# Accessing Leisure Battery (under front seat)



## gavinskii

I have managed to locate the leisure battery on my Fiat Ducato based 02 Hymer Swing 544 - which is located under the front seat (drivers in my case - its a LHD vehicle).

I am sure I must be missing a trick as I can't figure out how I would gain access to replace it - should I need to.....could anyone share the knowledge? 

Cheers

Gavin


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## hogan

You will find 4 Allen headed bolts holding down the seat frame to the base unit. Remove these and lift out seat ( warning its very heavy )


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## Pudsey_Bear

As Hogan says, whip the seat out four bolts, lucky you, mine has six bolts, all a cow to get at.

BTW these are the bolts at the same level as the sliding seat rails, not the ones holding the base to the floor.


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## nickkdx

Mine similar as the others apart from two bolts on the front top edge of seat swivel plate and two counter sunk Allen screws at the back on the top face and yes seat is very heavy. 2001 B584.


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## hogan

Yes now I remember the 2 fronts are horizontal facing normal bolts.13 mm I think.


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## gavinskii

hogan said:


> You will find 4 Allen headed bolts holding down the seat frame to the base unit. Remove these and lift out seat ( warning its very heavy )


Thanks Hogan, I can't believe they couldn't have come up with a slicker idea though 8O


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## Pudsey_Bear

gavinskii said:


> hogan said:
> 
> 
> 
> You will find 4 Allen headed bolts holding down the seat frame to the base unit. Remove these and lift out seat ( warning its very heavy )
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks Hogan, I can't believe they couldn't have come up with a slicker idea though 8O
Click to expand...

Are you sure, you wouldn't want it coming off in a crunch or going around corners, and how often does it need to be removed, mostly never in the base vehicle, 4 bolts isn't very many, some have 6 like mine, it's a very minor annoyance.


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## andyandsue

*careful now*

Take care when measuring up for a replacement battery ....ensure that the terminals will clear the seat base when replaced...a short under the seat would be a major problem.
Now could be a good time to consider moving the location of your leisure batteries ( we did ) ....the current position makes it impossible to check and top up fluid levels.


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## JonCris

*Batteries*

I have a 99 Hymer 6 berth Swing & have had the leisure batteries removed from under the front seat to under the bench seat This has allowed me to have fitted a second 100ah battery and remote controlled 1000w inverter thereby powering everything off grid, TV's, Micro, kettle. There is also a newly fitted 100w solar panel on the roof to keep the batteries charged when wild camping


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## nicholsong

*Re: Batteries*



JonCris said:


> I have a 99 Hymer 6 berth Swing & have had the leisure batteries removed from under the front seat to under the bench seat This has allowed me to have fitted a second 100ah battery and remote controlled 1000w inverter thereby powering everything off grid, TV's, Micro, kettle. There is also a newly fitted 100w solar panel on the roof to keep the batteries charged when wild camping


That has to be a good decision.

I have read threads like this before and could never understand how a MH designer could position batteries under seats. It makes it impractical to fit vented batteries.

Regardless of replacements, many MH owners know there is often a reason to check the individual battery voltage at the battery terminals, with each battery disconnected.

Obviously some designers have never used the MHs they design, or the Marketing Dept. have over-ruled them.

If a salesman tried to sell me a MH with the batteries in a position with such terrible access, I would walk away on the basis that a lot of the rest of the design could be wrong.

Geoff


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## listerdiesel

It's convenient for the converters but not a good place at all for a battery in my view.

Years ago we looked after a load of vehicles in the Film & TV industry, and one of them was a Mercedes 608D which had 24V starting but 12V running, involving a big change-over relay under the drivers seat with the batteries to do all of the electrickery.

Personally I'd rather have them somewhere else, especially if the need venting outside the vehicle.

Peter


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## Pudsey_Bear

Not a problem for me, I fitted sealed ones.

