Yeah I was about to un-sub, got a bit stale. Liking the new style, some shorter vids be appreciated too - hard to find over 30mins of free time in one go
Make sure you latch the bonnet catch when measuring current - some vehicles don't go fully to sleep if open. Also some take minutes to fully shut down after ignition off
@@thomasnagy CTek, Sealey and many others now do bluetooth battery monitors if you wanted something you can pop on and check the status without firing up the vehicle. Would be ideal for your bikes too. Cteks unit (approx £50inc) definitely allows multiple vehicles to be linked on the app at the same time. Victron do a really smart one that does current up to 500a as well at about £120inc
monitor the current while you pull one fuse at a time to pinpoint the device that is causing the battery to drain. If it is a common problem there could be an ecu update available.
Current Battery reading Vauxhall Vivaro 2018. Following same methods, bonnet latch alarm and waiting for shut down etc Big cable 0.34A small cable 0.49A. On a team of 18 all with same year models over half have had new batteries after 3years. All the vans used as daily drivers are still on original batteries
I tell the customer I've not tested the downlights and put them down as a limitation and reasons why. I also make them aware that there could be further issues and faults if we introduce a new board or RCD. Good luck on the way to 100k Tom 👍.
On feeding your staff... I've worked in half a dozen places where food, beer and snacks are laid on thick and fast. Mostly tech companies (similar to the top secret one you did some work for that time). Never once have I seen or even heard of anyone taking the piss. It's always respected and seen as a two way street. You just have to hire the right people and make sure the company culture is good across the board, not just the perks.
I've done some work in the Microsoft store in London and even as an outside contractor you can help yourself to snacks and drinks, there's no reason to take the piss.
60 amp hour vehicle battery with a 0.6amp draw will power for 100 hours or just over 4 days. that would explain why the batteries are dying on you Thomas
Remember to disconnect that Anderson connector before you drive off with your van. I used a Neutrik "PowerCon True top" and forgot to disconnect the cable (230V in, not an external charger) once. It ripped the connector, its socket and the rivets out of the metal, leaving a couple of female spade connectors behind.
I've seen on paramedics' cars, they have a connector mounted in a side body panel for a blue 16A connector, like a caravan hookup, but there's a solenoid built into the socket so that when you start the engine the plug is ejected.
I always first fix my cables to every practical position possible on lighting to future proof install , the cable is in place but not used , I always use 10mm on new shower & oven circuits
A good tip for the 4way board house when you have those grey style dumb electric meters. There's a flathead slot to isolate the load side, which means when installed there's no need to install and double pole isolation switch!
10:30 I can first hand back this up. Started HGV apprenticeship over 4 years ago, supposed to finish summer 2020, looking more like early 2022 now. Although brand new staff have been brought in, they don't really care all that much and definitely didn't pre Covid
18:00 that is a lot of standby current. Few things, if you have keyless entry / go (push button start) can cause a higher drain if the key is within about 15-25' of the van, and then if you have a telematics unit on them? Also is there a "hood sensor" to know its open or not? Many cars will take a while to go to sleep, so you might have to close the hood and leave the car alone for a while, (make sure you don't have the keys anywhere around).
Helpful tip on the van standby current test. If you leave the van alone for one hour and repeat the parasitic load test, it will give the can bus network time to go into sleep mode. You will get a more accurate current
Good stuff on the van standby current. 0.6A x 10 hours ( overnight) is 6AH Which is 10% of your 60AH battery. If you have done short trips round town and the battery is not full when you park up......... Over a few days and it will really struggle to start. 60AH battery seems small for a van esp diesel. Prob smallest that Renault can get away with. Add accessories trackers, alarms cameras etc and it’s not big enough.
I love even though you are down south. You still have the highway maintenance in Welsh on the van. Top man. Hopefully you get some work up here in Wales.
Try running down the fuses measuring volts across them with a DMM. There should be a couple of mV drop across the guilty fuse(s). Much quicker than removing each fuse in turn and measuring the current.
So the battery problem you are seeing is real, funny enough we have it too. Last year the company I work for switched from Renault Kangoos to relatively new Renault Traffic with Sortimo Racking and all that good stuff. When we picked the vans up from the dealership, not even one van wanted to start on its own and hab to be resurrected with battery starters. Every time one of the vans stands a little while because somebody doesn't need it we have to kick-start the battery. I think it's a Renault problem and our dealership said its normal unfortunately, something with the radio, car computer and all the electronic it doesn't shut off completely. To get around the problem, we have to drive the vans every 500km for at least an hour or out it on a constant charger. Hope that this can help you, greetings from a German spark.
There is a power leak draining the battery but the main issue is the size of the battery. A van designer assumes the van is always on the road every day with motorway miles. Get a bigger high power battery and this will help. In winter the battery drain will be worse when using heater and such and then combined with cold starting will start to grind you down
@ Thomas Nagy, Thanks for a really good video, that covered so many things. Also thanks for the advice on the air pressure tripping the RCD, I would never have suspected that, I don't think a lot of people would have put 2 & 2 together and came up with that result. Top work!
