Fiat Ducato Dead Battery

Gordy00

Gordy00

Free Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2020
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Chausson 510 - on a
Exp
2017
Hi All,

Looking for some advice, tried to start up our Chausson 510 which has a Fiat Ducato base and it looks like the battery is dead.

We have a Toyota Granvia, and I bought this piece of kit from Amazon.

Amazon product ASIN B07DL2FBV9
It jump started the Granvia with no problems - the instruction book is not user friendly for the Ducato, it seems to say there is some sort of battery monitor on it, can I use the jumpstarter to start it - I dont want to fry anything.

It's a 65 plate

Any help greatly appreciated.

cheers

Gordon
 
<Broken link removed>

You can see the spec on amazon.com
 
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I don't see any reason not to, it's no different than fitting a new battery.

If the battery has been left discharged for few weeks it may be damaged and while it may show fully charged after recharging it won't have accepted a proper capacity charge and fail very soon.
 
There is usually a jump post under the bonnet to make life easier.

As its totally dead you may struggle a bit with the smaller packs as the battery is going to be trying to nick a lot of the power. Worth a try first though.

Can you not put it on hookup for a few hrs to put a bit of charge in first. Will soften the demand on the alternator as well.

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Thanks everyone, have had it on a trickle charge since half 9 this morning - will try and turn her over around 5
 
Result.. Always safest option if you have time to put some charge in first rather than jump start.

Some of the modern smart charge alternators can cause problems when you jump start a dead battery. On certain ford's we've had to replace abs and airbag ecus when the alty whacks out 18v to recovery the battery. Not very smart after all.
 
Just some more advice,
How old is the "starter" battery ? If it is the original
may be showing its age and due for a new one, (Yuasa have a good name)
OR if the battery is the "wet"type have you checked the electrolyte level,
I have known motor'homers neglect "wet" batteries and ruined
them by letting them get bone dry

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Had this problem last year after about 2 month lay off. Got battery tested as not sure of age. Told battery fine so charged and used all year no problem. Tried it again after this 2 month lay up and same problem. Possibly a drain from something small being left on or more likely alarm or other security device. Have fitted solar panel which keeps leisure batteries charged so can use the inbuilt relay to boost starter battery. If you don't have this facility or can't use mains optimizer wire small solar panel to keep van battery topped up.
 
rick brind said:
Had this problem last year after about 2 month lay off. Got battery tested as not sure of age. Told battery fine so charged and used all year no problem. Tried it again after this 2 month lay up and same problem. Possibly a drain from something small being left on or more likely alarm or other security device. Have fitted solar panel which keeps leisure batteries charged so can use the inbuilt relay to boost starter battery. If you don't have this facility or can't use mains optimizer wire small solar panel to keep van battery topped up.
Click to expand...
I have solar and in summer it’s great. Batteries are always topped up. There is always something I find draining them when not in use it believe it helps cycle the batteries so don’t stress over it. In Winter though I leave the van plugged in on a timer and it gets a 2 hours charge 3 times a week.
 
Our last van was a 2012 Chausson on a Ducato base. We'd only had it a few weeks from new and came to start it and the battery was flat! The AA mechanic who came out to jump start it said this was a regular occurrence due to a constant small drain by the electronics (alarm, radio memory, immobiliser etc). We solved it by installing a power supply outside the house and keeping the EHU connected. We changed the van last year and the battery was still going strong. Oh and the positive terminal for the battery is under a lift up cover in the engine bay. The negative lead from the power pack is just clipped to a handy metal point. Hope this helps.
 
We had exactly the same the day before leaving to catch the ferry from Portsmouth and the AA man said the same. In the winter if you don't use your van regularly solar may not be enough to keep the battery charged.
 
After several batteries and breakdown faults I checked the earth strap under the the carpet in the front of the cab it looks perfectly fine but took it out and cleaned it out it was slightly loose no more battery problems battery I took off put it in my shed and after several months decided to dump it check it before I did and it was perfectly ok

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Like the idea of charging it on a timer so many times a week rather than leaving it on EHU full time. Batteries don't like being sat doing nothing.
 
rick brind said:
Had this problem last year after about 2 month lay off. Got battery tested as not sure of age. Told battery fine so charged and used all year no problem. Tried it again after this 2 month lay up and same problem. Possibly a drain from something small being left on or more likely alarm or other security device. Have fitted solar panel which keeps leisure batteries charged so can use the inbuilt relay to boost starter battery. If you don't have this facility or can't use mains optimizer wire small solar panel to keep van battery topped up.
Click to expand...
We use a battery master which keeps both vehicle and leisure batteries topped up. Found that removing the front of our radio for some reason, minimised the drain, keeps the alarm going ok too.
 
If using one of those booster packs to start, it must go directly onto the battery. They are designed to give very high amperage for 30secs, enough to start the vehicle. Charging posts under the bonnet are not meant to take that amount of power, and will restrict the short sharp burst of amperage, probably to the point of being useless for starting a flat battery vehicle.
 
Gordy00 said:
Hi All,

Looking for some advice, tried to start up our Chausson 510 which has a Fiat Ducato base and it looks like the battery is dead.

We have a Toyota Granvia, and I bought this piece of kit from Amazon.

Amazon product ASIN B07DL2FBV9
It jump started the Granvia with no problems - the instruction book is not user friendly for the Ducato, it seems to say there is some sort of battery monitor on it, can I use the jumpstarter to start it - I dont want to fry anything.

It's a 65 plate

Any help greatly appreciated.

cheers

Gordon
Click to expand...
ive had the same problem. The best solution for me was to swap my solar controller for a dual battery controller and wire it to the engine battery. Ive set it to 70% leisure and 30% to the engine batt. I now have a long term fix as the engine battery is always topped up.
 
