Battery Drain rapid after full recharge

[martin70]

Hi guys and thanks in advance but my garage says it is difficult to find a reason why my battery is draining so rapidly.
My wife in her wisdom elevated the roof without the engine running and After this I have had to jump lead it twice and it has restarted. However the problem exists and I have taken it to the garage. Ive had bongo boo for 6 years and this is the first time for this.
I remember once elevating the roof with only the battery power a long while back but have never done it since.

Any advice as the garage seems flumuxed and Im not sure the roof incident is related. The garage does say it drains pretty rapid so perhaps a big object like the roof has triggered something???????????

[jimmo62]

You will need to take out each fuse in turn and see which circuit is drawing the current. I would start with taking off the battery +ve terminal and checking the drain there - it could be your battery has died under the load of the roof (if it was already on the way out, this might be enough to kill it) in which case even a small drain from an alarm etc might be enough to drain it quickly.

[martin70]

thanks for that ....would what you have suggested be standard procedure for the garage?

[Simon Jones]

Putting a heavy load on the battery may have distorted the lead plates in the battery which has killed one of the cells. Have they done a proper test on the battery to check the condition? Does the battery loose charge when not connected to the vehicle?

Do you have a leisure battery fitted and perhap a splt charge or Zig unit?

Have you considered changing the wife?

[martin70]

haha yes the wife needs changed.
I will suggest all that you have said to the garage
thanks a lot

[jimmo62]

If it's going to the garage they should have a battery tester. This will test the battery under a heavy load, so start with that. If that shows no problems with the battery itself, have them measure the "dark current" which is the current drawn with everything switched off - to do this they will probably disconnect the battery positive lead and put an ammeter in series. Anything more than 20 milliamps or so would indicate a fault. If the battery is OK and there is no "dark current" then it is indeed a mystery! But one of these 2 tests will turn something up

If there is a significant "dark current" then by removing fuses one at a time you should be able to find out which circuit is taking the current. Don't forget the fuses under the bonnet as well as the main fusebox in the dash by the driver's right knee. If you find a fuse which affects it then let us know and we can work out what it powers....

[martin70]

thanks so much and i will let them know all that you have suggested.once again this website is carlsberg dogs bollox if they did dogs bollox

[Dodgey]

There is no way the roof load would distort the plates. Starter batteries are designed to handle around 100 Amps or more cranking to start the engine. The roof motors are fused at a fraction of that.

It sounds very much like you simply have a dead battery. 6 years is not a terrible time for a starter battery to last. Once they die they won't hold charger for long at all.

That or you have a major power drain/leak. which is very easy to test with a multimeter. Your garage should most definitely know how to test that.

[martin70]

Thanks guys and the result is that the battery has died 19 years old. Love the help and advice I got and life without a bongo just aint worth living.

[David Edwards]

I was going to say exactly the same was happening with mine, trip to local breakers yard and got a virtually new Varta heavy duty battery...still had warranty docs in a pouch on the side..and what a difference, cost me £20.00..retails is £95, well chuffed, no problems since.