I'd just change them it's not a huge cost and the old ones could find a home on ebay.


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## nicholsong

Kev

But didn't I read on here, or via a link, probably from Peter(Listerdiesel) that the potential life for vented batteries is much longer than sealed.

So access for top-up could be an issue on cost grounds.

Geoff


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## Pudsey_Bear

I just went for the most capacity for the least dosh, 2 x 125ah for £170 delivered., they just happened to be sealed.


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## JonCris

Mine are vented through the side of the bench seat woodwork so top-up is not a problem simply lift the cushions & the hinged hatch & there they are. AND you don't even have to get wet or cold

Also regarding sealed non-maintenance batteries They are non-maintenance simply because they ARE sealed it doesn't make them better. In fact a good lead acid battery well maintained will last longer than a sealed or jell one simply because you can top it up from time to time


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## JonCris

nicholsong said:


> Kev
> 
> But didn't I read on here, or via a link, probably from Peter(Listerdiesel) that the potential life for vented batteries is much longer than sealed.
> 
> So access for top-up could be an issue on cost grounds.
> 
> Geoff


Suggest you check out 'Sterling Products' as they agree that as well as being cheaper vented batteries that you can top up are much better than sealed or gel batteries


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## Pudsey_Bear

I and loads of other people are stuck with the position of the LBs, and if under the driver or passenger seat then sealed is by far the best option as they would rarely get any maintenance.

And how many people have ever actually checked the level of the electrolyte anyway, unless there was a problem already?


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## nicholsong

JonCris said:


> nicholsong said:
> 
> 
> 
> Kev
> 
> But didn't I read on here, or via a link, probably from Peter(Listerdiesel) that the potential life for vented batteries is much longer than sealed.
> 
> So access for top-up could be an issue on cost grounds.
> 
> Geoff
> 
> 
> 
> Suggest you check out 'Sterling Products' as they agree that as well as being cheaper vented batteries that you can top up are much better than sealed or gel batteries
Click to expand...

JonCris

You quoted my post and then said 'I suggest you...' which I took to mean me, which was confusing as I was saying the same thing as you.

Geoff


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## nicholsong

Kev_n_Liz said:


> I and loads of other people are stuck with the position of the LBs, and if under the driver or passenger seat then sealed is by far the best option as they would rarely get any maintenance.
> 
> And how many people have ever actually checked the level of the electrolyte anyway, unless there was a problem already?


Kev

I can understand that if one is really stuck with the position of the batteries under seats that for maintenance purposes it might be better to have sealed batteries, even if they do not last as long as vented.

However, I am surprised that you think that people would not check the levels on their vented batteries. You may be right( - in which case that is maybe why we have so many posts about battery problems :lol: ) but I doubt that is the case. Batteries where the electrolyte is below the top of plates soon deteriorate.

Next you will be saying that not many people check the MH weight when fully loaded  :lol: :lol: :lol:

Geoff


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## Pudsey_Bear

Or oil levels, Windscreen wash fluid, brake fluid, wiper blades, tyre pressures.

But they'll go 5 miles for a bottle of milk or the ****/paper, but lift the bonnet, nah, I know no one who does it on a regular basis, except perhaps 2 , you being one of them Geoff, I'll keep quiet about the other, but it's not me  I do, it but only when it occurs to me.


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## listerdiesel

Hate to say it, but I religiously check water & oil before and during any major trip, and every 3 or 4 days otherwise.

I keep the coolant slightly above the level as it is much easier to see and fairly obvious when you have lost even a small quantity.

Tina's header bottle was just about opaque, you had to take the top off to see inside  

Oil is not a problem, we'll go between oil changes on less than a litre, slightly more when we're towing.

Got to check pads etc in the next week or so as we are off on the 5th June until the 24th, driving down to Avignon/Carpentras with the big trailer, but no engine, that's staying behind in Deurne, Holland, so we are 1.3 tonnes lighter   

Peter


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