Vehicle Battery Charge - Auto-Trail 635 Sport V-Line

[NF camper]

Hi all,

After a bit of advice/thoughts: we purchased a new AutoTrail 635 V-Line Sport (van conversion) in April this year. We’ve used it on average every week for a drive out, and heading on holiday to Europe next week.

I’ve noticed recently that the vehicle battery seems not to be fully retaining its charge after use. It charges OK to 13v through the alternator and via the mains hook-up once selected, but once stationary at home for 2 or 3 days the charge drops to around 11.6v. Fully aware the battery is running the tracker and other onboard technical items associated with the standard Fiat Ducato vehicle.

I’ve previously had coach builds (all built on Fiat Ducato) and not had this rapid drop in such a short period of time. Has anyone else had this issue? Is the standard battery supplied by Fiat to Auto-Trail for the van conversion ‘man enough’ for the job - or should I be looking to upgrade the battery?

 

[Riverbankannie]

It is worth getting solar and a battery master fitted to keep the vehicle battery topped up not least because a low battery can cause other faults such as the airbag ecu.
Peace of mind not having to plug it in all the time. It is the first thing we had fitted (by Vanbitz) and now still on same battery nearly 9 years later.

 

[NF camper]

Cheers, solar fitted as standard but still seems to be dropping

 

[Kannon Fodda]

The standard battery (lead-acid) will be charged to a max of 12.6V. Any higher voltage of 13.0V or greater is coming from the chargers themselves that create a slightly higher voltage than the battery so there will be current flow. Check battery voltages when they have been at rest (no charge/discharge loads) for at least 30 minutes if not an hour as even moderate discharges will lower the apparent voltage.

Are Autotrail still fitting the basic Sargent combined 12V fuse/charger/230V thingy. If so that may well be the biggest problem as that was out of date a decade ago with it's one voltage fixed current charger system, and if your van (probably does) has a modern smart alternator the unit would be completely incompatible.