Cap44 Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Hi I have just acquired a Chausson best of ten on a Ford Chassis and am very impressed with the ride ect But cant see how to access the battery's that are under the drivers/passengers seat's anybody know how to reach them?? The book says there's a pin on the front of the seat and you can access them from there but no pin that i can see. I will need to fit a solar panel and inverter before we leave for the winter but cannot find any info on where to wire the control unit in apart from "fuse 7" on the fuse box. Any info please that would help. Its a 2014 model Cheers Clive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 If the vehicle is built on a Transit MK6 or MK7, then for ease, the seat has to come out. There are 5 Torx 40 bolts holding the seat in place, 3 on the left and 2 on the right (as you are sat in the seat). This is an easy job to carry out, but you will find that the seat is quite heavy and usually it is simpler to drop it onto the floor outside the van, rather than place it in the interior. With solar panels the best advice is to wire them direct to the leisure battery terminals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 The Chausson “Best of 10” was buit on a Transit Mk 7 chassis and (as spospe advises) the cab seats will need to be unbolted to access the batteries beneath them. As he warns the combination of the Ford seat and the seat-swivel means that care is needed. (You may also find that the bolts are pretty tight...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap44 Posted November 2, 2016 Author Share Posted November 2, 2016 Thanks Spospe & Derek for your fast response My old Rapido had the inverter wired straight into the leisure battery but that was easy as it was inside the van. Seems daft to have to the the seat out but hey hoo Since I posted this question an hour ago it now seems that the leisure battery is not charging on mains hook up. The solar panel will come complete with its controller BUT the Chausson book says not to wire direct to the battery as you by-pass the relays? Then it says use fuse" 7 aux solar panel" Is that bull s**t and if im going to have to take out the seat is it OK to wire both inverter and panel to the one battery . Cheers Clive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger s Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 On the Mk7 Transit there is a connection point for the leisure battery on the rear of the drivers seat box (close to floor) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 A potential complication is that Chausson have tended to go their own way regarding their motorhomes’ electrical system, fitting "boite relais securite” devices (quite likely the “relays” Cap44 mentions) rarely found on other makes. There may be a ‘Chausson approved’ way of fitting an inverter and/or solar panel to a “Best of 10” and it might be sensible for Cap44 to contact a Chausson dealership for advice on the best approach to take. (I’ve a feeling that Chausson may have pre-installed cabling/connections for a solar panel, which would be another good reason to seek dealership advice.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langdav Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Using Chausson's wiring for the solar panel will probably mean that the + supply will only be live when the main control panel is on. You will need to run a wire direct from the battery + terminal. My dealer needed three tries to get it wired correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 langdav - 2016-11-03 10:58 PM Using Chausson's wiring for the solar panel will probably mean that the + supply will only be live when the main control panel is on... Clive (Cap44) has not said when his Chausson was made, but the 09/2013 Chausson manual says " Fitting «electrical options» We draw your attention to the need to connect the solar panel according to our recommendations. The connection is planned in the pre-equipment (see electrical diagram provided with the living compartment). Any direct connection to the battery may disrupt the correct operation of the electrical installation of our cell. The same applies for all additional accessories and generators to be connected after the relay box.” There is also the caveat "Battery charging by the system and the solar regulator can take place only if the control panel is on.” I suspect that Clive’s Chausson has the same type of CBE-made electrical system as my 2015 Rapido. In my motorhome’s case, although it’s necessary to have the control-panel and its ‘12V button’ turned on for many things to function (lights, heater, etc.), this is not the case where battery charging is concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap44 Posted November 4, 2016 Author Share Posted November 4, 2016 Thanks all for your input, this is a steep learning curve. There are connections on the back off the drivers seat for the main battery I presume for jump starting You cannot lift out the passenger seat to get to the leisure battery as the main leads go through a hole in the side of the seat mounting and you cant even see the battery connection's . There are blocks in the seat runners to stop the seat moving to far forward but even with these out and the seat nearly up to the dash you still cant see the battery let alone the connections. The Ford book says there is a clip and rod to remove at the front and the seat then it tip's up allowing you to pull out the battery from behind. None of this will work as there is no pin and the mechanism that allows the seat to turn around covers the battery so all that will have to come out just to see it. And trying to talk to anyone at a Chausson dealer is like knocking your head against a brick wall!!!!!!! When did you buy it from us, Ho you