Long term parking and battery discharge

[Zimm]

Wir hatten einmal eine (fast) leere Batterie, obwohl die Anzeige nicht ausging. Der Motor sprang trotzdem an und die Batterie wurde über 30 Minuten mit über 100A geladen.
View attachment 7894557

my loaner did that. mine? it will peak at 60 after staring and then goes to trickle charge. no such alternator enthusiasm.

 

[Tom109]

My Grenadier has now been sitting for 21-days, and I’ll take it on a trip this weekend. I’ll post my battery SoC when I fire it up. BLE monitors fitted to both batteries, so I should get data from them as well.

 

[Logsplitter]

Cracked gearbox doesn't sound good.. How did that happen? Thought it was near on indestructible

Result of the failed C clip in the front prop CV joint , which caused prop to fail a year ago, causing various damaged components and gearbox oil loss. . Small cracks where plastic oil pan screws go into the casting. Not picked up at the time of the repairs and has been weeping very slowly since. This was identified when it went in for other works.

 

[Zimm]

Result of the failed C clip in the front prop CV joint , which caused prop to fail a year ago, causing various damaged components and gearbox oil loss. . Small cracks where plastic oil pan screws go into the casting. Not picked up at the time of the repairs and has been weeping very slowly since. This was identified when it went in for other works.

JB Weld time!!

 

[Logsplitter]

JB Weld time!!

Had I been somewhere remote and or out of warranty that’s what I would have done. Also out of warranty I’d have had the gearbox taken out and welded to repair it, once I could get to decent aluminium welder facility .

 

[Tom109]

Case study: My Gren has been parked since 8-August. Doors were left open as I was fitting solar and stripping the interior. So in that time I probably only activated battery & head unit a few times.

EDIT: estimated 8-Aug SoC: 95%

7-Sept-2025
SoC: 77% as indicated on the head unit.

My battery monitors:

Victron satus page:

Coming off two days of rain so the sky is full cloudy. I’ll probably head out late afternoon and full sun is forecast for this week.

 

[Logsplitter]

Case study: My Gren has been parked since 8-August. Doors were left open as I was fitting solar and stripping the interior. So in that time I probably only activated battery & head unit a few times.

7-Sept-2025
SoC: 77% as indicated on the head unit.

My battery monitors:
View attachment 7908107
Victron satus page:
View attachment 7908108

Coming off two days of rain so the sky is full cloudy. I’ll probably head out late afternoon and full sun is forecast for this week.

What battery monitors are you using

 

[Tom109]

What battery monitors are you using

The BLE version suggested by @TheDocAUS

 

[OkGo]

@Logsplitter let me know if you find a UK supplier for these - i can see a bunch on ebay at £11 to £39, they 'look' the same'ish as the ones @TheDocAUS has in his blog but beyond that no idea.

 

[Tom109]

There are several available from Amazon, also called BM2 in the title. The free App can only see one unit, but there is a $10 App that can track four units. I use that App to track (2) boat batteries and (2) Grenadier batteries.

 

[Logsplitter]

What’s the difference between BM2 and BM6 as I’m seeing them listed.
edit ;-seems the newer ones monitor temperature and log last position the car was running /charging battery which may be useful if you forgot where you parked your car.

 

[Tom109]

@TheDocAUS ?

I think the BM6 is the “Ancel” brand/type. I believe this unit can do multiple units on their free App.

BM2 is the “BLE” brand/type.

I don’t think it would make much if any difference between the two units.

 

[TheDocAUS]

@TheDocAUS ?

I think the BM6 is the “Ancel” brand/type. I believe this unit can do multiple units on their free App.

BM2 is the “BLE” brand/type.

I don’t think it would make much if any difference between the two units.

I believe you are correct.

There is a separate app for the BLE units that will do up to 4 units together.

 

[TheDocAUS]

@Logsplitter let me know if you find a UK supplier for these - i can see a bunch on ebay at £11 to £39, they 'look' the same'ish as the ones @TheDocAUS has in his blog but beyond that no idea.

BLE unit (it can be rebadged under other names). Has Lithium and Non-lithium models:

Ancel units (can also be rebadged under other names). Same model can monitor both AGM and Lithium batteries: