Battery death?

andromeda

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Van parked outside house and used about 4 days ago. Turned key in ignition, it fired and then died. Dead as a dodo. Went onto hab and found I'd left bloomin pump on. I'm not technical but I know that the solar also charges main battery in the way the kind person who set it up did it.
Question: Pump off. If I leave it for a day will that damage batteries, (2 leisures as well), more, or should I get sorted today? Will solar kick start me? Does it sound like I might need new battery.
White hair old lady fodder for salesmen and mechanics (or so they think!)
Thanks for reading.
 
I would tend to use a smart charger pronto.
Hab battery should not be connected to the starter battery unless for a emergency jump start like my van setup, very few if any have this.
 
andromeda said:
Van parked outside house and used about 4 days ago. Turned key in ignition, it fired and then died. Dead as a dodo. Went onto hab and found I'd left bloomin pump on. I'm not technical but I know that the solar also charges main battery in the way the kind person who set it up did it.
Question: Pump off. If I leave it for a day will that damage batteries, (2 leisures as well), more, or should I get sorted today? Will solar kick start me? Does it sound like I might need new battery.
White hair old lady fodder for salesmen and mechanics (or so they think!)
Thanks for reading.
Click to expand...
A few things that don't really make sense to me ....

Why should the pump cause the VEHICLE Battery to die? I am presuming we are talking about the Tap Water Pump here? that would be driven by the Leisure Battery usually.
If it caused the Vehicle battery AND the Leisure batteries to die, then that is very strange as well and would suggest you have a direct connection between the batteries. (the solar may charge both batteries but it won't cause both batteries to discharge).
The water pump would only use any noticable power when it is on and running. Leaving it with power to it should have no impact on the battery unless it is running. Does the pump run even when no water is flowing? (possible if there is a fault with it or airlock in the pipework, but then you would have seen a problem with getting water out the tap).


The solar may give you a bit of a charge to the vehicle battery. How much depends on the controller and how much solar you are getting but it is very very unlikely to boost the vehicle battery enough to allow a kick start if the battery is so low it won't even turn the engine.

When a battery is dead, it is important to recharge fully as soon as possible to reduce the potential damage. This goes for any typical Lead Acid battery, be it a Vehicle battery or a Leisure battery.
 
wildebus said:
A few things that don't really make sense to me ....

Why should the pump cause the VEHICLE Battery to die? I am presuming we are talking about the Tap Water Pump here? that would be driven by the Leisure Battery usually.
If it caused the Vehicle battery AND the Leisure batteries to die, then that is very strange as well and would suggest you have a direct connection between the batteries. (the solar may charge both batteries but it won't cause both batteries to discharge).
Vehicle battery or a Leisure battery.
Click to expand...
Some goat may have connecter the solar output to hab and starter battery, this all down, best to fit a breaker switch to delink the starter bat if required when standing or camping.
 
trevskoda said:
I would tend to use a smart charger pronto.
Hab battery should not be connected to the starter battery unless for a emergency jump start like my van setup, very few if any have this.
Click to expand...
On my setup, I can force this to happen in an emergency. It will go back to normal after a certain amount of time.
 
It is unlikely to charge engine battery with solar this time of year .
option 1 recommended , ,sod it buy a new a new battery about £ 80
Option 2 set up charger not easy on street parking
Option 3 remove battery charge at home ,
Option 4 jump start drive to Halfords they will fit at low cost , good warrenty
Option 5 call out recovery home start they would proberbly fit expensive battery
Option 6 find a beefy sqaudi , flutter eye brows , accept his kind offer ,relax with with a large red .
 
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HTF said:
On my setup, I can force this to happen in an emergency. It will go back to normal after a certain amount of time.
Click to expand...
Mine is wired with a 200ah relay and thick battery cables, i have a switch on the dash to connect all up, this is used when driving to get 14.4v as the factory setup was a big resistor and not worth the full of my ass of roasted snow.
 
I use a Van Blitz Battery Master, and have done so for the most recent five years.

So far it's done the job I wanted it for, and no more playing around with switches to maintain any battery.
 
Molly 3 said:
It is unlikely to charge engine battery with solar this time of year .
option 1 recommended , ,sod it buy a new a new battery about £ 80
Option 2 set up charger not easy on street parking
Option 3 remove battery charge at home ,
Option 4 jump start drive to Halfords they will fit at low cost , good warrenty
Option 5 call out recovery home start they would proberbly fit expensive battery
Option 6 find a beefy sqaudi , flutter eye brows , accept his kind offer ,relax with with a large red .
Click to expand...
Knew I shoudn't have told you about the squaddie!
Dave gave me name of battery; the difference in price was substantial to the AA. However taking into account cost of fitting by a mechanic I would have had to call out not so substantial.
 
Molly 3 said:
It is unlikely to charge engine battery with solar this time of year .
option 1 recommended , ,sod it buy a new a new battery about £ 80
Option 2 set up charger not easy on street parking
Option 3 remove battery charge at home ,
Option 4 jump start drive to Halfords they will fit at low cost , good warrenty
Option 5 call out recovery home start they would proberbly fit expensive battery
Option 6 find a beefy sqaudi , flutter eye brows , accept his kind offer ,relax with with a large red .
Click to expand...
Option 7 Halfords bought out tyres on your drive, so they will come to you to fit a new battery
 
HurricaneSmith said:
I use a Van Blitz Battery Master, and have done so for the most recent five years.

So far it's done the job I wanted it for, and no more playing around with switches to maintain any battery.
Click to expand...
I dont but handy for jump start, i do have to flick the switch once started to fill the les batteries, if it was all connected via a simple relay the skinney fan belt would break due to the masif load of two extra hab batts which maybe half discharged.
 
I also have two habitation batteries Trev, and so far so good.

The Van Blitz kit was only about £70 from memory, and it has completely removed the need to visit the storage yard and flip the switch to prevent parasitic discharge flattening of any of them. It's given me peace of mind at minimal cost.
 
HurricaneSmith said:
I also have two habitation batteries Trev, and so far so good.

The Van Blitz kit was only about £70 from memory, and it has completely removed the need to visit the storage yard and flip the switch to prevent parasitic discharge flattening of any of them. It's given me peace of mind at minimal cost.
Click to expand...
I dont need to do that they way mine is set up, i must however watch the stran on the old thin v belt, later engines had a wide flat belt, hence why the van builders fitted a old diode sys, problem was it only gave 13v or a bit more, this knacked the battey which came with the van, so a better idea had to be found, so just jumped round it with the relay and switch method, it also meens even if i forget the swict its still getting some charge, i dont forget mind you to flick once started or stopped.
I could use a delay relay from the alt but this works also for jump starts where as the relay would not.
 
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