They have taken my bongo away!

[gasace]

Following my flat battery problems I have not been able to start the bongo at all, and yesterday the garage came and took it away. Strange although I don't drive it more than once a week at the moment, I do miss it being there!

The auto electrician thinks it may be a problem with the alternator causing the battery to drain, whatever it is it seems to have welded the relay on the split charger and so drained both batteries. The auto electrician says he knows about camper electrics and is sure he will be able to sort out the problem.

Does anyone know of a similar fault? the battery was drained down to 7 volts, after I disconnect it and connected my fully charged booster pack, without the starter running the voltage dropped to about 8 volts, this has to be a massive power drain. The garage managed to start it with a truck battery and then drove it off, if it is running with a flat battery then the alternator must be working???? Any help welcome.

Cheers

John

[daveblueozzie]

Do you have an ALDI radio fitted, these have been known to drain batteries ,the same happened to me.
Take a look at this recent post.
http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... io#p450374

[gasace]

The radio is wired to the ignition and is fully off when the key is removed, but I think it is something using more power than a radio to draw so much voltage out of a fully charged battery. I will post the cause as soon as the garage find out what it is. (I hope)

Do you have an ALDI radio fitted, these have been known to drain batteries ,the same happened to me.
Take a look at this recent post.
http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... io#p450374

[g8dhe]

Radio's have TWO power connections one is via the Ignition switch and controls whether it appears to be powered up or not, the other is permanently connected to the +12volts to retain the memory settings and it normally only draws a low current however, a few radios appear to have been incorrectly designed / manufactured and they put a considreably greater load than expected on the permanent connection and hence the problems reported.

[jaylee]

Hey, didn't i read once that the strip light in the back when duff (even when off) can cause a power drain!??

[321Away]

What vehicle do you have? I've seen a few V6's where the main relay is held closed after the ignition is switched off, and it only happens after a lesuire eyetem has been fitted, that said i've seen it on diesels too, but only a couple of times.

Split charge relays only 'weld' when one of the batteries is flat (usually leisure) and it draws a large current spike as the relay initially closes, once its welded it will drain both batteries. are you sure all the lesuire battery applicances are turned off?

Julian

[gasace]

It is all getting very strange, The auto electrician has checked the split charge relay and it is now OK. The only fault he can find is an intermittent draw of 500ma when all is switched off but this is not every time it is switched off, only some times. he thinks the batteries may be alright so if he can find out what is draining the battery it should be OK.

[321Away]

Tell the auto electrician to pull the main relay, with ignition off that gives about a 0.5A draw
Julian

[g8dhe]

Julian, when you refer to the "Main relay" which one are you referring to ?

[321Away]

under the bonnet in the small fuse box, some models have a pair of relays,marked on top of the fuse box, fitting kitches/leisure circuits for some strange reason seems to affect the switch off of the main relay,most commen cases are the later shape V6's but i have seen it occur on others
Julian

[g8dhe]

Ah right yes;

[gasace]

Hi Julian this relay may be the problem, at the moment the auto electrician cannot find the fault, I am going to get a set of CD wiring diagrams to help. What he has found so far is sometimes when the ignition is switched off there is a draw of about 0.5 amp ,but not every time, if the battery is disconnected and then reconnected the draw goes away. He also said that sometimes the light on the heater panel will stay on when the key is removed. This is all too much for me so I hope he can sort it out. the Bongo is a 2.5 diesel. Any help would be very useful. thanks
John

Tell the auto electrician to pull the main relay, with ignition off that gives about a 0.5A draw
Julian

[g8dhe]

You do realise the diagrams are on-line see http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... =3&t=36657