Tony323 Posted October 16, 2021 Share Posted October 16, 2021 I have a Hobby Toskana 690 3ltr, Ducato. I am not Technical but need a little info. Batteries for this vehicle are one under the drivers seat and one under the cab floor passenger side. The Battery under the passenger seat reads S4 013, 800 A/95Ah 12v. The Battery under the Drivers seat from what I can see very compact, ProBat 130AH, C100HD. My question is, is the Batrtery under front passenger floor a Leisure Battery and the Battery under the Drivers seat an Engine starter Battery. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted October 16, 2021 Share Posted October 16, 2021 Nope, you've got them the wrong way round! The standard Fiat Ducato engine starter battery is located under the passenger floor board. If you Google you will find videos, etc. on changing it. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony323 Posted October 16, 2021 Author Share Posted October 16, 2021 THank you Keith, I had a feeling about that when I seen the difference in the AH IE 130 in the drivers under seat and AH 800 under passenger floor. The reason I was asking. I have a Diesel heater, since I have had it 12 months ago, it has never worked, until I had a Habitation check, and was shocked, when I went back in when the survey was finished, I commentated it was lovely and warm and realised it was the Diesel Heater which was on. Looking further into it the van w\S hooked up to the House electrics. Disengage the House electrics, the Diesel heater starts to power up but when draws more amps, the Diesel eater powers down, IE from what I can see on the overtime wall meter the voltage on the battery is dropping too much. Looking at the both batteries, to me looks like they are the original fitted in Germany, think it5S about time they are changed. I have found some paper work on the Hobby, Hand BOOKwhich states use only the same kind of batterieswhen exchanging, same capacity/voltage/cycle proof/maintance free and leak proof. Is this correct? Need as much power as I can get. Also, to have the batteries changed, I will pay to have this done but the battery under the drivers seat, is this easy to change, just thinking what the echnicians would charge?? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 Judging by the size of the secondary batteries and charging systems they fit some motorhome manufacturers seem to assume you never travel further than the length of your hook up lead. I don't use hook up so have 2 x 019 100ah batteries under each seat . So I can sit in the van posting on here day and night :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 Tony323 - 2021-10-16 8:50 PM I have a Hobby Toskana 690 3ltr, Ducato... Tony I believe the 3-litre diesel-fuelled motor was discontinued for Ducato in mid-2014, but it could still be helpful to know when your Hobby motorhome was built. For a 3-litre Ducato I’d have expected the original starter-battery (housed in a compartment in the vehicle’s left footwell) to have been a FIAMM-branded 110Ah product, with a dimensionally-shorter 95Ah 800A battery (image attached below) factory-fitted for Ducatos with smaller capacity powerplants. So - as your Hobby has a 95Ah battery - it MIGHT not be the original one. The original FIAMM starter batteries were normal wet-acid type and ‘maintainable’ in that their cell-caps could be unscrewed to allow their electrolyte-level to be checked and topped-up if required. It might be possible to confirm your Hobby’s starter battery’s date of manufacture, but it would be necessary for it to be removed to do this. Assuming that the present starter-battery’s electrolyte-level can be checked, it would be wise to do this (though it will be need to be disconnected for all 6 cell-caps to be unscrewed). If the starter-battery is to be replaced, it should be practicable to fit the 110Ah size at little extra cost and this would be a good choice. https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/varta/i1/ When your Toskana motorhome was built, I’d have expected Hobby to have fitted a GEL leisure-battery, and I would have thought your motorhome’s Hobby handbook would confirm this. One thing is certain, Hobby would NEVER have fitted the ProBat battery... Probat batteries are manufactured in Poland and online adverts for the 130Ah leisure-battery indicate that this is an inexpensive (£70-£80) ‘dual purpose’ wet-acid battery with dimensions of Length - 353mm Width - 175mm Heiegt - 190mm (including terminals) If a gel battery were to be installed under a passenger seat, that battery would not need to be vented to the outside air, but the Probat battery should have a vent-tube connected to it and the tube should lead through the motorhome’s floor. Assuming that Hobby fitted a gel battery originally, your Toskana’s battery-charger’s setting should have been altered from ‘gel’ to ‘wet acid’ when the Probat battery was installed. Despite the Hobby handbook’s advice, there’s nothing to prevent a different type/size of leisure-battery being fitted under the passenger seat provided that the battery-charger’s setting is matched to the battery type and (when appropriate) the battery is vented. Changing the leisure-battery should be quite straightforward, though the seat with its swivel mechanism would need to be removed first (and, if a ventable battery is to be installed and there’s currently no vent-tube, this would need to be addressed). The L353mm x W175mm x H190mm size is quite common for motorhome leisure-batteries and there’s been plenty of discussion here about good choices for replacements. https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Batteries/58775/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony323 Posted October 17, 2021 Author Share Posted October 17, 2021 THank you all for your help, and Derek, thank you so much for all your time and explaining things to me it's so nice to know people like you are there and can turn to for help and guidance. , as I have said I'm not Technically minded, What I want and have decided to do is have a new Leisure Battery and a new Engine starter Battery, as I am still unsure of who and what fitted, therefore Derick, can I ask you, the best I can fit for a Hobby Toskana 3ltr 2011, Diesel, which would be reliable and powerful enough, for all occasions, tube fitted if necessary etc, as the Batteries are he Heart of the vehicle, I am quiet willing to pay for quality, Gel or water acid not a clue but again would be guided by , you, there again if it is a water acid battery, it needs to be checked, so the drivers seat has to come off to get to the battery, and by what I have read on another Thread, another member said it was a right pain to do. Thank you Derek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony323 Posted October 17, 2021 Author Share Posted October 17, 2021 Sorry, Derek, forgot to include there is a two battery Solar controller with remote meter fitted in the van also, as I was asking for best batteries to buy and fit etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 If you want simple ‘non-technical’ advice, I suggest you go for a VARTA Silver Dynamic battery for starting - preferably the 110Ah version (if there’s room for it) as your Hobby has the 3-litre motor https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/varta/i1/ or the 100Ah version, as that should definitely fit OK in the footwell battery compartment. https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/varta/h3/ And for the leisure-battery a YUASA L36-EFB (make sure it is a L36-EFB). https://www.tayna.co.uk/leisure-batteries/yuasa/l36-efb/ that’s sold by Halfords as an HLB700 https://www.halfords.com/motoring/batteries/leisure-batteries/halfords-leisure-battery-hlb700-682063.html All of the above batteries are ‘wet acid’ type (ie. their electrolyte is in liquid form) but none of them are ‘maintainable’ (their cell-caps are not intended to be unscrewed) - so they are essentially fit-and-forget. Being ‘wet-acid’ the batteries should be fitted with a vent-tube. Your current starter-battery probably has a vent-tube that could be moved to the replacement battery - if not, fitting a vent-tube would be easy. The Probat battery may have a vent-tube that could be transferred to the replacement battery - if not a small hole would be needed through the floor through which the tube could be led. A gel battery could be fitted as a replacement leisure-battery https://www.tayna.co.uk/leisure-batteries/sonnenschein/gf12065y/ This battery is sealed and requires no vent-tube, but it’s significantly more expensive. If your motorhome’s battery charger had been set to charge wet-acid batteries, the charger’s setting would need changing to gel. (I’ve no practical experience of motorhome solar systems, but I would not have thought the fact that there’s a 2-battery solar controller would influence the battery choice in this instance.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.