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[dizaster]

Hi alls.

Got up thids morning to find the car wouldn't start , suspected flat battery ,  but  why ??

Cars been running fine since I've had it  (4 weeks)

Yesterday we attached a towbar ( boot was open for quiet a few hours) ,
Wired the towbar electrics .

Car started when I drove it home .

BUT  this morning nothing  :-(

Cant recall if the boot has lights in it ?? ,  would this of flattened the battery if the boot had been open for ages  ??

Could connecting the towbar electrics (just a scocket on a lead) ,  have caused the battery to discharge ??

Any ideas  :-) ??

Ohhh took battery off to charge today  ,  anything  I need to be aware of when I reconnect it  ??

Many thanks .

Diz

[Entwood]

Boot does have a light .. butdon't think that would flatten a battery in a few hours .. anyway it started and drove home.

My instant thoughts are the work done ... I wonder if something is remaining powered ?? 

Did you connect the 12N only (black 7 pin socket) or a 12N and a 12S (grey 7 pin for fridge/reversing lights etc) or a 13 pin socket ?

If more than just a 12N for road lights then you should have added either ignition controlled relays or a smartcom device, if either of those are faulty/in correctly wired they could constitute a drain on the battery overnight ..

[Kevin Wood]

The boot light on mine times out after a few minutes. Not sure if the same on all models?

I would double check the towbar wiring if it goes flat again.

Kevin

[dizaster]

just connected the Black socket, (12N?).

Used those blue  Scotch Connectors and connected the 12N wires to the harness directly ,  no relay or anything , was told I didnt need one .

Car is a '98 (R reg)

wondering if last nights  first night of rain  in weeks had somewthing to do with it   

[RobG]

just connected the Black socket, (12N?).

Used those blue  Scotch Connectors and connected the 12N wires to the harness directly ,  no relay or anything , was told I didnt need one .

Car is a '98 (R reg)

wondering if last nights  first night of rain  in weeks had somewthing to do with it   

[Andy B]

just connected the Black socket, (12N?).

Used those blue  Scotch Connectors and connected the 12N wires to the harness directly ,  no relay or anything , was told I didnt need one .

Car is a '98 (R reg)

wondering if last nights  first night of rain  in weeks had somewthing to do with it   

No you don't need any relays, but there's better ways of joining wires than using Scotchlocks ie soldering them     

[dizaster]

LoL  only used the Scotch cause they came already connedted to the wiring harness :-)

Update:  Ripped the wiring out ,  recharged the battery, working fine now.

Checked the socket ,   no shorts between pins.

Next step (This weekend) , reconnect the 12N socket , probably using insulated crimp connectors , just cause i have some, and Im currently out of solder. 

Fingers crossed :-0

[dizaster]

Starting to do my head in .

We re-connected the towbar socket tonight (No scotch connectors this time  )
,  checked for shorts across the pins , all A-OK.
Check the voltages , again all fine ,  but within an hour the car wouldnt start and I needed a jump- to get going again.

While we were connecting the jump cables ,  my friend noticed that the earth lead on the battery was VERY hot .

Anybody got any ideas ??

Cheers