Dead battery = No heater :(

[Pete M]

Spent 5 days in the Alps last week skiing and after 4 days our dash flash and then nothing while we were parked up (no hook up).
We'd been listening to music and charging our phones and it had killed the starter battery, fair enough but what surprised me was the aux heater stopped working as well ... boo.
Guessing the over head display running from the starter battery being the issue.
Must remember next time to charge phone from rear sockets and take a bluetooth speaker and play from phones

 

[sidepod]

Since when did the overhead display run off the starter battery?

Heater has a min 10.5v drop out. I think your leisure battery is dead.

 

[Hotel California]

The aux-heater does not run on the starter battery but guess you drained all three of them .
Did you need to start the engine using a other verhicle/cables ?
The cold also can be a issue .
When parked up without hook-up all things in the cabin need to be off or not used , interieur lights , cigaret lighters , radio

 

[Hotel California]

Since when did the overhead display run off the starter battery?

Heater has a min 10.5v drop out. I think your leisure battery is dead.

This is something i doubted before also but it seems it is , i think it has been proven by a electric sheme . @WelshGas or @Loz are good in pointing out these things...
Thats why it's good turn the controlpanel completly off when not using the Cali (i never do this doh)

 

[Pete M]

The aux-heater does not run on the starter battery but guess you drained all three of them .
Did you need to start the engine using a other verhicle/cables ?
The cold also can be a issue .
When parked up without hook-up all things in the cabin need to be off or not used , interieur lights , cigaret lighters , radio

We definitely don't drain them all, we continued to use the rear sockets and the fridge stayed on!
Never had a problem before in the same conditions/time frame.

 

[Hotel California]

@Pete M , if your fridge kept running your control panel was not dead ?

 

[Pete M]

@Pete M , if your fridge kept running your control panel was not dead ?

Oh yeh, very good point!
So wants with the heater dying?

 

[Loz]

Display panel has a supply from both battery circuits.

 

[Roger Boeken]

Spent 5 days in the Alps last week skiing and after 4 days our dash flash and then nothing while we were parked up (no hook up).
We'd been listening to music and charging our phones and it had killed the starter battery, fair enough but what surprised me was the aux heater stopped working as well ... boo.
Guessing the over head display running from the starter battery being the issue.
Must remember next time to charge phone from rear sockets and take a bluetooth speaker and play from phones

I'm confused: when the car is parked up there is no 12v in the dashboard available and the radio turn off after some minutes , as do the interior lights above the front seats..for example
If you activate the ignition to get power from the dashboard a lot of circuits get powered and will drain the starter battery including headlights or daylights .. (unless switch is in the off position)
As far as my experience goes I believe 4 days is really the maximum you can use the aux batteries with fridge and aux heater in use ..
Maybe it is time to check if your starter battery is still in good enough condition for winter in the alps temperatures..

 

[Pete M]

If the ignition is switch off but the key is still in the slot the radio will play until the starter battery runs flat.
My starter battery is good, I'm quite sure my first guess that the aux heater stopped working due to the starter battery being flat is correct.
As soon as the engine was jump started and running everything worked as expected.so not sure there is a dual feed to the display.

 

[Roger Boeken]

If the ignition is switch off but the key is still in the slot the radio will play until the starter battery runs flat.
My starter battery is good, I'm quite sure my first guess that the aux heater stopped working due to the starter battery being flat is correct.
As soon as the engine was jump started and running everything worked as expected.so not sure there is a dual feed to the display.

So, you were aware that you were using up the starter battery, ..
I find it logical that everything else may also stop functioning as expected. For example the ignition key is needed to be able to raise /lower the roof although the power to do so comes from the aux battery. The heater also stops before the fuel tank runs empty, I assume these sensors are also powered from the starter battery as they must also function if you do not have aux battery.. More circuits you may not need while parking up may be powered with the key in the slot.. I am sure it was not only the charging of the phone or listening to the radio that made your starter battery run flat.

 

[B J G]

Assuming that you have Bluemotion/regenerative charging then the starter battery only gets charged to about 80% of it's capability, enough to restart.
The point being that it's best to never run anything of it for more than one overnight or you run the risk of not being able to start the engine.

