I can't work out what it is that is draining it. Or why it's draining both. Will have to test it when the battery is charged.
Tracker will drain a battery down over a month. Mine does. The only sensible answer is to hook up the battery to a trickle conditioner/charger and leave it on permanently. I have the Optimate Accumate unit which can be left on and keeps the battery topped up even while the tracker is taking its draw. Optimate do some nifty connection cables so you can permanently wire the battery to a bulkhed port and then plug the charger lead into this once you are parked up.
I need to work out the drain on the battery. But even then, surely only the starter battery should be draining?
Is your split charge relay wired correctly or even working correctly maybe both batteries are draining as they are actually permanently connected and draining that way Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
When I installed it and tested it, it was working ok. Was splitting charge properly. Can't see how it's wired wrong. Only thing I can think is that the SB is draining coz of the tracker, and somehow the VSR is dragging the LB down too. Will test drain on the SB from the tracker tomorrow when I re-install the charger SB.
both batteries are probably knackered now. I would get 2 new ones, charge them fully, disconnect your split charge setup and see if the batteries discharge over time, use a multimeter to check them.
I have a new Bosch spare battery in my garage which naturally runs down on its own and I put it on charge once a week to keep it alive. The problem you have is finding out why both batteries went completely flat suggesting a fault somewhere. A good and fully charged engine battery is vital for your van and a poor battery causes so many bad starting and running issues. An external charger and multimeter are essential items in my mind.
I'm as interested as you to find out what this is. For future reference you can 'trick' the ctek (or any smart charger that can't see a flat battery) by connecting another battery to the flat one. (jump leads from the daily driver's battery, maybe, in parallel, engine off). However that may be academic as the battery is quite possibly toast now. Smart chargers need to 'see' a terminal voltage. It's a safety feature that ctek built in to prevent arcing across the leads if they are accidentally touched together.
Useful about the "trick". My LB (the battery that the CTEK plugs into) was at less than 1v!!! So I guess that's below the threshold!
So, SB had 24 hours on charge. Seemed to charge well. Battery charger was giving out 14.4v. When removed, SB voltage dropped to 12.8v where it has sat for the last 30 minutes. So no OBVIOUS sign of it being knackered. Time will tell..... Have plugged SB back into bus. Started vehicle fine. Alternator giving out around 14v on a cold idling bus. So all looks ok there. Removed LB. Sitting at less than 1v! Have put it on charge now, where that will sit for at least 24 hours. I also tested the drain on the SB once I fitted it back in. I think I have done it right. +ve cable attached. -ve cable removed. Set multimeter up as below. Black probe to COM. Red probe to 10A. Dial switch to read amps. Then I attached one probe to -ve terminal and one probe to earth strap. Whatever way I did it, I got 0....... I'm sure there should be SOME drain! Especially in my case.
Here's another thought... Could I have the LB and SB wired up to the wrong terminals on the Durite? Would that make a difference? If looking at the durite, should the LB/SB come out the bottom left or bottom right?
sounds promising. personally, I would focus on the SB first and disconnect the split charging and take out the LB and keep checking the SB to see if it drains while in the van. the LB is not a priority. then if all is well with the SB, you could install the LB in the vehicle but keep the split charging disconnected. Then check both SB and LB to see if any significant draining. if both SB and LB stand up. then you could install your split charging setup and then keep a check on both batteries to see what's going on with them.
Just been out for a second drain test. Still nothing. Now I'm back inside I thought maybe I should have turned something on to check that I get a reading on the multimeter. Headlights or something. Can't be bothered to go out again. Haha. MOT tomorrow anyway so might have more than just a dodgy battery to deal with!!!
Yep the leads are right try it in line with the positive lead though. BIT WITH POWER OFF FROM THE IGNITION. Worse that will happen is if there is a big drain it will blow the internal multimeter fuse, which is at least 10amps if not slightly higher. @theBusmonkey can you check my working before @AndyC does this. Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Also I don't think there is a drain on the starter, I think it is your LB being super flat or the durite is bad. Pretty much can't get the wiring wrong in a durite vsr Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
There's only three things that run off the LB. Fridge, Propex and sink pump. All are off. What's the worst that would happen if I got the battery wires on Durite wrong way round? I don't think I do though.
I tried with +ve cable initially. Then realised -ve was safer. Same result. I tried -ve with ignition on. Still 0. Will try tomorrow with a small but definitely load on the battery, like lights or something.
