Changing the leisure battery on a Fiat Ducato motorhome

[@MACK13]

Excellent video. Thanks so much for taking the time to film and share. Mack and Maggie, Huddersfield

[@andypoole5144]

Thanks Guy's, followed this to change our Leisure Battery today. What a job getting the seat out.

[@mrsslaw9242]

Glad it was helpful 👍🏻

[@anthonykahl9635]

Sorted👍😊 Thank you. I didn't realise the leisure battery was under the seat

[@graemegardner8501]

Great tutorial,well done Mr Slaw.

[@KTF1959]

Excellent. Thanks for taking the time to film and post. It will be really helpful.

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

Glad it was helpful!

[@philmikbrown4358]

Good job well done. Crazy place to put a battery though😳, I’m pleased our in under the rear bed. 👍

[@CamperVanya]

Good job done there. Now everybody will know who to come to when they need theirs changing! 👍😄

[@peterdawson5115]

Well done, good job sorted , hope Mrs Slaw is happy 👍

[@mrsslaw9242]

I am indeed Peter! We got away last weekend 🚍

[@penguinpeter6912]

Thanks MR S 👍 really enjoyed that vlog 🤩

[@paulyoung6165]

All Great video and you did really well slaw and i was amazed with the wood cutting tool too, and Mrs Slaws brought the tea trolley round , Happy New year both and the dogs , Take care

[@markholland3759]

It's to cold and miserable out there I'm going to watch your trip to France again 😎

[@ianmcconnell7567]

Oh a job beyond me! Well done Mr Slaw !!

[@Teamcampervan]

good job Slaw, you saved yourself a small fortune doing that yourself and had some fun along the way. Great video as always, thanks for sharing. 🍺🍺

[@grahamfrear9270]

Do you call that fun in such a modern motorhome.?????

[@vanish6116]

Very interesting vlog.

[@mervontour4716]

I feel your pain. We have a Hobby Optima Deluxe T75 HGE and my seat is out at the moment as I’m fitting a B to B charger and a battery monitor. I’ve had to replace the battery as well after 5 years and this is the 3rd time I’ve had the seat out for modifications. Unfortunately it doesn’t get any easier. Good job. I have fitted many accessories and have had most panels off and found routing solutions. Ours is identical to yours from kitchen/Habitation door forward. Don’t see many Hobbies out and about, i will have to look out for you on our travels.

[@mrsslaw9242]

We’ll watch out for you Roger! It’s a game spotting the Hobby 😜 They are good looking buses aren’t they 😍

[@isobelchapman9548]

Not sure why I decided to watch this…yes I own a MH but it’s not a Hobby!! Great vlog and I thoroughly enjoyed it…never to old to learn even if it’s a different make. Thanks folks, as always.

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

Hi Isobel. Thanks for watching. The set up may be the same on other makes of motorhome built on the Ducato.

[@volkswagonaudiracing]

we enjoyed the vlog on changing the leisure battery. not the easiest place but it does give you storage back under your bench seat and storage is everything. its worth mentioning that the thin gauge wires to the seat belt tensioner (large yellow plug ) are more often than not the cause of SRS airbag malfunction warnings so always best to take car with them and ensure they don't get snagged or pulled and are safely tuck away. enjoy your next adventure

[@kroozer5215]

We have a Hobby premium 65ge, very much the same layout as yours, our original leisure battery was in a box that sat behind the drivers seat and next to the water boiler - by where your messing at around 19:20 - i removed it from that position and fit 2 lithium batteries under the drivers seat and then fitted a 3000w inverter where the original battery was, all our fuses are in a little cupboard under the fridge, there was hardly any wiring or fuses under the seat like in yours, cos under that seat is pretty big area

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

Good job!

[@truth.952]

Informative video.Just bought a devon autosleeper with the same battery configurations...cant believe how incredibly difficult it is for the average lay person to change the battery.we had a toyota hiace before and changing either battery was a 2 minute job...

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

Thanks Anthony! It is a tricky job!

