Swift Escape 686 owners please help
I have a 2011 Swift Escape 686 bought from new. I always seem to have the same problem during the winter months a Solar Panel was also fitted.
The Drive battery always goes flat and once fully charged only lasts a week. I have fitted 2 new replacement drive batteries over the 5 years, but i am getting to my wits end.
Do any other Swift Escape Owners have the same problem and is there any recommendations any one can make.
Comments
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Fiat chassis cabs do have a constant drain on the vehicle battery but going flat in 1 week seems a bit excessive. My previous 2010 Bessacarr happily sat for up to 3 weeks and still started without any solar back up. Newer Fiats come with a battery isolator
switch because of this very problem. You don't say what wattage your solar panel is but if it is upwards of 60watts then I would expect it to keep it charged. That is of course if it is actually configured to charge the van battery and not just the leisure
battery. I think the drain on the battery needs measuring so that you know what you are dealing with, probably a job for an auto electrician.0 -
just to support the above post, by PG9, our first Bolero didnt charge the cab battery and it went flat on the drive at home without me even realising...
our 2010 model had a Sargent PSU which managed charge to the leisure and vehicle batteries, when on EHU. we then fitted a solar panel and the Sargent unit also charged all batteries.
the bonus of the SP was that we could then partake in more off grid camping without worrying about either battery going flat.
in your case, i may be that, even on ehu, the vehicle battery is not charging NOR from the SP....this may be the crux of the issue.
you first need to establish this before embarking on a cure.
the cure might be an alteration to the Sargent PSU settings if this is indeed what you have fitted to allow the SP to charge all batteries.
otherwise, a device like a Battery Master will take charge from the leisure battery and transfer it to the vehicle battery.
you need to understand the charging regime otherwise you will be going through more vehicle batteries unless you can disconnect it.....however, be aware that alarms etc wont work.
get it checked sooner rather than later if possible
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thank you "Peegeenine and Bolero boy"for your suggestions. I have got the pescy crittur booked into an auto eletrician next week so i will let you know what they find out.
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Just to let you know that the Auto eletricians found that both the Leisure and drive batteries were dead. New Leisure bateery fitted and paid for and since the drive battery had a guarantee (thank goodness) i changed that and all semms hunky dory now. Once
again thanks for you two coming to my aid0 -
Just to let you know that the Auto eletricians found that both the Leisure and drive batteries were dead. New Leisure bateery fitted and paid for and since the drive battery had a guarantee (thank goodness) i changed that and all semms hunky dory now. Once
again thanks for you two coming to my aid0
