Cali heating

[Ant&family]

I Wonder if anyone has had a similar problem ref heating?

When the engine is off , the heating makes a noise for approx 20seconds,then turns itself off.

However when the engine is on, the heating works fine?

Clearly the idea of heating on a cold night isnt to run the engine all night!

Really hoping this is not an expensive fix. ideas greatly appreciated..

 

[WelshGas]

I Wonder if anyone has had a similar problem ref heating?

When the engine is off , the heating makes a noise for approx 20seconds,then turns itself off.

However when the engine is on, the heating works fine?

Clearly the idea of heating on a cold night isnt to run the engine all night!

Really hoping this is not an expensive fix. ideas greatly appreciated..

Which vehicle do you have? According to your Avatar information you're still looking.

Which heater? The California has 2 x diesel powered heaters.

 

[vmaxkiddy]

I Wonder if anyone has had a similar problem ref heating?

When the engine is off , the heating makes a noise for approx 20seconds,then turns itself off.

However when the engine is on, the heating works fine?

Clearly the idea of heating on a cold night isnt to run the engine all night!

Really hoping this is not an expensive fix. ideas greatly appreciated..

If the noise is a gurgling sound, your air conditioning probably needs a service.

 

[Ant&family]

Oh. I ended up going for a low mileage cali 2013 with 23k on the clock.

T5 2.0 diesel.

I am talking about the heater that you activate via the control unit. Not sure if that makes sense?

 

[WelshGas]

Oh. I ended up going for a low mileage cali 2013 with 23k on the clock.

T5 2.0 diesel.

I am talking about the heater that you activate via the control unit. Not sure if that makes sense?

There are 2 Heaters.
1. Parking Heater, fueled by diesel and controlled by the Control Panel only or a Remote. Can be run with or without engine on.
2. Engine coolant heater. Fueled by diesel and only runs when the engine is running AND the ambient temperature is 5c or less. It runs until the engine coolant temperature gets to 80c and then switches off. Diesel engines take longer to warm up than petrol engines.
If this heater fires up and the engine is shut down before the coolant temperature reaches 80c you will hear the fan and electric coolant pump run on as the shutdown sequence takes 1 to 2 minutes .

 

[Ant&family]

Thanks for clarifying. I had assumed they were part and parcel of the same system.

So my issue is with the parking heater.

Starts up for 15 secs or so then cuts out.

Any thoughts what this could be?

Or any simple measures a layperson can try to do to resolve the issue.

Fortunately i am banking on the cold weather being behind us for a little while, so its not a show stopper. Just irritating as it used to work and just stopped.

 

[Magic Bus]

Try turning the level of the diesel heater up via the control panel. It goes from level 1 upwards (to either 7 or 9). The higher the level, the more heat is produced. It may just be that it’s too warm at the moment, the heater switches itself off when it meets a certain temperature, it doesn’t run all the time.

 

[Ant&family]

Ok. I'll give that a go. I hadnt realised that there was a minimum ambient temperature before system worked.

Thanks

 

[Dave- Super Keen]

Try turning the level of the diesel heater up via the control panel. It goes from level 1 upwards (to either 7 or 9). The higher the level, the more heat is produced. It may just be that it’s too warm at the moment, the heater switches itself off when it meets a certain temperature, it doesn’t run all the time.

That is really helpful as I turned mine to 5 and nothing happened, thanks for clarifying.

 

[WelshGas]

Thanks for clarifying. I had assumed they were part and parcel of the same system.

So my issue is with the parking heater.

Starts up for 15 secs or so then cuts out.

Any thoughts what this could be?

Or any simple measures a layperson can try to do to resolve the issue.

Fortunately i am banking on the cold weather being behind us for a little while, so its not a show stopper. Just irritating as it used to work and just stopped.

How good are the Leisure Batteries? If original then they are 10 years old and maybe we’ll past their prime.

