Dead Battery! (keeps happening)

[chrisben]

Hello
I have a 1990 Holdsworth Villa conversion, and she's been running fine till a few months ago. Put the key in the ignition, and it wouldn't turn over, battery was flat, called out RAC turned out I'd left the parking light on. Luckily I had a warranty on my battery so replaced it.

Started fine.

Two weeks later, same thing happened again. Called out RAC battery was flat, this time it was nothing to do with the parking light, the RAC man said it was a dodgy battery they gave me and about 1 in 20 are dodgy, I wasn't convinced so I got him to check for battery drain and he found nothing, said it was recharging fine too. I put it down to being unlucky. He replaced it and I thought that was the end of the matter.

Just gone back to my van and the new battery and it won't turn over again (lights won't work, leisure battery is also drained). I'm pretty confused can anyone help me?

[dazzzer1]

Cut out the fuss and get an auto electrician to look at it..a decent one should be able to sus it out im sure. or you can do what we did and struggle or months guessing until we got the guy to come and sort it

[HarryMann]

Yes, get it checked, likely alternator isn't charging properly, but a proper auto-electrician will run through things fairly methodically to be sure

[chrisben]

I was going to buy one of those battery chargers from Halfords to get the thing going again, then just drop the van off at Beetlemania, with instructions to find and fix the fault.

I'm not convinced its the alternator as the RAC man seemed to think charge was getting back to the battery, but it might be. Electrics are all a bit of a dark art to me. Something similar happened before, and it turned out to be a loose wire that needed crimping.

If you were taking it to the garage, what instructions would you give past explaining what I've explained on here? Also what sort of damage are we looking at?

Thanks for all your answers.

[HarryMann]

If you were taking it to the garage, what instructions would you give past explaining what I've explained on here? Also what sort of damage are we looking at?

None
£50 to £100? fault finding is an open-ended exercise... could be 5 minutes or 55 but hopefully not 555

Have you got a 'proper' battery charger... one that charges in stages and goes into trickle mode. These can pretty well tell you if the battery is still OK or shot. Some will even pulse charge to remove sulphates from the battery plates.

Wiki on battery chargers

[chrisben]

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165629" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I was considering getting one of these, its a dynamic jump starter as opposed to a battery charger. Now you've mentioned a proper battery charger, I feel this is woefully inadequate for the job.

[HarryMann]

Fully charging a battery with a modern charger over 24 hrs or longer makes is very different than your vehicle charging it up when driven occasionally...

Not very keen on those dynamic power starters, taking the battery off vehicle and charging overnight as I say, can keep you starting for months, even though making only occasional short runs.

[chrisben]

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 629_langId" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

something like this?

[pionte]

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 629_langId

something like this?

or here even cheaper

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CTEK-MULTI-XS-360 ... 2085wt_911" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you have a multi meter then some simple checks that you can do yourself may help narrow down the problem, have a read here, http://www.aa1car.com/library/battery_runs_down.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

some helpful stuff. good luck.

[HarryMann]

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 629_langId

something like this?

Yes that's a good one..

[Plasticman]

Getting back to the subject rather than the niceties of intel chargers would it not be an idea to charge it/them up and then disconnect the earth for the night and reconnect next day see if as is likely it will start, invest in a multi meter or save time and money and get an auto sparky on it
mike

[chrisben]

Everything seems to be pointing towards getting an auto electrician in. I have a suspision its a drain when the key isn't in the ignition.

Now my dad (yes everyone has been roped into this) seems to think that you still get decent travelling auto electricians?
a) Is my dad living in the 60's?
b) If he isn't can someone recommend one for north london?

Thanks again, will keep you all updated.

[HarryMann]

Getting back to the subject rather than the niceties of intel chargers

But that is some clever range... @|@

This looks handy for £12 - can even get one that permanently wires to cockpit display

Won't fix a problem.. though knowledge is power as they say

This guy is good but Berkhamsted is about 10 outside M25 KIng Langley, NW of London (old A41)
https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Ga ... 5_Specific


You'll have to do a bit of background research I think, but t'Internet is there..

[chrisben]

Booked her into Beetlemania in North London. Should know by the end of tomorrow what the fault was.

Thanks for all your help, will update when I find out.