"turning off consumer electrics"

3512 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by pilgrim, Jul 3, 2007

nap

Discussion Starter · May 21, 2007

in the past stopping for 15-20 minutes turning off engine but leaving fan, radio and using phone on handsfree caused no problems voltage stayed around 13 Volts..

i do this quite regularly on a Monday morning when dropping son at school and in the evening if i get caught on phone as i pass through several no signal points, recently after 2-3 minutes the treg is saying turning off consumer electrics and off it all goes.
noted batt voltage is reading just over 12V when it turns off

cant imagine at 2 1/4 years and 22K the batt is toast? could this be some high resistance on a wiring loom or something?
any ideas?

so far kept away from dealers as im not ready to have them screw the car up doing the latest recall...

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chrisbin

· #2 · May 21, 2007

Have seen this message quite a few times.....just assumed the car thought it a good idea not to be using the battery for too long.....never looked at how it correlated to voltage....

However, as you say yours seems to be doing it quicker than previously...

I think from memory that it has been commented before that Voltage should be reading 14V for everything to be functioning correctly....so maybe 13/12 is a bit low.....???

Not much help, sorry!

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nap

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 21, 2007

thanks, it does read 14V when engine running it is sped of discharge which seems to be noticeable quicker, during the winter for example i could run with the heater on rest for 20 mins + but no chance presently... i recall various threads on flat batteries after leaving the car for a few days but haven't got that bad yet..

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Hipflyguy

· #4 · May 21, 2007

hey Nap, ours had terrible issue with battery.... From owning it had never been over 12 volts.

When we bought her the rear windows were down partially, apparently this kind of 'phantom' opening is a problem caused by a draining battery.

After two call outs from VW assist in just over a year (1 2 weeks after delvery, another in November (colder months as you say)) First visit was to replace the battery, which held the charge better than the first.

Second visit identified that the alternator was not giving a full charge, and some casing had literally snapped off, and disappeared, allowing the whole 'thing' to short... ('phantom window opening' appeared about a week before engine would not start)

Now we have a perfectly functioning 14+ voltage battery without fail, whilst running, and after engine is switched off.

All done under warranty thank god, was an engine/gearbox out job for us... (just wish they'd pointed out that cambelt needs changing while they were in there!!)

Not being a scare monger... Hopefully it's just teh battery... What would be the harm in calling out VW assist?

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nap

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 21, 2007

Hipflyguy said:
Not being a scare monger... Hopefully it's just the battery... What would be the harm in calling out VW assist?

hi HFG Car has been starting fine just have that nagging feeling (and its not SWMBO this time) that in a few weeks ill kick myself for not checking it out...did anyone else see that VW ASSIST is now run by the RAC instead of AA ?

Treg is sat on driveway for a few days as daughter has chicken Pox so SWMBO and i are both working part time using her as it goes like a little rocket and does @50 mpg so will see if it starts later this week...

p.s sorry to hear about cam belts ouch .... so glad my tractor doesn't have them....

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pilgrim

· #6 · May 22, 2007

Hi Nap, If the consumer electronics are running with the engine turned off. The battery wiill start to go into shutdow when the low charge point is reached around 12 volts. The system will go into shutdown, heated seats, radio etc, called graceful degradation. There is an order of shutdown in a priority of essentials. you say you often run for twenty minutes with the engine not running this will certainly degrade your battery. It may be sensible to get a battery maintainer to plug in the auxiliary socket overnight if that is possible. It will save a lot of problems later on, such as below.

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nickjwilliams

· #7 · Jul 2, 2007

pilgrim said:
Hi Nap, If the consumer electronics are running with the engine turned off. The battery wiill start to go into shutdow when the low charge point is reached around 12 volts. The system will go into shutdown, heated seats, radio etc, called graceful degradation. There is an order of shutdown in a priority of essentials. you say you often run for twenty minutes with the engine not running this will certainly degrade your battery. It may be sensible to get a battery maintainer to plug in the auxiliary socket overnight if that is possible. It will save a lot of problems later on, such as below.

I have had a flat battery twice in the past 7 days, and have just had a new battery installed by the garage I bought the car from.

Having no clue at all about electrics (consumer or car), I presume that what they have put in is OK - it is a "12V 100Ah 720A" unit - physically the same size as the one that came out which was a "12V 11Ah 580A".

Who on earth decides that underneath an electric passenger seat is the best place to put them? I am presuming I only have the one battery - I have read of some Touaregs having two. I think my old BMW 540i did.

Interested in the "battery maintainer unit above - are they any good? How often and when do you use them, and how much and from where please?

Questions, questions, questions... Sorry!

Thanks in advance for your help!

NickW

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chrisbin

· #8 · Jul 3, 2007

Re. battery conditioners. Yes, they are very good. Have used one for years on my "toy" cars....I use an Accumate. Very simple, plug into cigar lighter and leave it until you use car next.

Accumate have a website - http://www.accumate.co.uk

hth

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pilgrim

· #9 · Jul 3, 2007

I have two that I use, I like the CTEK and is sold by Vertar as everything automatic and it OK for AGM batteries which we have in the Touareg.

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