Charging a Fiat Ducato vehicle battery…?

[Lenny333]

Hi All,

We’ve a Series 8 Ducato and our solar panels trickle charge the vehicle battery but as there’s no sun around at the moment, it’s not getting any charge.

I’ve been monitoring the charge and it’s starting to get low due to the Vanbitz alarm and tracker being on.

I’ve looked in the manual and it points me to the jump start points under the bonnet or to the terminals on the actual battery under the passenger seat floor in the cab but doesn’t specifically mention charging (that I could see).

So, How do I go about charging it with a mains battery charger?

Do I need to disconnect everything from the vehicle battery before charging or can I just clip the charger on to the terminals without touching anything else?

I know I can just take it from a drive for an hour or two but would like to know how easy it is to charge on our driveway and then may consider getting a Battery Master if it’s not easy!

Thanks for your help…

 

[yorkiebar]

Can't you hookup the EHU cable (using a 13A plug to EHU adapter if necessary) ?

 

[berni109]

I think the consensus on here is to use the jump start points.
It's a faff to get the carpet and cover up in the van

 

[Lenny333]

Can't you hookup the EHU cable (using a 13A plug to EHU adapter if necessary) ?

Yep, I can do that but I’m not sure if that charges the vehicle battery as well as the leisure battery…

Does anyone know if it does or does it depend on how the converter wired everything up?

 

[Lenny333]

I think the consensus on here is to use the jump start points.
It's a faff to get the carpet and cover up in the van

Thanks

Would I just connect the charger up to those points without disconnecting anything?

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[berni109]

Yep

 

[VXman]

Can't you hookup the EHU cable (using a 13A plug to EHU adapter if necessary) ?

Yep, I can do that but I’m not sure if that charges the vehicle battery as well as the leisure battery…

Does anyone know if it does or does it depend on how the converter wired everything up?

It does depend on the set up of the electrics on your vehicle.
Attaching to the jump points is fine for charging.

What you could do is add a battery master. This goes between the Leisure and the Starter batteries and delivers a trickle charge from the Leisure to the the starter whenever the leisure is a pre set voltage above the starter. Then if you connect EHU to your vehicle it will look after both batteries. It's a good fit and forget solution. Just £64 purchased through Motorhomefun...

Van Bitz Battery Master

>>CLICK HERE TO BUY

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[berni109]

As to whether the habitation control system will charge the vehicle battery it's suck it and see unless someone knows your specific vehicle.
You need something that shows the vehicle battery voltage. (our cig lighter usb charger has a volts display) If it's charging from hookup then should be 13+ volts.

 

[yorkiebar]

Yep, I can do that but I’m not sure if that charges the vehicle battery as well as the leisure battery…

Does anyone know if it does or does it depend on how the converter wired everything up?

We have a Consort van also and our EHU charges both batteries.

Edit: I see yours is a 2024 Consort and I know they've changed the electrics recently. Did yours come with Lithium or SLA leisure batteries ?
If yours is SLA (like ours) with the old PWM Solar controller + display below the Truma display then if you hookup EHU you can see the cab battery voltage (on the solar controller display) and verify if it's being charged.

 

[Lenny333]

We have a Consort van also and our EHU charges both batteries.

Thanks yorkiebar

I’ll plug it in now and see what happens

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[yorkiebar]

Thanks yorkiebar

I’ll plug it in now and see what happens

Check my edited post above.

 

[Lenny333]

We have a Consort van also and our EHU charges both batteries.

Edit: I see yours is a 2024 Consort and I know they've changed the electrics recently. Did yours come with Lithium or SLA leisure batteries ?
If yours is SLA (like ours) with the old PWM Solar controller + display below the Truma display then if you hookup EHU you can see the cab battery voltage (on the solar controller display) and verify if it's being charged

We had the lithium upgrade (Roamer 230Ah under seat) and I think it’s a MPPT solar controller.

I’ve zapped an email to Consort to ask them but I’ll plug it in anyway and see what it says on the solar controller panel.