Battery charge which one?

[John Herbert]

Hi All

Two part question -

One - does the percentage shown on the control unit relate to the status of the leisure battery or the engine battery? I suspect that it is the leisure battery and if so how can you find out the condition of the other (the engine?) battery?

Two - we are getting to the time, for various reasons, when the Cali does not go out much and am thinking to once a week, for ten minutes, to run the engine to charge all the batteries or even (much expense!) to fit a roof solar panel. What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks for response.

 

[CYCLOPATH]

The control unit shows the leisure battery
When you are hooked up, the hook up charges both batteries, so what I do is put mine on hook up at home once a month for a couple of days if I have not been on a long trip

 

[John Herbert]

Thanks for that, I thought it was the leisure battery - now confirmed, but how do you assess the condition of the engine battery which supplies power to the alarm, locking mechanism and tracker? Also the proposed option to put the Cali on hook up is not, from the 5th floor, a viable option. Opinions still sought on my idea to run the engine for ten minutes once a week. Is that long enough, frequent enough or what?

 

[Hotel California]

Running the engine 10min will not top-up your lesure batteries and in the end you will also ruin your starter battery .
Starting a engine takes a lot of power out the starter bat. , the alternator will charge your starter battery while driving . Cutting out the engine within' 10m and do this every week over wintertime while your Cali is not in use , you will kill all three bats.
Hook-up once a month for 24h or drive it one day a week to go shopping/bring kids to school/.... or solar panel (if parked outside)

If you open the bonnet you can mesure the state of your starterbattery using a voltmeter

 

[John Herbert]

Thanks, interesting, point taken - also supports my thought that the engine "stop start" button, a silly feature, should always be switched off.

But so far no suggestion as to how to measure the status of the engine battery. Am now considering installing a 100w solar panel for topping up the batteries to avoid them being flattened due to not being able to mains charge and little on the road use.

 

[Hotel California]

Mesuring the starter battery , open the bonnet and use a voltmeter as i wrote above...
You could install a permanent meter somewhere on your dash witch is wired under the bonnet.
But putting your Cali on hook-up for 24h each month will trickle charge your starter battery so thats the thing needs to be done.
Get it on hook up somewhere .

 

[ArunAlec]

Thanks, interesting, point taken - also supports my thought that the engine "stop start" button, a silly feature, should always be switched off.

But so far no suggestion as to how to measure the status of the engine battery. Am now considering installing a 100w solar panel for topping up the batteries to avoid them being flattened due to not being able to mains charge and little on the road use.

You could gets plug in voltmeter that fits 12v cigarette socket and check voltage at the dashboard ashtray socket (assuming it's the same as T5 and fed from the engine battery). Or get the VW Connect plugin and App, which shows battery voltage.

 

[WelshGas]

Thanks, interesting, point taken - also supports my thought that the engine "stop start" button, a silly feature, should always be switched off.

But so far no suggestion as to how to measure the status of the engine battery. Am now considering installing a 100w solar panel for topping up the batteries to avoid them being flattened due to not being able to mains charge and little on the road use.

Take care and get good advice about using 1 Solar Panel and controller to charge both Leisure Batteries AND Engine Battery.
If done incorrectly can cause problems with the electronics.

 

[MattBW]

Thanks, interesting, point taken - also supports my thought that the engine "stop start" button, a silly feature, should always be switched off.

But so far no suggestion as to how to measure the status of the engine battery. Am now considering installing a 100w solar panel for topping up the batteries to avoid them being flattened due to not being able to mains charge and little on the road use.

The stop start accounts for battery charge so will only come in when the batteries are in a state where no damage or over draining will be done.

I personally don't find it a silly feature, saves unnecessary pollution. I drove a Nissan hire car recently and it physically showed how much co2 was saved by the stop start, if the VW did this people might not think it was silly as it gives some context.

Solar panels are great and can certainly help, but will depend on where your van is stored and how much light it gets. Winter is the toughest time and my old vans panel (80w) wasnt quite enough through the heart of winter when the days were very short.

 

[John Herbert]

The suggestion to get a simple cigarette lighter plug in that tells you the condition of the engine battery is a good one and have just ordered one on line. Report to follow.

Going back to my original thought to run the engine to top up the battery -so ten minutes would not be enough as the battery "cost or use" to start up the engine would not be replaced by running the engine for ten minutes (actually I know it's the alternator that is doing the charging). So if ten minutes would not be enough for how long should the engine be run before it has replaced the charge required for the starter and then makes a positive contribution to top up the batteries.

In any event is it not a good idea to start the engine up from time to time over the winter period, when you don't want to take it out on the road for various reasons - not the least because don't want to loose the good spot in which it is parked!

On the solar panel option I am taking advice as to best set up to top up both leisure and engine battery.

 

[WelshGas]

The suggestion to get a simple cigarette lighter plug in that tells you the condition of the engine battery is a good one and have just ordered one on line. Report to follow.

Going back to my original thought to run the engine to top up the battery -so ten minutes would not be enough as the battery "cost or use" to start up the engine would not be replaced by running the engine for ten minutes (actually I know it's the alternator that is doing the charging). So if ten minutes would not be enough for how long should the engine be run before it has replaced the charge required for the starter and then makes a positive contribution to top up the batteries.

