Bessacarr E560 Battery problems? (2 Viewers)

[kinsleyboy]

I've just bought a 2008 E560 motorhome and the battery has gone flat after standing for 2 weeks only. I've had it plugged into the mains at home during that time and the only drain on the vehicle battery would have been the clock & immobiliser as I understand it. Has anyone got any ideas or had a similar problem. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

 

[Diabalo]

The panel draws a bit if you don't turn it off:thumb:

 

[pappajohn]

if you mean the engine battery is flat then its possible, and likely, the onboard charger doesnt charge the engine battery.

if its gone flat after only two weeks i suspect the battery may be on its last legs and needs replacing.

the clock, radio memory and immobiliser only draw a minimal current and the battery should last for quite a long time before its flat.

if its the leisure battery, is the charger turned on.
there'll be an on/off switch somewhere on the charger itself.

BTW...welcome to the FUN !!!!

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[Geo]

I was going to say
if you mean the engine battery is flat then its possible, and likely, the onboard charger doesnt charge the engine battery.

if its gone flat after only two weeks i suspect the battery may be on its last legs and needs replacing.

the clock, radio memory and immobiliser only draw a minimal current and the battery should last for quite a long time before its flat.

if its the leisure battery, is the charger turned on.
there'll be an on/off switch somewhere on the charger itself.

BTW...welcome to the FUN !!!!
Geooh:

 

[WillH]

The engine battery is only charged when the panel is switched to draw power from it instead of the leisure battery. I have our van on hook-up all the time and one day a week change over from leisure to engine battery.

Rgds
Bill

 

[John H]

I had a problem after I fitted my reversing camera to my van, the battery would go flat in a week, I found out later that the screens for the cameras draw power even when they are switched off, I unplug the power lead when its left for any time now and its fine.

Regards, John

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[Geo]

And I would like to add
Check out Lot 34 in our charity auction
Just what you need:thumb:

 

[pappajohn]

The engine battery is only charged when the panel is switched to draw power from it instead of the leisure battery. I have our van on hook-up all the time and one day a week change over from leisure to engine battery.

Rgds
Bill

same as my kontiki.
really useful for keeping both topped up (individually) in winter :thumb:

 

[pappajohn]

I was going to say
Geooh:

but you just werent quick enough.

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[ronfleur]

e560

Hi
Hope you have a great time in the van we love it.
3 things drain your battery without u realising apart from the ones mentioned
1 the status ariel transformer in the wardrobe
2 the freesat receiver switch in the cupboard above the fridge
3 the reversing cam on standby
Have fun
Barry

 

[SwiftGroup]

Hi Kinsleyboy,

I think everyone has answered your question, but I would suggest:

1) Make sure the charger is on.
2) Make sure the correct battery is selected on the control panel, as the charger will only deliver charge to the battery in "circuit"
3) Make sure all other items are off, so that the maximum power from the charger is delivered to the battery.

There was a period of time where Fiat swapped the permanent power connection on the Fiat radio from PIN 4 to PIN 7. We have informed all dealers of this issue, so that they can check the correct installation of the rear view camera, if a customer is suffering from power drain on the leisure battery.

I hope that helps.

Ash

 

[dave jm]

I've just bought a 2008 E560 motorhome and the battery has gone flat after standing for 2 weeks only. I've had it plugged into the mains at home during that time and the only drain on the vehicle battery would have been the clock & immobiliser as I understand it. Has anyone got any ideas or had a similar problem. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

I too have the same problem....Purchased privately e560 in Nov09 and put in storage...visited m/h 2 weeks later to find it was flat...paid to have batterys checked..both O.K....but same problem this week when i went to the m/h.
Just recieved letter from Swift re fault on hab. door gas strut...will ring dealership to book it in....maybe they can understand this battery prob ie my fault/or duff battery.
Does the battery come into Swift's 3yr guarantee....i will have to see.
Can i ask you kinsleyboy what area or county you live in??

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[dave jm]

The engine battery is only charged when the panel is switched to draw power from it instead of the leisure battery. I have our van on hook-up all the time and one day a week change over from leisure to engine battery.

Rgds
Bill

Hi Bill,being green and a newbi...After start up what buttons on control panal are put in what position....cant get my head round this

 

[Peter JohnsCross MH]

Does the battery come into Swift's 3yr guarantee....i will have to see.
Can i ask you kinsleyboy what area or county you live in??

Doubt if the batteries come under any converters Guarantee, same as tyres

Peter

 

[lunarman]

I doubt that it will be covered by any extended Fiat warranty either. Mine was only 1 month over the 12 months standard warranty when it failed and Fiat would not accept it.

