More Battery Information WOW, what a rathole!

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Rok

We were able to see first hand why many dealerships don't want to work on Sprinters that have been converted to motorhomes. There was a lot of stuff hooked up to the battery that made it much more difficult to change out the battery. It probably took twice as long to remove the battery than from a stock Sprinter. Well maybe not quit that much additional, but there was definitely more work involved than a stock Sprinter.

Sprinters have plenty of provisions for properly connecting aftermarket electrics to the chassis power without going anywhere near the battery compartment. If there were wires in there that didn't come from Germany, the upfitter was incompetent. This is a little puzzling, since our 2014 GWV Legend was done properly.

[gregmchugh]

As I recall the only direct connection that Roadtrek made to the Sprinter chassis battery on our 08 RS was the cable to the battery separator and it is attached such that it does not interfere in any way with replacing the battery.

[Rok]

Ours had two major modifications from Great West:

(1) The wire from the house battery that provides some charging for the house batteries, I thought only when the vehicle was on and the generator was putting out voltage. The wire goes from the positive (red) terminal to a little black interchange box with two red wires on it (one of them being the one from the terminal.) Maybe that little box senses how much voltage in in the chassis battery and only allows a transfer if the voltage is higher than a certain point, but it looks a little small for all that. I'll see if I can down load the photo again.

(2) The little black box mentioned above, which, speaking of incompetence, has two screws coming out of it so that it is just too big for the battery to come out unless it is unscrewed from that battery case.

O.K. now for that photo.....

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Rok

Ours had two major modifications from Great West:

(1) The wire from the house battery that provides some charging for the house batteries, I thought only when the vehicle was on and the generator was putting out voltage. The wire goes from the positive (red) terminal to a little black interchange box with two red wires on it (one of them being the one from the terminal.) Maybe that little box senses how much voltage in in the chassis battery and only allows a transfer if the voltage is higher than a certain point, but it looks a little small for all that. I'll see if I can down load the photo again.

(2) The little black box mentioned above, which, speaking of incompetence, has two screws coming out of it so that it is just too big for the battery to come out unless it is unscrewed from that battery case.

Yeah, that's pretty bad. On our unit, all of that was done down UNDERNEATH the van. There are high-current terminals underneath and outside of the battery compartment that can be used for this purpose. If I were you, I would consider moving the connection to down there--not a big project.

I guess that is one of the issues with a small upfitter like Great West was--there isn't as much standardization as on a real assembly line, so the installers have more leeway. Looks like you drew the new guy.

BTW: That little box with the two terminals is a circuit breaker to protect the chassis charging wire. Your isolation relay is most likely in the engine compartment on the driver's side firewall.

[Rok]

Avanti:

Thanks for the information.

Interesting the differences between two very similar vans. I think Dave & Great West went through a lot of "new guys".

As I understand it, an outfitter like GW has to propose a design to MB with all the applicable drawings and engineering specs. If MB approves the design then all MB dealerships are bound to service the vehicle at the standardized rates of repair.

I'm pretty sure that the charging wire added to the harness was O.K. by MB, but I would bet that the little circuit breaker box in the design sent to MB was NOT in the battery compartment. An extra step in a routine battery replacement frays nerves and takes a little time, and sometimes a lot if SOP is to involve a supervisor for non-routine issues.

However, I can also see the GW employee's thinking, too. Hey, if I put this here, it is out of the weather and easily accessible and it doesn't have the chance of being broken by a random rock or road debris.

I am suffering today because of the repair. Hoisting the 50# (or so) battery out at an odd angle tweaked my back (a chronic issue), which put my entire body into sensitivity mode (I think I've been told that histamines are involved.) I'm a pretty big guy (unusually large at the shoulders) and the positions I had to be in to get the work done used some muscles and other body parts in ways that they aren't normally used. In short, today all my dogs are barking at me.

When I have to crawl under the van, even for simple things, it is much worse.

I'm not just whining here, I'm trying to point out that something that is fairly simple for normal sized people with normal sensitivities is much more difficult for moderately to highly abnormal people.

Unfortunately, we have found that most service people cut corners--and not just a little, to the point of "you've got to be kidding". If I could have paid someone else to do it and been assured that they would do it right, I would have happily paid them. We're glad we did it ourselves because we know it was done right--even considering the pain.

Davydd:

One other reason we decided to not try to revive the original battery is that yesterday had great weather to finish the project. Charging the battery would have taken another day and the forecast was cold and rainy for the next week or two.

We thought, "What the hell, let's just do it."

.........Rocky

[JohnnyFry]

The programming line from the MB dealer refers to the fact that Flooded LA batteries and AGM have slightly different charging profiles. Is this enough different to give you hassles down the road...maybe, maybe not. It mostly concerns the final charge stage voltage. I was considering going to AGM for my chassis battery (Chevy) but did not because the alternator also charges the coach batteries and I did not want to have different batteries when they were essentially in parallel during charging from the engine.

Another point is the fact that once a battery is taken down to essentially zero (under 8 or 9 volts) it is permanently damaged and will not longer perform up ti original spec. Needless to say, every time it is taken into this state it loses more and more capacity. You should also be aware that modern engine computers and electronics create a draw on the battery even when the vehicle is off. If you can't run it on a regular basis you should have a maintenance charger. FWIW: I have had good luck with Interstate batteries, they generally replace without question for the period of the stated warranty.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Rok

Avanti:
Davydd:

One other reason we decided to not try to revive the original battery is that yesterday had great weather to finish the project. Charging the battery would have taken another day and the forecast was cold and rainy for the next week or two.

We thought, "What the hell, let's just do it."

.........Rocky

The point I was trying to make, because I know from experience, is the battery may not have been dead. You would never know unless you first replaced the starter motor fuse before doing anything else. It most likely would have the been the fuse if in initially trying to start the battery you had no lights and no engine starter grunt. Even nearly totally depleted batteries will give you some indication.

Here is an older thread.

http://www.classbforum.com/forums/f5...fuse-3067.html

[Jujupang]

On my Airstream Westfalia I replaced my engine battery with a Deka AGM 5 years ago with no problem. The 2005 Westfalias were all German conversions when Daimler Chrysler owned Westfalia.. Only about 240 were imported by Airstream.