Seat removal and battery advice required. (1 Viewer)

[lorger]

I have been meaning to fit a second battery for a while and just never got round to it, today I decided I would have a look at the current battery and the space under the drivers seat in a 2016 Fiat Ducato.

The current battery was 1 year old in January and has always been kept charged, couple of questions regarding the battery. Should I change it and go for 2 new ones or will this one be ok, the ampage is a bit confusing as it says 95 and 85 I'm assuming it's 85 see photo.

I thought I'd take the drivers seat off today to have a good look and make sure another battery would fit, an easy job I thought not so. I have removed all the screw/bolts from the seat base/turn plate, the problem is it seems to be welded which you will see in the photo below. If it is welded I assume you must be able to slide the battery out some how you can't get it out the back or the front that I can see so I assume it's the side.

 

[ambulancekidd]

I could be wrong, but I think the two amperage markings on the battery relate to temperature. As for removing the seat I don't know, ours is an older vehicle & the seat runs forward just far enough to slip the battery out of the back & up the way.

 

[Treeeev]

@lorger

There are nuts under those welded bolts, undo both of those (one each side approx. 5" from front), and have you unbolted the stop for the swivel plate?

Cheers

Trevor

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

 

[Infinity31]

It's the Amp hour rating so you can compare batteries, it's calculated by adding a specific size load to a battery to make it completely dead in a 3, 5, 8, 10, 20 or 100 hour period.

C20 is the standard one so it's a 95Ah battery. Both batteries should ideally be the same condition so it's recommended that you put 2 new ones in. Your choice.

No experience of the Fiat seats but doubt it's welded permanently.

 

[andy63]

hi, I think you will be ok adding another similar battery to the existing one which as you say is only a year old and has been looked after..
the two different ah capacities just relate to the capacity of the battery at different discharge rates...
the first at the 20 hour rate which results in a higher amp hr capacity (i.e. 95 ) than at a 5 hour rate (i.e. 85 )

the battery will last 20 hrs been discharged at 4.75 amps. i.e. 95 devided by 20
it will last 5 hours been discharged at 17 amps. i.e. 85 devided by 5

 

[Neckender]

I have done the same the battery is 95 ah and the cheapest I got was from Germany £210.
The seat is not welded down below the welds there is a nut 13 mm I seem to remember, also from the rear of the seat frame on the left side there is a very thin hexagon pin which you need a thin spanner to slacken it off and I managed to get my fingers in and undo it whilst taking the weight of the seat with my other hand, also some wiring plugs that I disconnected to remove the seat.

John.

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

 

[Neckender]

Just noticed your picture you also need to take the lower plastic covers off the seat frame.
John.

 

[DL42846]

You don't mention what your current set up is or how heavy you are on battery power.
Do you wild camp most of the time or on EHU
Do you have a solar panel?
Does your current battery provide sufficient power or do you find yourself running out.

They say if your going to run on a two battery set up its best to have new batteries as if you just add a new battery to your existing one the old one will pull the new battery down.
I recently changed my habitation battery. I have a solar panel and my old 110 AMP battery provided sufficient power. Only once did it let me down. That was on a trip to Cologne in the dead of winter where we were parked up for three days whilst attending an exhibition. The sky was overcast and the solar panel couldn't recharge the battery on the last day. Which resulted in the heating system packing up. I had lights although they were a bit dim. As soon as the sun came out the solar panel produced enough power to keep us going.
I have since changed the battery to a GEL battery.
The reason I went GEL was, a normal acid battery discharges down to between 60% to 50% depending on the quality of the battery. A GEL battery discharges down to 20%.
Acid batteries have a working cycle of approx 200 times.Gel has 1500
Acid batteries are guaranteed normally for two years. My GEL is guaranteed for 6 years.
GEL batteries are more expensive, and in my case I had to change both the on board charger and the solar controller as they were not able to handle a GEL charge.
I would imagine on a newer MH the charger and Solar controllers have the settings for GEL batteries.
Also a dual battery set up means carrying more weight.
Hope I haven't come across as a smart a----s but hope the above might give you some food for thought. I had to do a bit of research. I tried the GEL on a suck it and see basis. I have only had it for a few months. So far I am well pleased but time will tell.

This is the one I went for: http://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/12v-110ah-leoch-powabloc-tubular-gel-battery/

 

[lorger]

You don't mention what your current set up is or how heavy you are on battery power.
Do you wild camp most of the time or on EHU
Do you have a solar panel?
Does your current battery provide sufficient power or do you find yourself running out.

