Wont turn over, dead battery - 13.2

Discussion in 'Mech Tech' started by salad.dodger2, Oct 15, 2013.

  1. So I have had a new battery on the bus for a few months, locked away at night or for a week or two. The battery has gone dead, wont even turn over. The alarm and tracker are on but I wouldnt have thought they would drain a new battery in 2 weeks. ????

    Also checked the alternator and its pushing out 13.2v. Thats not enough is it??

    But I thought it would be enough to charge it some so it would turn over at least.

    The battery is out and on charge for a few days now.

    Any ideas people.

    Thanks
     
  2. Edit:

    Forgot to say, I had dash lights but when key turned nothing, a click when the ignition is on but wont turn over.

    Connected a transit van to it and it jumped it fine.
     
  3. yep they will drain it but get ya battery checked some new ones have been kicking around when the give them too ya i had one that did this.
     
  4. if your not using it id disconnect and take home and keep it trickled , or ......................
     
    salad.dodger2 likes this.
  5. Hey dude, got battery checked and its reading 12.8v after 3 days on trickle charge. Shop said thats right. Im sure it is.
     
  6. it doesnt sound that good its amps aswell they should check , fritt or matty or someone a be along soon but id say you might have a cell gone or a drain on your bus somewhere it could be immob n dash lights it was with mine when my battery was pants , if its under guarentee get um ta change it dont take no marmite lol , im lucky my auto spares bloke is a diamond old school bloke n i had no probs , all ok at mo ,but still need to trickle.
     
    salad.dodger2 likes this.
  7. davidoft

    davidoft Sponsor

    An alarm and tracker could well drain the battery in that time, have you got the details for current draw on them?
    1amp hour could drain a battery in 300 hrs, 14 days
     
    salad.dodger2 likes this.
  8. rickyrooo1

    rickyrooo1 Hanging round like a bad smell

    we had a tracker on the fork lift at work, drains the brand new battery in a week if not used.
     
  9. I'd wire the tracker to the leisure battery...once a standard starter battery (Lead acid) has been totally drained, they are rarely capable of holding a charge for long. Leisure Batts have thicker plates and don't mind being flattened. Another cheapo option , which works remarkably well, is a dash top solar trickle charger...
     
    salad.dodger2 likes this.
  10. An output of 13.2V is fine if its just maintaining a battery lightly loaded running with say sidelights on, but on initial start up the voltage could kick up to 14.5 for a few minutes.
     
  11. Charge the battery. Will it start the engine? If it does, switch off all lights etc so there should be no drain, then ---

    disconnect the negative battery connector and put a digital ammeter in series. What is the current drain shown??
     
    salad.dodger2 likes this.
  12. Cheers for your replies guys.

    I will do as suggested and measure the drain, also I will have to get a leisure battery fitted then.
     
  13. If there is mains power in the garage that the van is in, your best option is to fit a c-tek battery charger... It's a smart charger, so it will keep the battery conditioned :cool:
     
  14. As well as your tracker do you have a radio fitted? I think these also drain the battery (even when switched off in order to maintain preset stations etc)?
     
  15. I assume you jump started it if you know the alt is putting out 13.2v if the battery was flat the alternator voltage might be a bit low until the battery has some charge in it. I know that when I've been camping and my LB is nearly flat it drags the voltage down until there is sme charge in the LB. somewhere between 13.8 and 14.4v is normal when the batteries are charged
     
    paradox likes this.
  16. Unfortunetly I dont have mains in the garage.

    I have taken the radio out ages ago as it bust, never got around to pitting another yet, I sing to myself haha

    Yeah I jumped it off a transit van, it chugged but didnt fire, so rev'd the transit van for a few minutes and then the bus fired. Multi-meter reading 13.2v when engine ticking over.

    Shame its raining as I would be out there sorting it, garage on an incline so water goes into the garage, about 3inches before rear wheels, 4inch deep, annoying.
     
  17. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    I think your batteries knackered unless it's now ok. I assume you took it for a spin after jumping it?
    Had same with the car the other day, flat as a pancake after no use since June, jumped off the van and drove to work. Been fine ever since.
     
  18. Im hoping its not knackered mate, only bought it in about July, its holding a charge of the bus. I didnt drive it as I thought 13.2v isnt enough and it was getting dark.

    Hoping the weekend is better weather to get to the bottom of this.

    Cheers
     
  19. Do you have a south facing window in that garage? Or south facing wall? You could get a decent 12v solar panel, and feed it through into the van to keep it topped up!!
     
  20. mikedjames

    mikedjames Supporter

    Any lead acid battery left flat can die in days. It doesnt matter how new it is. I killed a month old sealed lead acid once.
    You need to either disconnect the battery and chain your van to the floor or trickle charge it to keep the tracker live.

    I would think your bus would be better off being driven once a week and kept out of your rust inducing garage.
     

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