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[Mike Rickshaw]

Bessacarr E560 battery problem

I had a 2008 model Bessacarr E 560. The engine battery constantly ran down due to the reversing camera and infra-red lighting being costantly on.
The reversing picture on the Blaupunkt sat nav was, disconcertingly, also back to front. These problems were put right under Swift warranty.
Other problems were :
Poor radio reception. There was no aerial ftted. Found the chopped off aerial cable. Screen aerial fitted.
Leisure battery always loosing minimum of 0.5 amps. Problem never cured.
Aluminium bed frame with a super strong gas strut disintergrated after one year of constant usage.

After 13K miles touring Europe over 18 months, we, including the cat, still liked the the vehicle enough to order a new 2010 model E560 with the essential cruise control, cab air con, reversing mirror and optional winter pack. Hope the new E560 doesn't have the same faults.

Cheers,

Mike Rickshaw

 

[WillH]

Hi Dave, provided you have the same control panel as our van all you do is the following. Once the van is plugged into the hook-up press the switch showing a picture of the cab with an electric flash, a red light should come on showing the van is now drawning 12v from the chassis battery and charging from the battery charger as you are hooked up.

The chassis battery will always charge when the engine is running and also the leisure battery through the split charge relay.

It's also worth checking out what Mike says about the reversing camera etc, I don't think I have a problem there but I am going to check.

Rgds
Bill

 

[dave jm]

Thanks all for the advise...Got m/h booked into Fiat in Hull on Friday could be battery or altenator..either way BIG bill especially as I've not used the m/h since buying last NovWill keep you all posted.
........Toys cost money

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[Marander]

I've just bought a 2008 E560 motorhome and the battery has gone flat after standing for 2 weeks only. I've had it plugged into the mains at home during that time and the only drain on the vehicle battery would have been the clock & immobiliser as I understand it. Has anyone got any ideas or had a similar problem. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

We had the same problem with our '08 E560 which we bought in November '09, but it happened after only 2 days without hookup! Took it to our local Fiat van service centre - they checked it over thoroughly and told me it was due to a weak battery and wouldn't be covered by warranty as it wasn't a Fiat part! They said they could fit a 'Fiat' battery (at phenomenal cost) but it would only be guaranteed for 12 months!! Eventually found a much better deal (cheaper, with 3 year warranty) from our local ProParts centre and fitted it myself.

 

[dave jm]

Fiat at Hull found the problem with the battery draining...apparantly it was the radio/cd player/rear camera being on standby all the time...took them 25 minutes and charged £81 what a rip off...could have bought a new battery for that sort of money.Will take that unit out and fit the Kenwood dnx-7240bt...anyone want to buy this one.....Eonon e1010..it is 6 months old and priced when new at £170.Only selling because i want to up scale to a 7inch screen,apart from that it works perfectly......Dave

 

[kinsleyboy]

I too have the same problem....Purchased privately e560 in Nov09 and put in storage...visited m/h 2 weeks later to find it was flat...paid to have batterys checked..both O.K....but same problem this week when i went to the m/h.
Just recieved letter from Swift re fault on hab. door gas strut...will ring dealership to book it in....maybe they can understand this battery prob ie my fault/or duff battery.
Does the battery come into Swift's 3yr guarantee....i will have to see.
Can i ask you kinsleyboy what area or county you live in??

Hi dave jm.
I'm from Shropshire.
My dealer seems to have sorted out the charging problem now......I swap it onto charging the vehicle battery one day a week as advised earlier in these threads. Mind you the control panel says its charging at 45.9 amps which Swift have said means that a fuse board is faulty and needs changing. My dealer has now got this and will change it when the door recall parts come in too.
Regarding the battery drain by the reversing camera, my E560 has got an on/off switch in the little open "glovebox" above the radio and this switches the reverse camera on & off. This looks as though it was a factory fitted switch but I can't find any note of it in the Besacarr or Fiat handbooks.:thumb:

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[keithfal]

Flat battery?

I've just bought a 2008 E560 motorhome and the battery has gone flat after standing for 2 weeks only. I've had it plugged into the mains at home during that time and the only drain on the vehicle battery would have been the clock & immobiliser as I understand it. Has anyone got any ideas or had a similar problem. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

Hi, Our E520 (07) cab battery went flat after three weeks and after some research I have discovered that the best way to avoid this is to keep the van plugged in and the charger switched on and set to cab battery using the control panel. I have been told by both the dealer and swift that this is an appropriate way to keep the cab battery from going flat. Its worked well so far. The other option would be to use a trickle charger but then you need to disconnect the battery earth.

Keithfal