The Parking Heater will switch Off if:-
1. You have less than a 1/4 tank of fuel.
2. If the Leisure Battery voltage drops to 11.5volts at any time. Check the Control Panel voltage screen when Parking Heater is started.
3. The Parking Heater starts and heats up the vehicle . When it reaches the set temperature it will slow down, fuel pump ticking will slow. If you exceed the set temperature the heater will switch OFF.

Check all the above and try the heater on Level 7.

If the Leisure Batteries voltage drops then probably time to replace them. Will probably work OK if only used when plugged into EHU.

 

[Wesel]

Two important points:
The volume of diesel in the tank cannot be too low (minimum 25% if I remember)
The auxiliary battery must be sufficiently charged

 

[Wesel]

Sorry i haven't seen the response of @WelshGas before posting

 

[Ant&family]

How good are the Leisure Batteries? If original then they are 10 years old and maybe we’ll past their prime.

The Parking Heater will switch Off if:-
1. You have less than a 1/4 tank of fuel.
2. If the Leisure Battery voltage drops to 11.5volts at any time. Check the Control Panel voltage screen when Parking Heater is started.
3. The Parking Heater starts and heats up the vehicle . When it reaches the set temperature it will slow down, fuel pump ticking will slow. If you exceed the set temperature the heater will switch OFF.

Check all the above and try the heater on Level 7.

If the Leisure Batteries voltage drops then probably time to replace them. Will probably work OK if only used when plugged into EHU.

 

[Ant&family]

I think youve hit the nail on the head. Flashing batteries. Voltage 10.8.

Bought van in 2021 , 2013 plate.

Changed the main battery and cam belt& water pump at the time.

No idea if leisure batteries ever changed.

Guess i'd better start saving up!

 

[Ant&family]

Thanks. I followed your steps.Heater on setting 10.
Cold outside. Plenty of fuel in the tank. Heater light comes on for 15 secs,then turns off.

 

[andyinluton]

10.8v = flat leisure batteries.

If you've got mains available try hooking up & the heater should run & it will charge the batteries at the same time.

You running the engine has the same effect, alternator is managing to charge the leisure batteries as quick as the heater is depleting them.

 

[WelshGas]

Thanks. I followed your steps.Heater on setting 10.
Cold outside. Plenty of fuel in the tank. Heater light comes on for 15 secs,then turns off.

View attachment 106541

What @andyinluton said above.

Direct replacement Leisure Batteries are Varta LA80

LA80 Varta Professional Dual Purpose AGM Leisure Battery 840 080 080

LA80 VARTA Professional Dual Purpose AGM Leisure Battery <i>Innovation with Purpose, Premium Experience, Powerful History</i> VARTA was founded in 1887 Germany, and was established fully in 1904 by delivering the first electric vehicle battery, famously driven by Thomas Edison. Soon after, VARTA...

www.tayna.co.uk

 

[Ant&family]

10.8v = flat leisure batteries.

If you've got mains available try hooking up & the heater should run & it will charge the batteries at the same time.

You running the engine has the same effect, alternator is managing to charge the leisure batteries as quick as the heater is depleting them.

I got back on sunday after 150 mile camping trip in new forest. Guess batteries must be knackered as i can only assume that mileage should have left me with something in the batteries after that sort of charging opportunity. They could be 10 years old tbf, so i'll have to brush up on changing the batteries. Thanks for your help. Really appreciated & informative

 

[andyinluton]

When was the van last used? If it's been siting all winter with flat batteries they probably have had it if they are the originals. Replacements should get you 4 or 5 days use before needing charging.


Could you also update your van details ? If you go to the top of the screen you should see your "A" in the purple box, click on that , go to account details & put your actual van details in. It's a huge help to those answering queries.
Note if you are using the forum on a phone in portrait mode the details don't show, but turn it to landscape or use a desktop machine & they do.