 

[Pete M]

Is the side door powered from the starter?
I'm guessing everything that in found in the other variants would be powered from the starter battery?
We've had approx 100 nights in total, from single to 2 weeks (it was driven then thou) 5 nights not on hook up is the longest we've done/do without moving and never had a problem.I do remember a couple of years ago on another skiing trip it did struggle and only just turned over enough to start, I put this down to it being -10 but maybe that wasn't the case.
Doing the math for 2 iphones, one dash radio/music system playing, in and out of the side door shouldn't be too difficult, I'll see if I can find out what everything draws and come back!

 

[ArunAlec]

If the ignition is switch off but the key is still in the slot the radio will play until the starter battery runs flat.
My starter battery is good, I'm quite sure my first guess that the aux heater stopped working due to the starter battery being flat is correct.
As soon as the engine was jump started and running everything worked as expected.so not sure there is a dual feed to the display.

Interesting, my radio switches off after 30 minutes if key is in ignition. it only stays on if the ignition is on, that's to say dashboard lights on or engine running.

 

[Hotel California]

Is the side door powered from the starter?
I'm guessing everything that in found in the other variants would be powered from the starter battery?
We've had approx 100 nights in total, from single to 2 weeks (it was driven then thou) 5 nights not on hook up is the longest we've done/do without moving and never had a problem.I do remember a couple of years ago on another skiing trip it did struggle and only just turned over enough to start, I put this down to it being -10 but maybe that wasn't the case.
Doing the math for 2 iphones, one dash radio/music system playing, in and out of the side door shouldn't be too difficult, I'll see if I can find out what everything draws and come back!

Sliding door is indeed from starterbat. do you have a fully powerd electric door or just the last part? Also the footwell lights you do best switching off .
Guess is was a combination of factors .

 

[andyinluton]

Interesting, my radio switches off after 30 minutes if key is in ignition. it only stays on if the ignition is on, that's to say dashboard lights on or engine running.

Mine is the same & the important thing is that if the dash lights are on so are the external daytime running lights so plenty to flatten the battery. So if the radio isn't turning off every 30 minutes you've got far more on & draining the battery.

 

[WelshGas]

Mine is the same & the important thing is that if the dash lights are on so are the external daytime running lights so plenty to flatten the battery. So if the radio isn't turning off every 30 minutes you've got far more on & draining the battery.

Also the modern ICE " In Car Entertainment " system are a little more sophisticated than the old FM/MW car radios.
Ignition ON - USB sockets energised and even if not used power is being used to convert 12v to 5v. Software loaded into ICE , HD if present spun up and accessed, DAB module energised to convert DAB signal, Satellite detection if present, Fuel Pump charged up, Dashboard lights, Engine/Car Computer module awoken, Sensors energised and the list goes on.
Gone are the days you could listen to your FM radio or play cassettes for hours and hours and still start the engine, or travel for a hundred miles or more with a duff dynamo/alternator dependant on the battery to power the car electrics and a good old petrol engine as well. Now you would be lucky to get 30 miles at night. The Engine/Starter Battery is just that, it starts the engine. The Alternator powers the vehicle. Also BlueMotion only charges the engine battery to about 80% capacity.

 

[Pete M]

Mine is the same & the important thing is that if the dash lights are on so are the external daytime running lights so plenty to flatten the battery. So if the radio isn't turning off every 30 minutes you've got far more on & draining the battery.

It's not the OE radio but a Pioneer ICE with pop up screen and DVD player, the key was in the slot but in the off position so no lights on.
We were playing iPlayer from an iphone via it's usb port and charging the other iphone via the second usb port for probably an hour at least in the morning and 4 hours at night.

 

[Pete M]

Also the modern ICE " In Car Entertainment " system are a little more sophisticated than the old FM/MW car radios.
Ignition ON - USB sockets energised and even if not used power is being used to convert 12v to 5v. Software loaded into ICE , HD if present spun up and accessed, DAB module energised to convert DAB signal, Satellite detection if present, Fuel Pump charged up, Dashboard lights, Engine/Car Computer module awoken, Sensors energised and the list goes on.
Gone are the days you could listen to your FM radio or play cassettes for hours and hours and still start the engine, or travel for a hundred miles or more with a duff dynamo/alternator dependant on the battery to power the car electrics and a good old petrol engine as well. Now you would be lucky to get 30 miles at night. The Engine/Starter Battery is just that, it starts the engine. The Alternator powers the vehicle. Also BlueMotion only charges the engine battery to about 80% capacity.

Yep you've summed that up nicely.
We've now got a nice B & O bluetooth rechargeable speaker that we will use and charge the phones from the rear area.
Only using the head unit on hook up!