This weeks escapade involves a breakdown on our drive home from the Alps to the UK! Iz gets very panicky and worries she's getting ill from poisonous gases....
Hi everyone! A little update video on our drive back home! La Bamba saved her breakdown until we'd crossed the channel! Let's just say I didn't keep my cool in this situation! Anyone else get panicky like this?! Got a fun episode coming next Tuesday - I'm going camping on my own and taking you with me! Hope you're all well and have great week! Iz xx
There should be a plastic battery cover originally...but sometimes a cell fails and shorts out so the other five then get over charged leading to excessive gassing and heat 🔥, if it was the aux battery it could have been disconnected and van will still run OK 👌👍
Just noticed it was the main batt (front one) you replaced, aux is the (back one), btw it's much easier if you remove the seat with the four torx screws plus seat belt bolt. 👍
Iz I think I would have been panicking too. I didn't like the look of that at all . Tom you always remain so calm. That's probably why you work so well together. Glad you got it sorted and had a safe onward journey. Look forward to next week's blog!
Sad fact here was when you phoned breakdown service they would have fixed battery for you, no problem. Your mistake was to give way to much info. All you should have said "you have a problem with the car you think its the battery" and leave it at that...
Well done Tom for your calm level headed approach to life and for mending the van to get you the last few miles home. An extremely sensible decision to let the acid cool completely and just sleep up before changing the battery. Izzy I do relate to your anxiety in these situations, please try to take some calm deep breaths and weigh up your options, it sometimes helps.
You were very lucky, the hydrogen gas is extremely explosive, any sort of spark could have set it off. Even more worrying as it was in your camper with a gas cooker in the back. I would check the alternator is not overcharging. Check the battery with a multimeter or the same thing might happen again. The new battery should show about 12.7volts with the engine not running, start up the van and check the battery voltage and it should be around 14.5v. If its higher than 14.8v there's a problem with the alternator or regulator on the alternator causing the battery to over charge. It probably was just the old battery but you have to check the charging voltage to be safe. Worth doing this as soon as possible because if it is over charging it does not take long to destroy the new battery. Keep safe 😀
I would get the charging rate checked to make sure the vehicle is not over charging the new battery because you don’t want to boil the new battery as before
I too would have reacted with sheer panic at those noxious fumes & the possibility of it going up! Im sorry that you had to feel like that, but I really appreciate that you filmed the reality of it and showed how you grounded yourself. A refreshing contrast to vloggers who seem ever confident & not phased by anything. It's encouraging for those a bit nervous of travel to see that you can feel panicky & unsafe and get through it. 👏❤ Hope the van is ok.
Tom, next time that happens or anything like that, get the negative lead off the batteries and let it cool down. Don't leave it connected. You did the right thing and did well there to keep cool under pressure and solve it. (The only thing I would have done different is express my feelings about the 4 hour time limit 😠) You need to check out the wiring, to and from that battery, make sure nothing is shorting. I don't like how close the batteries are to the metal frame of the seat, is there a battery cover?, if not get one or make one. Check the underside of the seat for any evidence of sparking / burning, and check all the auxiliary connections that come from that battery. Maybe it was just a faulty or overloaded battery, but it would be a good idea to give the van a good once over with a multi meter. Glad it all worked out, not sure about Iz's glasses though😊
There should be a plastic battery cover originally... sometimes a cell shorts out so the other five then get over charged leading to excessive gassing and heat 🔥, if it was the aux battery it could have been disconnected and van will still run OK 👌👍
Fantastic video, exciting drama filled little adventure & France. What a beautiful country, pleased you like it. As for Izzy & the glasses? She looks lovely as always. Great couple❤️
Great video as always. It would be worth having it looked at. By a auto electrician just to make sure the B to B charger isn't over charging or something silly like that. All the best stay safe Steve
Glad you got home in the end. I thought that old van was getting near its end. Put battery isolator switches in a camper as a safety measure in future. I have enjoyed your travels, and if it were me, I would be looking at settling down back in Cornwall for a while to recover. I got stranded in Finland once with a puncture and two damaged tyres, it is then difficult and we were rescued by a very nice family, who put us up for a few days in their forest house.
Amazing story to share with raw honesty 👏 😊😊❤You guys a great and give so much to so many. Best of wishes for everything.Thankyou for sharing authentically. ❤
I absolutely love your videos, they're so comforting to watch and I love seeing everything you get up to! Since finding your channel, my dream holiday is to hire a van and drive the Wild Atlantic Way!
Amazing coincidence! I was watching your video about the battery failure when I received a What's App message from my daughter and son in law in Holland. The battery in their 4 years old campervan caught fir! They have managed to get it replaced, but it could have been quite serious as the battery was stored under the passenger seat wher my daughter was. I felt for you guys with the problem you had getting the new battery installed. Fortunately the Dutch garage had no qualms about immediately replacing the battery. Glad you got home safely and now looking forward to your next video.🥰
As several other people have said, it sounds like the battery is over-charging. It depends how “intelligent” your charging systems is, if its a simple split charge relay type they can overcharge when the alternator is running for a long time with no load on the aux battery
As a breakdown patrol from another company, that's was an awful response from the RAC! At least send a patrol to do a dynamic risk assessment! Yes, its dangerous, but once the battery has cooled, it won't actively gas, both doors open and vent the area. My own patrol van has had this, its an easy issue to overcome with a bit knowlwdge!
