replace or repair damp duetto

Hi all

The van is currently at the motorhome repair place which did the big rust repair work two years ago.  The recent water leak was not sorted by the first garage (repair to skylight seals didn't make any difference), so M/home place have had a shot at it.  They say there was a hole of some sort at the door and possibly dodgy seal so they have done a repair, but it's to be monitored.  However, when they were checking the electrics they found the leisure battery has a broken terminal and say the power will be drained when e.g. the fridge is on.  I asked if there would still be a problem if it was on EHU and they said yes.  Is that likely to be the case?  

Macvanessa

I don`t know a lot about the electric side of things, but I would say yes, as the electrics when on EHU still come through from the leisure battery.

Hope you are sorted soon Fiona,
Best wishes,
Margaret

It's not completely clear what they mean. If they mean that there is a broken wire connection at the battery, this should be almost trivial to repair. If they mean that the terminal post of the battery is broken (which seems unlikely) then it seems there would be little option but to replace the battery.

Neither sounds very serious, though of course the latter would involve significantly more cost.

Hi  

Firstly if there is a broken connection floating around it needs to be insulated to stop it coming into contact with the bodywork.

On EHU the Zig will power all the 12V electrics, the leisure battery would only be needed if you draw more than the 12A the Zig can supply (you won’t in normal circumstances).

The fridge is only on when the engine is running so isn’t powered by the leisure battery. Just to confuse things it’s sometimes connected to the same point as the leisure battery but disconnecting the battery has no effect on the fridge unless the fridge somehow gets disconnected at the same time. On EHU the fridge would be powered by the mains (or gas).

As -mojo- says it’s an easy fix anyway.

Brod

Thanks all.  I think he said the terminal was broken and mentioned something about a repair taking a good two hours.  Problem is, now that things are going wrong with the van one after the other, and I'm not into DIY, I will probably change the van this year, so do not want to have more expense for a repair that is not absolutely necessary.   I may well need the van to travel to find another one so I will phone the repair place again tomorrow and see if I can find out more about safety aspect. 
MacV

macvanessa wrote:see if I can find out more about safety aspect. 
MacV

If it's a connection to the leisure battery and the broken end of the cable isn't waving about in the air, there should be no safety concerns. The leisure battery should not be involved in any of the systems critical to safe driving.

If it is waving about in the air, just put some insulating tape around the bare end so it can't short out on anything and you should be fine if you just need to drive it.

If your van is a 1996 Duetto like mine, the leisure battery is under the bonnet and easily accessible - and viewable. You should be able to see any broken terminal, and I can't believe it would take two hours to fit a new battery?

Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

Thanks Achilles - in view of what Mojo and Brodco said I was wondering about that too - it is more likely that I have got the wrong end of the stick and not understood what the repair place said.  On the  other hand, when I asked about the problem continuing if van was on EHU, he said it would, yet I understood from Kaspian a while ago, and Brodco says again now, that fridge doesn't run off the battery 

The van is late 1995 model - so probably the same as yours.  This particular van does seem to be developing a lot of problems, but I do like it better than newer ones or the Symbol.  I am now wondering if I should go for a 1999 model which is also the same; it may have some of the same problems too but maybe not as many?  JMT Leisure has one - T reg, £14,995, which seems to be about the right price for that year.  

MacVanessa

Unless someone has fitted a compressor type fridge , it should not run off of the leisure  battery. Best thing to do is phone the repair shop for clarification of the problem and write down what they say then you can get better understanding of what they claim to have found..Feel free to pm with details of what they say.....

Thanks Kaspian - will do.

Hi  

Achilles heel wrote:I can't believe it would take two hours to fit a new battery?

Changing leisure battery - five minutes or so!

Changing a broken connector - same sort of time. Perhaps a bit longer but nowhere near two hours!

kaspian wrote:.Feel free to pm with details of what they say.....

Why pm? I think a lot of people (especially other old Duetto owners) would be interested in what the problem is.

kaspian wrote:Unless someone has fitted a compressor type fridge , it should not run off of the leisure  battery.

But it still won’t run on battery on EHU.  

Something definitely doesn’t make since though. The leisure battery electrics on the Duetto are so simple I can’t think of anything that would take two hours to fix.

Brod

I phoned repair place this morning but John who knows about the van isn't in - back Monday, so I will try again then.  Re time to do repair and cost - when I asked for an estimate he said he won't know that until it has been stripped down and he can see what's required - if it's something that can be soldered or if a part is needed, which might be a problem due to van's age.  It sounds to me as if it's the stripping down part that will take the time, but to do all that at however much that costs and only THEN get an estimate for the repair is not v satisfactory.  I reckon I have not properly understood/remembered all that John said, so I will find out on Monday exact details.

Phoned the repair place - the details are :-

the charger is in a cupboard and cables are screwed into fittings; one has come loose from the charger; it (charger?) sends power to the 12v battery, but it's not getting a charge due to loose connection; the terminal inside charger is broken; even when on EHU system is not getting the power it needs ( because mains feeds through charger?); he won't be able to tell if it can be repaired or if a new charger is required until he gets into it properly.

Does this make more sense?

Macvanessa

Yes, its a charger problem, not a battery problem.

macvanessa wrote:Does this make more sense?

Absolutely.

As I remember the van is the same sort of age as mine. If so it probably has a Zig X7 (if it hasn't been replaced at some time). In which case:

The connectors are solderable and new ones are easily available if needed (unlikely).  The problem is that the case is riveted so the rivets will need drilling out and replacing. I’d say two hours is not unreasonable because there will probably be some tidying up jobs to do while the case is off.

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The connections that will need resoldering are these:

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Depending on the labour charge sadly it may actually be cheaper to replace the unit even though it’s a very minor fault.

Brod

£138 off ebay for brand new.

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Thanks all.  Looks as if I will have to have this attended to whether I am going to keep the van or replace it.

Hi Macv, agree with Brodco, actual repair ie resoldering the broken tag is simple and quick to do but getting the unit out and on the bench , opening it up if riveted together and replacing in van afterwards probably not outrageous if asking around 2 hrs time to make it worth their while. Not what you want to hear when coming round to the idea of replacement of the van, sorry.