@thomas nagy Solar panels! I run three work vans with GPS tracking, led lighting and accessories - Tried all sorts to eliminate standby draw before realising its a fools errand today = we need electronics running. I've put a small flexible solar panel on each van where practical + a cheap pwm charge controller on each = problem solved. Even generates current under the garage lights when parked inside 👍
Nice one......regarding the battery drawing power ( 2-3 amps ) while asleep....it's not asleep....! it still needs to feed the ECU power which in turn powers the alarm and Imobiliser system , apparently Renault know about this problem but they have had tens of thousands of these faulty modules made and paid for so they are using them.......👍
We had an auxiliary battery build into our work fleet ( basically a battery in parallel on a switch) the switch in in the dash and when your gone low hit the switch and no jump start it's worth looking into
BBC vehicles had a similar arrangement, some even had a second alternator, to charge a technical supply battery to power all broadcast equipment in the vehicle without affecting the normal battery’s
Done the thing with using a charger to keep radio etc alive while battery change, if worried or if a smart charger use a small set of jump cables and another battery ;)
I work for a company that had fleet vehicles and every single one of the fleet vehicles had on board Chargers that had solar panels mounted on the roof and also plugged in if the vehicles were to be parked for extended periods of time. It was helpful for whenever we had somebody go on vacation and they neglected to shut off their radio or unplug their computer charger
hood open may keep things alive, touchless entry/start keyfobs and them being close can also keep things alive. some vehicles can take well over three minutes to go fully to sleep. not to mention bluetooth/cellphones linked to vehicle infotainment system.
On external vertical conduit runs I solvent weld the upward facing side of a join but leave the downward facing one push-fit. Pro tip from a non-pro: For a really neat conduit joint form the end into a socket using a heat gun and another bit of conduit as a mandrel. Needs a bit of care but it's far less noticeable than a normal coupler where appearance matters.
I am enjoying this new format. Mixing it up a bit has brought me back to your channel. The better production quality helps as well, better camera work and editing (without going all artisan electric fancy editing, please don't ever do that).
The whole thing about access to live parts if you unscrew the pendant cap is a bit moot. You can remove the bulb and get access to live terminals you can shove your finger into, at a convienient height! The regs don't really cover this as a potential source of shocks. This is one of the most likely places you're going to get a problem, changing a bulb (and forgetting to turn the light off first because you can't remember which way round the switch is: because it's controlled by 3 switches around the room).
I feel your pain. Just had a fridge delivered today and when they took the doors off to bring it inside they ripped the wire for the bottom door sensor. They put the doors back on , covered it up and left. It's hard to find good service these days. They also put one of the hinges on wrong.
33:44 what about a spot light beside the pennant light aimed high down the stairs onto the wall. not perfect and looking straight up will blind them lol
Although using a charger while swapping in a bigger battery sounds like a good idea, the whole logic behind having to use diagnostic equipment to change the battery is so you can basically tell the vehicle what size battery is fitted in order to optimise smart charge, stop/start, etc. so it's not a good idea. Also, can you do a review on that clamp meter. I'm a mechanic and I'm currently looking for hand held dc clamp meter. Really enjoy your content. Thanks 👍
Hi Tom I think u need a top boss award yes ur right there has to be give and take both ways otherwise u would never get anything done especially when trying to keep customers happy as well keep up the good work love the videos 👍👍
I had the 'everything fail' light show in the original Pug 307, that was because the key was fully turned (as when started) and it hadn't returned and that caused an electrical fault. remember the cars that used to catch fire!! that was why!!
Powerpoles for the win , whether the big'uns for Charging or the little ones for stuff like radios vans and quiescent load is a big thing - vehicles which even supposedly have electro mechanical isolators still have issues with going flat if left and not on a conditioner
About that outside socket full of water: In Belgium the most commonly used sockets and switchgear brand is Niko. Their outdoor backboxes for switches and sockets have 2 5x5mm knockouts on the back right near the corners diagonally opposed to one another, and the backboxes are designed to have the edges sit slightly (1mm) away from the mounting surface. This is done to avoid exactly this problem: Niko advises to knock out the bottom square (depending on which of the possible 4 directions you mount it it's one or the other) so condensation or water that finds its way inside can just drain out. Downside is ants and other small bugs do find their way inside through the drain hole, so it's probably a good idea to keep an eye on that.
Great new style of content Tom. With your battery issues, with the van locked the alarm will be armed and possibly drawing a small current. If you have the time remove 1 fuse at a time and see if the current draw drops.
My dad worked for a leasing company in the maintenance department and some cars kept flatting batteries and needed a jump start, it took a while to figure out, but it ended up being the trackers when parked up in certain places couldn't get a GPS signal so kept retrying constantly so flattened the battery. So they disconnected the trackers and no more flat batteries
It could still be the sortimo stuff. The control circuit for that voltage sense relay must take some current and the relay to hold the power in. It doesn’t take zero. Monitor the smaller cables to it or the ground.