 

[WelshGas]

I got back on sunday after 150 mile camping trip in new forest. Guess batteries must be knackered as i can only assume that mileage should have left me with something in the batteries after that sort of charging opportunity. They could be 10 years old tbf, so i'll have to brush up on changing the batteries. Thanks for your help. Really appreciated & informative

The Leisure Batteries are probably past it, but check they are charging.
1. Plug into the mains EHU, using your blue EHU mains lead and a 3 pin EHU adapter. You should get a 2 pin plug symbol, bottom R, on the Control Panel screen and the voltage shown should climb to 14+volts.
2. With No EHU plugged in, start the engine. On the Control Panel you should see a G symbol , bottom R, on the Control Panel screen and the voltage shown will climb to 14+ volts.

If the G symbol doesn’t show then check the brown 80 amp fuse under the front passenger seat.

Finally, check the 75amp Cube fuse on the red +tve pole on the rear Leisure Battery..

 

[Ant&family]

Luckily i'm working from home tomorrow!

I'll give that a go tomorrow and see what it brings.

Thanks

Really appreciated

 

[Nik_campervan]

If the leisure batteries are original they will have a date code stamped into the terminal post. The date stamping is unique to batts supplied to the vehicle assembly line. I

 

[Ant&family]

The Leisure Batteries are probably past it, but check they are charging.
1. Plug into the mains EHU, using your blue EHU mains lead and a 3 pin EHU adapter. You should get a 2 pin plug symbol, bottom R, on the Control Panel screen and the voltage shown should climb to 14+volts.
2. With No EHU plugged in, start the engine. On the Control Panel you should see a G symbol , bottom R, on the Control Panel screen and the voltage shown will climb to 14+ volts.

If the G symbol doesn’t show then check the brown 80 amp fuse under the front passenger seat.

Finally, check the 75amp Cube fuse on the red +tve pole on the rear Leisure Battery..

Ok.
1: all well. 18 mins to get from 12.9 v to 14 v.

2. G symbol showed when engine turned on and van unplugged showing steady amp of 13.9 with descending amps over time as shown

Heating.
When i now turn the engine off and turn on the parking heating turns on at max temp,a slight pulse like click noise comes on which increase in temp gradually, battery drops from 50% to 40% pretty quickly(within 2 mins)

Heating working fine and running until i turn it off 6 mins later

This ties in with your initial point that leisure batteries depleted so heater not working i guess which is great as it suggests nothing more sinister.

Does the 40% battery basically mean batteries are shot? (I'm really not technical .

(Having turned off the heater and fan stopped entirely the display now reads 11.9 v 40% battery and -0.4 A)

 

[WelshGas]

Ok.
1: all well. 18 mins to get from 12.9 v to 14 v.

2. G symbol showed when engine turned on and van unplugged showing steady amp of 13.9 with descending amps over time as shown

Heating.
When i now turn the engine off and turn on the parking heating turns on at max temp,a slight pulse like click noise comes on which increase in temp gradually, battery drops from 50% to 40% pretty quickly(within 2 mins)

Heating working fine and running until i turn it off 6 mins later

This ties in with your initial point that leisure batteries depleted so heater not working i guess which is great as it suggests nothing more sinister.

Does the 40% battery basically mean batteries are shot? (I'm really not technical .

(Having turned off the heater and fan stopped entirely the display now reads 11.9 v 40% battery and -0.4 A)

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Yep, looks like the Leisure Batteries will charge, both charging systems work, but will not hold a charge.
The heater and fridge will work fine with engine running or if plugged into EHU. But you will find both will turn off if running on Leisure Batteries only.
Time to replace both Leisure Batteries.

You could check the Cube Fuse on the rear Leisure Battery, originally 50 amp but now upgraded to 75 amp.

The % calculation on the Control Panel is a bit iffy, but not the a voltage.

 

[andyinluton]

Driving the van or just plugging it in for half an hour will give a false impression, it takes about half an hour after stopping the engine or unplugging for the voltage to stabilise to its true state of charge.

To get from 40 % to full you really need the van plugged in for 24hours to give the batteries a proper charge.