Omggg I would've been panicking aswell especially because you's don't know if any damage was done in the hours you'd both been driving unawares to the leaking and smoking? 😲 I'm so, so glad you's got home safe and sound ❤oh and that's absolutely disgusting how the RAC just left you both basically stranded and on your own....yep, well worth all that insurance money 😒😏
Glad to know you're safely home. Actually Tom, my long experience is that so many times I've thought "most people would do that themselves", only to discover that most people wouldn't touch it! Look after one another :-)
So glad to hear you guys made it home safely! Seriously, I would have had a panic attack too. Iz, the new glasses are so cute, and look adorable on your face, I say just own it! 🧡
You were so lucky to get out of that safely. I know you said we shouldn't get on your case, but stuff like this *keeps happening* with you two and luck eventually runs out.
One of the primary symptoms of Sulphuric Acid poisoning is the constant need to travel but you have this vacuous feeling that you are lost in transit . . .
Once, after a struggle, I opened the bonnet of my car, assessed the situation with all my knowledge of car mechanics, and closed the bonnet again. Tom sir you are a genius.
Sad ending to a very enjoyable adventure. At least you both got home safely. I also think it was very poor service on behalf of the RAC. You would think a breakdown in the UK would be easy to sort out. Looking forward to your solo camping trip and future adventures.
Hi guys. Seems odd to me your battery would get so hot due to a battery fault. I would suspect its being over charged by the van, which would explain why it was so hot after a long drive. Check the voltage going into it as if there is a charging problem your nice new battery will get ruined.
Good to see you in my home town, shame it was in less than perfect circumstances! Glad you didn't fall foul of the parking restrictions there, it's become quite the talking point in the town.
So sorry for you both here! Had we known you could have had a fresh coffee ready as my wife live only a few minutes from that Halfords 😞 You definitely didn’t see Taunton at its best where you were! Thanks for your inspiration though to get going
Time to do a bit of auto electrical work! Earth's or grounds issue or the alternator is over charging. I forget my school boy chemistry, but I thought hydrogen gas was produced by an over excited lead acid battery(explosive 💥) Anyway, glad you made it home and look forward to the Clio camping 🚙⛺
Good to see you got back home safely in the end! A bit worrying about the battery. Now you know you should have changed it when it first failed. But we all make mistakes and we just have to learn from them. I think the gas is more likely to be hydrogen, which isn’t normally harmful to breathe, but was obviously a major explosion risk which you fortunately avoided. Just be glad it wasn’t a modern electric vehicle lithium ion battery. When they fail you should run away fast! You both deserve some relaxation for a while!
The correct solution was to disconnect the auxiliary battery, problem solved. The issue will be something to do with the split charging system or possibly the alternator.
Hi T&L I would just get your altenator checked there may be a problem wirh regulator which caused the battery to overheat you dont want runing your new battery
Definitely loose the specs ,they remind me of 80' s yuppies (total a holes). I would have a breaker so you can separate the aux battery from the main one. At least you could get home, no dramas.
The starter battery in my 8 year old car was nearing the end of its life, symptoms were the start/stop feature stopped working. Before my local garage changed the battery they ran tests on the alternator to make sure that was working properly. Never had a good experience with Halford mechanics and I would ditch the RAC and use Grenn Flag at next renewal
your not stupid, its only a battery. Same thing happened to me. Cant believe they wouldn't change it for you, although tom should know how to change it anyway its not hard. just another learning experience :)
I would always give vague info to the breakdown people about the problem. They're the experts, not you. If they'd come out and then find they can't fix it, they would have to tow you to your home destination and you wouldn't have had the worry of sleeping in a van that could potentially have been gassing you. Anyway off to check out your other videos as this was a random find :)
Welcome home to the UK......home sweet home....La bamba waited to be back to seize up , maybe it's time for La bamba to retire? No it was just in need of a new battery, great..😂❤
When I was hitchhiking in France, a chap pick me up got both his windows open and he said his battery is gassing. He didn’t know why but he got his windows open so the fumes didn’t get him. I said oh it’ll be your alternator overcharging I said pull in somewhere, I’ll disconnect the alternator. The battery was hot. I disconnected the alternator solve the problem but I told him the battery would run down eventually so he would need to get to a garage so probably nothing wrong with the battery regulator in the alternator overcharging
Charge regulation is poor. Auxiliary battery has broken down and boiling and gassing. Happened in my van . Vented the van and let it cool down removed the battery changed it and all was ok
Eeek! Not fun. I understand why Mr Halfords didn't remove the battery but disappointed that your recovery company didn't tow you to a garage. Do you have that on your policy? Loving the specs! I love bold spectacles too!
Wow, glad you got that fixed... Incidentally, did you check to see if the alternator was also hot, or regulator control ? Looking forward to Isy's solo adventure...
All's well that ends well, right? Travel is really stressful -- we all have had our hair-raising experiences. BTW/I was a bit amused by the report that three hours' drive took you to "the middle of France." Being from the U.S., a three-hour drive might not take you to the middle of a particular state even. To get to the middle of the U.S., it would be more like two days of steady driving, 12 hours or more each day. I live in one of the smallest states in the U.S., and I can drive three hours and never leave it. Shoot, my daily work commute is three hours if you add up both directions.
Please dont just leave it at swapping the battery refer to the comment by boastyy as you need too check some things out with a multimeter .if the new battery is being overcharged there is a real possibility of it exploding 😮 or being seriously damaged
When working in France in 1992, I nearly bought a farm in Normandy for 8000 euros plus taxes. One had to get permission from the local Mayor first to be accepted to the commune.
I'm pretty sure as time goes on they'll drop the 90 day rule . You are nomadic and it's inconvenient but how long will you be nomadic? Have to settle down somewhere one day. 😊
Cornish folk break down in Devon! You’re lucky to have made it out without being force fed scones with clotted cream put on first and jam after. Poor dabs.
