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When I was preparing my van on Saturday for our first stay away in 2008 I found the main battery to be flat, so I had to jump start the van to get it going. After further investigation I found that my leisure battery was also flat.
Anyway, I got to site okay and hooked up to the mains supply and I switched the 12v charger on the power management system to the on position and relaxed... everything seemed to be working fine on the 240v.
Next day, after disconnecting from the mains, I found that both my leisure and main batteries were flat again!! I needed another jump start to get me going again. Following the drive home, both batteries are flat - the leisure battery is completely flat (the needle on the battery condition panel is all the way down to the far left in the red) and there is not enough juice in the main battery to turn the engine over.
My van is a Fiat Ducato 2.0 petrol (year = 1999) and the conversion is a Bessacarr E370.
Any advice appreciated!
Neil.
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It's difficult to know where to start. Am I assuming correctly that the van is new to you and / or has it been standing a long while?
If they are normal lead acid batteries are they topped up with water?
I would expect the drive to have put some charge back in the vehicle battery but you don't say how far you went. If it was really flat then it could be that it needs a few days on charge to bring it back to life.
Same with the leisure battery really. The overnight charge on hook-up ought to have put something back in but it is difficult to say because again it would need a few days to bring it back to something like normality.
Do you have access to a voltmeter or multimeter?
Can you hook up at home and connect the vehicle battery to a charger at home?
I cannot think that both your charging systems are down but more likely both batteries have been left to get to a state where they may not recover.
JohnW
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Thanks for the reply.
The vehicle battery is a sealed unit and I cannot check the water levels. The leisure battery is under the drivers seat - and I have no idea how to gain access to it!!?!
The drive home was a three hour drive - but still the vehicle battery is too low to start the van. Since returning home, I've hooked up to the mains again and have left it for a further 24 hours on charge, but the leisure battery is completely flat!
I suppose, as long as there is nothing else/obvious I should be checking it is possible that both batteries are at the end of their lifetime. I'm just concerned that something is draining them or I've done something wrong!
Is it okay for me to charge the van battery using a car trickle charger? Or if I switch the battery selector to VAN when plugged into the mains will this charge the main battery? I will follow your recommendation and leave it to charge for another 24 hours whilst connected to the mains with the AUX battery selected thiough and see how I get on.
The following members of MHF thanked neilrw for this posting
When I was preparing my van on Saturday for our first stay away in 2008 I found the main battery to be flat, so I had to jump start the van to get it going. After further investigation I found that my leisure battery was also flat.
Anyway, I got to site okay and hooked up to the mains supply and I switched the 12v charger on the power management system to the on position and relaxed... everything seemed to be working fine on the 240v.
Next day, after disconnecting from the mains, I found that both my leisure and main batteries were flat again!! I needed another jump start to get me going again. Following the drive home, both batteries are flat - the leisure battery is completely flat (the needle on the battery condition panel is all the way down to the far left in the red) and there is not enough juice in the main battery to turn the engine over.
My van is a Fiat Ducato 2.0 petrol (year = 1999) and the conversion is a Bessacarr E370.
Any advice appreciated!
Neil.
There's a 30amp or 35amp fuse mounted under a cover behind the vehicle battery.
Check that as we found it had blown when the no power happened to us.
I was told that when the batteries get very, very low, when you drive off it results in a surge which blows the fuse. (Or something like that )
Do you know how old the batteries are? You say that this was your first trip of the year - so how long have the batteries been standing? Do you leave the power connected during the winter? or do you start up the engine once a month or so?
All or some of these answers may point to the reason the batteries are flat
Pete
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The leisure battery once flat they can not be recharged you will need to replace it as for the van battery if its over 3 years old it may be on its last legs as well
chapter
______________________________________________________________ love a lot, trust a few, but always paddle your own canoe
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Checked the fuses - there are three under a plastic cover beside the battery - all seem intact. But one slot is empty..?
The van has been standing for less than a month. I had it serviced (cam belt change) on the 10th April and it has been standing up until Saturday 3rd May... there was no problem with either battery in April.
The batteries may well be the originals. I have owned the van for 18 months without any problems...until now.
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check fuses
then change batteries
speaking from my own bad experience
cheers
drew
______________________________________________________________ there are 3 types of people in this world......those that can count,and those that canīt
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Your van alternator must be doing something or the engine would stop as soon as you disconnect the jump leads. You could try charging the van battery with a trickle charger overnight to see if it recovers, the sealed ones have a round plastic window which should be green if the battery is any good. Another possibility is that the relay which powers the fridge on 12 volt may be stuck on so when you stop it flattens the battery. Check the fuses as people have said. A quick check when the battery is charged up is to disconnect it and with everthing switched off there should be no spark from the connection when you reconnect, obviously it would be better if you had use of a test meter. Getting the leisure battery out usually means pushing the seat right forward or even taking it out to get at the holding down clamps,
Regards,
Chris
Where are you located?
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I found the main battery to be flat, so I had to jump start the van to get it going. After further investigation I found that my leisure battery was also flat. 
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