99 Ducato vehicle battery not charging on EHU

Is it a new relay I need?

 
 
 
 
 
 
Gavster
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99 Ducato vehicle battery not charging on EHU

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Posted: 12.01.2020  ·  #1
I went to start my van last week and it was stone dead. This was surprising as although I keep it stored in a big Motorhome port beside the house and keep it off the road over winter I charge it overnight every Saturday night until the charging light for he batteries turns green. I had assumed it was charging my vehicle battery as well as my 2 leisure batteries as normal. I thought it was a dodgy vehicle battery but it is less than 2 years old. The multimeter was showing zero and a smart charger showed nothing.

I tried jump starting it with a forklift which worked fine (left it running a while) and I have the battery a good charge and got it back up to full capacity. A week later I checked it and the battery was reading 85% on the smart charger and well over 13 volts so it is holding charge fine. I know it is not charging from EHU as there is no difference on the multimeter when it is plugged in using the van charger but the volts rise when the smart charger is hooked on directly to the battery.

I see wires running to a small black box above the battery with 4 thin (mostly red) wires coming out of it. I can post a photo if needed. I thought a potential issue was the Marder anti rodent black box that seems to be factory fitted. One of the blue wires from it has come loose as the point where it was attached to the body under the scuttle has rusted free thanks to the well know rain water issue with older Ducato windscreen scuttle over the years before I bought the van.

I’m not mechanically or electrically minded but is there anything else I need to check with my multimeter? Perhaps something near the fuse box or where the EHU port enters the van? The leisure batteries are fine and any fuses I have found seem fine using the multimeter inc one near the vehicle battery. I had a look on the forum just now but did not see a thread that seemed to have the same issue.

As the title says it is a 1999 Ducato. 2.5 TD.

Thanks in advance

Gavin


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Re: 99 Ducato vehicle battery not charging on EHU

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Posted: 12.01.2020  ·  #2
One possibility is that there may be an aftermarket relay fitted between the leisure battery and engine battery,

My Adria used to charge the engine battery on ehu but I found that the split charge relay was not stopping the the reverse happening, by that I mean that the engine battery was still connected when the engine was turned off,
To save a lot of Hassel and head wrecking I fitted a relay that I know works and the down side to this is my engine battery does not charge whilst on ehu,
For me its not a problem as I know about it,


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Re: 99 Ducato vehicle battery not charging on EHU

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Posted: 12.01.2020  ·  #3
I’d a dead engine battery a few weeks ago, hadn’t been used in a few weeks though I’d had it plugged in at home a few times while it wasn’t being driven. I just assumed that EHU didn’t charge the starter battery.


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Re: 99 Ducato vehicle battery not charging on EHU

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Posted: 12.01.2020  ·  #4
Now I’m thinking maybe my vehicle battery never charged on EHU. This is the first year that it has been under cover so maybe it got just enough juice from the roof solar panel and the dash cigarette lighter panel I left in to allow it to start before after sitting for a while. Happy enough just to charge it directly using my smart meter. I’ve never used EHU away from home anyway. I’ll just add that to my weekly charging routine.

I forgot to mention earlier that one of my kids must have left the van area light on as it came on as soon as I jumpstarted the van that time. I can usually tell they have been messing when I start the van and my wipers and an indicator start going straight away 🙄. Keeping them away from the horn when parked up somewhere is a nightmare. Think I’ll have to pop the negative lead off the battery in future as I don’t have a kill switch installed.


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Re: 99 Ducato vehicle battery not charging on EHU

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Posted: 12.01.2020  ·  #5
Quote by gavster1

Now I’m thinking maybe my vehicle battery never charged on EHU.

I don’t have a kill switch installed.


When my battery was dead I plugged into EHU hoping it’d charge, it was parked where I couldn’t get jump leads to it, but no joy. I took the battery out and brought it to my mechanic and he tested it (fine) and charged it for me.

There is an isolator switch fitted, but previous owner disconnected it, said it caused problems that he thought was bad battery initially so he replaced the battery. I might replace the switch since the wiring is there (seems fine using a meter but maybe poor connection under starting conditions when there is a large current going through it), but for now I’m disconnecting the negative lead when parking up for a while.


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Re: 99 Ducato vehicle battery not charging on EHU

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Posted: 12.01.2020  ·  #6
Why not take it for a short run until the engine is up to full temperature every 2 or 3 weeks. It would do the engine, tyres and other bits the world of good.
Also, keep the fuel tank full to avoid getting hip by the dreaded Diesel bug.

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Re: 99 Ducato vehicle battery not charging on EHU

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Posted: 12.01.2020  ·  #7
Quote by baguette

Why not take it for a short run until the engine is up to full temperature every 2 or 3 weeks. It would do the engine, tyres and other bits the world of good.
Also, keep the fuel tank full to avoid getting hip by the dreaded Diesel bug.


I have it Sorned (no road tax) over the winter as I know the wife isnt interested in heading away with the kids in it over the cold dark months so no point in me paying road tax in the meantime. I do have a long concrete lane with enough room to turn at the top so I give it a good few runs up and down that once a month or so as the next best thing and I keep the diesel tank as full as I can to avoid condensation.

I was actually starting it to warm up the tyres etc to avoid flats spots when I realised the battery was flat.


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isolater

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Posted: 13.01.2020  ·  #8
Gavin this is the battery isolater that I used in previous vehicle

ebay 143373443034


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Re: 99 Ducato vehicle battery not charging on EHU

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Posted: 13.01.2020  ·  #9
On my Dethleffs 1999 Ducato the EHU didn't start charging the vehicle battery for about 24 hours [as I recollect] after plugged in.

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Re: 99 Ducato vehicle battery not charging on EHU

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Posted: 13.01.2020  ·  #10
In German; looks like 12+ hours.
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Re: 99 Ducato vehicle battery not charging on EHU

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Posted: 13.01.2020  ·  #11
I've run a lead

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Re: 99 Ducato vehicle battery not charging on EHU

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Posted: 13.01.2020  ·  #12
Quote by witzend

I've run a lead between both batterys keeps engine battery charged the fuse is there to work as a switch or just in case I forget to disconnect it when starting engine

 



For anyone without built-in engine battery charging that's a lovely simple solution. I like simple solutions.

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Re: 99 Ducato vehicle battery not charging on EHU

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Posted: 13.01.2020  ·  #13
Quote by baguette
For anyone without built-in engine battery charging that's a lovely simple solution. I like simple solutions.


Well even with

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Re: 99 Ducato vehicle battery not charging on EHU

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Posted: 13.01.2020  ·  #14
Cheers for the info. I’ll leave the EHU in longer next to see what happens. I had always assumed I had all battery charging as there is a switch on the control panel that I flick one way for leisure battery level and the other way for vehicle battery. With the negative lead off the vehicle battery there is no reading on the panel so I know it leads to it. I had assumed the vehicle battery did not get charged until the 2 leisure ones were topped up. I always left the EHU plugged in until the light on the instrument panel went from orange to green.

This is the first winter without any light getting to the roof solar panel now that the van is under a shelter. Plenty of light gets to the sides but almost none to the roof.

As an aside I have to say the van is fresh as a daisy with the roof vents open (insect mesh part closed) and sunlight light getting into the open fridge etc. I put the heating on for a bit on Sunday and although it was very cold outside there was no condensation on the windscreen when I fired up the heater for a while and even though I was in the van for an hour or so. So a good fresh breeze coming through side and floor vents and out the roof but no rain hits the van. Storm Brendan and the starlings can do their worst 👍. Might stick a cheap solar panel on the roof of the shelter and run it down to the van to get the best of both worlds maybe 🤔


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