60 amp hour vehicle battery with a 0.6amp draw will power for 100 hours or just over 4 days. that would explain why the batteries are dying on you Thomas
On feeding your staff... I've worked in half a dozen places where food, beer and snacks are laid on thick and fast. Mostly tech companies (similar to the top secret one you did some work for that time). Never once have I seen or even heard of anyone taking the piss. It's always respected and seen as a two way street. You just have to hire the right people and make sure the company culture is good across the board, not just the perks.
I've done some work in the Microsoft store in London and even as an outside contractor you can help yourself to snacks and drinks, there's no reason to take the piss.
Yeah I was about to un-sub, got a bit stale. Liking the new style, some shorter vids be appreciated too - hard to find over 30mins of free time in one go
In This Episode: Tom realises french vehicles are shit Tom gets into solvent abuse Tom enjoys moist junction boxes Tom actually pays for parking for a change Tom stereotypes the aussies Tom suggests that we bulldoze history to build an ikea bridge tom discuses the science and supernatural of rcd tripping outro
I had a shitty car a while back and one day it just stopped working , and i had 3 different mechanics telling me 3 different faults and they said it could fix the car. How can you tell someone to pay 1000 quid and it might fix the car....
@@cocoino2307 welcome to the "wonderful" world of computer controlled cars. Oh... and mechanics that "diagnose" your car by looking to see if there are any "service bulletins".
Are you sure they are not engineers, as every man and his dog seem to be these days, you don't get many engineers on the tools, yet a lot of people call themselves engineers😂😂, especially plumbers.
So the battery problem you are seeing is real, funny enough we have it too. Last year the company I work for switched from Renault Kangoos to relatively new Renault Traffic with Sortimo Racking and all that good stuff. When we picked the vans up from the dealership, not even one van wanted to start on its own and hab to be resurrected with battery starters. Every time one of the vans stands a little while because somebody doesn't need it we have to kick-start the battery. I think it's a Renault problem and our dealership said its normal unfortunately, something with the radio, car computer and all the electronic it doesn't shut off completely. To get around the problem, we have to drive the vans every 500km for at least an hour or out it on a constant charger. Hope that this can help you, greetings from a German spark.
There is a power leak draining the battery but the main issue is the size of the battery. A van designer assumes the van is always on the road every day with motorway miles. Get a bigger high power battery and this will help. In winter the battery drain will be worse when using heater and such and then combined with cold starting will start to grind you down
The whole thing about access to live parts if you unscrew the pendant cap is a bit moot. You can remove the bulb and get access to live terminals you can shove your finger into, at a convienient height! The regs don't really cover this as a potential source of shocks. This is one of the most likely places you're going to get a problem, changing a bulb (and forgetting to turn the light off first because you can't remember which way round the switch is: because it's controlled by 3 switches around the room).
Make sure you latch the bonnet catch when measuring current - some vehicles don't go fully to sleep if open. Also some take minutes to fully shut down after ignition off
@@thomasnagy CTek, Sealey and many others now do bluetooth battery monitors if you wanted something you can pop on and check the status without firing up the vehicle. Would be ideal for your bikes too. Cteks unit (approx £50inc) definitely allows multiple vehicles to be linked on the app at the same time. Victron do a really smart one that does current up to 500a as well at about £120inc
monitor the current while you pull one fuse at a time to pinpoint the device that is causing the battery to drain. If it is a common problem there could be an ecu update available.
With reference to you loose terminal and the bathrooms, In fairness that is why people do their own work, electrical, building, mechanical. So many people don’t give a monkey’s what ever their trade is (or are not given time to fix problems)
It's the age old rant about the DIYers, sometimes DIY work is better because it s work for whoever is doing it and not tied to an hourly rate. could also end up being an unsafe dog's dinner... But tradesmen do those too at times, sadly.
Brighton do permits, £900 a year per van. Only covers 9am-5pm after which you can be ticketed between 5pm-8pm when parking enforcement is still in operation. Most times it's cheaper to get the ticket.
Yup, some of my better customers had them. I think they cost £5 per ticket per day. In books of ten irc. Look like a scratch card. This is about 8 years ago mind.