I had trouble with a new battery going flat in 2 weeks the dealer said that it was the radio speakers. I thought it was strange if it was the speakers why did he not say that he needed to change them? And why when the radio was swapped for a secondhand one the problem was solved. From now on I have to pay, as my warranty has expired. So need to find a trustworthy local sparky to do my repairs

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TR5 said:
If using one of those booster packs to start, it must go directly onto the battery. They are designed to give very high amperage for 30secs, enough to start the vehicle. Charging posts under the bonnet are not meant to take that amount of power, and will restrict the short sharp burst of amperage, probably to the point of being useless for starting a flat battery vehicle.
Click to expand...
I don't see that, the posts under the bonnet are for jump starting, the starter motor will only draw the current it needs the battery source is irrelevant. Also the posts are closer to the starter motor than the main battery therefore less voltage drop.
 
I have an Autotrail Chieftan and have suffered flat battery problems.
I purchased from Lidl one of their small opti chargers. These are about £15 Aldi do them too. This type of charger can be left on all the time as they are whats called an intelligent charger ie when there is sufficient charge they knock off but come back on if needed. They have 2 charge settings, 0.8 and 3.8 amps. I leave mine on 0.8 and this is sufficient to keep vehicle and leisure batteries all at an acceptable level. it does state they are suitable for 110amp batteries. On my vehicle I have fitted a split charge relay (search on ebay )
eBay item number:
201794321408
This gives the leisure side a much better charge when the engine is running but it also distributes charge better when stood. in other words, connect the portable charger to the vehicle battery, when that has enough charge then the split charge relay automatically puts charge through to leisure.
So you know, on my van I have 2 vehicle batteries and 4 leisure. My solar panel is a 260 watt but is next to useless in winter due to no or weak sun. The type of charger I speak of copes admirably with my requirements. Aside my van is fitted as standard with a Sargent power control unit which has an inbuilt charger but that is capable of charging at 20amps so I don't leave the charge on that as it is too high plus you would ideally need to leave the cupboard door open to give ventilation as is does get warm.
 
woolsykejosh said:
On my vehicle I have fitted a split charge relay (search on ebay )
eBay item number:
201794321408
This gives the leisure side a much better charge when the engine is running but it also distributes charge better when stood. in other words, connect the portable charger to the vehicle battery, when that has enough charge then the split charge relay automatically puts charge through to leisure.
Click to expand...
This item is a 'voltage sensitive relay' not a standard split charge relay. The Ebay title 'Equiv Split Charge Relay' is misleading in that respect.

Voltage sensitive relays (VSR) have their uses, and obviously in your situation they work for you. But others may not be so lucky. They have problems with dual solar controllers when there is plenty of sunshine. An alternative while the motorhome is parked up unused is simply to use two of your Opti chargers, one for starter battery and one for leisure batteries.
 
Autorouter: I agree entirely with what you are saying. with the VSR you only need one opti. the reason I put the VSR on was I observed the charging of the leisure side with the engine running and it was slow! now I can run the engine whilst parked up for about 10 mins and it will give the leaisure side a good boost. I might ad at this stage, I do not run my solar panel through the Sargent unit as they are only designed for 100 watts. I bought an MPPT controller. A good place for solar items and panels is Bimble Solar, google them. Miles cheaper than going through the Leisure industry!
 
Reading this thread with interest. My Globecar is parked on driveway with only Vanbitz alarm and tracker running. At the moment, because I’m worried about a flat battery and causing alarm to go off, I’m keeping the van plugged in.
Someone above said they put their van on a timer.
My question is, is it good practise to leave van on charge permanently or a timer, if the latter, how much?
Thank you

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woolsykejosh said:
the reason I put the VSR on was I observed the charging of the leisure side with the engine running and it was slow! now I can run the engine whilst parked up for about 10 mins and it will give the leaisure side a good boost.
Click to expand...
The connection inside a VSR is simply a relay contact, there is no electronic boost like there is in a B2B. If you're getting better charging, it's maybe because the old relay contacts were degraded and causing a slight resistive drop. Or maybe you put new wires in, instead of using the existing split charge relay wiring.
 
Slimalex said:
Reading this thread with interest. My Globecar is parked on driveway with only Vanbitz alarm and tracker running. At the moment, because I’m worried about a flat battery and causing alarm to go off, I’m keeping the van plugged in.
Someone above said they put their van on a timer.
My question is, is it good practise to leave van on charge permanently or a timer, if the latter, how much?
Thank you
Click to expand...
All the time we are at home the motorhome is plugged in on our drive. The Electrobloc we have in the Hymer is intelligent and knows when to charge and at what rate. Also keeps can battery topped up. Never had any problems with it.
 
Thank you. That would seem to make sense. When I look on the tablet remotely, the vehicle battery fluctuates so the charging rate must go up and down. That didn't occur to me, the charger is surely more intelligent than me!
 
Slimalex said:
Thank you. That would seem to make sense. When I look on the tablet remotely, the vehicle battery fluctuates so the charging rate must go up and down. That didn't occur to me, the charger is surely more intelligent than me!
Click to expand...
Just a warning. Some chargers are more "intelligent" than others, just like people.

I often find my smartphone is smarter than me......... :giggle:
 
bobski said:
ive had the same problem. The best solution for me was to swap my solar controller for a dual battery controller and wire it to the engine battery. Ive set it to 70% leisure and 30% to the engine batt. I now have a long term fix as the engine battery is always topped up.
Click to expand...
That’s how mine works. Keeps them both topped. Use same % as well.

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