Vehicle and Habitation battery charging ?.

[Earthmover]

Hello,

My Elddis Motorhome has a AGM habitation battery, that is charged via a solar panel, 240v hook up and the engine.Alternator. The vehicle battery is only charged via the alternator and hook up, if the engine battery is a normal 12v lead acid type (not AGM), can the alternator and/or the vans charger, charge both types successfully?.

PS. I am not having any problems.

Regards EM.

[colin]

It may well depend on how it actually charges the batteries, our Globecar ran for several years with an AGM leisure battery with no problems at all.

[spirou]

Yes and no. If the alternator is the main source of hab battery charging then a B2B with an AGM charge profile would be a good idea. In other cases a straight alternator output is probably good enough.

[Derek Uzzell]

Earthmover’s vehicle is a 2019 Elddis “CV” model based on a Fiat Ducato ‘light’ panel-van. (I don’t know which CV variant it is - 20, 40, 60 or 80 - but that probably dosn’t matter).

 

The vehicle’s battery charging was discussed here in September 2020

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Solar-AGM-battery-charging-/56248/

 

and In the last posting of that thread Em said that he intended to investigate further regarding the make and type of starter-battery fitted to his Ducato. The starter-battery has no visible cell caps, so might well be a simple ‘sealed’ non-maintainable wet-acid type.

 

This December 2020 thread may also be relevant

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Dimensions-of-a-type-L6-battery/57180/

 

Logically, until the type of starter-battery(wet-acid or AGM) fitted to EM’s Elddis motorhome is known for sure, advice on charging will involve an element of guesswork.

[Earthmover]

Hi, Colin, Spirou & Derek,

I have investigated what type of battery it is, I have taken it out but there no labels or any identifying marks, only a recycling one, I have asked three Fiat dealerships who service motor homes, they were of no help, (I didn't want to buy a battery). My 100% ever dependable Fiats parts Manager has retired. My e-mail to Fiat remains unanswered. The leisure battery is a AGM (Yuasa)

One correction to my original post is that, when on hook up the engine battery is not charged. I am now convinced it is a normal lead acid one. The book states that when the engine is running both batteries will be charged! 14.4v and 14.7v, something will over charged or under charged. 6B engine so I do not think it will a smart alternator . Can I still fit a battery master, which one is best?.

Regards and thankyou Em.

[buddy]

I have a Vanbitz battery master fitted to keep my starter battery charged up via the leisure battery, they are very easy to fit .

If you check the Vanbitz website it describes how it operates and its use.

[Derek Uzzell]

Earthmover - 2021-02-16 10:42 PM

 

Hi, Colin, Spirou & Derek,

I have investigated what type of battery it is, I have taken it out but there no labels or any identifying marks, only a recycling one,...

This is disturbing as I’d expect any Ducato-based motorhome bought brand-new in 2019 to have had the original starter-battery that would have been installed when the Ducato had been built in Italy. I’d also expect that battery to be clearly labelled with a brand-name (eg. FIAMM) and for the labelling to also provide specification data.

 

It’s very likely that the starter-battery is a maintenance-free wet-acid type, but that doesn’t explain the lack of identification marking.

 

(Fitting a “Battery Master” device is simple in principle

 

https://www.vanbitz.com/battery-master/

 

but - as there needs to be a cable between the leisure-battery and starter-battery - how simple the task actually will be will depend on where the two batteries are located in the motorhome.)