chrisfree Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I would like to purchase a low battery portable charge unit for jump starting a ducatto 130 motor home base vehicle. Does anyone have any experience of these jump start/chargers? and could they suggest possible products. :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aultymer Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 From my experience of 10s of years of messing about with 'end of life' vehicles, as my son calls them - I would suggest that you spend your money on curing whatever problem is causing you to think you need this charger/starter. eg, a new battery if it's goosed or a new alternator if thats dodgy. If you have power to run a charger, why not use the on board charger to keep your batteries topped up? Hope you get it sorted and welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Hi Chris and welcome to the forum. I also thought that a portable power starter would be a useful tool. Bought a cheap one and it was useless. The leads melted so I sent it back for a refund. Better quality ones do work but you need to spend a lot of money. http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/power-start/ps-700-professional-jump-starter.aspx The above costs £270 for and will give a single start. If you have let your battery discharge and it is left in cold weather it probably won't recover. I have Fiat 2.3L - when I know I will not be using the vehicle for over 4 weeks I disconnect the battery. It is easy to remove the negative earth terminal, you don't even need a spanner. Fiat recommend this in the user manual. If on the odd occasion your battery has discharged jump leads will usually do the trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I too always carry a good set of long jump leads as if nothing else is available you can always jump start from your own leisure batteries - make sure that it/they are disconnected from the system first. Another alternative is to buy an ordinary car 12 v battery and carry that as a spare which together with jump leads should do the job as long as you make sure it is charged before each trip - or make up a lead and charge it from a convenient 12v outlet whilst on the move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 chrisfree - 2011-02-12 11:10 AM I would like to purchase a low battery portable charge unit for jump starting a ducatto 130 motor home base vehicle. Does anyone have any experience of these jump start/chargers? and could they suggest possible products. :-S Is this because you are concerned you may flatten the battery, or is it because you do flatten the battery?If the former, and just for peace of mind, the comments above regarding their usefulness seem the best guide.However, if this is because you have found the starter battery flat on one, or more, occasions, I would definitely echo the advice to get the cause identified, and resolved, as quickly as possible. If you don't, in addition to the cost of the emergency starter pack, you'll soon be forking out for a new starter battery as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfree Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 Thank you for all the suggestions. I normally use my van monthly, generally for camping, however I have left it this time for the first time, since I bought it new in 2008, for 6 weeks and the battery was extremely low. I am therefore confident that I have no problem with the vehicle charging etc. I have to leave the alarm on for insurance purposes and therefore cannot disconnect the battery. As suggested, I think that I will jumpstart from my car battery and run the van, say about 70 miles, to recharge the starter battery. I cannot find out from my handbook, if the charger on hook up, charges the starter battery, as well as the leisure battery. If it did then I could recharge the starter battery from hook up, instaed of wasting diesel on a fruitless run. The van is a CI Carioca 694, 2008, Ducatto 130. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverback Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 chrisfree - 2011-02-22 7:04 PM Thank you for all the suggestions. I normally use my van monthly, generally for camping, however I have left it this time for the first time, since I bought it new in 2008, for 6 weeks and the battery was extremely low. I am therefore confident that I have no problem with the vehicle charging etc. I have to leave the alarm on for insurance purposes and therefore cannot disconnect the battery. As suggested, I think that I will jumpstart from my car battery and run the van, say about 70 miles, to recharge the starter battery. I cannot find out from my handbook, if the charger on hook up, charges the starter battery, as well as the leisure battery. If it did then I could recharge the starter battery from hook up, instaed of wasting diesel on a fruitless run. The van is a CI Carioca 694, 2008, Ducatto 130. hi chrisfree so what your saying is you have hook up available....so put it on hook up,get a voltmeter and measure volts on the vehicle starter battery should read 14v to 14.4v..if it does it means its charging, if not, and the van has a switchable mode on the control panel you can switch to vehicle starter battery..if it doesnt...then buy a good charger eg ctek or stirling plug it into the mh 240v socket and charge your starter bat from that.. its what i do :-D you can leave ctek chargers on all the time, it gives a maintenance pulse charge when fully charged, cost about £1 a week to use jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfree Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 Thank you Jon I will check out the charging and if necessary I will purchase a charger as suggested. Regards Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverback Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 hi Chris my charger is a ctek xs7000 not cheap think it was about£85, but it is one of the better chargers you can get and i think 5 year warrenty, look up there web site and ebay jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfree Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 Hello Jon Found one on the net and it is about £80. Thank you again Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverback Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 nice one chris :-D you wont go far wrong with that charger jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomag Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Hi All Can you use this charger without undoing the distilled water filler plugs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 You should always charge without undoing the plugs. Those days have long past when it was required. Think about it, it gets charged at a high rate from your alternator with the plugs in. Many moons ago when batteries were not low maintemtance type and gassed excessively then it was recommended plugs where removed or loosened to avoid the build up of pressure. This no longer applies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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