Tracker back up

[watto7]

Having a unicorn Vigo my battery is always flat when left in storage for two weeks it has been in the dealers a week ,they say the tracker draws 0.2 amps an hour we have 110 amp battery .they suggested a solar panel at £500 .i have contacted tracker and they say it should draw 0.03 amps a significant difference .
Tracker tested it with there system and said it was flat the dealer rang me to say that it was charged (my battery)
It would appear the tracker back up battery must be faulty so up to now I've purchased a new battery a charger and then had to investigate the problem myself .
I hope bailey and the dealer now sort the problem

 

[MichaelE]

If the tracker unit battery is flat then its a new unit, they say the batteries last 3 years but these are not rechargeable so discharge all the time you are not on ehu and the leisure battery if flat.
You also dont know how long these were sat on the shelf for.
We have a sure track unit which alerted battery failure after 15 months , not under warranty so a new unit at the cost of £186 , we didn't bother replacing it.

 

[bertieboy1]

If your tracker draws 0.2 amps per hour then it's draw on current is something like 0.00005 amps (if I got the decimal place correct)! far less than what the manufacturer states (0.03 amps).
I think you mean the tracker draws 0.2 amps this is an continuous value,that is it draws 0.2 amps all the time and not accumulated over a period of time.

 

[Beehpee]

A tracker has 2 batteries, one is 12 volts and is kept charged by the caravans leisure battery, this battery powers the alarm which is part of the tracker system and also the tracker itself, there is also a 6 volt non chargeable battery which will power the tracker in the event of the leisure battery going flat followed by the trackers own 12 volt battery, the 6 volt battery will last for years so long as the leisure battery is kept charged, if the leisure battery go's flat and the tracker 12 volt battery does the same as a consequence of this the 6 volt battery will go flat probably within a week, if the leisure battery is charged before the tracker 12 volt battery is flat it will then recharge and the 6 volt will not have been discharged at all, a tracker current draw is 2 milliamps so on its own a tracker would take ages to flatten the leisure battery, both the 12 & 6 volt tracker batteries can be replaced although its highly unlikely the 12 volt will need changing as putting th caravan on EHU will soon restore it to fully charged.

BP

 

[MichaelE]

A tracker has 2 batteries, one is 12 volts and is kept charged by the caravans leisure battery, this battery powers the alarm which is part of the tracker system and also the tracker itself, there is also a 6 volt non chargeable battery which will power the tracker in the event of the leisure battery going flat followed by the trackers own 12 volt battery, the 6 volt battery will last for years so long as the leisure battery is kept charged, if the leisure battery go's flat and the tracker 12 volt battery does the same as a consequence of this the 6 volt battery will go flat probably within a week, if the leisure battery is charged before the tracker 12 volt battery is flat it will then recharge and the 6 volt will not have been discharged at all, a tracker current draw is 2 milliamps so on its own a tracker would take ages to flatten the leisure battery, both the 12 & 6 volt tracker batteries can be replaced although its highly unlikely the 12 volt will need changing as putting th caravan on EHU will soon restore it to fully charged.

BP

The above is incorrect as Tracking units are stand alone units and are hidden somewhere in the van,some have a 12v supply, but its not to charge and when this is lost it reverts to its internal battery which has a 3 year life.Its the alarm that has a separate 12v rechargeable battery.
If they are integrated then all it is is a sensing wire coming from the alarm output to the tracker unit, but most tracking units have an internal movement sensor and are armed separately from the alarm and activated by calling a help desk.

Some technical bits from Tracker
Battery Backup
Your TRACKER unit is fitted with
a non-rechargeable back up
battery. This design feature allows
the unit to continue to operate
even if the main vehicle battery is
disconnected, which maximises the
security of the product. This feature
now allows the unit to operate
unassisted for up to one month.
However, it must be recognised
that the unit will draw power
from this back up battery
whenever the main supply is
disconnected, for example, under
theft conditions or during a
vehicle service.
The back up battery life will be
reduced by the duration of the
supply disconnection.
Therefore, could you please ensure
that your vehicle battery is always
kept charged. Whenever you have
work done on your vehicle, you
should advise the dealer that if
battery disconnection is required,
then this time should be kept to a
minimum. Remember, the unit will
work indefinitely when the main
vehicle supply is present.

 

[Beehpee]

I can assure you the alarm and the tracker run from the 12 volt re chargeable battery, the internal 6 volt will only ever power the tracker in the event of the caravan battery going flat or being removed followed by the 12 volt re chargeable going flat because there is no leisure battery keeping it charged, the 6 volt battery will only power the tracker not the alarm and will go flat in less than 2 weeks, as for the tracker movement sensor not being set by the alarm this again is not true.

 

[MichaelE]

Again i would like to display the info from tracker that comes with the Baileys tracker info pack:
How your TRACKER Response works
»
Battery Backup
Your TRACKER unit is fitted with
a non-rechargeable back up
battery. This design feature allows
the unit to continue to operate
even if the main vehicle battery is
disconnected, which maximises the
security of the product. This feature
now allows the unit to operate
unassisted for up to one month.
However, it must be recognised
that the unit will draw power
from this back up battery
whenever the main supply is
disconnected, for example, under
theft conditions or during a
vehicle service.
The back up battery life will be
reduced by the duration of the
supply disconnection.
Therefore, could you please ensure
that your vehicle battery is always
kept charged. Whenever you have
work done on your vehicle, you
should advise the dealer that if
battery disconnection is required,
then this time should be kept to a
minimum. Remember, the unit will
work indefinitely when the main
vehicle supply is present.
Only the tracker alarm can activate the tracker unit by the key fob all others hal locate, sure-track and the non integrated Phantom are armed by the helpdesk

 

[Woody3]

Perhaps I can offer a bit of help as (a) I am an electronics engineer recently early retired, and (b) I had a battery fault with my Tracker and I know where it is!

The 'back-up' battery so called is a lithium cell that retains the config. Lithium cells have a typical life of five years and a shelf life of at least double that. There is also a 12V 7Ah gel lead-acid battery (as used in large burglar alarm systems amongst other things) that provides the main supply and this is in effect in parallel with the caravan battery albeit protected by a diode to stop reverse current flow.. In my case the thing stopped working and when I found out where it was I discovered the 7Ah battery was cooking and its case distended. Fortunately I had a spare (they are easily obtained from such as Maplin or CPC) which when fitted restored normal service.
If the device draws 30mA then a 7Ah battery fully charged should, in theory, support it for something over 200 hours or at least a week. Assuming a fully charged 110Ah caravan battery then the unit should be happy for something over 20 weeks. This of course is theory but it would not be unreasonable to expect about a week from the support battery and at least 3 months from the 'van battery.
A solar panel of reasonable size should be able to keep everything happy, even if the caravan battery is removed.
I will not give out where the unit is but just look carefully around your 'van for a somewhere that the sizes don't match up and there is a panel held by a couple of small screws.