Battery drain (1 Viewer)

[Sean FSY]

Basically, when we bought our Autotrail Arapaho 3 months ago it had 3 new batterys installed, 2x new leisure batterys and 1x Cab battery. We are having trouble with the cab battery. The leisures are fine they are showing maximum 13+ volts(solar panel on roof) but the cab battery is only lasting about 4/5 days. But on the sargent display it's reading 12v good. When you go to start it, it just labours very heavy and dies. Had an auto electrician come and look at it and he says he thinks the body control unit is faulty, it's draining the battery. I've tried searching and there seems to be a lot of issues with the fiat electrical systems. Any advice would be great, whether regards getting a new unit or even a 2nd hand part. The van is the 3.0 multijet 160. Thanks.

 

[pappajohn]

Just as a test..... Connect a decent jump lead FROM a clean point on the engine to the battery NEG post then try starting.
That will show if there's an engine/body earthing problem.
12v isn't a good voltage but should be enough to spin the engine fast enough.

 

[Blue Knight]

Sean,

I wonder if this could be the problem.

https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/autotrail-sargent-battery-problem.127101/

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[franknjan]

We have the same van (2010) using an EC325 charger. We to have issues.
I like to listen to the radio during the day which drains the vehicle battery. Although the system should automatically charge the vehicle battery, for some reason it doesn't.
I monitor the vehicle battery voltage via the control panel, when the voltage drops I select the vehicle battery option on the controller. The charger then boosts that battery. Remember to switch back to leisure otherwise all your power will come from the vehicle battery.
Hope this makes sense.

 

[Sean FSY]

Looks like there's plenty of options to investigate here. Thanks a lot.

 

[autorouter]

There's a few solutions to this problem.

1. Get a small smart charger, like a CTEK MSX5.0, and connect it permanently to the cab battery, and leave it plugged into the mains of the MH. Whenever you are on EHU it will keep the cab battery topped up. There's enough power for it to keep up when the radio is on. No need to use the switch on the controller then.

2. Connect the radio power wire to the leisure battery. The radio permanent live can stay connected to the cab battery, it doesn't take much power. Can be a problem if it's one of those motorhomes where the power to the leisure circuits is cut when you start the engine.

3. Connect a switch to connect the radio power wire to either the cab or leisure battery. Or even use a relay to switch automatically when you start the engine.

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[rosalan]

Does the seller not have any responsibility if it is only three months since you purchased it?
There is always the possibility that the cab battery actually has a fault, so worth having it tested under load.
If others are experiencing similar problems, perhaps get the Sargent checked out as your electrician indicated..
I doubt very much that there are many faults with the Fiat system, as they are a tried and tested system with many tens of thousand working as they should.
Sargent repairs are a fixed price so could be cheaper than hiring additional Auto Electrical repairers at around £80+.
https://sargentltd.co.uk/shop/repairs

 

[WESTY66]

Is the starter on the way out??? I had a lazy starter on a tranny yrs ago, starters turning over slowly and eventually packed up!! Just a thought.

 

[TheBig1]

with parasitic drains on the battery of most fiats, its not uncommon for a cab battery being drained in under a week

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