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security & battery tip


athiest

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Hi all, I have put this as a security subject but it may also help those that find that the batteries on their MHs go flat while in storage or just under cover for the winter. My 2008 Compass Avantegarde 145 is on my drive and is covered for about 4 months over the winter every year. I have owned it since 2009 & followed this routine every year. It has always been plugged into my garage supply on a timer for one hour a day along with a small humidifier. A month ago the starter battery went duff and was removed and I have now fitted a larger Fiamm 870ccd 100amh battery. This according to the forums is now fitted to the later MHs. I checked with Peugeot and was given a price of £190 for the original 670ccd battery so found the up rated Fiamm battery on Amazon for £138. It needed to come from Germany and was not expected for up too four weeks. It arrived within two, but gave me some concern when the delivery driver tipped it on its side to trolley it to my door. The cardboard wrapping was soaked in battery acid but after checking for any damage to the casing and mailing Fiamm about the possibility of loss of acid they informed me of the two year guarantee in case of failure so left me happy. Now to come too the security part, The MH had been without battery or any electric power for a month but after refitting the Starter Battery every thing started as normal with just the resetting of the clock to do. While your MHs are off road remove the batteries to your house. This will make stealing the MH very difficult. Your insurance will of course be invalid. I have other deterrents in my MH such as battery alarms on each window, Titanium home made steering lock, both front doors locked together, Fiamma bar lock across the habitation door & a camera recording & watching the MH with a sensor controlled floodlight above. I do not know if all MHs with their range of electronics need the battery power all the time but sometime all batteries go duff and need to be changed. Reading on the Forums quite a lot of you seem to have trouble while in storage, give this a try.
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I’m a mite surprised that you felt it necessary to replace your Boxer’s dead starter battery with another Fiamm-branded one that needed to be sourced from abroad, when it would have been practicable to obtain a same-dimensions Varta “Silver Dynamic” 110AH 920A (CCA) battery that would have been cheaper, have a longer warranty and probably superior performance.

 

https://www.tayna.co.uk/610-200-Varta-Silver-Dynamic-Car-Battery-020-Short-Code-I1-Varta-DIN-610-402-092--P3200.html

 

Water under the bridge now, but it’s worth highlighting that there’s nothing ‘special’ about the Fiamm-branded batteries fitted as original equipment to X250/X290 Peugeot Boxer/Fiat Ducato/Citroen Relay vehicles, so there’s little benefit in paying a premium price just to have like-for-like-brand replacement.

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H Derreck, the battery as fitted made by Fiamm has lasted for 8 years. Plenty of stories on this and other sites about which is the best battery & the replies are varied and not always giving a clear answer as to which is the best. No trouble in 8 years make me feel that this Fiamma is one of the better ones and will certainly see us out as we are quite elderly and feel that another two or three years is all that we can expect before we have to pack up driving. I think that past satisfaction with any items is the best reason to replace it with the same. "A"
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That’s understandable, though you might wonder whether the Fiamm battery you’ve just fitted has the equivalent quality to the one you replaced.

 

The original-equipment “Motorcraft” starter-battery fitted to my Ford Transit-based Hobby motorhome was 9 years old when I decided to replace it as a precautionary measure. (It’s still alive and seemingly well at age 12.) I considered replacement on a brand like-for-like basis, but an equivalent “Motorcraft” battery was hellish expensive and the technical specification (apparently just an ‘ordinary’ maintainable wet-acid battery) did not encourage me to pay over the odds. Instead I chose to fit a half-the-price Varta “Silver Dynamic” battery obtained locally with a discount for collecting it rather than having it delivered.

 

I’ve recently had my wife’s 2009 Skoda car’s starter-battery replaced as it was beginning to stagger in cold weather. The original turned out to be a Varta product supplied to VW and the replacement is Spanish-made and Exide-branded. Although it cost more I chose to have the replacement carried out by a local Skoda dealership as I wasn’t 100% sure whether disconnecting the battery would affect the radio coding. If I had replaced the battery myself I would have chosen another Varta “Silver Dynamic” battery.

 

The Fiamm starter-battery fitted to my 2015 Ducato is ‘019” size (in mm approx. 353L x 175W x 190H). It is ‘maintainable” in that it’s cell caps can be removed and its electrolyte level checked and topped up if necessary. Can you do the same with your new battery, or is it ‘sealed’ as it looks like this one is?

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/tdh/LEAD-BATTERY-TITANIUM-100Ah-870A-HANDED-DUCATO/B01FJM242A

 

As electrolyte was lost during delivery, it would make sense to check the present level if you can.

 

(I’m pretty sure two sizes of starter-battery were fitted to X250/X290 Boxers/Ducatos - a “019” size for models with motors with a capacity up to 2.3litres and a “020” size (in mm approx. 393L x 175W x 190H) for models with the 3.0litre powerplant.)

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Hi again, that is the battery that I have now fitted. You can feel the caps under the red covers but I imagine that if you remove the covers which are stuck down then your guarantee is void, hence the mail too Fiamm. This topic was really more about removing the batteries over the winter storage period to keep them maintained in a pleasant environment. I do not know if some of the later vans need a constant electrical present for their electronics or if such an action would mean them needing an expensive visit to reprogram them. Mine is now working fine and I shall remove the batteries each winter. As for the above battery, I am more than happy that it will give me good service until I sell the van. "A"
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My Rapido’s User Manual includes a page on maintaining the charge of the motorhome’s starter and leisure batteries if the vehicle is out of use for an extended period.

 

Two options are given

 

1: Recharge the batteries in situ via the motorhome’s onboard battery-charger if the vehicle can be hooked up to a 230V supply, charging once a month for 24 hours.

 

2: Disconnect both batteies, store them in a frost-free place and recharge them once a month for 24 hours. There is a warning that, if the starter-battery is disconnected, under no circumstances must an attempt be made to start the vehicle via the ignition-switch as this would activate the anti-theft system and prevent the vehicle being started despite the battery being reconnected. Apparently in such a situation a (Fiat in Rapido’s case) agent would need to reset the system.

 

Disconnecting and removing the batteries will cause any transitory information that’s held in devices powered by the batteries to be lost - clock settings and radio anti-theft codes for example. Resetting such values should be possible by the vehicle’s owner.

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I think the warning comes down to “If the starter-battery is disconnected, don’t use the ignition-switch”.

 

Plainly the vehicle cannot start if the starter-battery has been disconnected, but I guess it’s POSSIBLE for the appropriate ‘computer’ on the vehicle to react to the ignition-key being turned to the start position and trigger anti-theft protection.

 

Dunno - I merely mentioned that this warning is given in the Rapido handbook, though there does not seem to be an equivalent warning in the Ducato handbook.

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