Wipers and batteries

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Windscreen wipers

These are driving me around the twist.  Sometimes when we are driving they won’t switch on immediately.  I can be driving with very limited visibility for two or three minutes and then they start.

When I put the van in storage I spent an hour or so checking fuses, connections etc, but I could not make them start.  I assumed it was the wiper motor, which is a pig to get out. So I decided to leave it to the garage when he does the MOT. So I went to get the Van this morning:-

  • The windscreen wipers started immediately – not sure if this is good news or not as the garage may not be able to find the fault. Intermittent faults are the worst.
  • The engine would not start – this is bad news.

Starting

During the winter of 2022 I thought the van was struggling a bit to start.  I was not sure it was going to be reliable over the next winter, so in November I fitted a new starter battery.  I decided upon a Yuasa. L36-EFB which is recommended for use as both a leisure battery and a starter battery.

But when I went to pick up the van today it would not start.  It seemed to turn OK but it would not fire.  After trying quite a few times, I decided to try a jump start from the leisure battery (also a Yuasa L36-EFB).  It’s a bitt fiddly, I had to get access to Bothe batteries then use my heavy duty jumper cables.  It started immediately.  

So, what am I doing wrong?

  • Have I bought the wrong starter battery?
  • The van has been left unattended for three months, and I have been relying on the the solar panel to keep the batteries charged, (this technique has worked for years)  and the voltage was 12.9V this morning before I started. The solar panel controller allows the voltage to rise to 13.8V before it switches out. then it come in again when the battery drops to 13.1.  During the winter I usually disconnect the controller so the battery voltage can get higher during the events when the sun is shining brightly. Maybe I should have disconnected the controller earlier.

The Van is in for its MOT just now.  When I get it back I will store it with the controller switched off but be prepared to jump start it again.  If I have to, then it will be a new starter battery and I will have a spare leisure battery.  If so I will use the simple timed charger technique to keep it in good nick till I need it

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