2:49 Thomas Nagy *Electric Mechanical Engineer Pty Ltd* _Let us tighten your NUTS_ is our slogan. 21:50 You'll wait for these new batteries to die? Well I guess we only have a 3 or 4 week wait for that answer then. 🤭 29:57 If the one in the unit is called Luke, is this smaller Skywalker called Anakin? 🤷♂️ You are spending too much time behind a desk and consuming a few too many calories. Be careful Mr Nagy because it sneaks up on you plus it's a bastard to lose it later and I am speaking from 54kg of _extra_ experience.
I tell the customer I've not tested the downlights and put them down as a limitation and reasons why. I also make them aware that there could be further issues and faults if we introduce a new board or RCD. Good luck on the way to 100k Tom 👍.
Current Battery reading Vauxhall Vivaro 2018. Following same methods, bonnet latch alarm and waiting for shut down etc Big cable 0.34A small cable 0.49A. On a team of 18 all with same year models over half have had new batteries after 3years. All the vans used as daily drivers are still on original batteries
"do you want us to upgrade your shower cable to 10mm before you tile" "no its okay, it doesn't need it" "fair enough" *bathroom is freshly tiled "can you upgrade the shower cable to 10mm please"
Thomas it's only a justifiable expense to a customer to pass on a parking ticket in the event you have informed them of what will happen if a ticket is issued and do they have an alternative. Springing a ticket on someone with out consent is a no no , and it's your responsibility to tell them, avoid unnecessarily pissing clients off and make your life easier.
If you’re going to put an Anderson plug on make sure it’s incredibly obvious so that someone doesn’t try and drive off with it connected. I know an ice cream man and several of his colleagues have pulled docks off the wall at his work
I own a Renault Megane RS300 - this is fitted with a 'DESS' battery - essentially a 19ah lead acid battery and some ultra capacitors . These go flat *very* quickly when left for a while, or as you point out, open and close the door a few times - I feel your pain! Renault have released a software fix to try and help the situation, although I believe the fix was to simply shutdown some systems quicker. Some cars/vans systems an take an hour or more to fully shutdown! Not sure if there is there same for your van? The 'dash lighting up like a christmas tree' or phantom faults/spanner light are also indicative of battery issues - cars/vans are VERY sensitive to voltage variations. Are the vans using keyless entry? I have a running theory (which a few others have mentioned) that keyless door systems are always listening for the key, and if they appear within range then systems start back up even when not unlocked - so if the keys are in range of the van, you you frequently go past them with the keys on your pocket then it could be waking up systems and thus draining the battery. On my RS300, I have disabled through software, mostly because of the battery issue but also due to the security concern! If you cant disable it within the settings menu, a faraday pouch will help here. To help find the draw, you could measure the voltage drop over a fuse - just google 'automotive fuse voltage drop chart' to bring up charts and you can start to narrow down what fuse and thus what system is causing the draw. South main auto RU-vid channel has done a few videos on this.
I have the same issue with the Tarfic, it takes a few hours before the systems fully shutdown. I never thought about the keyless entry, that could be a very valid point. Thanks for the input, it's much appreciated.
Wtf ? Electritian or Auto spark ,,, If this guy is willing to muck about in someone elses trade ,,,,, i wouldnt call him in for a job thats what cowboys do : ) Why are you not checking for current draw at each fuse at the fuse box ,,testing the main cable only tells you that there is current draw ,not what circuit it is on : (
I am enjoying this new format. Mixing it up a bit has brought me back to your channel. The better production quality helps as well, better camera work and editing (without going all artisan electric fancy editing, please don't ever do that).
"give and take" - you see, they're out there they exist, reasonable rational kind people. This is the kind of boss I would like to have; this is the kind of boss I would like to be. Nice one mate!
With modern vehicles you need to give them time to go to sleep before taking a current draw reading. You can't just close and lock it then take a reading, you won't get an accurate result. If you want to change your battery without the aggro of re registration, just use your jump pack across the cables. Depending on the vehicle it can take up to 50 minutes to fully shut down.
A parasitic battery drain as its known as should be no more than 50mA 600 mA is way too high so the vehicle is still "awake" things like body control modules and capacitors in door handles for keyless entry can take over an hour to go to sleep. So as stated above make sure everything is locked and totally asleep before checking. You can also use voltage drop across the fuses to test using a multi meter set to millivolts and when the vehicles in sleep mode you should have zero volts across the fuse.