In any event is it not a good idea to start the engine up from time to time over the winter period, when you don't want to take it out on the road for various reasons - not the least because don't want to loose the good spot in which it is parked!

On the solar panel option I am taking advice as to best set up to top up both leisure and engine battery.

I was told some time ago that a 20 mile run was required to return the engine battery to pre-start condition. Alternators have improved and Power from regenerative braking helps, so probably 15 miles, but that’s just for the Engine Battery.

I would suggest you talk to Roger Donahugh, a forum member who has supplied many Forum members with Solar Panel kits, or can fit them himself via his company

http://www.solarcampersolutions.co.uk/index.php/shop/vwcalikit

 

[CYCLOPATH]

The suggestion to get a simple cigarette lighter plug in that tells you the condition of the engine battery is a good one and have just ordered one on line. Report to follow.

Going back to my original thought to run the engine to top up the battery -so ten minutes would not be enough as the battery "cost or use" to start up the engine would not be replaced by running the engine for ten minutes (actually I know it's the alternator that is doing the charging). So if ten minutes would not be enough for how long should the engine be run before it has replaced the charge required for the starter and then makes a positive contribution to top up the batteries.

In any event is it not a good idea to start the engine up from time to time over the winter period, when you don't want to take it out on the road for various reasons - not the least because don't want to loose the good spot in which it is parked!

On the solar panel option I am taking advice as to best set up to top up both leisure and engine battery.

The dash lighter socket is the place to check your engine battery. Beware the super cheap Chinese lighter voltmeters. I bought one. It was very inaccurate when compared to my multitester, and it started to get hot if I left it in.......
Bad information is worse than no information, so I binned it.

 

[briwy]

You should take it out for a good run anyway if you're not using it much.
Brake discs will corrode pretty quickly if not used.
Not using a vehicle is imo worse than using it too much.

 

[CYCLOPATH]

You should take it out for a good run anyway if you're not using it much.
Brake discs will corrode pretty quickly if not used.
Not using a vehicle is imo worse than using it too much.

I totally agree. The air con seals go if not used, discs rust, brake cylinders seal
And in a van with material....bedding, bellows etc théy get musty.
Good excuse to have a week end away every month

 

[B J G]

Thanks, interesting, point taken - also supports my thought that the engine "stop start" button, a silly feature, should always be switched off.

But so far no suggestion as to how to measure the status of the engine battery. Am now considering installing a 100w solar panel for topping up the batteries to avoid them being flattened due to not being able to mains charge and little on the road use.

I wanted to know what level the battery was at pre start up and got a USB cigarette lighter one which gives an indication. Checked it against the actual battery and close enough for a guide. Confirmed that the battery doesn't get charged to more than 12.5Volts.

You could use an Oxford type battery conditioner/charger every few weeks to keep the battery charged over lay up periods.

USB type
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Charg...480411&hash=item41aa73b128:g:6RoAAOSwol5Y4hyo

Charger
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Oxford-Ox...321030&hash=item2c7d9a59cd:g:FtgAAOSw~OdVVjk7

 

[MattBW]

My vehicle battery seems to hold around 12.3 never much higher for some reason but I have noticed when it been on hookup for a while it holds higher for a while. I do drive mine for short journeys to work so that may be why my battery is a bit under most of the time..

I have one of these which you could fit to your vehicle battery if you were concerned about the capacity and wanted more info than the voltage.
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/nasa-bm-1-bluetooth-review.20041/

 

[B J G]

My vehicle battery seems to hold around 12.3 never much higher for some reason but I have noticed when it been on hookup for a while it holds higher for a while. I do drive mine for short journeys to work so that may be why my battery is a bit under most of the time..

I have one of these which you could fit to your vehicle battery if you were concerned about the capacity and wanted more info than the voltage.
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/nasa-bm-1-bluetooth-review.20041/

Not sure on your Cali model but the Bluemotion or regenerative charging limits the battery charge to 12.5Volt. No charging at idle takes place unless the system detects abnormally low battery charge level.

Mains charging goes to 13.75Volts. But the above lets it all back down to 12.5Volts.

 

[MattBW]

Yes mine is bluemotion too, but seems to charge quite a lot and does often go over 12.5v, Im guessing that could mean my battery is no good.

 

[B J G]

Loads of power needed most of the time on today's vehicles.
Air con, fuel pump, radio, engine/vehicle management computer, lots of sensors, DRL's, ABS etc etc.

Surprising how much when you start to really think about it.

 

[MattBW]

Yes a friend was saying about a Land Rover he was working on, the dash and entertainment system (pretty incredible setup though) used something like 23amps

 

[B J G]

We all think that we are running around in greener vehicles but it makes food for thought.

Mini self contained fortresses with all the external sensing available.

 

[John Herbert]

Take point about VW needs not to be left idle because of rust to disc brakes, air con seals etc.

On the roof solar panel charging both the leisure batteries and engine battery I have been in touch with Roger Donoghue at Solar Camper Solutions about this. He is willing to supply and fit, using a dual battery battery MPPT charger with built in Bluetooth (so that the battery status can be read using a smart phone). But he first needs me to run a 2mm 17amp (not connected) cable from the engine bay (starter battery) to the rear cupboard area so that he can connect to the charger unit.

Any suggestions please (I have a T6 Ocean) as to how to do this, like - " you will need cable length, then you first remove ..... etc" (photos would be wonderful).

Thanks