Chausson Flash 04 Leisure Battery

[Gillyflower]

We have a leisure battery that can no longer hold its charge and want to replace asap.

I am almost boss eyed from reading some useful info posted last year but have one question that I hope someone can answer. We like to wild camp as much as possible and wonder if anyone can recommend a battery that is up to the mark, we intend to fit a pair and will also pursue the solar panel idea next year.

My problem is that I am due to take my Grandson for 4 days sailing staying at a CL and I need to action this asap - is anyone out there ?

Gill

ps how difficult is it to remove the front seats?

[Tracker]

Hi Gilly and welcome to the madhouse!

 

It is not difficult to remove a front seat but it can be very fiddly as access is very limited depending on the design and you might need the right sized splined, often known as Torx, bit or socket.

 

The seats are also amazingly heavy and you may need two people to lift them in and out to avoid damage to the van the seat or yourself.

 

The capacity of your battery will be limited by the available space and the best way to get more capacity is to add a second battery preferably as close to the original as you can.

 

If you carefully measure the available space and in particular the height available you should be able to identify whether a physically larger battery will fit and a good place to start looking at sizes etc is The 'Tayna Batteries' website.

 

If you are unfamiliar with the wiring etc it may be best to visit an auto electrician or motorhome specialist for advice.

 

Battery selection is a bit of a lottery as there is huge variation in even examples of the same make let alone between brands but reportedly good makes include Exide, Trojan, Energy Bull, Varta and Banner but some of these are very expensive.

[Wasnt Me]

Hi is your a transit based van I think it is?

 

If so and it is the same as my 2007. The access is made under the passenger seat by sliding it forward all the way.

 

I managed to change both of the vehicle/engine batteries under the drivers seat, this way. I did not need to remove the seat.

 

I presume this is the same as the leisure battery on the other side.

 

Is it possible (if you were short of time) you could buy another leisure battery or two fit one under the seat and then connect the other one up with a set of jump leads or fit the other one when flat. This would require care as jump leads and a battery can by dangerous if not handled correctly.

 

My 100A/H battery which is probably the original (2007) one will last 3 days, based on using only the water pump and lighting only.

 

Hope this helps

[Gillyflower]

My thanks to both of you for your extremely helpful responses I am filled with new determination to get something sorted by Thursday (D Day!) wish me luck. G

[Tracker]

Gillyflower - 2014-09-01 2:45 PM

 

My thanks to both of you for your extremely helpful responses I am filled with new determination to get something sorted by Thursday (D Day!) wish me luck. G

 

Thanks for the kind thought Gilly and do let us know how you get on.

 

If you let us know which part of the country you are in someone on here might know someone out there local to you might be able to help and advise, although you are cutting it a bit fine.

 

In view of time constraints it might be worth a though as mentioned to get a second battery stowed securely close by the first and either temporary connect with jump leads, which I personally am not keen on or use ready made battery leads and new clamps from someone like Halfords.

 

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchCmd?srch=battery+starter+cable&action=search&storeId=10001&catalogId=10151&langId=-1

 

 

[Wasnt Me]

Gillyflower - 2014-09-01 2:45 PM

 

My thanks to both of you for your extremely helpful responses I am filled with new determination to get something sorted by Thursday (D Day!) wish me luck. G

 

 

No problem glad to be of help

[Dr Dave]

We have a flash 04 and have fitted 2 - low profile battery's from alpha batteries on ebay. You will have to remove the seat and swivel to gain access a mixture of Hex and Torx fastenings. If you do decide on two batteries you will have to modify the routing of the existing cables and the mounting brackets and fashion a larger plastic cover to insulate the terminals. It can be done but its a bit of a squeeze.

Dave

[Derek Uzzell]

Gillyflower

 

Chausson Flash 09s (like Wasn’t Me has) and Chausson Flash 04s (like yours) both use a Ford Transit base, but the 09 is a large motorhome built on a RWD chassis with a twinned-wheel rear-axle, while the 04 is a compact FWD design.

 

Although Flash 09s and 04s differ in many ways due to the different base-vehicle chassis employed, the significant variation in this case relates to the conversion. A Flash 09 has each cab-seat fixed directly to the ‘seat-box’ beneath it, whereas a Flash 04 has each cab-seat bolted to a swivel-mechanism that is, in turn, bolted to the seat-box. The effect of this is that batteries housed beneath a Flash 09’s cab-seats can be accessed as Wasn’t Me describes, but a Flash 04’s batteries cannot.