I have had the same thing but not with a van by the way. I have a brand new Mazda Mx5 RF and it draws from the battery after you have driven it. However I have found that it reduces the amount it draws when the car has been sitting for 3 hours or so. It’s like the car goes into a sleep state but only after a few hours of not doing anything with it. It must be to do with all of the computers etc in the vehicle I would assume
CTEK has a nice connector on their car battery chargers and they also have a waterproof connector to put on cars, that might also be an option (vs the other ones you saw). Other option would be those connector they use on ambulances and other emergency vehicles. They can automatically be ejected when someone starts the engine. Emergency vehicles without that mode tend to have a circuit installed to disable the starter while the car is charging, too many cables have been forgotten and ripped out ;)
The other thing you can do, which is pretty common in commercial vehicles here in Canada, is a small permanently mounted trickle charger with a shore line connection to top up the batteries overnight/over weekend.
Brighton do permits, £900 a year per van. Only covers 9am-5pm after which you can be ticketed between 5pm-8pm when parking enforcement is still in operation. Most times it's cheaper to get the ticket.
Yup, some of my better customers had them. I think they cost £5 per ticket per day. In books of ten irc. Look like a scratch card. This is about 8 years ago mind.
I ran into the two breaker circuit during my DIY fuse box to breaker box change over. I found that both circuits ran to the duplex receptacle that the refrigerator plugged into. My guess is that the original intent was to have a refrigerator only circuit by splitting the duplex receptacle and running separate circuits to each end. Someone apparently did not get the memo that it required a split receptacle. I would think that there are single receptacles available for this type of circuit.
Give and take like that is how my colleague and I work.... Much smaller company... Just the 2 of us, but the give and take system breeds more loyalty from staff/colleagues
Re battery drain - had a similar issue a few years back with a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Went on holiday for more than 2 weeks, came back and it was dead on the drive. The vehicle was less than 1 yr old, so called out Jeep rescue. Who - as they recharged the battery - said there was nothing wrong with the car, we hadn't driven it enough...
I'd fit a split charge system with separate battery with it's own completely separate feed and fusebox from the main battery, you can also then use the aux battery as a jump starter.
Helpful tip coming from an auto spark. (Finally something on your channel I can actually say I know what I'm doing with!) If you're using anderson connectors, don't mount them underneath unless you put protective covers on them as they rot very quickly due to the large tin surface area. They also don't do well if you drive off with them still in. I would suggest using a short tail (250mm) and go through another connector that you can deliberately fail the retention lock on and make loose so that you won't destroy the workshop as you drive off. I tend to use standard mate n lock white spade connectors for this purpose. Or if you are feeling like overkill, get yourself some ex ambo Ludo McGurk Auto Ejects that fire the connector out as soon as you turn the ignition on (110v ones are very common and sensible money)
In a modern ceiling rose the terminals are enclosed and not easily finger touched,, however does the same apply then when you change a light bulb.? Remove the bulb and there are live terminals especially if they have no idea which orientation the switch is in.
I have a Renault traffic no tracker or after market electrics I don't have a DC meter but I'll see if my dad has one of he does I'll check my battery see what it's pulling
I had the same problem with the car battery going flat, turns out to be a combination of the battery never being fully charged as start-stop was a constant draining in traffic and the dash cam which recorded 24/7. The dash cam draws 600mA continually 70Ah battery / 0.600 = 116.6Hours 116.6 / 24H = 4.8 Days to completely flatten the car battery just from the dash cam, then add the car's standby electronics!
You should see the main boards I get from the insurance companies here in South-Africa. Some boards look like that and then they get the local guy that knows how to do it. Our government just brings out new laws but there is no one to enforce these laws.
A parasitic battery drain as its known as should be no more than 50mA 600 mA is way too high so the vehicle is still "awake" things like body control modules and capacitors in door handles for keyless entry can take over an hour to go to sleep. So as stated above make sure everything is locked and totally asleep before checking. You can also use voltage drop across the fuses to test using a multi meter set to millivolts and when the vehicles in sleep mode you should have zero volts across the fuse.
I think on a previous video you showed an IR camera? Take a look at the van fuse panel with it, to see which one or ones are running warm when the van is powered down. The 600mA number just sounds too high.
Basics!!! Fkn battery terminal, any roadside technician should be able to check and find that, and yes I know what I’m on about as I served my apprenticeship on trucks and done roadside assistance for 5 years with a truck manufacturer
Look into JTL for apprenticeship/college. Honestly hand down the best experience. I was with a standard college and got fobbed off big style, was made redundant 2 years ago and they kicked me off the course before finishing my last unit. Passed my AM2 and did a seperate 18th edition exam myself and have been working for the past 2 years on that. My current employer got in touch with JTL, they flew me through my NVQ and everything is passed through and complete.
