Got a few questions

[bigmac77]

We picked up out Cali SE the other day from the dealership, fairly smooth handover and they even provided us with a bellows bungee. However they didn't know where the safety net went (I have since figured that out) and they told us it was okay to wind out the canopy all the way without putting the legs down, we won't be doing that.

I now have a few questions, the leisure batteries weren't flat but were quite low so I have now had it plugged into the mains for two days is that long enough? Battery is now showing at 13.5v but as soon as I un plug the power cable they go down to 12.4v and 90%. The vehicle has been at the dealership since July, I am a little concerned about them as it is a long time for them to be not used.

Will the roof raise and lower on the battery? As it won't let me do it unless the engine is running.

There is an auxiliary 3.5mm socket in the glove box can I plug my iPod into this?

Other than this we love the vehicle and if the rain stops this weekend we are going on a family picnic in it.

 

[T6 CFO]

If you do a search for closing roof you will find a long thread about the way to do it. Should keep you well occupied until someone with more knowledge than I answers your battery queries


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bigmac77]

Thanks Michael, I've found the roof thread will read it all.

 

[bigmac77]

With regard to the batteries the vehicle is a new pre registered model with 35 miles on the clock.

 

[AlanC]

Dealers usually put a small charger on the engine battery while a vehicle is in the show room. I doubt they will do the same for the leisure batteries, unless the show room staff are well clued up.

The batteries in the Cali are lead acid and require a constant voltage of about 14.5 volts to charge them.

The better indicator of the charge state is the current the batteries are drawing. If they are taking a lot of charge the current will be in the order of 6+ amps. If they are fully up the current supplied will be around 0.2 - 0.00 amps depending on the condition and age of your batteries.

Interestingly, I had to get a jump for our engine battery in the summer, and once the RAC engineer had got me going, he put a clamp amp meter on the battery cables to check the current flow. My flat engine battery was drawing 44 amps from the engine alternator. Much more than I had expected, but given some thought, hardly surprising as this must be much the case every time I start the engine.

Alan

 

[WelshGas]

1. Raising the Roof. In the Handbook it states that the Ignition should be ON when raising or lowering the roof. You should NOT have to have the engine running to operate the roof as it appears to use the Leisure Batteries , not the Starter Battery. Some members advocate having the engine running but you should be able to operate the roof with just the ignition ON, if the Leisure batteries have sufficient charge.
2. Awning - Once again the Handbook states winding the awning out 0.5m maximum, before putting the legs down.
I do this then extend the legs out 1m or so from the vertical then wind out awning until legs vertical and repeat. I advocate using Guidelines to secure then wind the awning back until tight. If you get the awning wet then try and dry it at the earliest opportunity before storing it .
3. My Control panel shows 12.8v on the Leisure Batteries and 100% when fully charged. Have you anything switched on or plugged into the 12v sockets or the 240v Inverter socket, Chargers etc: or in the case of the Inverter, an adapter as that operates a microswitch to switch the inverter on - so consuming power.

Leisure batteries should NOT go below 40% and ideally 50% charge before charging.

VW advocate a minimum 12-24hrs charging every month to keep them in top shape.

Do you have a proper Mains Charger or just a Trickle Charger.

 

[jts46]

2. Awning - Once again the Handbook states winding the awning out 0.5m maximum, before putting the legs down.
I do this then extend the legs out 1m or so from the vertical then wind out awning until legs vertical and repeat. I advocate using Guidelines to secure then wind the awning back until tight. If you get the awning wet then try and dry it at the earliest opportunity before storing it

I wind the awning all the way out before putting legs down, always have done, it is a fiamma awning on mine.

John

 

[MattBW]

I thought the leisure batteries were Absorbed Glass Matt ones on the Cali? That's what my dealer told me at least.

A battery left below 12.4v for a prelonged period may not charge as well and its unlikely to reach full capacity again. They should be covered under warranty however if they haven't been looked after properly by the dealer.

 

[bigmac77]

Thanks for the info re the roof I'm clear on that now. @WelshGas I have plugged the vehicle into the mains, haven't got a separate charger.

This morning I ran the heater on number 7 for a bit over 2 hours the battery is now showing 12.6v and 80%. I don't have anything else on.

@AlanC With nothing on the display shows battery at 12.6v and 0.00 amps.

 

[WelshGas]

Thanks for the info re the roof I'm clear on that now. @WelshGas I have plugged the vehicle into the mains, haven't got a separate charger.

This morning I ran the heater on number 7 for a bit over 2 hours the battery is now showing 12.6v and 80%. I don't have anything else on.

