Electrical advice

Drifter

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we went to see a lovely swift bolero today and the old fella had it stored in a barn on his mates farm in a nearby town.
The van doesn’t get used much but he goes down occasionally to check on it and give it a wee run.
We have talked to them a few times and on meeting them they were a lovely old couple selling up due to ill health and their description of it was spot on
When he went to open it, nothing. Turns out the battery was flat as a pancake, which later started fine with a boost
The confusing thing for me is, the leisure batteries were flat too, wouldn’t even power internal lights
So my question is, what would cause this, he assumes he left something switched on at last check but what would kill engine and leisure batteries, both seem fine after a charge.
What should I be looking at next? Apart from this the van is just what we want and they seem genuinely honest and upset to be wasting our time so I don’t want to walk away just yet as nice tidy low mile vans are quite rare around me
 
Probably best to allow for 3 replacement batteries as they never properly recover from dead flat.
Once in more regular use you may find that there isn’t a fault, just lack of use, good luck with your purchase.
 
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If its been left parked up in a barn without power and of course without solar even if it has it fitted then left long enough it would all go flat, budget for new batteries if you like the van and then don't worry about it too much would be my advice.

Martin
 
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Batteries are nothing - regularly replaced items.

What is VERY important, is it bone dry ?
 
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Probably best to allow for 3 replacement batteries as they never properly recover from dead flat.
Once in more regular use you may find that there isn’t a fault, just lack of use, good luck with your purchase.
Thanks for the reply and best wishes, I agree about new batteries but was worrying what could cause it to happen. As I said he was very surprised as he goes along regular and his farmer pal trickle charges it when he remembers and feels the need. I’m puzzled what can drain all batteries. If he left van lights on that wouldn’t affect the leisure ones would It? And likewise if he left control panel on that wouldn’t drain engine battery....... or am I wrong and they feed off each other?

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The Fiat base vehicle will use 12v electric just sitting there doing nothing. The ECU is always powered for things like central locking and clock. Battery will be flat in a few weeks. Habitation battery will loose power just not being used. You will certainly need two new batteries. I would also think you may need tires as well if it’s not been used and stood in one place. The Bolero we had was never much good. If you are into DIY then carry a set of tools with you as always something falling off or breaking. You will find that the nice wood panels inside are a thin type ply with a wood like wallpaper. As for low mileage in some ways you are better with one that’s been used. As above you have no way of telling if it leaks as it’s inside.
 
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Thanks for the reply and best wishes, I agree about new batteries but was worrying what could cause it to happen. As I said he was very surprised as he goes along regular and his farmer pal trickle charges it when he remembers and feels the need. I’m puzzled what can drain all batteries. If he left van lights on that wouldn’t affect the leisure ones would It? And likewise if he left control panel on that wouldn’t drain engine battery....... or am I wrong and they feed off each other?
The starter battery could be connected to the leisure batteries via a battery master which would eventually flatten everything, my money would be on his farmer friend forgetting(y)

As Brian @hilldweller suggest there are possibly more important things to worry about.

Martin
 
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Not only have the batteries failed, I suspect his memory of when it was last started and taken for a 20 or 30 miles run to fully charge the engine battery has also failed.
A short run won't charge the hab battery and as they were all completely flat they all need replacing.
 
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Sorry for delay in reply, I never realised I had to pay to be a part of you expensive lot haha
Thanks for all the replies, have been sharing your wisdom with the Mrs and we agree you guys are worth every penny
I’ve never seen anywhere mention the Bolero being made of cardboard, is this a common opinion or a one off?
I seen a nice van for sale in classifieds but true to form it couldn’t possibly be farther away from us but any and all input is very much appreciated
 
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I do recommend you crawl all.over as many MH as you can manage to really decide on what you need, what you like, and what you could live with and put right later.
 