I have been doing commercial and bio-med for my entire time in the trade. Being in the service department. Troubleshooting is one of the many task I have learned. But, not all the people I trained with were very good at troubleshooting. I think troubleshooting is a skill you can learn in both residential and commercial equally. It all depends on the person training and the frequency in which you get the opportunity to troubleshoot.
re back feed, twenty years ago i bought a business property which i knew was in dire need of many things, got inspections from roofers, plumbers and electricians etc. Didn't know what an eicr was back then, but the spark i went with came back with a report that said basically we have to start again. 4 consumer units were turned off and main fuse pulled. he started stripping out, i was chatting to him when he got belted, turns out a radial was actually a ring. The other end of the ring was in a fifth consumer unit which we didn't know about and was actually by-passing the meter. You may have gathered i'm not a spark, but me and the spark lived to be a bit smarter! In my case i'm smarter because although I'm a graduated TH-cam electrician i still hire a professional when i need stuff done, the spark got to retire a few years later. (not just on what he charged me!). A word of advice, you might be safe 99% of the time, but if there was a 1% chance of winning the lottery - how many tickets would you buy? Think about it...........
good stuf , biger cap. batery / alternator supply , I'm thinking not too big battery is needed ... trickle charger is solution , and that is that... lat say over viken is on trickle charge... once a week . . .
Reference changing the battery to a bigger one. You really need to have the new battery coded to the van. It is done like this so the charging control system is able to know it has a new battery and it’s now 120ah as opposed to 60ah. It basically then knows how much capacity it has to to work with. As most modern vehicles have a smart alternator they don’t always charge when the engine is running. Instead waiting until all the criteria is met before engaging. So even though the van could be driven all day the criteria might not have been met to enable charging.
Another great video! I am all for electric vans and cars and it’s the future but we are not there just yet it works in city’s for short trips but not out in the sticks. I own a 62 plate Renault Kangoo and I am getting 61 MPG for a 1.5 D Would be great to see another unit tour video
I own a Renault Megane RS300 - this is fitted with a 'DESS' battery - essentially a 19ah lead acid battery and some ultra capacitors . These go flat *very* quickly when left for a while, or as you point out, open and close the door a few times - I feel your pain! Renault have released a software fix to try and help the situation, although I believe the fix was to simply shutdown some systems quicker. Some cars/vans systems an take an hour or more to fully shutdown! Not sure if there is there same for your van? The 'dash lighting up like a christmas tree' or phantom faults/spanner light are also indicative of battery issues - cars/vans are VERY sensitive to voltage variations. Are the vans using keyless entry? I have a running theory (which a few others have mentioned) that keyless door systems are always listening for the key, and if they appear within range then systems start back up even when not unlocked - so if the keys are in range of the van, you you frequently go past them with the keys on your pocket then it could be waking up systems and thus draining the battery. On my RS300, I have disabled through software, mostly because of the battery issue but also due to the security concern! If you cant disable it within the settings menu, a faraday pouch will help here. To help find the draw, you could measure the voltage drop over a fuse - just google 'automotive fuse voltage drop chart' to bring up charts and you can start to narrow down what fuse and thus what system is causing the draw. South main auto TH-cam channel has done a few videos on this.
I have the same issue with the Tarfic, it takes a few hours before the systems fully shutdown. I never thought about the keyless entry, that could be a very valid point. Thanks for the input, it's much appreciated.
I love this new style of content
Yeah I was about to un-sub, got a bit stale.
Liking the new style, some shorter vids be appreciated too - hard to find over 30mins of free time in one go
@@craigedgar2828 then you can't be interested in the content if you can't find 30mins in a week.
Make sure you latch the bonnet catch when measuring current - some vehicles don't go fully to sleep if open. Also some take minutes to fully shut down after ignition off
Thanks for the tips pal!!
Also make sure the keys are well out of range too
@@thomasnagy CTek, Sealey and many others now do bluetooth battery monitors if you wanted something you can pop on and check the status without firing up the vehicle. Would be ideal for your bikes too. Cteks unit (approx £50inc) definitely allows multiple vehicles to be linked on the app at the same time. Victron do a really smart one that does current up to 500a as well at about £120inc
monitor the current while you pull one fuse at a time to pinpoint the device that is causing the battery to drain. If it is a common problem there could be an ecu update available.
mike please do some more teardowns
Current Battery reading Vauxhall Vivaro 2018. Following same methods, bonnet latch alarm and waiting for shut down etc Big cable 0.34A small cable 0.49A. On a team of 18 all with same year models over half have had new batteries after 3years. All the vans used as daily drivers are still on original batteries
I tell the customer I've not tested the downlights and put them down as a limitation and reasons why. I also make them aware that there could be further issues and faults if we introduce a new board or RCD. Good luck on the way to 100k Tom 👍.
On feeding your staff... I've worked in half a dozen places where food, beer and snacks are laid on thick and fast. Mostly tech companies (similar to the top secret one you did some work for that time). Never once have I seen or even heard of anyone taking the piss. It's always respected and seen as a two way street. You just have to hire the right people and make sure the company culture is good across the board, not just the perks.
I've done some work in the Microsoft store in London and even as an outside contractor you can help yourself to snacks and drinks, there's no reason to take the piss.
60 amp hour vehicle battery with a 0.6amp draw will power for 100 hours or just over 4 days.
that would explain why the batteries are dying on you Thomas
James. Re battery terminals. Loosen bolt, open terminal jaws, push down the taper of the battery terminal, then tighten.
Remember to disconnect that Anderson connector before you drive off with your van.
I used a Neutrik "PowerCon True top" and forgot to disconnect the cable (230V in, not an external charger) once.
