Flat Battery

[chrissieB]

Hi Everyone,
Firstly a Happy New Year to you all and hop 2023 allows many great road trips.
I have 2020 Ocean that has a flat engine battery. It's not been used for around 6 weeks or so, I'm guessing that a number of short trips and lack of a good drive had contributed to the drained battery.
My question is what is the safest way to recharge, once started I could have a drive out for a couple of hours.
Will the 240 hook up charge the engine battery? Is it safe to use jump leads ?.....or just call the AA ?
Thanks
Chris

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Hi Everyone,
Firstly a Happy New Year to you all and hop 2023 allows many great road trips.
I have 2020 Ocean that has a flat engine battery. It's not been used for around 6 weeks or so, I'm guessing that a number of short trips and lack of a good drive had contributed to the drained battery.
My question is what is the safest way to recharge, once started I could have a drive out for a couple of hours.
Will the 240 hook up charge the engine battery? Is it safe to use jump leads ?.....or just call the AA ?
Thanks
Chris

Doubt the recent cold weather helped. On the basis that your van is still under warranty and you have also paid for VW roadside assist, I would call them out.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

Hi Everyone,
Firstly a Happy New Year to you all and hop 2023 allows many great road trips.
I have 2020 Ocean that has a flat engine battery. It's not been used for around 6 weeks or so, I'm guessing that a number of short trips and lack of a good drive had contributed to the drained battery.
My question is what is the safest way to recharge, once started I could have a drive out for a couple of hours.
Will the 240 hook up charge the engine battery? Is it safe to use jump leads ?.....or just call the AA ?
Thanks
Chris

I take it. From what you are saying that you haven’t got a battery charger. If that’s the case it might be time to invest in one. You really need one with an optimiser which will keep your battery in good condition throughout the winter.
I think the hookup just charges the leisure batteries and they are the ones you need to look after as they cost a fortune to replace.

 

[chrissieB]

Doubt the recent cold weather helped. On the basis that your van is still under warranty and you have also paid for VW roadside assist, I would call them out.

Thanks for the reply, I have hooked up to the 240v and hoping once the leisure battery has charged the engine battery will recharge, if this fails then I will definitely call VW roadside assist.
Thanks

 

[chrissieB]

I take it. From what you are saying that you haven’t got a battery charger. If that’s the case it might be time to invest in one. You really need one with an optimiser which will keep your battery in good condition throughout the winter.
I think the hookup just charges the leisure batteries and they are the ones you need to look after as they cost a fortune to replace.

Thanks Pete
I will look to get my self a charger next week, I have just called roadside Assistance and arranged for a visit tomorrow, the call handler was excellent, process was simple and arranged a time tomorrow that was convenient for me!
Hopefully no drama tomorrow as I want a trip out to the Gower for the Day on Monday

 

[Calimili]

6 weeks for a 2yr old battery seems a bit too little. It should definitely last longer. Did you check that you didn't have anything on, an internal light perhaps ?
Once started if you drive it 50mi non stop it should give it a good charge. Better still, as already said, if you plan to live the van unuse for 1,5months at the time, to get a battery charger.

 

[Blue Yonder]

Suggest you check the voltage at your engine battery terminals using a multimeter.

If below 11.66 volts then battery will be permanently damaged and will need to be replaced.

If above 11.66 volts but less than 12 volts then recharge using a muti stage smart charger.

If above 12 volts then a long drive (40 mins) should being back into optimum state of charge (SoC) >12.5 volts. Follow up by plugging in the electric hook up, which will trickle charge the engine battery to 100% SoC or 13 volts as measured at the engine battery terminals.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Thanks Pete
I will look to get my self a charger next week, I have just called roadside Assistance and arranged for a visit tomorrow, the call handler was excellent, process was simple and arranged a time tomorrow that was convenient for me!
Hopefully no drama tomorrow as I want a trip out to the Gower for the Day on Monday

I carry a USB Jump Starter for emergencies. (Also doubles as a power bank to charge phones etc if needed).

 

[yossarian]

My question is what is the safest way to recharge,

The best way to recharge is to hook up a modern microprocessor controlled charger like a ctek or euromate.

once started I could have a drive out for a couple of hours.

Doing this is very hard on a fully discharged battery. Avoid if possible.

Will the 240 hook up charge the engine battery?

Apparently yes but very slowly. The slower you charge the better so if you are not in a rush this is a good option.

Is it safe to use jump leads ?.....

Safe yes, good for your battery, no.

or just call the AA ?

Yes, if you need to get going in a hurry. Otherwise charging using what you have will usually be better.

Thanks
Chris

 

[dean&sarah_luna]

Hi chaps. Having a battery issue myself so been reading this thread. Is it really the case that the hookup will charge the engine battery (albeit v slowly)? (2012 T5 Cailf) I've been talking to Vanbitz (I've installed their alarm system and they are v good people to deal with BTW). They have a product (Battery Master) which allows the engine battery to remain topped up by taking charge from the leisure battery. Am considering it as a safeguard for winter months but will not bother if I can charge from the mains...

 

[WelshGas]

Hi chaps. Having a battery issue myself so been reading this thread. Is it really the case that the hookup will charge the engine battery (albeit v slowly)? (2012 T5 Cailf) I've been talking to Vanbitz (I've installed their alarm system and they are v good people to deal with BTW). They have a product (Battery Master) which allows the engine battery to remain topped up by taking charge from the leisure battery. Am considering it as a safeguard for winter months but will not bother if I can charge from the mains...

On the T5/5.1, the Mains Battery Charger does not trickle charge the engine battery, according to VW.
However, due to a ??? design fault the engine battery can be trickled charged when on EHU on some vehicles.
This occurs when the Leisure batteries are fully charged and the Mains Charger is on float charge of 13.4v.or so.
The only way to prove it is to measure the engine battery voltage when on EHU. I have found that once the Leisure battery voltage starts dropping to the float voltage the engine battery voltage rises to the same 13.4 v.
Thus on EHU you can charge Leisure batteries and maintain/trickle charge the engine battery but not charge a flat engine battery.

 

[dean&sarah_luna]

On the T5/5.1, the Mains Battery Charger does not trickle charge the engine battery, according to VW.
However, due to a ??? design fault the engine battery can be trickled charged when on EHU on some vehicles.
This occurs when the Leisure batteries are fully charged and the Mains Charger is on float charge of 13.4v.or so.
The only way to prove it is to measure the engine battery voltage when on EHU. I have found that once the Leisure battery voltage starts dropping to the float voltage the engine battery voltage rises to the same 13.4 v.
Thus on EHU you can charge Leisure batteries and maintain/trickle charge the engine battery but not charge a flat engine battery.

Thanks! Appreciate the detailed reply! Maybe the takeaway is that it's best not to have any major expectations of EHU with regard to your engine battery health and not leave the vehicle standing too long (EHU or not) (esp when camping, using the 12V sockets) without turning the engine on at some point?

 

[WelshGas]

Thanks! Appreciate the detailed reply! Maybe the takeaway is that it's best not to have any major expectations of EHU with regard to your engine battery health and not leave the vehicle standing too long (EHU or not) (esp when camping, using the 12V sockets) without turning the engine on at some point?

If you have a Multimeter measure the voltage of the engine battery, 30 mins after engine off. Plug in EHU and re-measure the engine battery voltage 24 hrs later. If engine voltage and Control Panel voltage agree then you have trickle charging of engine battery.
Also a 12v socket voltmeter plugged into the cup holder 12v socket should do the same.

 

[dean&sarah_luna]

OK! Thank you! I'm very much obliged.