Remember to disconnect that Anderson connector before you drive off with your van. I used a Neutrik "PowerCon True top" and forgot to disconnect the cable (230V in, not an external charger) once. It ripped the connector, its socket and the rivets out of the metal, leaving a couple of female spade connectors behind.
I've seen on paramedics' cars, they have a connector mounted in a side body panel for a blue 16A connector, like a caravan hookup, but there's a solenoid built into the socket so that when you start the engine the plug is ejected.
600mA is terrible for a standby current! Try 50-60mA, that's more typical from a stock car system. Either the van is still awake, or there is some drain elsewhere.
Mate ... in Australia .... they are NOT shrimps ... they are prawns Here in NSW we have an organisation called NRMA (like your AA, RAC) National Roads and Motorists' Association which is jokingly known as Not Real Mechanics Anyway, love the vids, cheers, Garry from DownUnder
I'm glad I don't live in London I would never hire you , you have far to many overheads to be able to do a competitive rate on domestic work and also I think you a very more money orientated than giving a good service .
Bill it back to the client your a buisiness not a charity. If you get a ticket that's down to you doing work at their property. Let them complain to the council. If vans are drawing power when in sleep mode is there a parasitic draw? Or where things open like windows??? Something is still awake. Get a auto electrician in if your concerned.
11:25 CAREFUL TOM, the at risk employee may cause more issues than you want. Hate to see anyone stuff up what you have worked so bloody hard for. As for the battery terminal being loose, I do automotive work as a hobby the amount of s@#T i have seen makes me shake my head, A vehicle i serviced was a joke, Poor lady had been ripped off blind, Charged about $220 AUD for a battery terminal, then another person's car i fixed the mechanics missed more than ONCE her cabin filter, time i found it the filter was jet black and foul smelling & oil filters not even tight and leaking oil everywhere. Anyway as always love the videos.
Can only reaffirm what others have said, in regard the comment regarding Joe, not many bosses would say that, normally it can get a little awkward. Joe must have left a good impression. Good luck to him, at least he has a backup plan if not.
Totally agree with this smaller clips over the week (multi - clips) good idea … very enjoyable …. I’m looking for subscribers for my channel… it give and take 😎👍🏻
Your batteries have to be registered to the vehicle. If you don't register the battery the vehicle won't charge properly. Beware what battery charger you use .You need one that is AGM compatible. Everything turned off it should draw 50ma approx.
Tom, a tip for you, we learnt in my trade to take a near full breath in, THEN sniff whatever. Saves a shock to the system 🤣 especially if your checking the milk lololol 👍
Air pressure can trip RCD's. Really?! How? I'm a little skeptical. There's nothing pressurised or sealed in an RCD is there? Sure it wasn't the vibration of the door closing disturbing a connection somewhere?
our Kangoo gives us 110 ish fully loaded, driver, kit & cables.. think its a 38kw.. and as for apprentices.. NEVER again.. full wage from day one none of this mickey mouse wage crap, carry them through the learning progress.. then they move on.. after 3 or more years a youngster is going to want too see whats out there.. sorry for the offended replies this will generate.. but.. not happening again..
It's the Van's computer. It needs battery power at all times. If you disconnect battery cable, battery drainage should stop, but the Van's computer will disturb.
I have said for a while a ceiling rose can be dangerous when there's no lamp in it, plus with ceilings being 2.4m high, obviously you would have to be a knob to do it, but there's plenty of them out there. My 68 plate traffic is playing up, keep getting a spanner light, then stop start error, check vehicle etc, Renault have had it 5 times, can't find the problem, told me my battery was only 75% charged, can't see how as it's used everyday, the last time said it was led number plate lights, fitted 3 years ago, yet this fault started in January this year, they just cannot fix them too many electronics.
Tom, check out Eric O at South Main Auto, brill videos and very informative and entertaining. Also as I said before go for Optima batteries, awesome, they are used on power boats with massive fcuk off engines.