 

As Dr Dave says, to remove/replace/maintain a Flash 04’s batteries one must first remove the swivel-mechanism from the seat-box. In practice this involves unbolting the swivel-mechanism (the fixings may be tight!) from the seat-box and then lifting clear the seat and swivel-mechanism as a single entity. The seat is heavy and so is the swivel-mechanism, so (as Tracker warned earlier) care needs to be taken when moving a combined seat+swivel about.

 

It can confidently be said that a Flash 09’s or 04’s ‘starter-battery’ will be housed beneath the driver’s seat (Wasn’t Me’s 09 evidently has the Transit twin-batteries option). The leisure-battery (when under-seat located) is usually beneath the passenger seat, but not always.

 

I’m not Chausson-literate, but (having read Dr Dave’s posting) I’m assuming that a Flash 04’s original single leisure-battery is normally housed in the passenger seat-box and that the seat-box is otherwise empty. If that’s so, then it’s likely that the dimensions of the original battery are a nominal 350mm(Length) x 175mm(Width) x 190mm(Height) and that it should be practicable to cram a 2nd battery with the same dimensions into the spare space in the seat-box.

 

These are a couple of examples of batteries with those dimensions

 

http://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/leisure-batteries/12v-banner-energy-bull-low-height-leisure-battery-95751/

 

http://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/leisure-batteries/110-ah-platinum-low-height-leisure-battery-lb6110l/

 

The Banner battery is not ‘sealed’, whereas the Platinum battery is ‘maintenance free’ (though can probably be vented). Given that the seat needs to be removed to access the batteries, choosing a ‘maintenance-free’ type would make sense.

 

Obviously when fitting two leisure-batteries you would need to add additional cabling and (as Dr Dave advises) you should expect to have to make other modifications.

 

Be aware that the terminal layout of batteries is not standardised, with some having the + terminal on the right and others having it on the left. If you bought batteries with a terminal layout opposite to your present battery, you might find that the original cables would not reach the terminals and that turning the battery around would not necessarily resolve this.

 

Also keep in mind that the dimensions of the batteries are critical - the height should be a nominal 190mm and the length should be a nominal 350mm. A few millimetres either way should be OK, but (as Dr Dave says) you definitely will need ‘low height’ batteries as the vertical space available in the seat-box is tight when a swivel-mechanism is fitted.

 

This 2013 thread relates to adding a 2nd leisure-battery to a Hobby motorhome based on a Transit Mk 7 FWD chassis and may be helpful

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Additional-Hab-battery-Hobby-T500FSC/31191/

 

[Gillyflower]

We also have a 2007 Chausson but flash 04 but guess that the basics are the same. I hotfooted it down to our van this am only to find that the seats do not push forward enough to get to the batteries although the van's battery was more accessible than the leisure where I couldn't see the terminals at all , so I guess I am going to have to be very sparing with the use of power and take some lights with me I just hope we can keep the fridge going. Sadly all the motorhome retailers are all booked up and can't fit me in so we will just have to make do (bit like the early days before we had such a posh outfit!

Thanks for your help

[Wasnt Me]

Ah I see I did not realise the seats were on a swivel base, that does make things complicated.

 

You say hope you can keep the fridge running, I think you should be able to run your fridge on Gas.

 

 

[pepe63xnotuse]

Hi..

If the battery is that duff, does it really need to be a "motorhome retailer" to replace It?(..even if it means having the second one fitted at a later date?). :-S

 

Taking some LED torches and a lantern would be a good idea anyway...sitting outside in the evening with the lantern, will make it seem like proper "camping" to you Grandson..

 

Also make sure that, if he takes any "tech" with him, he is also equipped with the necessary spare battery packs etc(..so that you're not draining your van battery, charging iphones/ipads/laptops etc). ;-)

[Derek Uzzell]

Wasn't Me - 2014-09-02 10:34 AM

 

Ah I see I did not realise the seats were on a swivel base, that does make things complicated.

 

You say hope you can keep the fridge running, I think you should be able to run your fridge on Gas.

 

 

Based on on-line photos, a 2007 Flash 04 has a smallish 7-Series Dometic refrigerator.

