battery advice please

[bubba dubba]

Hi all, ive had a few issues starting from cold lately, i put it down to the carb/choke/ and have been playing around with it with no real improvement. i actually ran the battery flat on the last attempt as it just wouldnt catch.
I put a battery booster on and tried to start it again and it literally fired into life on the first turn of the key????. i took it for a run and let it idle for quite a while to charge the battery up. On checking the voltage across the terminals today before starting it was 12.16volts, am i right in thinking this is still low? (the battery was replaced last year) i havent used the bus as much as last year to be honest.
Could this be the reason for poor starting?. Im guessing advice would be to charge the battery, the next question is can i just put my trickle charger on the battery without disconnecting the terminals?

sorry for all the questions and thanks in advance for any help......kev

 

[sparkywig]

Fully charged batteries should give a minimum of 12.6V when measured across the terminals with no load attached.
If it's any less than that the battery is faulty.
The actual resting voltage a battery will settle at (about 12 hours after being removed from the charger) is 2.1 volts per cell. So, 12.7 volts for a 12V battery.
An approximate guide to battery voltage and state of charge is as follows;

12.66v . . . . . . . . . . 100%
12.45v . . . . . . . . . . 75%
12.24v . . . . . . . . . . 50%
12.06v . . . . . . . . . . 25%
11.89v . . . . . . . . . . 0%


With the engine running the charging output from the generator should be between 13.7V - 14.7V.

 

[montypsx]

Hi I had the same problem in summer no problems in winter I had had to give it a little jump and it would fire straight away. I put up with it for a few years as I don't really use it much in the winter then I got offered a slightly bigger battery off my mate and it's been fine since. I still have the other battery and use for other things and it's been fine

 

[ozziedog]

I think I'd have a very close look at the battery leads at both ends as a first off thing. I might go so far as to take the leads off and give them a good once over then a clean and a refit and possibly a little Vaseline after Ooooer Mrs If these are the original leads they have had a long and tough life . I'd also check the one on the box. Another thing you could try but it's a bit fiddly, help out your existing leads with some extension leads while trying to start it but obviously don't drive like it. These are things you can do for free. It just seems unusual that you are having issues with a new / newish battery and generally speaking there ain't a lot to go wrong with new ones, and I'm guessing that this battery was purchased because of a previous battery issue that may not have been the battery's fault. If you are not using the vehicle, then top up the battery at least every month, batteries don't appreciate being discharged, and running an engine for a few hours will definitely not charge or recharge a battery as most people think. I've been toying with the idea of a small dashtop solar panel that will plug into the van just to keep it gently topped up in the winter with a little daylight. I've seen something similar for sale somewhere but no idea where.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,... check leads first mate :mrgreen:

 

[bubba dubba]

Thanks for all the advice guys. A bit of an update in case anybody else is having the same issues.
I cleaned all the battery conections up and greased them up (thanks ozzie), gave the battery a good charge, then i checked the spark plugs and they were very sooty so cleaned up them and checked and adjusted the gaps. I have a weber progressive carb that obviously needs tuning up properly (thats a job for another day). And i have to say its starts first turn of the key again and is running sweet.
So on to todays issue......booked in for an m.o.t on Wednesday so thought id have a quick check over as i had a bit of time. all lights were working fine i thought.....err....nope. side light and high beam on one headlamp not working. just a couple of bulbs easy fix.....was it heck :roll: , fast forward after putting new bulbs in then getting wiring diagrams out and checking and cleaning all fuses, cleaning contacts on relays, behind headlamps, headlight switch contacts etc etc........finally all lights working and m.o.t ready.

better bloody pass :lol:................kev

 

[bubba dubba]

She passed with flying colours!!!! .........bring on the sunshine

 

[ozziedog]

Brilliant, see you in a field somewhere soon. First one for me is probably the Early Bay one up north somewhere.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,, in a field with a beer, perfect.

 

[stickypocket]

Can anyone advise me what size battery I should actually have on 1970 bus. I have a 54ah at present. Is this the correct size and would I gain by going bigger ?!
Any advice appreciated.

 

[bac2ba6]

I don't know too much about batterys but 54ah should be fine for a starter battery . You don't want to go too high or your charging system will take longer to replace any lost juice in the battery . If you want to upgrade get one with a similar ah but had a higher cca ( cold cranking amps ) better to have a smaller battery that has a high cca than a battery that's bigger in amp hours but a smaller cca. Higher the cca the more oomphh it has .If that makes sense !! That's how I understand it but theres obviously people that will know there beans when it comes to batterys and charging [emoji106]

Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk

 

[stickypocket]

That's excellent ! Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. Going to go for 54ah 520 cca.

 

[thejinx]

Just to chuck something in. I had an issue similar to this and it turned out to be a bad connection to the pos side of the coil. A quick nip of the connector and all was well.