Battery problems with Smart Alternator on 2021 model Euro 6 vans

[wuzzlewood]

Question for owners of 2021 autograph 3s!
If you have a van with the Euro 6 engine and the associated smart alternator BEFORE Bailey recognised the issue and fitted a battery to battery charger.

I am on my second such motorhome and BOTH have had severe battery charging/voltage issues. I had new batteries fitted under warranty by Bailey and on both occasions it did nothing much if anything!

Yesterday I returned from having warranty work done which included a new habitation battery - Banner one!

I drove for two hours and got home with a battery that was flat or near flat! I ran some light for 15 minutes and got the habitation battery low voltage warning!

Does anyone succeed in staying off mains hook up for even 24 hours in a somilar model?

If you have the latest 2022/23 model is it cited with the new battery to battery charger?

Sorry for the long post!

Steve

 

[funflair]

Hi Steve

Are you saying that neither van have had Battery 2 Battery charger?

 

[wuzzlewood]

Hi Steve

Are you saying that neither van have had Battery 2 Battery charger?

Yes, Bailey only recognised the issue later and refused to retrofit a solution!

We are stuck in the middle and I am interested in what other Bailey owners are doing or have done about it!

 

[funflair]

Yes, Bailey only recognised the issue later and refused to retrofit a solution!

We are stuck in the middle and I am interested in what other Bailey owners are doing or have done about it!

OK not directly Bailey related but I knew a couple of people who had N+B Flair models on the IVECO chassis and they had a similar issue, it was sorted by getting iveco to programme out the "smart" bit of the alternator, don't know if that is something you could investigate if you don't go down the B2B route.

 

[cossie303]

Question for owners of 2021 autograph 3s!
If you have a van with the Euro 6 engine and the associated smart alternator BEFORE Bailey recognised the issue and fitted a battery to battery charger.

I am on my second such motorhome and BOTH have had severe battery charging/voltage issues. I had new batteries fitted under warranty by Bailey and on both occasions it did nothing much if anything!

Yesterday I returned from having warranty work done which included a new habitation battery - Banner one!

I drove for two hours and got home with a battery that was flat or near flat! I ran some light for 15 minutes and got the habitation battery low voltage warning!

Does anyone succeed in staying off mains hook up for even 24 hours in a somilar model?

If you have the latest 2022/23 model is it cited with the new battery to battery charger?

Sorry for the long post!

Steve

Hi Steve, How do you know if you have the BTB charger? we have a 2022 autograph 3 and it has a (blue) Schaudt booster 121525 unit under the seating behind the main beaker/fuse unit and main battery charger, is this the B2B unit?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[wuzzlewood]

Hi Steve, How do you know if you have the BTB charger? we have a 2022 autograph 3 and it has a (blue) Schaudt booster 121525 unit under the seating behind the main beaker/fuse unit and main battery charger, is this the B2B unit?

Yes, it is what Bailey use, not the best solution by all accounts, wiser people on here will advise.
You should also then have the Truma mppt solar controller fitted.

We have neither of these !

 

[cossie303]

Yes, it is what Bailey use, not the best solution by all accounts, wiser people on here will advise.
You should also then have the Truma mppt solar controller fitted.

We have neither of these !

Thanks Steve, I have fitted a Votronic MPPT solar controller and an Apuljack Lithium Mains charger (plug and Play). I set the switch on the Schaudt to lithium. I guess this would be all that was required but I have installed a Sterling B2B unit which I think was unnecessary now!!! I could probably remove the Sterling B2B with what was already installed and the changes I have made with the Apuljack lithium charger and Votronic MPPT solar controller.

 

[wuzzlewood]

I am no expert but the Sterling unit is much better than the Bailey solution, if you ditch either it should imo be the German one as it is not a very high output.

Your solar controller should have been mppt so no change was needed!

I have a mix, my sterling unit works fine but the battery does not hold a charge!

I am waiting for Bailey to replace it but we are in the middle of Germany now for six weeks having to rely on mains holly up everywhere.

I have been unable to disconnect the existing relay so I have in effect both Sterling and the original charger working together!

Something isn’t right but I can’t get anything fixed or sorted until I get home!

I can always switch the Sterling unit off but I am using it as my mppt controller as I have the combined unit fitted.

I don’t pretend to understand any of it!

I have built two motorhomes from scratch but modern electronics have me foxed!

I will be fitting a lithium battery next but I would like to see the system working with a banner battery first!

 

[Pausim]

Without a B2B or booster the higher voltage leisure battery will drain itself into the engine battery via the split charge relay because the smart alternator will not think it is needed. I first discovered I had this problem in 2015 on a Mercedes motorhome with a smart alternator. Until 2019 Fiat were turning their smart alternators off for motorhome constructors because of this issue. How on earth did Bailey not know about this before 2021, are they on a different planet?