Goneoff

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We are finally home and for good order here is my final report about the engine battery charging issue. Since I moved the neutral wires on the battery as advised by you good folk I have had no problem with starting whatsoever. The strange thing is after I moved the wires to behind the shunt (for want of a better term) it was a gradual build up of charging by the smart alternator over several trips during the holiday (watching the cigarette voltage monitor plug). However now it all appears to be working fine although the battery never gets to a full charge even after a very long journey usually around 12.3v but certainly is a world apart from what I was experiencing prior to starting this massive thread. I thank each and everyone of you who have contributed to the resolution of my battery charging problem. Thank you

I should clarify all my engine battery readings have been taken from the Phantom app invariably within an hour of stopping then again a few hours later with everything turned off except the Phantom of course which is always a slow parasitic drain. As for the plug-in volt meter I am more than confident that on the first half of our journey it was recording accurate voltages can’t say it’s precise, it maybe + - 1.5v who knows but certainly it wasn’t a poor contact in the socket, it was recording low and erratic voltages these were borne out with the batteries condition at the end of the journey, measuring 12.3v/12.1v. In contrast to the second half of the journey when the same voltage device delivered a very steady 13.7v - 13.8v +. Delivering a full engine battery at the end of the journey. I should add I don’t desperately want to invest in a new b2b Sterling charger but we spend a minimum of five months in our motorhome and having invested in a new to us van I would like to extract the benefit of the lithium system it has onboard. My understanding is that the onboard Burstner b2b factory fit unit (a Schaudt) that sits directly behind the Schaudt ELB 119 only trickle charges which I have to say I find hard to believe. Everything is new to me on the van so I can’t talk from experience. If I can get away without buying a high amp output Sterling I will be delighted but for sure I will invest in a Battery Master to keep the engine battery topped up whilst the van is in storage for six months. Thanks again for your support.

We left Italy heading to the Côte d’Azure a distance of circa 290 miles with one stopover planned we left with a full engine battery (12.8v) after being on hookup our new plugin dash voltmeter was allover the place throughout the entire 138 miles with highs of 13.5v and lows of 9.0v averaging circa 11.0v when we arrived at out stopover the engine battery had fallen to 12.3v when the evening cooled down it measured 12.1v. All a little disappointing. After the two night stopover we set off to cover the remaining 155 miles with the battery at 12.1v the engine fired up immediately. However there was a significant change in the plugin dash voltmeter reading it was extremely steady at 13.7v - 13.8v when I backed off the accelerator down hill it rose to 14.4v. Overall extremely steady volt meter readings like night and day compared to the first half of the journey. As for the battery when we arrived it was with everything turned off it was showing 12.9v. A great result and a big relief. It looks at this stage you guys have resolved the issue with the battery wiring you suggested. So a very grateful thank you to all of you who were involved. Thank you. Why it didn’t work on the first half of the journey is a bit of a mystery maybe it was something to do with the battery setting off fully charged and the system needing a reset which it got when we turned off the engine with the battery run down to 12.3v. Perhaps one of you guys may have an explanation. Thanks again

Yes while not being as technically minded as you folks on here just dropping a lithium battery in with out changes doesn’t seem right but I guess KS Energy are more into selling batteries than worrying about the problems that can arise by just dropping a lithium in. I did check out the KS recall and it was a specific battery, I would guess a battery management system fault. If you haven’t read all ready I have arranged to have a lithium capable Sterling b2b fitted on our way home at Vanbitz.

It is more than unnerving traveling like this but whilst we are over here we will make calculated stops outside of campsites with hook-up prior to heading home. Having said that the wiring change suggested and made may have resolved the problem. I only bought the MH a few months ago with all the equipment,Tesa levelling, tow bar, lithium etc all installed prior to my purchase if I had have fitted it, the timeline of fitting may have helped me identify a culprit if any. I have decided to book the MH into Vanbitz in Somerset on our way home for them to check out the various installations even if the wiring change resolves the battery issue. I have also arranged with them to fit a Sterling battery to battery charger for the KS lithium. One other question in the meantime do you guys think it would be worthwhile buy a jump starter a Noco for instance? If the wiring change at the battery makes no difference do I move them back or leave them where they are now? Thank you for your patience and response

Hi Onecal Just to clarify the engine/cranking battery is the factory fit AGM battery, I think it’s AGM due to the stop start function. The lithium set up is on the habitation side not fitted to start the engine.