It ripped the connector, its socket and the rivets out of the metal, leaving a couple of female spade connectors behind.
get a fluro spiral cable and hook it to your door from the connector as a reminder...lol
I've seen on paramedics' cars, they have a connector mounted in a side body panel for a blue 16A connector, like a caravan hookup, but there's a solenoid built into the socket so that when you start the engine the plug is ejected.
I always first fix my cables to every practical position possible on lighting to future proof install , the cable is in place but not used , I always use 10mm on new shower & oven circuits
Made it all the way to the end of the video and loved the new style of content !!! Sending you positive vibes from CANADA!!! Alex.K :)
Appreciate it pal!
A good tip for the 4way board house when you have those grey style dumb electric meters. There's a flathead slot to isolate the load side, which means when installed there's no need to install and double pole isolation switch!
10:30 I can first hand back this up. Started HGV apprenticeship over 4 years ago, supposed to finish summer 2020, looking more like early 2022 now. Although brand new staff have been brought in, they don't really care all that much and definitely didn't pre Covid
So can I did an apprenticeship and the college put me with the worse employer did no checks or anything so bizarre
@@lukecarr9570 yeah colleges don't care anymore, it's all about money money money
18:00 that is a lot of standby current. Few things, if you have keyless entry / go (push button start) can cause a higher drain if the key is within about 15-25' of the van, and then if you have a telematics unit on them? Also is there a "hood sensor" to know its open or not? Many cars will take a while to go to sleep, so you might have to close the hood and leave the car alone for a while, (make sure you don't have the keys anywhere around).
Helpful tip on the van standby current test. If you leave the van alone for one hour and repeat the parasitic load test, it will give the can bus network time to go into sleep mode. You will get a more accurate current
Thanks for changing to the suggested format for the video, it is considerably more watchable.
Noted!
I really like the format of putting highlights at the start, gets me excited for what's to come 👍
Glad you like it :)
Good stuff on the van standby current. 0.6A x 10 hours ( overnight) is 6AH Which is 10% of your 60AH battery. If you have done short trips round town and the battery is not full when you park up.........
Over a few days and it will really struggle to start.
60AH battery seems small for a van esp diesel. Prob smallest that Renault can get away with. Add accessories trackers, alarms cameras etc and it’s not big enough.
Hi I'm not an electrician but I' find them very informative. Always look forward to next one .
Use a battery tender when they sit we use them in boats and cars that we don't use all the time just keeps them topped up
I love even though you are down south. You still have the highway maintenance in Welsh on the van. Top man. Hopefully you get some work up here in Wales.
Thank you for providing us with this great video. I hope you stay safe !
Try running down the fuses measuring volts across them with a DMM. There should be a couple of mV drop across the guilty fuse(s). Much quicker than removing each fuse in turn and measuring the current.
So the battery problem you are seeing is real, funny enough we have it too. Last year the company I work for switched from Renault Kangoos to relatively new Renault Traffic with Sortimo Racking and all that good stuff. When we picked the vans up from the dealership, not even one van wanted to start on its own and hab to be resurrected with battery starters. Every time one of the vans stands a little while because somebody doesn't need it we have to kick-start the battery. I think it's a Renault problem and our dealership said its normal unfortunately, something with the radio, car computer and all the electronic it doesn't shut off completely. To get around the problem, we have to drive the vans every 500km for at least an hour or out it on a constant charger. Hope that this can help you, greetings from a German spark.
There is a power leak draining the battery but the main issue is the size of the battery. A van designer assumes the van is always on the road every day with motorway miles. Get a bigger high power battery and this will help. In winter the battery drain will be worse when using heater and such and then combined with cold starting will start to grind you down
@ Thomas Nagy,
Thanks for a really good video, that covered so many things.
Also thanks for the advice on the air pressure tripping the RCD, I would never have suspected that, I don't think a lot of people would have put 2 & 2 together and came up with that result.
Top work!
@thomas nagy Solar panels!
I run three work vans with GPS tracking, led lighting and accessories - Tried all sorts to eliminate standby draw before realising its a fools errand today = we need electronics running.
I've put a small flexible solar panel on each van where practical + a cheap pwm charge controller on each = problem solved. Even generates current under the garage lights when parked inside 👍
Nice one......regarding the battery drawing power ( 2-3 amps ) while asleep....it's not asleep....! it still needs to feed the ECU power which in turn powers the alarm and Imobiliser system , apparently Renault know about this problem but they have had tens of thousands of these faulty modules made and paid for so they are using them.......👍
I love the 'standing up' mime at the start of the Q&A regarding cones! 😀
Another great video from the Nagy empire..............Thomas Nagy : electrician, van washer, labourer, TH-camr, mechanic................👍😎
Agree with your comments on the van issue with the RAC It's basic checking, probably page one in their book. 🤔
We had an auxiliary battery build into our work fleet ( basically a battery in parallel on a switch) the switch in in the dash and when your gone low hit the switch and no jump start it's worth looking into
BBC vehicles had a similar arrangement, some even had a second alternator, to charge a technical supply battery to power all broadcast equipment in the vehicle without affecting the normal battery’s
Done the thing with using a charger to keep radio etc alive while battery change, if worried or if a smart charger use a small set of jump cables and another battery ;)
Im in my final year of my Level 3 course and watching your videos really help!! 🙌🏻
I work for a company that had fleet vehicles and every single one of the fleet vehicles had on board Chargers that had solar panels mounted on the roof and also plugged in if the vehicles were to be parked for extended periods of time. It was helpful for whenever we had somebody go on vacation and they neglected to shut off their radio or unplug their computer charger
hood open may keep things alive, touchless entry/start keyfobs and them being close can also keep things alive. some vehicles can take well over three minutes to go fully to sleep.
not to mention bluetooth/cellphones linked to vehicle infotainment system.