Jesus, 3W when not doing anything? Some cars will not fully shut off if the bonnet is open, and some like BMW for example can take up to an hour to shut down completely. I'd set the cut off to be around 12V and not turn back on until the battery has reached nominal 12.6V for things like trackers etc, they have their own battery and only ping every so often.
re back feed, twenty years ago i bought a business property which i knew was in dire need of many things, got inspections from roofers, plumbers and electricians etc. Didn't know what an eicr was back then, but the spark i went with came back with a report that said basically we have to start again. 4 consumer units were turned off and main fuse pulled. he started stripping out, i was chatting to him when he got belted, turns out a radial was actually a ring. The other end of the ring was in a fifth consumer unit which we didn't know about and was actually by-passing the meter. You may have gathered i'm not a spark, but me and the spark lived to be a bit smarter! In my case i'm smarter because although I'm a graduated RU-vid electrician i still hire a professional when i need stuff done, the spark got to retire a few years later. (not just on what he charged me!). A word of advice, you might be safe 99% of the time, but if there was a 1% chance of winning the lottery - how many tickets would you buy? Think about it...........
That's why here in Australia, auto electricians exist (and we are never short of work). While I know many great mechanics.....many often aren't good with electrical or basic electrical diagnostics, some because of the way they have been taught or the places they have worked, or because they simply don't care. In fact I often find myself diagnosing mechanical and hydraulic issues that mechanics have written off as electrical issues. (I work on heavy vehicles so this is a fairly common occurrence). I'm by no means the best tradesman in the world but I still try. This is not a dig at mechanics though, I know plenty who are great with electrical, it's just the mindset you need for electrical work lends itself better to fault finding in any trade I feel.
Do not use those workshop start-booster chargers for longer charging. They dont have any "brains" so they overcharge batterys and usually kills them if you leave them charge batterys for long time. They are meant only for charging totally empty batteries fast and boost batteries to get engine going fast. Get a Ctek or something else like Ctek which has microchip controlled charging and automatic tricle charging too. For that kind of use i recommened to get minium of 10A model. But i recommened Ctek PRO25S so if there is lights on at the car, with that kind of load larger Ctek is capable to keep them going and at same time charging the battery.
I would be wary of trying to swap the van battery whilst using a charger to keep the van alive. Without a battery in place, the charger voltage could float up and damage the van ECUs. I would use a set of jumper cables to connect to another van instead.
My company does on average. $600.00 a day in tickets between all 107 vans in Boston Ma. daily All $600 of that gets billed to each vans service location or installation location.
commenting on a personal note. i was pretty much doing life by instalments in the 80s. while i was unemployed, but once i had a job i didn't even think of crime. iv never been unemployed since and now im 60. choose wisely though, unfortunately trouble is in some people blood.
And do not do that charger trick when changing batteries. You need computer still to tell the car it has new battery. Like VAG cars (Volkswagen etc.) you have to tell car that battery is new and car needs battery information like capacity and its type (AGM etc.) or it doesnt charge battery like its needs to becouse car thinks battery is old and car controls charging to match that old battery capacity (capacity what was left in that old one). Cars in these days keeps eye for battery aging and its available capacity and if you replace battery you need computer... that charger trick doesnt work anymore with new cars.
Don't for god sake connect a charger to the van without a battery , if you wish to change the battery use a small AGM battery on fly leads to keep the vehicle powered during the change over. Chargers very often have very poor output voltages when a battery is not connected.
300ma is way too much current. There's not an aftermarket alarm is there? The vehicle should be shutting down to almost nothing after a set period of time. Maybe trip the bonnet catch (so it thinks the bonnet is closed) and wait a couple of hours and remeasure. If its still pulling this sort of current this is the issue. A normal vehicle on a half decent battery should be able to sit unused for at least a month and still start afterwards.
I can’t believe it Thomas, the first thing that they must check when you have dead battery issue is the battery clamp connectors. I heard a lot of stories like yours, it is really frustrating ☹️☹️
I do all my own servicing too due to the main dealer saying they changed and air filter when they didn’t. When I questioned why they charged me they spun me a yarn the computer made a mistake WTF.
@@stendecstretcher5678 I always check the easy to check stuff as I always wonder if they do what is claimed. Personally though, in warranty a lot of stuff is pointless when you aren’t keeping the car so you can usually tell them to leave it, also with things like cabin filters. That can easily be changed yourself for less
You should see the main boards I get from the insurance companies here in South-Africa. Some boards look like that and then they get the local guy that knows how to do it. Our government just brings out new laws but there is no one to enforce these laws.
