parking on a hill

delicagirl

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hi - where i live now i have the choice of 2 off road parking spots for m,y van. one is a flat spot with easy access to an external 240v socket - but its a bit of a beggar to get in and out of. the other parking spot is at the front of the house but is probably 33-45 degree angle. over the holidays it was parked up on the steep slope. i have been measuring the batteries on a regular basis. i am beginning to wonder if the angle is producing inaccurate battery readings ? what do you techie guys think? many thanks
 
thats a big angle Delicagirl ?
BUT as the batteries plates are in sealed sections of about an inch or 2 wide , the gradient wont make a huge difference to the angle the liquid would shift and youll be able to see it anyway.
example if you see the cross section of this knackered battery image below, the yellow line is at horizontal, and the red line is if it was sat at 30 degrees, so youd still be able to see the plates/fluid level. if you dont see fluid they need topping up. If you do they probably dont but check when on level ground.
battery.JPG
 
Thank you - i believe my batteries are sealed units as i have never had to top them up.... it is indeed quite a slope ... maybe nearer 33 degrees than 45 now i think about it
 
Id check the handbrake regularly too :LOL:
still always good for a bump start if battery does fail on engine

If youve got a cheap voltmeter whack it across the terminals and see if your 12. ???
 
Despite all the facetiousness you might be on to something.

If the batteries are wet cells, albeit sealed (actually valve-regulated with an internal re-combination catalyst), then such extreme angles of parking might be causing the acid to slop between the six compartments, basically shorting them together.

It takes very little to do this, even an old fashioned battery with screw in plugs is susceptible to acid contamination between the external terminals, causing current leaks. The traditional maintenance being to wipe them over with baking soda solution and grease the terminals with vaseline, I still do that every time I take the plugs out for a look and/or top-up, and usually see the solution fizzing away, doing it's job of neutralising the small splashes that otherwise could spread out over the surface.

Parking on such a slope might well be allowing the individual cells to share the acid between them. Shouldn't happen with AGM or gel where the acid is immobilised.

I have been disappointed so far with my new wet "sealed" batteries. despite certain hype. They do not hold their charge as well as the previous AGMs, and I have my suspicions why, along the lines that I have explained. The acid still sloshes around inside them when driving and inevitably creates an internal leakage path between the cells.

They may pass their manufacturers tests in perfect conditions on an immobile test bench, but not so in real use, as I think I have discovered.
 
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Sharpie said:
Despite all the facetiousness you might be on to something
Click to expand...

And as you see I took the post very seriously, in fact took the time to draw up so I could explain more what I meant. And the handbrake comment was deadly serious, I woke one morning to find my car when living in Torquay on a steep hill to be leant against a car nose on that was 8 feet away when i parked up.

As for other "facetious" posts, Id say more like "light hearted", the world could be such a sad place. Cmon Sharpie, give us a smile :)
 
landoboguy said:
And as you see I took the post very seriously, in fact took the time to draw up so I could explain more what I meant. And the handbrake comment was deadly serious, I woke one morning to find my car when living in Torquay on a steep hill to be leant against a car nose on that was 8 feet away when i parked up.

As for other "facetious" posts, Id say more like "light hearted", the world could be such a sad place. Cmon Sharpie, give us a smile :)
Click to expand...
Personally I'm always very impressed when anybody uses one of only two english words that contain all five vowels in alphabetical sequence ;)
 
Similar to, but not quite the one I was thinking of - so now I've doubled my list of known words!
 
Or I could behave abstemiously on this.
Not only does it contain all the vowels in order, it has the letter y which can be also used as a vowel as in ‘abyss’.
 
spigot said:
Or I could behave abstemiously on this.
Not only does it contain all the vowels in order, it has the letter y which can be also used as a vowel as in ‘abyss’.
Click to expand...
THAT'S the one I was thinking of!
My ex-girlfriend told me she was fed up with my constant word-play addiction and I either stopped or we were through.
'How do I do that?' I asked.
'Whatever means necessary' she replied.



'No it doesn't' I said.
 
For 45 years I have parked a succession of motor caravans on my drive, Never had a bad battery on any of them, for all but the last 2 they have been kept on permanent mains hook up the last 2 that were kept on the hook up also had a Sterling Battery Maintainer to ensure the van battery got a good charge. All the motor caravans that were kept on hook up were used at least once a week but we had a car for daily use.
With the last 2 motorcaravans we have had no car so these are used on a daily basis, as I have said never a faulty battery and Defiantly No battery acid problems.
Post number 4 by landoboguy is certainly the best post on this thread the handbrake and leaving in gear is a must.
By the way did I say my drive is a 38 degree drive so I am well qualified to comment. Wherever I park it is handbrake and in first or reverse gear.
As for the battery acid perhaps the guys that go to Applecross on more or less weekly occasions could comment.

Alf
 
Yachties do have to consider the angle of their battery installations as their boats heel from tack to tack. Some of that might read-across to parking on a steep slope and keeping the van on long term charge.

Here's an interesting article: https://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/flooded_battery_orientation

Regarding handbrakes, yes they can loosen off, even if you think you have set them firmly. Calipers or shoes may have been hot when set, then contract as they cool off. Cables can stretch, auto-adjusters slip. For me it is automatic to leave the van in 1st gear (which is lower than reverse on my Ducato) and turn the wheels into the curb so if it does roll off it will be caught.

I've actually seen this happen at a boat launching ramp, carrying a couple of half bricks or suitably shaped logs to chock the wheels is a sensible precaution.
 
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Think it was the Ford Courier vans we had at work that had handbrake problems, them or a Peugeot small van. Countless times we had vans running away where engineers came back to the office and parked up. Well not countless as it happened to them all. We kept hearing it was a known fault lol. When did driving instructors and Highway Code stop saying leave in 1st or reverse?
 
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