Long periods of non use

[Markm]

What does everybody do with there vans when not in use. Do you attach a trickle charger or leave the van plugged into the mains to keep the battery charged.

 

[BerndRos]

Well, mine did 20 countries in 15 months and very many miles.....since march it has hardly been used.....dumped on my drive and every few weeks I put it on hook up for a day or so......bet it's wanting to be off again........

 

[sebking]

Pretty sure the mains trickle charge only works on the facelift, and its a neat solution. The other solution is use the van!

 

[smgcowfoldparts]

Correct, pre-facelift ones will not have the vehicle battery charged when hooked up.

Best thing is to use it. If you start it, the best thing to do is to drive approx 11 miles to charge the battery back up. If you intend to leave it idling on your drive to charge then put the sidelights on as this will help as well.

cheers

 

[choplee]

Correct, pre-facelift ones will not have the vehicle battery charged when hooked up.

Best thing is to use it. If you start it, the best thing to do is to drive approx 11 miles to charge the battery back up. If you intend to leave it idling on your drive to charge then put the sidelights on as this will help as well.

cheers

cheers alex i didn't know that and good to know ,as i hook-up a lot of time to run the fridge.

 

[ChrisandPenney52]

Correct, pre-facelift ones will not have the vehicle battery charged when hooked up.

Best thing is to use it. If you start it, the best thing to do is to drive approx 11 miles to charge the battery back up. If you intend to leave it idling on your drive to charge then put the sidelights on as this will help as well.

cheers

I thought this spec change happened on 08 models, pre-facelift? My March '08 model handbook says that my engine battery will be charged on hookup. I've tried to follow this up with VWs technical helpline but they seemed to as confused as I am.

By the way, just had my front tyres replaced and the rears swapped to the front. The fitter said that the rears took a lot of rebalancing and he thought they may have flat spots. We rarely leave our Cali for a more than a couple of weeks, so may have been there since we bought it second hand two years ago. But all in all, use it or lose it is a good excuse for a day out!

 

[ChrisandPenney52]

Off topic, but 26k miles, on bog standard Dunlops on 16" rims. Rears look like they have another 10k+ left.

 

[Stu]

I'm not sure if it's still good advice, and I'm sure Alex will advise, but it used to be thought that over inflating the tyres if parking up was useful and it helped prevent sagging which leads to bulges .

Of course leaving the van in gear and handbrake off is the norm but I think just taking it to the shops and back every couple of weeks would be useful.

 

[Freeley]

Correct, pre-facelift ones will not have the vehicle battery charged when hooked up.
cheers

I beg to differ!
My 09 pre-facelift charges the engine battery when on hook up.
I found this out when at Treen recently, no hookup for 2 nights, constant opening&closing of electric side door and use of stereo as per usual - end result a flat battery and jump leads needed. Never had this problem when on hookup.

 

[dvla3336]

Correct, pre-facelift ones will not have the vehicle battery charged when hooked up.
cheers

I beg to differ!
My 09 pre-facelift charges the engine battery when on hook up.
I found this out when at Treen recently, no hookup for 2 nights, constant opening&closing of electric side door and use of stereo as per usual - end result a flat battery and jump leads needed. Never had this problem when on hookup.

Only facelift charges the vehicle battery, the old shape only charges the leisure battery

 

[Freeley]

Correct, pre-facelift ones will not have the vehicle battery charged when hooked up.
cheers

I beg to differ!
My 09 pre-facelift charges the engine battery when on hook up.
I found this out when at Treen recently, no hookup for 2 nights, constant opening&closing of electric side door and use of stereo as per usual - end result a flat battery and jump leads needed. Never had this problem when on hookup.

Only facelift charges the vehicle battery, the old shape only charges the leisure battery

Sorry but you are wrong.
My vehicle battery is charged when on hookup.

 

[calikev]

There is a simple check you can do like I did. Get a multimeter and connect it to your van battery
Make a note of the reading. Then plug the hook up lead in and recheck the reading it should rise about 2 volts this indicates the van battery is recieving a trickle charge

 

[Freeley]

I'll give this a go and report my findings!

 

[AndyandLiz]

my 2009 only charges the leisure battery on hook up NOT the vehicle battery

 

[John]

Battery charging with hookup.

Its my understanding that from 2008 onward's the Cali starter battery, as well as the leisure battery's, is charged with mains hookup.

For those of you who are unsure check the voltage on your starter battery before and after connecting mains hookup. The voltage will increase to around 13.5V if the starter battery is being charged.

I am looking into modifying my 2007 preface-lift Classic Cali to add a socket behind the passenger seat, to plug in a 12V peak charger, to keep my starter battery topped up in the winter.

Keep a eye on this topic;

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1176

John