@AlanC With nothing on the display shows battery at 12.6v and 0.00 amps.

That seems OK. the % figure is not that accurate and soon drops to 90 or 80% when in use. The Heater takes a lot to fire up, a lot less to run, and that doesn't sound too bad.
I would just leave it on Charge, for as long as you can and then enjoy.

 

[WelshGas]

I wind the awning all the way out before putting legs down, always have done, it is a fiamma awning on mine.

John

Whisper " I do almost the same - but didn't want to go against the Handbook. "

 

[bigmac77]

That seems OK. the % figure is not that accurate and soon drops to 90 or 80% when in use. The Heater takes a lot to fire up, a lot less to run, and that doesn't sound too bad.
I would just leave it on Charge, for as long as you can and then enjoy.

Maybe they need a couple of cycles to get properly sorted. Will just monitor things and see how I get on. Thanks.

 

[bigmac77]

Any ideas about the glove box aux input?

 

[Bigted]

Any ideas about the glove box aux input?

Yes you can plug an iPod in via its headphone jack. You don't have and control over it on the radio other than volume.

 

[bigmac77]

Yes you can plug an iPod in via its headphone jack. You don't have and control over it on the radio other than volume.

Thanks.

 

[SimonB]

The headphone jack will also not charge the iPod unfortunately.
You can get a lead which installs in the back of the radio, for about £100, which charges the iPod and means that you can skip tracks, etc via the radio controls. You can change albums on the iPod in the usual way with the jockey wheel.
The VW iPod lead takes over the iPod and it's not so easy to change albums then.
There is a Parrot Asteroid mini which plays iPods either by verbal instruction or by a rotating selector, it also acts as a Bluetooth link for your phone. You'd have to hunt around for deals on it, but it works well.

 

[larrylamb]

Whisper " I do almost the same - but didn't want to go against the Handbook. "

 

[fred]

The headphone jack will also not charge the iPod unfortunately.
You can get a lead which installs in the back of the radio, for about £100, which charges the iPod and means that you can skip tracks, etc via the radio controls. You can change albums on the iPod in the usual way with the jockey wheel.
The VW iPod lead takes over the iPod and it's not so easy to change albums then.

@bigmac77 i have one of these for sale in classifieds http://www.vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/vw-mdi-interface-for-rcd-rns-310.11692/

 

[bigmac77]

@bigmac77 i have one of these for sale in classifieds http://www.vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/vw-mdi-interface-for-rcd-rns-310.11692/

How would I go about fitting it?

 

[fred]

Take the radio out of the dash (4 screws)
Unclip the wiring loom for the radio
Connect the MDI interface box inline to the loom (it has two loom connectors, one end connects to the radio, the other to the van)
Feed the ipod cable from the MDI interface box in to the back of the glovebox (there's a plastic blanking plate inside the glovebox that you can remove)
Tuck the MDI interface in the spare space behind the dash, put the radio back in

complexity 1/10
time: 30-60 mins

these guys made a mountain out of it (e.g. you don't really need to remove the facia entirely, just push it out of the way) but here's a video, you only need the first 2 mins of it

 

[Dottie]

?...
A battery left below 12.4v for a prelonged period may not charge as well and its unlikely to reach full capacity again.

Our van is out of action over the winter, how can we best look after the leisure battery?

 

[WelshGas]

Plug into the mains for 12 to 24 hrs, at least, every month. Or leave it plugged in, as there is no Maximum time limit, and the built in charger will ensure both Leisure and Starter batteries are kept full charged.

If charging periodically make sure there is NOTHING in any of the 12v sockets as well as the 240v Inverter socket.

 

[SusiBus]

I've been recently told by SMG that charging via the internal charger via hook-up cable only charges the leisure batteries not the main (starter) car engine battery. If you need to charge the main battery you need to connect up to a separate charger, i.e trickle charger.

Can anyone DEFINITELY confirm how you should charge the batteries, because I feel it's rather important that we really know the correct answer to this as winter is approaching or rather is here.

 

[WelshGas]

On mine it definitely will trickle charge starter battery. So either SMG are incorrect or something has changed on T6. It will not charge from flat.

 

[Freeley]

I think 2008 is the magic number, anything from then on will trickle charge the engine battery.
Ours is a 2009 pre facelift and was told by know it alls on here that there was no way our engine battery would be charged - we found out the hard way that it does! We stayed on a site without hookup for 3 nights once, and after overdoing the electric sliding door and not starting the engine during this time we discovered that the battery was flat as a pancake when we came to leave.

I can't believe that the T6 wouldn't trickle charge as this would be a real backwards step

Sent from my Galaxy S6