They say if your going to run on a two battery set up its best to have new batteries as if you just add a new battery to your existing one the old one will pull the new battery down.
I recently changed my habitation battery. I have a solar panel and my old 110 AMP battery provided sufficient power. Only once did it let me down. That was on a trip to Cologne in the dead of winter where we were parked up for three days whilst attending an exhibition. The sky was overcast and the solar panel couldn't recharge the battery on the last day. Which resulted in the heating system packing up. I had lights although they were a bit dim. As soon as the sun came out the solar panel produced enough power to keep us going.
I have since changed the battery to a GEL battery.
The reason I went GEL was, a normal acid battery discharges down to between 60% to 50% depending on the quality of the battery. A GEL battery discharges down to 20%.
Acid batteries have a working cycle of approx 200 times.Gel has 1500
Acid batteries are guaranteed normally for two years. My GEL is guaranteed for 6 years.
GEL batteries are more expensive, and in my case I had to change both the on board charger and the solar controller as they were not able to handle a GEL charge.
I would imagine on a newer MH the charger and Solar controllers have the settings for GEL batteries.
Also a dual battery set up means carrying more weight.
Hope I haven't come across as a smart a----s but hope the above might give you some food for thought. I had to do a bit of research. I tried the GEL on a suck it and see basis. I have only had it for a few months. So far I am well pleased but time will tell.

Thanks for the reply, I only have the one battery that's why I'm adding a second . My current one is the one in the photo it's a 95ah Vatra dual purpose gel battery, we have a solar panel fitted and we have never been short on power even when wildcamping in the winter as we don't often run the heating overnight.
I will be going for an identical battery, I just have to think do I add one to the current one in the hope it's ok and won't drag the new one down. I certainly won't be throwing away a perfectly good battery to buy 2 new ones so my only other option is wait another year or two until this one is knackered and buy 2.

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

 

[DL42846]

Thanks for the reply, I only have the one battery that's why I'm adding a second . My current one is the one in the photo it's a 95ah Vatra dual purpose gel battery, we have a solar panel fitted and we have never been short on power even when wildcamping in the winter as we don't often run the heating overnight.
I will be going for an identical battery, I just have to think do I add one to the current one in the hope it's ok and won't drag the new one down. I certainly won't be throwing away a perfectly good battery to buy 2 new ones so my only other option is wait another year or two until this one is knackered and buy 2.

I would hope your GEL battery would last more than a couple more years. I think if I was in your position and running on the one battery works for you I would stick to just the one. I think something else which you might need to take into consideration is will the solar panel cope with charging two GEL batteries. I read that GEL batteries take longer to charge up and if the solar panel isn't powerful enough you could have a situation where the two batteries never get fully charged. I'm working from memory here so someone might need to come on and correct me if I'm wrong. I think I recall that an acid battery usually charges in a couple of hours whereas a GEL takes about six hours. Six hours x two batteries. Does the UK have that much sunshine. I think I would call somewhere like the link I posted earlier and have a word with them. I found then most helpful. You will need to have the details of your solar panel.
Hope that might be of some help.

 

[Dazzlin]

I added a second Leoch AGM to an existing, 9 month old, same make battery nearly 4 years ago. Kept fully charged by solar with an AGM setting on the solar reg.

Not heavy users but it means we do not worry about power.

 

[funflair]

Thanks for the reply, I only have the one battery that's why I'm adding a second . My current one is the one in the photo it's a 95ah Vatra dual purpose gel battery, we have a solar panel fitted and we have never been short on power even when wildcamping in the winter as we don't often run the heating overnight.
I will be going for an identical battery, I just have to think do I add one to the current one in the hope it's ok and won't drag the new one down. I certainly won't be throwing away a perfectly good battery to buy 2 new ones so my only other option is wait another year or two until this one is knackered and buy 2.

I think you will find that the Varta LA 95 in your photo is a AGM not GEL battery, to answer your question, 1 year old! just stick another one the same on.

Martin

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

 

[lorger]

I think you will find that the Varta LA 95 in your photo is a AGM not GEL battery, to answer your question, 1 year old! just stick another one the same on.

Martin

Cheers Martin, I did read the label but by the time I got in the house I changed it

 

[lorger]

Thanks for the advice and tips guys managed to remove the seat tonight with a grinder saved a lot of time