On external vertical conduit runs I solvent weld the upward facing side of a join but leave the downward facing one push-fit.
Pro tip from a non-pro: For a really neat conduit joint form the end into a socket using a heat gun and another bit of conduit as a mandrel. Needs a bit of care but it's far less noticeable than a normal coupler where appearance matters.
Love the new format Thom. It works great :)
Glad you like it!
I am enjoying this new format. Mixing it up a bit has brought me back to your channel. The better production quality helps as well, better camera work and editing (without going all artisan electric fancy editing, please don't ever do that).
You could also try checking while the vehicle engine is idle and also in stop-start mode like when it's at the traffics lights with clutch up.
The whole thing about access to live parts if you unscrew the pendant cap is a bit moot. You can remove the bulb and get access to live terminals you can shove your finger into, at a convienient height! The regs don't really cover this as a potential source of shocks. This is one of the most likely places you're going to get a problem, changing a bulb (and forgetting to turn the light off first because you can't remember which way round the switch is: because it's controlled by 3 switches around the room).
That battery clamp looks like it’s tightened to the max. Try loosing the clamp and tapping the clamp down the post a bit more then tighten.
Hi Tom, weekly vids are perfect! Thanks.
I feel your pain. Just had a fridge delivered today and when they took the doors off to bring it inside they ripped the wire for the bottom door sensor. They put the doors back on , covered it up and left. It's hard to find good service these days. They also put one of the hinges on wrong.
Add a second battery and possible upgrade the alternator. I'm torn on a cut off switch or a diode for the second battery.
Split charge system with a second battery for the auxiliary items like the water heater could be the way to go
smart alternator so waste of time. would have to be battery to battery direct.
33:44 what about a spot light beside the pennant light aimed high down the stairs onto the wall. not perfect and looking straight up will blind them lol
Although using a charger while swapping in a bigger battery sounds like a good idea, the whole logic behind having to use diagnostic equipment to change the battery is so you can basically tell the vehicle what size battery is fitted in order to optimise smart charge, stop/start, etc. so it's not a good idea.
Also, can you do a review on that clamp meter. I'm a mechanic and I'm currently looking for hand held dc clamp meter.
Really enjoy your content. Thanks 👍
Do the vehicles have stop start? Replace battery’s with a AGM. Check the current over a hour,some systems take a long time to “ go to sleep”
You’re very welcome! Glad you’re enjoying the steamer bud 😁
Hi Tom I think u need a top boss award yes ur right there has to be give and take both ways otherwise u would never get anything done especially when trying to keep customers happy as well keep up the good work love the videos 👍👍
Content has been brilliant recently! 👏🏻
Happy to hear that!
I had the 'everything fail' light show in the original Pug 307, that was because the key was fully turned (as when started) and it hadn't returned and that caused an electrical fault. remember the cars that used to catch fire!! that was why!!
Powerpoles for the win , whether the big'uns for Charging or the little ones for stuff like radios
vans and quiescent load is a big thing - vehicles which even supposedly have electro mechanical isolators still have issues with going flat if left and not on a conditioner
That martindale is what us cable jointer use to.test polarity on cable heads.
About that outside socket full of water: In Belgium the most commonly used sockets and switchgear brand is Niko. Their outdoor backboxes for switches and sockets have 2 5x5mm knockouts on the back right near the corners diagonally opposed to one another, and the backboxes are designed to have the edges sit slightly (1mm) away from the mounting surface. This is done to avoid exactly this problem: Niko advises to knock out the bottom square (depending on which of the possible 4 directions you mount it it's one or the other) so condensation or water that finds its way inside can just drain out.
Downside is ants and other small bugs do find their way inside through the drain hole, so it's probably a good idea to keep an eye on that.
Great new style of content Tom. With your battery issues, with the van locked the alarm will be armed and possibly drawing a small current. If you have the time remove 1 fuse at a time and see if the current draw drops.
Loving this new mechanics channel I’ve found
My dad worked for a leasing company in the maintenance department and some cars kept flatting batteries and needed a jump start, it took a while to figure out, but it ended up being the trackers when parked up in certain places couldn't get a GPS signal so kept retrying constantly so flattened the battery. So they disconnected the trackers and no more flat batteries
It could still be the sortimo stuff. The control circuit for that voltage sense relay must take some current and the relay to hold the power in. It doesn’t take zero. Monitor the smaller cables to it or the ground.