[@davidbeanland4920]

very interesting, better than watching the news on tv about boris, very clever mr slaw, my wife would have do ours as I'm useless, i make a good brew though 😀

[@130560221060]

Thanks for posting Made doing mine a lot more straight forward 👍🏻

[@johnwaterhouse845]

Very helpful, just about to do a Lithium & Solar upgrade, so the seat install stuff was gold! Thanks!👍

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

Great John. Be interested to know how you get on with the upgrade as we have been thinking about it.

[@junebrooks665]

Fantastic Vidio very well put together top guy

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

Thank you June!

[@suzybeetravels]

Great Vlog great info on doing the job. I would of cut that front bar off but thats me. I did laugh at the phone call for a coffee.

[@mrsslaw9242]

He’s a cheeky beggar 😜

[@briantheminer]

Ain’t they a pain to work on 😂 But yes, you learn something every time I’m lucky the leisure battery is in a side compartment, but the main battery like yours. Those swivel seats are a dust and dirt magnet, it shocked me too Well done that man, you deserve a Bier Morreti, not a brew 🍺

[@alberttickle1106]

I'm lucky as the leisure batteries are under the main lounge seating area, so easy access.

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

Hi Albert, it was a faff!

[@delphjunction1168]

Hi guys. Wow Mr Slaw, you have a lot more patience than me, think I would be throwing things across the van and doing more damage. That battery was ridiculous, a piece of equipment like that should be an easy job. At least Mrs Slaw got the shopping done. Not only that you did it without going in the pub.😉🍺 Keep safe guys. Pete and Su.

[@grahamtidswell7845]

Great help Thanks

[@melg2857]

Hi - What a pain just to even get to the leisure battery. Hopefully the air has now cleared of any blue-ness!! Were you able to double check that the old battery was indeed knackered? I have found that if a battery suddenly 'dies' rather than 'fades' sometimes it can be another problem - such as alternator regulator or mains battery charger or even a loose connection. Might be worth keeping the old battery and charging it up with different charger just as a final test before you re-cycle it. Be interesting to know the results. Keep up the entertainment - nothing much on telly these days and we love the humour element that is the Slaws. Well done!! Kind regards, Mel and Shell.

[@mrsslaw9242]

Thank you! Slaw suspected there was an issue as the battery had shown less staying power recently. The new one works perfectly so we know it was on its way out 👍🏻

[@ianmacpherson7080]

Excellent! We have a T65HFL, and I think our hab battery is starting to fail. I’m now much better informed of what needs doing to replace the battery, and might just do it myself.

[@kevinmullin4504]

Can't believe they put the battery there. Feel your pain mate.

[@kevinallen8305]

Thoroughly enjoyed that well done. Hard to hear all your comments at times.

[@mrsslaw9242]

Slaw does mumble! I’ve told him off 🤪

[@terrynewey5313]

Well done Slaw... if that were me I'd have phoned the AA...need a lot of patience..job done..have a beer 🍺

[@janettetaylor8760]

U know that saying which is Good luck with that mate.😂😂😆

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

He did amazing! 🤩

[@kevinjohn725]

Brilliant

[@helenandmartinsTreks]

Same setup as our van (Knaus). Very interesting video though , I’m heartened it lasted 5 years we are only 18 months in thankfully. I don’t fancy that job anytime soon😂. Best wishes H and M

[@chopper602]

Our Knaus has the leisure battery in the service hatch (where you have the water in & waste taps, along with the hook-up). I'm going to have to take a look at ours as it's currently in a 0v state 😟

[@helenandmartinsTreks]

@@chopper602 sounds like a better idea to me Tim.

[@DJJENKO]

Awesome video. I have to Change my T5 camper leisure battery. Which is also under the drivers seat. I’d like to know more about the isolator. I also have an isolator. But I’ve never really known when are you meant isolate like if the van is going to be parked up for a while should I isolate the leisure battery. Also sometime I put my van on a trickle charger. Especially during the pandemic Could the trickle charger damage the leisure battery. ? Cheers.

