Burford Flat battery - Access to batteries

Just went to start my Burford and nothing so assumed flat battery. looked under bonnet no battery visible. Checked in the hand book and find I have a starter battery and engine battery. Both which are extremely well hidden and both look very difficult to access. One under driver's footwell, can't see how to get at that!!!! There is one under passenger seat and can't imagine I take the chair away to re-charge. How do I get at the battery to re-charge it and which do I need to do?

Not really familiar with the burford but can you not charge them up via the electric hook up?

Vehicle Battery under carpet and insulation in front of passenger seat.

The Leisure Battery is under the passenger seat and you do have to remove the seat to get at it.

On hook up, both batteries can be charged (not at the same time) from the built in charger, full details of switching in your AS handbook.



Under the bonnet there is a contact to connect to the +ve of the vehicle battery for jump starting.  It is a red plastic disk/sleeve that is pushed back to reveal the contact.

The way Phil describes it sounds a system similar to Transit - Starter Battery and what Ford call an Auxillary Battery (Phil calls the Engine Battery) which handles the EMS, Cab Radio etc
He doesn't mention the Leisure Battery

It is possible you may have to take the seat out to access the one there

roli wrote:The way Phil describes it sounds a system similar to Transit - Starter Battery and what Ford call an Auxillary Battery (Phil calls the Engine Battery) which handles the EMS, Cab Radio etc
He doesn't mention the Leisure Battery

It is possible you may have to take the seat out to access the one there

Roger, its a Merc with the same set up as mine. See above.

Dead easy Phil

Open the bonnet and you will see slightly towards the drivers side a red cap on a jump start point, just twist it slightly and the start point is revealed, the cap is spring loaded. On the passenger inner wing is the other (black) jump start point, it looks a bit like a bolt sticking out  just connect the leads accordingly to run a charger or jump start.

Sorry the description is not brilliant but it will be obvious when you see it, would send you a photo but I am 4500 miles away from the van at the moment!!

Good luck!

Phil,
The layout of the batteries is exactly as Peter #1 describes above.
You have not said if the vehicle has been on EHU or indeed if it was in storage without any EHU. But the safest and easiest way of recharging is via the EHU - that way the the EC500 with its intelligent charging system will ensure (via its 3 stage charging system) that the vehicle battery is not damaged in the recharge process, although if the vehicle battery has been totally discharged then damage may have been done to the plates and it might never recover to its original condition. The connection that has been mentioned previously, that is within the engine bay, should only be used for jump starting - see your Mercedes owners manual.
With modern motor-homes and the number of electrical systems (alarms, Management system, ect.) having potential drain on the battery it is my opinion that they are best left permanently on EHU, particularly if you have the EC500 on board. This will not cook your battery (confirmed by Sargent - manufacturers and the A/S manual confirms this) and is the best way to avoid your current situation. This charge will monitor both batteries and will automatically adjust and direct the charger power to maintain the leisure and vehicle batteries at an optimal level. There has been various previous discussion on this topic within the forum if you wish to search.
Of course if you have had it on EHU then it would point to a system failure of some sort - in which case it must be back to the dealer I am afraid.
Liam

Only had my MH for a couple of months and mainly been sat on the drive until the weather improves.   I have a Nuevo ES 2004 - i dont know if it has "EC500 with its intelligent charging system" - should I leave my vehicle with permanent electrical hook up?

Bnelson
You don't have the system referred to above, you have an MES system
You charge your batteries on hook up by selecting vehicle/engine battery or habitation battery on the control panel. It's the left hand rocker switch. The centre position will charge neither battery.

Hi Bnelson.  In that case leave it on engine battery.

Regards 

Micky

Thank-you all for your advice and help, especially Peter. On holiday next week by plane not motorhome so will try to charge van when we get back. Meantime Peter, I'm going to busy reading the section of the AS handbook and locating the various points suggested by contributors. Very impressed by speed and quality of responses, bit easier than calling the AA. Mind could still be an action if I fail after the above advice. Thanks again everyone who contributed.

I would get it on the built in charger before you go. There are several circuits that take a small but constant current from the vehicle battery. The battery may already be damaged irretrievably but the longer you leave it, the more extensive the damage will be.

OK will do

Many thanks for your replies.    Sometimes the more I read the more confused I get.  and we havn't stayed in the van overnight yet!  More questions to follow no doubt.

Barbara

bnelson wrote:Sometimes the more I read the more confused I get.

It probably doesn't help to be reading and posting on a thread about a Burford when you own a Nuevo!

If you have a user manual, it will probably help, as A/S manuals have improved a lot in recent years. If you don't, someone here will probably be able to help with advice on specifics, or possibly even with a scan of the complete manual.

It will help if you can post up photos of the item you want advice on, as it's sometimes not easy to figure out exactly what make/model of a particular appliance you have.

Yes Mojo. I get confused as well. 2 different owners Barbara and Phil  with 2 different models.
Basic electrics at the end of the day.

Micky

Liam....re using the jump starting points to charge the battery... From page 211 of my Mercedes owners manual

" It is also possible to charge the starter battery using the jump-starting connection point in the engine compartment"

I have witnessed our local Mercedes dealer doing this and have done it myself.