41:05 Bespoke joinery in those with Italian marble by itself could be 20k. Throw in some Lefroy Brooks fittings new 2 zone underfloor heating with bespoke shower enclosers wet room and you already in materials close to 40K. but I guess if they use Mr Nagy they like to get quality so who knows what the speck was... And if the contractor is like TN and likes to make they profit they probably could go with Bob who for 15K get it done in a month and won't answer the phone never after that hahaha.
That electric van you were talking about there was another guy done a video on Instagram I can't remember who it was but they could only get 60 miles per charge and they weren't tramping the life out of it I Fully loaded it might only have that range someone else must have seen that video and remember who it was and could share it I'm sure tom would like to see it definitely they weren't impressed with it
I have a Renault traffic no tracker or after market electrics I don't have a DC meter but I'll see if my dad has one of he does I'll check my battery see what it's pulling
hood open may keep things alive, touchless entry/start keyfobs and them being close can also keep things alive. some vehicles can take well over three minutes to go fully to sleep. not to mention bluetooth/cellphones linked to vehicle infotainment system.
Had that on jobs before back feeds on circuit factory were maintenance guys think they are electricians,also walkie talkies had that on a job caused rcbos to trip
Are the vans keyless ? If so it could be that the keys are close enough to the vans and the vans are constantly in go mode (Dont know what to call it). Maybe try and take the keys a little further away from the vans.
Reference changing the battery to a bigger one. You really need to have the new battery coded to the van. It is done like this so the charging control system is able to know it has a new battery and it’s now 120ah as opposed to 60ah. It basically then knows how much capacity it has to to work with. As most modern vehicles have a smart alternator they don’t always charge when the engine is running. Instead waiting until all the criteria is met before engaging. So even though the van could be driven all day the criteria might not have been met to enable charging.
@thomas nagy Solar panels! I run three work vans with GPS tracking, led lighting and accessories - Tried all sorts to eliminate standby draw before realising its a fools errand today = we need electronics running. I've put a small flexible solar panel on each van where practical + a cheap pwm charge controller on each = problem solved. Even generates current under the garage lights when parked inside 👍
My dad is an auto electrician for 30+ years, when you said all the lights came on i knew it was battery, if the people read the fault codes correctly and go back to history they should have a low voltage error, Ive had the same problem in my Opel Corsa(vaxaull) , with a very basic computer and yea phoned my dad, he said yea check the battery terminals. The machanics these days just look at a screen and dont know how to actually trace a fault. END
Yea booker is even cheaper than Costco. Also booker is free to be a member of. But I found Costco can actually be more expensive than tesco etc. in some areas.
Although using a charger while swapping in a bigger battery sounds like a good idea, the whole logic behind having to use diagnostic equipment to change the battery is so you can basically tell the vehicle what size battery is fitted in order to optimise smart charge, stop/start, etc. so it's not a good idea. Also, can you do a review on that clamp meter. I'm a mechanic and I'm currently looking for hand held dc clamp meter. Really enjoy your content. Thanks 👍
The theory of give and take works so long as you don't become a massive enterprise with over 10-15 employees, because past that point people will take the piss and use the excuse of "others will do the overtime so why do I need to ?" argument. Keep it small, hire good people and it will work, grow big and you'll have to follow the rest of the dictators.
Watch if you put Anderson connectors on the side of your van(s), someone will drive off with it still connected. I know it is only 12 Volts, but what will it pull the cables before something breaks and disconnects it. Might drag the charger through the shop!!! Better if the Anderson connectors are under the bonnet or somewhere where the bonnet can be left open, so it is obvious the wires are connected. It will happen where someone will drive off with it connected. Either that or make it so when the van is started it will automatically push out a connector, yes it will cost a bit, but it might save a lot of money repairing damage after someone drives off with the charging wires still connected. Some Fist stations use a system where it throws the electrical cables out when they release the handbrake. Cheapest way to do it would be to put wedges under the front and rear tyres to stop the van moving with the Anderson plugs still connected. However, you are still relying on people putting in the wedges when they connect up, best way would be to connect the charge cables to one of the wedges and make the charge cables a bit heavier to allow for the extra cable run. Put the wedges on the inside i.e. behind the front wheel and in front of the rear wheel, this way the cables will have less travel, but the van will not move until cables are disconnected.
I prefer the new style of video. Much more engaging. There’s only so many times you can see someone terminate downlights. As someone fairly new to the industry I find the whole business side very interesting
