a factor of 100 between your three figures...

Larger battery may help

If your problem's down to the battery being dead, then any new battery will help.
If your problem's down to too high a draw, then it'll merely extend the delay from 4 or 5 days to 5 or 6 - it won't sort the actual problem, which will be killing your battery in short order anyway...

[nevill3]

Try disconnecting your radio next time you leave the van for five or six days and see if the problem recurs. If it does then wiring it to the leisure battery will kill that battery pretty quickly if you don't keep it charged up. What radio do you have fitted, is there a tech sheet that lists the power/amps etc.

[RobH]

Fair point on the guessing, don't currently have access to a multimeter.

Also fair point on draining the leisure, but at least that won't stop me starting.

It's a Kenwood KDC-W7141UY can't find any details of battery draw on standby.

Will have to see if I can get an auto electrician to take a look, difficult to find a decent one with any availability.

[AdrianC]

It's a Kenwood KDC-W7141UY can't find any details of battery draw on standby.

<wonders> <googles>
AHA!

It's got Bluetooth phone hands-free. I'll bet it's wired so that it's perma-live, not through the ignition switch, right? Go through the setup menus, and tell it to stop trying to connect over bluetooth. It thinks it's only doing it whilst the ignition's on. But, in reality, it's doing it 24x7. We had the exact same problem.

Removing the faceplate will have the same effect, if you use it as hands-free (we don't, so turning it off worked fine for us)

[RobH]

Never leave it with the face plate on, also didn't know it had Bluetooth hands free, got it four the rear USB iPod, going to buy a multimeter and then turn it off see what happens.

[Mocki]

I would be fitting a kill switch , either manual or automatic to the radios acc feed and moving the memory wire over to the leisure battery .

[RobH]

How and where would you route a wire from under the bed to the stereo? I've got a twin slider so no run of cupboards to hide the wire in/behind.

Also not sure how to wire a kill switch between accessory and memmory, only remember the one power line when fitting, is there a live from ignition I can tap into?

[Mocki]

The easiest and quickest way to go from the centre of the dash to under the bed is under the van, down through the grommet where the heater pipes exit the van near the gear stick and along the heater pipes under the van and then up under the bed .

There is no aux position on a T25 ignition switch , so you can only have power when the ignition lights are on, ie engine running .

Of your stereo is using a iso connector the yellow wire should be memory and the red should be switched .
But consult user paperwork first

To fit a kill switch just interrupt the feed to the red wire , mount switch in a convenient place and remember to switch it off when not using it or exiting the vehicle .

[ghost123uk]

Just a thought, might be worth checking with your new meter how much current is flowing in that red wire when the radio is completely off, before fitting a switch. You radio may not have a drain in the red when off (though as Steve says, some do !) You can measure the current in the yellow wire too (and let us know )