 

These fridges, whether their power-source for cooling is gas, 12V or 230V, need a continuous 12V supply to power their control electronics and (in the case of gas operation, also to power the gas-igniter). This 12V supply is usually provided by the leisure-battery, so if the leisure-battery ‘dies’ and there’s no means of putting charge into it, the fridge won’t operate.

 

If it proves impossible to have a replacement battery fitted in the short time-frame available, it would be worth speaking to the CL-site’s owner to see if 230V power can be provided somehow during the 4-day stay.

 

 

[Gillyflower]

Thank you all for your very informative and useful info. Given the short time before camping I have decided not to do anything in a rush and will take time to fit two new low maintenance batteries as described. In the mean time I am getting some lights together - thanks for the reminder re spare batteries for all singing and dancing phone which seems to be a permanent appendage to my Grandson.

The weather is set to be fine so it should be heavenly -staying at a little place called Cobnor near Bosham West Sussex

Thanks again Gill

[Derek Uzzell]

Gill

 

You asked originally about which replacement battery/batteries you might choose.

 

A VARTA Professional Dual Purpose LFD90 battery

 

http://www.varta-automotive.com/en-gb/products/leisure/professional-dual-purpose/

 

http://www.tayna.co.uk/LFD90-Varta-Professional-DC-Leisure-Battery-930090080-P3638.html

 

is maintenance-free and (based on Dr Dave’s advice) a pair should fit in the seat-box beneath your Flash 04’s passenger seat. Being ‘dual purpose’ a VARTA LFD90 may not be the ultimate choice for a motorhome’s leisure battery, but other similarly-priced maintenance-free ‘wet acid’ batteries are likely to be little better.

 

It’s quite likely that your present battery is fitted with a vent-tube and (if that’s the case) it should be straightforward to transfer the tube to another ‘ventable' battery. If you fitted a pair of batteries, you’d also need to vent the 2nd battery, either by 'Y-connecting’ a vent-tube from it to the other battery’s vent-tube or leading Battery Two’s vent-tube separately through the cab floor. A battery that has the capability to be vented (which means most ‘ordinary’ batteries) should be fitted with a vent-tube if the battery is to be housed within a motorhome’s living area (eg. under a cab seat).

 

Although many motorcaravanners buy batteries on-line, you might find it more convenient (and no more expensive, particularly if purchasing a pair) to obtain them from a vendor local-ish to you. I notice that the VARTA website has a “Find a Dealer” function.

 

The Tayna website-link I gave above shows alternative same-dimension batteries branded Enduroline, Powerline, Lucas and Banner. The Banner “Energy Bull” product is a genuine ‘leisure battery’, but it is not maintenance-free. (Not sure that matters really, but it’s worth saying.) I don’t know if the Enduroline product justifies its higher price, or if the cheaper batteries are ‘worse’ than the VARTA LFD90.

 

As you know, leisure-battery choice is regularly discussed on this forum, but for most people it boils down to buying the appropriate size/capacity battery at a sensible price. Someone else may be able to advise expertly on which battery brand/madel might be best for you but I can’t. Personally I’d opt for the VARTA LFD90 because it’s a reputable brand and I know I could obtain it locally at a competitive price.

 

If you are going to get a motorhome dealership to carry out the battery replacement task, it would be wise to interrogate them on what make/model of battery they would plan to fit, what the installation would involve (vent-tubes, hold-down straps) and how much they would be charging.

 

A single-battery replacement should be quick and easy to do and a straightforward DIY task as long as the person doing it has basic skills and the weight of the seat+swivel is taken into account. Fitting a pair of batteries would take longer and the installation work would cost more. It’s still a potential DIY task, just more complicated.

[Dr Dave]

Just resurrected this thread with a bit of information. The Alpha low profile battery that i had fitted under the passenger seat (in addition to the original) has just failed after two years of careful use so i wanted a better quality battery so i chose the Banner energy bull. Now this is about 2cm taller than the original but it will just fit.However in order to protect the terminals from the seat swivel i have used a sheet of acrylic that covers the tops of both batteries and is attached with screws to the front and rear of the seat base. the two batteries fitted are firmly wedged in with wooden blocks to prevent any lateral movement and of course when fitted the seat swivel prevents any up/down movement. The battery chosen was the Banner energy bull 957 51.

So this should fit any transit MK7 based motorhome with the batteries under the passenger seat. The vent plug is different to standard so you may want to order one however i modified the existing one by drilling out the hole in the plug to make the wall thinner then this fitted o/k.

Hope this helps someone

Dave