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I do recommend you crawl all.over as many MH as you can manage to really decide on what you need, what you like, and what you could live with and put right later.
Thanks for the good advice, have been looking around dealers, took an auto transmission out today and took the bolero out today, it’s kind of exactly what we want layout wise, drives like a dream compared to others we have tried and the gut feeling when meeting people is good, but I’m still not rushing in, just wish there were more around me to check out. I still have a couple I’m chatting with now to get a feel if worth going to see. We are just back from Sorrento so no great rush to have more holidays and no rush to buy a shed (y)
 
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We are just back from Sorrento so no great rush to have more holidays and no rush to buy a shed (y)

There's a great campsite almost in the middle of the lovely Sorrento.

Swift have made some bad designs and had quality control problems in the past resulting in floors rotting away due to water ingress. What year is this Bolero ?

But, for that matter, every make of van can and has suffered water damage.
 
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There's a great campsite almost in the middle of the lovely Sorrento.

Swift have made some bad designs and had quality control problems in the past resulting in floors rotting away due to water ingress. What year is this Bolero ?

But, for that matter, every make of van can and has suffered water damage.
We seen it on the way in, and it is indeed very lovely there, not sure I’d like a MH in among the chaos. We took a scooter down the amalfi coast and that is definitely the best way to see it on land
It’s a 2012 and never seen a spot of damp or any other issue but like I say it is kept in a barn so you would assume that would be the case, it’s not been out much tho with only a few thousand miles in as many years

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We took a scooter down the amalfi coast and that is definitely the best way to see it on land

Without doubt. We did it in hired Corsa. I believe MHs are banned most of the time. But that campsite is within easy walking of all of Sorrento, so great.

It’s a 2012 and never seen a spot of damp or any other issue s

We have a 2011 Sundance. I think floor problem was solved before ours was built, anyway our floor is perfect. The problem with early ones was with the joint of the skirt, at floor level, letting water from outside into the edge of the floor.

We've had ours 15 months, it's already been to Spain/Portugal and Italy. We cannot fault the driving and design.
 
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You will find good and bad reports with every type of motorhome, if it feels right and the only issue with it is flat batteries then go for it, otherwise you will drive yourself mad pondering on it.

You only live once.
 
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You will find good and bad reports with every type of motorhome, if it feels right and the only issue with it is flat batteries then go for it, otherwise you will drive yourself mad pondering on it.

You only live once.
Cheers for that, you’re right about mixed reports. We will go back for another look and try and decide, but the feel from them is absolutely right so it’s tempting but we won’t be rushed if something doesn’t feel good.
 
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We've got a 2007 Bolero 680FB, so it's one of the earliest. We're absolutely delighted with it, so much that even though we've had it for 10 years (and 105,000 miles) we have no thoughts of changing it for anything else. We've been all over Europe and Morocco too.

Yes, when you look deeply the build quality could have been a lot better (and no, it's not made of cardboard!) but despite that it's surviving quite well - although I honestly don't think it's any worse than other makes in the same price range. As for damp, it was never a problem on the Bolero like the Sundance etc., different floor construction.

Batteries? Yep, they'll be as good as dead so plan on replacing real soon. The only way to keep batteries alive is to keep them fully charged and unless you're hooked up or driving at least an hour every two weeks they'll die. Actually a "quick run around" is worse as you won't even replace the energy needed to start it!
 
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Hi Drifter, There's loads of crap out their about every motorhome manufacture in Europe, for the most part you only hear of the bad stuff reported.
Every company manufactures to a price point, Swift are no different and at the price point they manufacture compared with say Hymer represent value for money (I would like to emphasise though that in my opinion almost all manufacturers screw the buyer because they can).
Its true that light weight materials are used as in the previous example of wallpapered/ imitation wood veneer panels/ cupboards etc but this as well as cost is due to payload restrictions.
I could now go "on one" and rant about the industry as a whole that do nothing about sencible pay loads/lobbying for a sensible chassis for leisure vehicles etc.
Anyway I digress, I have a 2013 Swift Bolero 712 sb, Its not perfect but I have owned it for almost five years, out of that five i've spent four years (between 3 and 4 month stints in Spain)
It has served me well and treated with respect the light weight construction should serve you well, the only major issues I have had seem to be because other people did not do their jobs well.

