derek pringle Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Hi, Maybe of interest to some. I have just received in the post a letter from Fiat stating that my 2011 Bessacarr 660 may have a safety issue with its leisure battery/batteries.Seems the bung could be missing from the battery vent hole thus allowing harmful gases to leak into the Habitation area. The letter contains 2 bungs and full instructions or the option to go to your supplying dealer to have the issue explored. It all seems quite comprehensive and only mention it on here in case some possible affectees are about to embark on an extended winter holiday. cheers derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 A friend has just had the same recall letter but its not from Fiat its from Swift (owners of the Bessacarr brand). The leisure battery(ies) should have a vent tube attached to one end and the vent hole in the opposite end should be blocked with said bung. The risk is in reality minimal but top marks to Swift for flagging it up and acting so (dare I say) swiftly. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 OOps, double post. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Dave Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 This is widespread. My Chausson flash leisure battery vented into the habitation area (i have fitted a second battery and vented them both externally) This is a prime example of manufacturers apathy or ignorance, neither is acceptable however small the risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek pringle Posted December 18, 2011 Author Share Posted December 18, 2011 Hi, Sorry Dave my mistake. As you say Swift was the sender. cheers derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I took the bung out of my leisure battery when I fitted it under the drivers seat, I thought that was the idea. Sounds like Health and Safety gone mad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 A few links to battery vent-tube stuff http://www.ehow.com/list_6148359_sealed-acid-battery-ventilation-requirements.html http://www.motorhomefacts.com/forum-printtopic-1-61682-0-0-asc-viewresult-1.html http://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xj-x308-xj8-xjr-27/shortcut-culture-remote-battery-venting-55908/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blp8MMwsAcY The benefit of fitting a vent-tube to a lead-acid battery that has the facility to accept one is that any gasses, fumes or acidic drips that the battery may produce are led into the open air. Even if the battery is housed in a well-ventilated compartment (eg. a car's engine-bay) fitting a vent-tube is still potentially advantageous as it will direct gasses/fumes/drips away from any vulnerable components. Some batteries come with 'bungs' pre-fitted in the battery's two vent-tube outlets and one of these bungs is removed according to the vent-tube's preferred route. In other cases, the 'bung' to close the unused vent-tube outlet can be part of the battery's terminal cover and needs to be broken off the cover to fit it. I've seen batteries (cheap ones) that had 'blind' outlets for vent-tubes moulded into their casing. I also came across an on-line comment that warned that the internal construction of some 12V batteries meant that the battery had two separate 3-cell compartments, which meant that vent-tubes needed to be fitted to both vent-tube outlets. (Bit wary of that statement, but it's easily tested for.) As Dr Dave says, if a battery of the type that can produce gasses/fumes/drips is installed in a leisure-vehicle's living area, then that battery should be vented to the vehicle's exterior. And, when a vent-tube is fitted, then any other vent-tube outlet should be closed off. In both cases doing otherwise is bad practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlander Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Does it matter which end of the battery has the bung fitted? The reason I ask is when I went to implement this breather bung update on my 2011 Bessacarr E560 leisure battery the battery is located with the breather tube at the opposite end to that shown on Swift's Technical Reference sheet TR-0073. Because of the cable and breather tube lengths it may be difficult to rotate the battery through 180 degrees. This is the first time I have accessed the leisure battery and the breather tube was actually lying loose, not connected to the battery. The connection does not look the best and I'd imagine it may be prone to disconnect through driving vibration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Highlander - 2011-12-27 12:03 PM Does it matter which end of the battery has the bung fitted? The reason I ask is when I went to implement this breather bung update on my 2011 Bessacarr E560 leisure battery the battery is located with the breather tube at the opposite end to that shown on Swift's Technical Reference sheet TR-0073. Because of the cable and breather tube lengths it may be difficult to rotate the battery through 180 degrees. This is the first time I have accessed the leisure battery and the breather tube was actually lying loose, not connected to the battery. The connection does not look the best and I'd imagine it may be prone to disconnect through driving vibration. As long as each of the two breather-holes in the battery vents all of the battery's six cells, then it won't matter which of the breather-holes you fit the vent-tube to. As I understand it, Swift's update involves fitting a vent-tube to one of the breather-holes and putting a bung in the other breather-hole. This implies that each breather-hole must vent all of the battery's six cells, so you can choose whichever breather-hole is most convenient for fitting the vent-tube into and then stick the bung in the other breather-hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlander Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Thanks Derek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Highlander - 2011-12-28 6:05 PM Thanks Derek. If you think there's a likelihood that the vent-tube may detach itself from the battery due to vibration, then use a bit of strong adhesive tape (eg. duct/gaffer tape) to tether the vent-tube to the battery's side and then put a substantial glob of silicone sealant where the vent-tube's 'elbow' goes into the breather-hole. Make sure that the elbow is well into the breather-hole if you do this to be sure no silicone sealant can enter the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 Should the charger malfunction providing an excessive voltage or the battery suffer an internally shorted cell (due to a build up of lead paste in the bottom) then the battery will gas excessively sending out hydrogen and oxygen gas through the vent in the ideal proportions for an explosion. Plus that acrid smell of sulphur which with luck should wake you up before the fridge lights up and sets of the hydrogen and oxygen mix. As said Health and Safety gone mad!! C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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