Replacing Leisure Battery in Hymer C 544

[Fredastra]

Hi All

Absolute newbie here. Just bought a 1998 Hymer C544. It seems that the the leisure battery has had it. Do I need to disconnect anything before replacing the battery ? I am OK with basic electrics/electronics (not in vehicles), so know I will have to insulate cables to avoid shorts etc. The controller is an EBL104-3

Any help or advice gratefully received.

 

[SIFTA SAM]

Will 'get back' to you shortly

 

[SIFTA SAM]

Hi All

Absolute newbie here. Just bought a 1998 Hymer C544. It seems that the the leisure battery has had it. Do I need to disconnect anything before replacing the battery ? I am OK with basic electrics/electronics (not in vehicles), so know I will have to insulate cables to avoid shorts etc. The controller is an EBL104-3

Any help or advice gratefully received.

My leisure battery was situated under the passenger seat, however, apart from switching off all the 12v dependent items, I switched off the 12v on the Control Panel (DT 200) as well as the main switch on the EBL. No EHU was connected. Advise that any Solar Panel input to Solar Controller is disconnected.
After new battery was fitted, I first switched on the EBL, then the Control Panel, then checked that all the electrics were working as normal before refitting the seat.

 

[Fredastra]

Thanks Sam

I did all you suggested and I also pulled the 30 & 2 amp fuses adjacent to the battery under the passenger seat. Job done now all sorted. I did however just avert a major disaster....the wires to the existing battery are coloured Brown and Black. where I come from black is ALWAYS negative (ground) and Red or Brown as Positive. No these where wired Back as Positive and brown as Negative ???. I had wired both to the battery (but not replaced the fuses) and I only got suspicious when I had to struggle to fit the negative to the larger positive terminal. Thank god for the guy (gal?) who decided to make the Positive terminals on batteries thicker. Whew !!

Does anybody know is this the way they do (did) things in Germany ? or am I missing something ?

 

[gus-lopez]

es anybody know is this the way they do (did) things in Germany ? ?

I believe so.

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[Lenny HB]

Does anybody know is this the way they do (did) things in Germany ? or am I missing something ?

Yep, standard think of it as brown = earth makes sense then. Also most of the wiring in the van blue is positive.

 

[Fredastra]

Thanks for that Lenny. Learned something new yet again.

 

[SIFTA SAM]

Thanks Sam

I did all you suggested and I also pulled the 30 & 2 amp fuses adjacent to the battery under the passenger seat. Job done now all sorted. I did however just avert a major disaster....the wires to the existing battery are coloured Brown and Black. where I come from black is ALWAYS negative (ground) and Red or Brown as Positive. No these where wired Back as Positive and brown as Negative ???. I had wired both to the battery (but not replaced the fuses) and I only got suspicious when I had to struggle to fit the negative to the larger positive terminal. Thank god for the guy (gal?) who decided to make the Positive terminals on batteries thicker. Whew !!

Does anybody know is this the way they do (did) things in Germany ? or am I missing something ?

Glad you got things sorted, and I should have remembered to warn you about the Hymer (German) colour coding.
Are you aware that there was a 'modification' that was recommended on the C544 Type cabs?
It was to stop rain water that ran down the windscreen from entering the engine compartment.
The problem has been discussed some time ago on this forum and may be worth you using the 'Search' box. (top right) for 'Scuttle Leaks', unless your van has the mod?

 

[autorouter]

I think brown = negative is a German vehicle colour code. Once in my Hymer in France I bought a replacement water pump (Italian) when the original failed. It had a brown/blue 2-core wire. I had to wire brown to blue and blue to brown

In the US, black is live and white is neutral.

 

[tkk]

Hi,
Related to this in ways, my Frankia leisure battery has single blue 16mm single on positive terminal and two wires,one black and one brown both 25mm on the neg terminal. Is this a usual arrangement (unlike car layout which has two wires to + terminal.) Fortunately the clamps have polarity markings so I think its as its supposed to be.What’s the role of the black wire on Neg terminal? Sorry if its obvious but I hate guessing,
Ta
Tk