I have had the same thing but not with a van by the way. I have a brand new Mazda Mx5 RF and it draws from the battery after you have driven it. However I have found that it reduces the amount it draws when the car has been sitting for 3 hours or so. It’s like the car goes into a sleep state but only after a few hours of not doing anything with it. It must be to do with all of the computers etc in the vehicle I would assume
The mrs has emmerdale i have my weekly episodes of thomas nagy.. Good to have you bk... 👍😁
Well done on the van fix, ur a proper engineer.
CTEK has a nice connector on their car battery chargers and they also have a waterproof connector to put on cars, that might also be an option (vs the other ones you saw). Other option would be those connector they use on ambulances and other emergency vehicles. They can automatically be ejected when someone starts the engine. Emergency vehicles without that mode tend to have a circuit installed to disable the starter while the car is charging, too many cables have been forgotten and ripped out ;)
The other thing you can do, which is pretty common in commercial vehicles here in Canada, is a small permanently mounted trickle charger with a shore line connection to top up the batteries overnight/over weekend.
Some Vehicles can take 10-15 mins after locking for all the modules to "power down" .. also make sure hood is latched before locking and waiting
Another brilliant in Educational video as always Thomas keep them coming, 👌
Appreciate it pal!
Re.parking - I read somewhere that some boroughs do tradesmans permits
Interesting, I'll have a look into it, thanks for the tip :)
There's still some permit shops around West London, all you need is a utility bill from a customer and you can get a whole book on the cheap.
Brighton do permits, £900 a year per van. Only covers 9am-5pm after which you can be ticketed between 5pm-8pm when parking enforcement is still in operation. Most times it's cheaper to get the ticket.
Yup, some of my better customers had them. I think they cost £5 per ticket per day. In books of ten irc. Look like a scratch card. This is about 8 years ago mind.
@@thomasnagy try asking about parking dispensation permits
I ran into the two breaker circuit during my DIY fuse box to breaker box change over. I found that both circuits ran to the duplex receptacle that the refrigerator plugged into. My guess is that the original intent was to have a refrigerator only circuit by splitting the duplex receptacle and running separate circuits to each end. Someone apparently did not get the memo that it required a split receptacle. I would think that there are single receptacles available for this type of circuit.
Loving these long weekly episodes - Just one thing though, gives us some info on the merch!
Give and take like that is how my colleague and I work.... Much smaller company... Just the 2 of us, but the give and take system breeds more loyalty from staff/colleagues
Re battery drain - had a similar issue a few years back with a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Went on holiday for more than 2 weeks, came back and it was dead on the drive. The vehicle was less than 1 yr old, so called out Jeep rescue. Who - as they recharged the battery - said there was nothing wrong with the car, we hadn't driven it enough...
I'd fit a split charge system with separate battery with it's own completely separate feed and fusebox from the main battery, you can also then use the aux battery as a jump starter.
Helpful tip coming from an auto spark. (Finally something on your channel I can actually say I know what I'm doing with!) If you're using anderson connectors, don't mount them underneath unless you put protective covers on them as they rot very quickly due to the large tin surface area. They also don't do well if you drive off with them still in. I would suggest using a short tail (250mm) and go through another connector that you can deliberately fail the retention lock on and make loose so that you won't destroy the workshop as you drive off. I tend to use standard mate n lock white spade connectors for this purpose. Or if you are feeling like overkill, get yourself some ex ambo Ludo McGurk Auto Ejects that fire the connector out as soon as you turn the ignition on (110v ones are very common and sensible money)
I really appreciate the advice, I'll look into it :)
You should put AED defibs in your trucks especially the bucket truck if your working near railways and roads etc. Could save your life.
In a modern ceiling rose the terminals are enclosed and not easily finger touched,, however does the same apply then when you change a light bulb.? Remove the bulb and there are live terminals especially if they have no idea which orientation the switch is in.
I have a Renault traffic no tracker or after market electrics I don't have a DC meter but I'll see if my dad has one of he does I'll check my battery see what it's pulling
I had the same problem with the car battery going flat, turns out to be a combination of the battery never being fully charged as start-stop was a constant draining in traffic and the dash cam which recorded 24/7. The dash cam draws 600mA continually 70Ah battery / 0.600 = 116.6Hours 116.6 / 24H = 4.8 Days to completely flatten the car battery just from the dash cam, then add the car's standby electronics!
I store my PVC solvent cement upside down. I do have to use pliers to remove the lid but my solvent is not dried out.
36:17 You're welcome lads!
The battery issue is a common Renault thing, my Captur once lit up like a Christmas tree, had the battery changed and it cleared up!
You should see the main boards I get from the insurance companies here in South-Africa. Some boards look like that and then they get the local guy that knows how to do it. Our government just brings out new laws but there is no one to enforce these laws.
Could you not fit a leisure battery like in a camper van and spit the loads between each battery to help the start battery from going flat..
rather interesting the 2.1 meg ohm on individual circuit what would it do to the overall ir of the installation thinking 1/RT calc
This was another good one, lots of little pieces of knowledge sharing. Top work.
C'mon guys let's get those 100k for Tom.. he definitely deserve it 👍👍
Really enjoying these longer videos..