[@johnb1800]

Nice tool kit what make….cheers

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

Hi John. It's a Vonhaus 215 piece socket set from Amazon.

[@omega19uk]

All credit to Hobby for using 13mm instead of 10mm...because this would have been a 3 day vid just looking for the socket.😉

[@davidodonovan8468]

Hi Slaw, First comment using this feature in KZbin, my wife and I are new Hobby owners but not new to Motorhomes, ,watched a mixture of your videos last night and enjoyed them all. Thanks for taking the time to do this, you both do a great job. . I hope you don’t mind, we have a small dog and are interested in your dogs’ travel seats could you provide some details? Thanks in anticipation, Dave

[@mrsslaw9242]

Thanks Dave, just tone down the praise for Slaw. I need to keep him in his place 🤪 Just kidding, he is very skilled! The dog travel seats are Kurgo and we got them from Pets at home. They travel really well in them 👍🏻

[@rickybrocklehurst5800]

What a job,but looks like you were very thorough, can l ask did the van alarm go off once you took off the negative off the engine battery,you said l don't know if you heard that,that was the alarm?l need to change my Leisure battery.Thanks.

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

Hi, Slaw has looked back and he thinks it didn’t go off, it just beeped because the alarm was turned off 👍🏻

[@ianmacpherson7080]

Mr Slaw… I’m convinced that I need to replace the battery in my T65HFL. Did you consider other battery makes and types before replacing your battery? I’ve been reading about advances in AGM battery technology, and looking at the excellent website by Alpha batteries.

[@webgibs]

Thanks Mr Slaw thinking of changing mine to Lithium which is also under seat , was it difficult to take seat off? i currently have smaller than yours a gel type laying on its side and lot less wires think Hobby designed van very differently ,

[@autotails_on_tour]

I couldn't understand why the battery was under the seat such a bad design , and wouldn't you think they'd at East have made the seat an easy access one. Well done on a great job .

[@TimmysFavs]

Probably so most people will go back to the dealership?

[@anthonykerrigan5047]

Hi i have the same layout on the 2019 model! You couldn't give me the link for the battery as I'm thinking of changing it but would need the sizes etc and would have to take the chair off then check! Many thanks in advance!

[@outaboutwithmikedonna305]

Can I ask a random question please, what Sat Nav system do you use for Helga and does it cover Europe? Thanks both

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

Hi, it’s a Blaupunkt media system built into the dash which was standard with the van. It’s radio, CD player, Bluetooth and Sat nav. We programmed the Sat nav for the dimensions of the motorhome. Yes, it’s got Europe maps in too 👍🏻

[@outaboutwithmikedonna305]

@@TheSlawsAdventures thank you for your reply. Best wishes Mike and Donna.

[@andrenafraser7546]

Great tutorial Mr Slaw 🍻 picked up some valuable information x do you keep motorhome permanently Hooked up while at home? I’ve just installed the outside socket for mine & plugged Bessie in, is it expensive or cheap to do so,it’s only 4 days so can’t really tell yet lol any info greatly appreciated

[@mrsslaw9242]

Thanks Andrena! We do keep Helga permanently hooked up in winter. We use a small 500w Delonghi oil heater that’s cheap to run.

[@Ursulalb]

Hello, I saw that you had a Votronic MPPT, before you removed the 12 v battery, did you remove the wires coming from the photovoltaic panel from the MPPT? Thank you

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

Good question. I think I pulled one of the wires and taped it up.

[@SF-ei8df]

Was there anything to reset when you reconnected the van starter battery - or does it all just come back to life. Great video thanks for sharing

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

Hi, The only thing I had to do was set up the clock on the dashboard.

[@luirusso8233]

Hi Can I ask for the range of corner steadies you have on your Moho please Thanks Lui.

[@mrsslaw9242]

Hi Lui, they are standard on our motorhome so we don’t have any info about them - sorry.