didnt!!!!!!!!!!! We can look at it in January So I cant get any info on wiring into the fuse box from them. The wiring diagram just shows a fuse box with lots of fuses number 7 being solar no wire's colour's nowt. So the controller I have has 2 separate outputs with ramped out put to the second battery I shall put 10amp line fuse's in the feeds and see how it goes, While on the subject when on hook up it only charges one battery and i read somewhere that there was a mod and an extra bit of loom so it charged both battery's, cost was around £75 but cant find it anywhere now. Any info on that would be very appreciated Cheers Clive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 Clive Your motorhome’s Ford Transit Owner’s Manual should (in its Table of Contents) include reference to a “Vehicle Battery” section. This will show you that the connection-points for jump-starting the vehicle’s motor are in the engine compartment. The “Vehicle Battery” section also refers to “Battery Connection Points” on the rear of the driver’s seat, but (as far as I’m aware) these are intended for connecting accessories to, though I guess they might be used to connect to another battery. If there’s nothing plugged into the Battery Connection Points on your Chausson’s driver’s seat, its leisure-battery’s will be wired up differently (which I would have expected to be so). Forget the advice in the Transit manual about the seat’s ‘safety-pin’. In your case, to gain access to a battery under a cab-seat you’ll first need to unbolt the seat-swivel mechanism from the metal ‘seat-pedestal’ that is bolted to the cab floor and houses the battery, and then lift the seat-swivel (plus the seat on its runners that are bolted to the seat-swivel) off the seat-pedestal. Spospe advised earlier that Torx 40 bolts are used to attach the seat-swivel to the seat-pedestal, and you should expect to need to move the seat on its runners and swivel the seat about in order to identify and reach some of those bolts. (and the bolts might be tight...) My Hobby and Rapido motorhomes had/have an electrical system based around the type of equipment ‘modules’ fitted to your Chausson, but the systems on both of my motorhomes would ‘maintenance charge’ the starter-battery when the leisure-battery was being charged via a 230V hook-up. CBE build equipment to a motorhome manufacturer’s specification and it may or may not be the case that the CBE equipment fitted to your Chausson motorhome offers a hook-up starter-battery charging capability. There are accessories (eg. the “Battery Master”) http://www.vanbitz.com/product/battery-master/ that can be retro-fitted to add starter-battery charging, but you’ll need to ensure that there would be no conflict with the existing system and the solar panel and inverter that you are planning to install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap44 Posted November 5, 2016 Author Share Posted November 5, 2016 Thank you once again Derick for your help. Seats out tommorow and dead locks fitted at the same time Cheers Clive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 Doesn’t your Transit already have a ‘double locking’ capability for the cab doors to prevent the doors being opened from inside or if a cab side-window is broken? Or does your reference to “dead locking” relate to something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QFour Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 More Transit Based Motorhomes get stolen than any other. You can buy the lock pick on EBay for a few Pounds so will be worth investing in some security. Some have fitted hidden switches etc. An alarm connected to the vehicle is no good as it gets switched off when you open the door with the key. Lots of info on YouTube showing how easy it is. The steering locks can also be removed with ease. They just turn up with a battery angle grinder. :'( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 Lock picks are available for most commercial vehicles and expert thieves will have the door open in about 10 seconds. Transits are amongst the easiest so extra door locks are very desirable. The OBD port ( where the computer plugs in ) is easily accessed and a new key programmed to the vehicle in about 25 minutes. All it needs is a laptop and software. So move the OBD port or modify it to make it unusable. The seats on my MK7 Transit are both swivel and take me about 10 minutes each to remove. Just undo the Torx bolts and push the seat and base to rest on the other seat. The battery can then be accessed. Use a torque wrench to tighten the bolts, they are safety critical. Put a blob of paint on the head so that any movement is easily seen. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap44 Posted November 6, 2016 Author Share Posted November 6, 2016 Physical deadlocks so the doors can't be opened from either side ,Also an outer lock slide's over the habitation door so that cant be opened + the chain on the inside. Had all off these on my Ducati over last winter in Spain. The other thing i am fitting is an ODB cover/box that is in the post. The best and cheapest I have seen so far is the guy who turns his seat all the way round and locks it with a padlock so you can't get anywhere the wheel and impossible to drive. He welded brackets to the seat and plinth. No good with pics yet so cant download Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolandrat Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 The deadlocks that I have fitted to my motorhome are by Locks4Vans, phone number 01474 560077. They are quite expensive but what price can you put on piece of mind. These are obviously in addition to the standard central locking system. They were professionally fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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