We are getting there :) I'm glad you enjoy the longer content!
A parasitic battery drain as its known as should be no more than 50mA 600 mA is way too high so the vehicle is still "awake" things like body control modules and capacitors in door handles for keyless entry can take over an hour to go to sleep. So as stated above make sure everything is locked and totally asleep before checking. You can also use voltage drop across the fuses to test using a multi meter set to millivolts and when the vehicles in sleep mode you should have zero volts across the fuse.
I think on a previous video you showed an IR camera? Take a look at the van fuse panel with it, to see which one or ones are running warm when the van is powered down. The 600mA number just sounds too high.
Amazing content as always Ton, Love the new video style. Keep it up lads
Basics!!! Fkn battery terminal, any roadside technician should be able to check and find that, and yes I know what I’m on about as I served my apprenticeship on trucks and done roadside assistance for 5 years with a truck manufacturer
Great advert for the RAC need to a bit more vigilant. Good to see you have such a great week 🤣🤣🤣 2x👍
Look into JTL for apprenticeship/college. Honestly hand down the best experience.
I was with a standard college and got fobbed off big style, was made redundant 2 years ago and they kicked me off the course before finishing my last unit. Passed my AM2 and did a seperate 18th edition exam myself and have been working for the past 2 years on that. My current employer got in touch with JTL, they flew me through my NVQ and everything is passed through and complete.
Thanks for the tip!
I have been doing commercial and bio-med for my entire time in the trade. Being in the service department. Troubleshooting is one of the many task I have learned. But, not all the people I trained with were very good at troubleshooting. I think troubleshooting is a skill you can learn in both residential and commercial equally. It all depends on the person training and the frequency in which you get the opportunity to troubleshoot.
re back feed, twenty years ago i bought a business property which i knew was in dire need of many things, got inspections from roofers, plumbers and electricians etc. Didn't know what an eicr was back then, but the spark i went with came back with a report that said basically we have to start again. 4 consumer units were turned off and main fuse pulled. he started stripping out, i was chatting to him when he got belted, turns out a radial was actually a ring. The other end of the ring was in a fifth consumer unit which we didn't know about and was actually by-passing the meter. You may have gathered i'm not a spark, but me and the spark lived to be a bit smarter! In my case i'm smarter because although I'm a graduated TH-cam electrician i still hire a professional when i need stuff done, the spark got to retire a few years later. (not just on what he charged me!). A word of advice, you might be safe 99% of the time, but if there was a 1% chance of winning the lottery - how many tickets would you buy? Think about it...........
You will also need to program the battery to the car its called bms reset/ learn and manages the charging
Check the current draw on the vans after 15-30 minutes. Sometimes it can take that long for the CANBUS system to sleep the modules.
good stuf , biger cap. batery / alternator supply , I'm thinking not too big battery is needed ...
trickle charger is solution , and that is that...
lat say over viken is on trickle charge... once a week . . .
Have you thought about using the radio smoke alarm bases save you bringing a 3 core upstairs ?
Reference changing the battery to a bigger one. You really need to have the new battery coded to the van. It is done like this so the charging control system is able to know it has a new battery and it’s now 120ah as opposed to 60ah. It basically then knows how much capacity it has to to work with. As most modern vehicles have a smart alternator they don’t always charge when the engine is running. Instead waiting until all the criteria is met before engaging. So even though the van could be driven all day the criteria might not have been met to enable charging.
Another great video!
I am all for electric vans and cars and it’s the future but we are not there just yet it works in city’s for short trips but not out in the sticks.
I own a 62 plate Renault Kangoo and I am getting 61 MPG for a 1.5 D
Would be great to see another unit tour video
I own a Renault Megane RS300 - this is fitted with a 'DESS' battery - essentially a 19ah lead acid battery and some ultra capacitors . These go flat *very* quickly when left for a while, or as you point out, open and close the door a few times - I feel your pain!
Renault have released a software fix to try and help the situation, although I believe the fix was to simply shutdown some systems quicker. Some cars/vans systems an take an hour or more to fully shutdown! Not sure if there is there same for your van?
The 'dash lighting up like a christmas tree' or phantom faults/spanner light are also indicative of battery issues - cars/vans are VERY sensitive to voltage variations.
Are the vans using keyless entry? I have a running theory (which a few others have mentioned) that keyless door systems are always listening for the key, and if they appear within range then systems start back up even when not unlocked - so if the keys are in range of the van, you you frequently go past them with the keys on your pocket then it could be waking up systems and thus draining the battery. On my RS300, I have disabled through software, mostly because of the battery issue but also due to the security concern! If you cant disable it within the settings menu, a faraday pouch will help here.
To help find the draw, you could measure the voltage drop over a fuse - just google 'automotive fuse voltage drop chart' to bring up charts and you can start to narrow down what fuse and thus what system is causing the draw. South main auto TH-cam channel has done a few videos on this.
I have the same issue with the Tarfic, it takes a few hours before the systems fully shutdown. I never thought about the keyless entry, that could be a very valid point. Thanks for the input, it's much appreciated.
Locktite on the terminal screws does the trick