Hi I have a 2012 Skoda Octavia scout was converted into a rapid response ambulance the battery dies every time you leave it overnight i think this is being caused by the dashboard staying on when car is locked however local garage say Skoda dashboard always stay on is this true

The centre display does on that age vehicle but it's a minimal drain.

 

I suspect something else has been left connected somewhere. Time to hook up an ammeter and start pulling fuses.

Thanks for your reply the dashboard is on constantly with car locked and a picture showing driver door opening and closing thought that must be the issue I will ask. About checking with an ammeter no idea how to use one 

Ah, that certainly doesn't seem correct. They can just show the odo, but that's it.

 

Ammeters are very straight forward. Disconnect the batter earth and put inline to the battery, or even better use an amp clamp. This will tell you how much the actual drain is. They you can disconnect things and see when it drops to a normal level. This will give you an idea which circuit the drain is on.

If it has been converted to an ambulance there is a chance it has "run lock" so the engine can remain running while the car is locked and the key removed ? 

Thanks for your reply the dashboard is on constantly with car locked and a picture showing driver door opening and closing thought that must be the issue I will ask. About checking with an ammeter no idea how to use one  the car does still have run lock on arrive scene mode 

hi Nige the car does have run lock system 

It was converted by Ludo mcgurk and still has auxiliary batteries in the boot and a socket on back window to connect to the mains haven’t tried the Ammetre test will try tomorrow would the run lock cause excessive draw from battery wither everything switched off including auxiliary battery 

Any modification of standard electrical system is usually the main culprit for draining the battery. Somebody messed up the system. You will have a hard time making them admit it.

24 minutes ago, Octaivia said:

It was converted by Ludo mcgurk and still has auxiliary batteries in the boot and a socket on back window to connect to the mains haven’t tried the Ammetre test will try tomorrow would the run lock cause excessive draw from battery wither everything switched off including auxiliary battery 

 

The "run lock" will effectively power the whole cars systems so even with the dual batteries it will seriously deplete them overnight

The control panel for the run lock is not illuminated only looks like it only work  with auxiliary battery’s which I turn off after switching off engine I do this so in the morning when chassis battery is flat have to access car with key no lights come on dash I’ll turn on the auxiliary batteries on an it will start off that if not been left for more than 1 day any more than that it needs to be jumped would adding a battery isolator switch solve my problem 

Picture with auxiliary batteries off engine running 

Pics with battery on 

I honestly think it has something more to do with dashboard as if the dash does go to sleep and stay asleep it will start no problem 

Ask yourself why there is a mains socket to charge the batteries!

 

And in case you dont come up with the right answer, with the configuration that it has it would have been plugged in every time that it came off duty.

 

My advice, rip it all out and put it back to standard, hopefully some of the stuff will sell on e-bay.

Have you eliminated the chance that the chassis battery may have reached end of life and does not have enough capacity even for its own self discharge current overnight?

 

When you say the dash stays on, do you mean it's always on or stays on for a few minutes?

 

Lock the car and go back after 10-15 minutes, assuming you don't unlock it, the screen on the dash should be off...

The dashboard is usually illuminated constantly with a picture showing drivers door opening and closing i Bellevue battery is fine as after. Short drive the colour indicator on battery is green when it dies it goes black need charging also on  the rare ocassion dash goes to sleep it will start no problem this makes me think it is the dash that’s causing issues also when battery is dicharching it makes a sound i and neighbours can hear sound like the low fuel notification going of constantly 

Hi jr thanks for your reply the vehicles engine would have been on constantly or the car plugged in this is due to needing to keep fridge defib communication equitment etc fully charged if now all this has been removed it should no longer be causing massive drain also only drains battery when dash is on 

15 minutes ago, Octaivia said:

The dashboard is usually illuminated constantly with a picture showing drivers door opening and closing 

 

If the door is showing as opening and closing, the system will not go into "sleep" mode so you maybe looking at a fault with the drivers door lock ?

Is there a sensor or something on the door that maybe dirty and confusing the system the door is closed and locked but dash shows it opening and closing