[@kennethhill7357]

Hiya, I have just watched this and noticed that you installed like-for-like. I noticed that you use a start-stop and not a leisure battery. Any reason for this? There is a difference in the way they both handle output/input. And.. why not replace with LifeP04 as, yes it's more expensive, but will benefit more in the long run?

[@ukcoasterlad]

Hi Slaw I was just wondering if you could possibly help me Could I ask you - do you leave Helga on charge all of the time whilst you are at home? I bought a brand new Rapido Dreamer Van last year (on a Fiat Ducato Base) - but I am having to keep it on charge to keep both batteries powered up If I switch the mains off - in about 3 days the leisure battery is nearly flat and the cab battery is about 50% Is this usual do you think? At the moment I don't have a solar panel fitted on the roof (but will be getting 2 this year) - so I am having to charge it up from the mains Does your leisure battery lose its charge in a couple of days as well if its not charged up? I have absolutely nothing running in the van except the alarm - and it seems weird that the batteries lose their power so quickly Do you think I have a duff battery? Should these batteries lose their power so quickly? If you have any useful advice I would be very glad of it Cracking vlogs by the way!

[@tomthumb3085]

Poor design for the battery location. I can remove the leisure battery in my Bessacarr E560 in less than 2 minutes as it’s located under the bench seat in the habitation area, under the floor. I use the Votronic solar system as well and it pulls power from the solar panel even in very low light conditions. It’s a brilliant system. Did your work cure the problem though. Great instructional video thanks.

[@mrsslaw9242]

It did indeed! We were out last weekend👍🏻

[@peteandmaggie8570]

That looked an awkward job....the manufacturers could off fitted a lower height battery.

[@ianmacpherson7080]

I also looked at the battery in my T65HFL, and the layout under the driver seat is different to yours. In mine (2017 model, but first reg 2018) the battery is orientated across the chassis rather than along the chassis. Easier or harder?

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

Hi Ian, they must have chaged it after mine then. Do you have a photo. If so please email it to me and I’ll have a look. [e-mail]

[@grahamfrear9270]

What are lots of a missing about for such a modern motorhome this thing should be made simple

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

Indeed!

[@robertcanning1888]

Well done . why dont they just put the batteries in the garage . what a job that was bad design

[@goranborjesson5593]

Good video but why a AGM at a leisure battery?

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

Apparently it’s very good as a leisure battery and fitted as standard by Hobby.

[@goranborjesson5593]

@@TheSlawsAdventures Ok, in my I have a AGM as a start battery, the leisure battery is of a different type. I have read that AGM is suitable as a start battery since gives a lot of power during a short period. The leisure battery however is discharged slowly and to a larger degree. My leisure battery is a Tudor DUAL battery. I’m no expert but that my setup.

[@davidodonovan8468]

Hi

[@mrsslaw9242]

Hi David 🚍☀️

[@ldh7395]

The intro takes long enough

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

Thank you.

[@djsmiley01]

Is this actually a leisure battery? Start stop, cca rating and whatever i google let me think this is a starter battery, not a leisure battery. A leisure battery can be discharged for 50%, a starter battery only for 20%. Fine for very low loads but anything more will kill it pretty fast. I would never recommend a starter battery for leisure usages

[@howardt7320]

I was thinking the same thing. Not sure that battery is a proper leisure one.

[@TheSlawsAdventures]

Yes the battery is the leisure battery and is fitted as standard on my Hobby which I bought new. AGM batteries are great for starting engines and off grid use.

[@djsmiley01]

@@TheSlawsAdventures I know this is the leisure battery, but for the type it seems you have used a starter battery. AGM is great, but there are different types for specific purposes. This one seems to be for starting purposes, not for leisure purposes. Difference is thicker lead plates internally, which allows it to discharge more. Using a battery made for starting purposes as leisure battery will work but it's definitely not recommended. It's like buying a Vauxhall Corsa for a horse trailer... It will work but it won't last as long you would expect.

[@normancockroft4040]

I,ve had this type of battery 7 years