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We've got a 2007 Bolero 680FB, so it's one of the earliest. We're absolutely delighted with it, so much that even though we've had it for 10 years (and 105,000 miles) we have no thoughts of changing it for anything else. We've been all over Europe and Morocco too.

Yes, when you look deeply the build quality could have been a lot better (and no, it's not made of cardboard!) but despite that it's surviving quite well - although I honestly don't think it's any worse than other makes in the same price range. As for damp, it was never a problem on the Bolero like the Sundance etc., different floor construction.

Batteries? Yep, they'll be as good as dead so plan on replacing real soon. The only way to keep batteries alive is to keep them fully charged and unless you're hooked up or driving at least an hour every two weeks they'll die. Actually a "quick run around" is worse as you won't even replace the energy needed to start it!
Thanks for that, quite reassuring to hear some positive words. We went to see it again today and it’s a nice van but thanks to good advice on here we checked the tyres due to lack of use and they look shot at the sidewalls so we will find out what the MOT says about them. If they don’t get changed we won’t even consider buying it.
The batteries will be the next item needing discussed but we have come to the decision to absolutely not rush in, we have the caravan for now and maybe more will come available coming into winter but we are still searching for the right motor with an open mind
 
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Hi Drifter, There's loads of crap out their about every motorhome manufacture in Europe, for the most part you only hear of the bad stuff reported.
Every company manufactures to a price point, Swift are no different and at the price point they manufacture compared with say Hymer represent value for money (I would like to emphasise though that in my opinion almost all manufacturers screw the buyer because they can).
Its true that light weight materials are used as in the previous example of wallpapered/ imitation wood veneer panels/ cupboards etc but this as well as cost is due to payload restrictions.
I could now go "on one" and rant about the industry as a whole that do nothing about sencible pay loads/lobbying for a sensible chassis for leisure vehicles etc.
Anyway I digress, I have a 2013 Swift Bolero 712 sb, Its not perfect but I have owned it for almost five years, out of that five i've spent four years (between 3 and 4 month stints in Spain)
It has served me well and treated with respect the light weight construction should serve you well, the only major issues I have had seem to be because other people did not do their jobs well.
Agreed about the market being loaded against the consumer but it is what it is, nice to hear you have enjoyed and continue to enjoy your MH, whatever we get, it will be loved, used and enjoyed
 
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Thanks for that, quite reassuring to hear some positive words. We went to see it again today and it’s a nice van but thanks to good advice on here we checked the tyres due to lack of use and they look shot at the sidewalls so we will find out what the MOT says about them. If they don’t get changed we won’t even consider buying it.
The batteries will be the next item needing discussed but we have come to the decision to absolutely not rush in, we have the caravan for now and maybe more will come available coming into winter but we are still searching for the right motor with an open mind

Tyres are another item that deteriorate quickly if the van is unused. No matter what the MoT says if they look shot they are - need changing. Budget £400-500 for complete set including spare.
 
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Tyres are another item that deteriorate quickly if the van is unused. No matter what the MoT says if they look shot they are - need changing. Budget £400-500 for complete set including spare.
Funny, we have just been talking to him about them and told him unless they are changed we don’t want it, he’s not happy so waiting to hear back. Have made an offer on the condition he does a fresh MOT and new tyres so we may or may not be the new owners very soon
Cheers
 
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Was going to say just get £500 off his price and you can then choose your own tyres - odds on he'll only put cheapos on to pass MoT. But if it won't pass an MoT because of tyres.........

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Was going to say just get £500 off his price and you can then choose your own tyres - odds on he'll only put cheapos on to pass MoT. But if it won't pass an MoT because of tyres.........
Sadly we tried to negotiate and he wasn’t very happy but we made a bid just shy of his price to cover half the cost of batteries and a service. Said he would call back but no word so the search goes on. Seems silly to miss a sale over a couple of hundred but his choice. If the deal isn’t right we are not going to jump in.
Going to dig the caravan out meantime and keep an eye out but we may end up waiting to see if there are any bargains coming into winter. Do prices tend to drop when season ends?
 
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