Hi and thanks for your time The Pioneer radio is the original one fitted either by Burstner or Camper U.K. in Lincoln. As I have mentioned historically even with a low battery but with enough energy to start there are no sluggish noises from the starter motor or dimming lights on the dash, the engine fires up first time. To backtrack a little, after leaving home where the MH was on mains hook-up, we drove the 190 miles to Canterbury with one stop, no starting problem (NSP) the following day drove to Dover (NSP) caught the ferry (NSP). Drove through France for 2 hours stayed on an aire (NSP). Next morning drove to Luxembourg 150 miles stopped for diesel, engine wouldn’t start at the pumps (as per my opening question). Battery was in the red 11.8v but after an hour the engine fired up as normal, drove 12 miles to a campsite with hook-up. After three nights we drove to Metz where we had both smart alternator and battery checked out Fiat said both were functioning perfectly. We drove to Metz center stayed overnight, followed morning drove to Germany after circa one hour we stopped, engine battery was showing 11.3v the engine was totally dead but after half an hour it fired up as sharp as ever. We drove to a German camper stop with electricity the engine battery was in the red but I didn’t try to start the engine until we had charged up the following morning. We then drove to Würzburg stayed in a camper stop with no electricity but next day the engine started without any hesitation. We drove a few miles south of Würzburg to a campsite with hook-up and stayed 3 nights. Drove 7+ hours to northern Italy with only one stop to refuel at that stop I took a long time purposely as I knew the battery was in the red, however the engine fired up and we drove to a campsite in northern Italy with hook-up. Next day drove to campsite in Sirmione on lake Garda purposely without a stop. After a week we moved a few miles down the road to a site in Pescheira with hook-up where we are now. That’s the chain of events to date. Re earth points: Without stripping the van I have looked around in a non professional way at the various points I can see; with the van being marginally under 3 years old every thing looks new, certainly not corroded. I’m sure John is correct when he says there are numerous earth points on the vehicle especially as he has the identical Ducato; are there specific earth points where you can point me to so that I can check them out? With regards to your question about engine battery; the battery has not been replaced, it is the original that came with the vehicle. A 300ah lithium battery system was installed professionally by Rhino Installs in Preston for the vehicles previous owner. I hope all this is of help even though I suspect it could be the best cure for insomnia in the western hemisphere. I equally suspect I won’t get a clear result of the wiring change until we get some miles under our belt when we head towards the south of France. Thanks again

Once again thank you all for your input, I think the majority conclusion at this stage is I will not know for sure if the 4 wires I moved has resolved the issue until I travel a reasonable distance which I will be doing in 5 days time as we head towards France. I will report back then and again it will be good to have your valued comments. Thank you. Phil

No not pulling a trailer or nor do I have a trailer board. As I mentioned earlier in this chain the MH has a tow bar fitted but it hasn’t or isn’t being used.

I’m afraid it’s all a bit inconclusive, we have only driven 4/5 miles to our next site; watching the cigarette socket voltmeter during the drive was a rollercoaster it ranged from lows of 11.9 to highs of 14.3 nothing was stable or consistent but when we arrived at our destination the battery had gone down to 12.3 although I should add a large portion of our short journey was done in long Italian traffic queues. Having said that one would have thought it would be around 12.6 at least but that’s me guessing. Moving all four wires over from the negative terminal has had no detrimental effect on the cab electrics, no warning lights on the dash, start stop was functioning, only the time needed resetting and as I mentioned earlier the Pioneer head unit fired up requiring no password or code, remembering all it’s settings along with coordinate history. I think any meaningful test will have to be done on a longer run in approximately 6 days time. I don’t know if any of you can draw any sort of conclusion from this short journey, I certainly can’t.

To be honest I only had the engine running momentarily as the Tesa jacks were screaming in the van as we are pitched on an incline and the neighbours had only just got over the alarm that I had inflicted on them. I will get a better fix on voltage when we move off site on Monday. Will post results soonest. Thanks again

I have now moved the wires off the battery post to behind the shunt/current sensor. After all the phone calls the Pioneer head unit was a nonevent it fired up immediately retaining everything so it must have a memory/battery somewhere. The time on the dashboard does require resetting as one of you had flagged. The only negative was the Moving Intelligence/Phantom alarm going off and them ringing me a couple of times. The engine started but as I mentioned on the previous post I won’t know the outcome until we move off our current site and cover a reasonable amount of miles as we are on hook-up so both habitation and engine batteries are full. When the engine was idling the voltage on the new cigarette plug measure was 9.3v which from what you guys have said is to be expected as the battery is full. Thank you

I’ve decided to bite the bullet today, plug back the two wires into the shunt/current sensor, and move all 4 wires over to the other side as suggested although I won’t know the outcome until we move off our current site and cover a reasonable amount of miles as we are on hook-up so both habitation and engine batteries are full. As for the Pioneer head unit after speaking with Camper U.K, the previous owner and Pioneer themselves the situation is inconclusive. If the Pioneer doesn’t fire up without a password after the battery disconnect I will buy a phone mount and use google maps until we get home. Having said that Pioneer in the UK said they would try and talk me through setting it back up. I now have a voltage check from Amazon slotted into the cab 12v socket. So hopefully should be able to see what’s going on. You guys who have contributed sound confident this could be my problem and after reading through all your comments so do I. However we will get Vanbitz to check everything out when we return to the U.K. end of Sep/early Oct on our way back to Leicestershire. I will report back when I have the necessary information to confirm all is well or otherwise. Many thanks again

Yes I had a credit plastic card with the Pioneer 4 digit code written on the back for our previous 2013 Laika. However I spoke this morning with a technician at Camper U.K. and he said the Pioneer head unit would’ve been initially setup by the original buyer with a password when they first purchased the van from them. Apparently they stopped using codes a few years ago that’s why I couldn’t find one. I finally contacted the previous owner and he said it was already set up when he purchased the van out of the showroom but Camper U.K. also said they never set them up themselves ever but added I maybe lucky if it was a factory set up it may not need a password. So sounds a bit like Russian roulette situation. On the positive side I’ve ordered a cigarette voltage monitor and multimeter from Amazon providing of course they deliver to our current camp site in Italy and not our home in Leicestershire.