General 1992 Ducato Camper electrics

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General 1992 Ducato Camper electrics

whonemobiler

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Draining batteries and faintly lit panel charging light, seem to be my problem despite replacing the generator with a new one and both batteries ! The batteries are dead after 3 or 4 days of non-use and reading the forum I realise I am not alone. Also only one of the two reconditioned cooling fans cuts in and this has been traced to a system by Bitron Video (2044029) which is the control unit, apparently. But does anyone out there know where I can get one?? Fiat don't and Bitron Video don't either. Am I the only one?:confused:
 
Same problem, Kid, but I thought that a new alternator and batteries would solve the problem. This made no difference and just like yourself I get gremlin type activity when I put on anything like lights etc. Also the alternator light glows a faint red all of the time.

I am still baffled by the Bitron Video part. Nobody seems to know where it comes from or how to get a new one!:confused:
 
Thanks for the input, It seems that Fiat don't know either- a case of " the people who make them don't know how to make them" - Maris Thor seems to have a solution so I am working on the leads he gave me - I will post results
 
The problem was as I have described !! in other words it hasn't changed despite the new batteries and alternator - the mystery of Fiat is greater than faith
 
The batteries are dead after 3 or 4 days of non-use /QUOTE]

If the batteries are dead after non use, it is seems like it is no problem in charging,but something waste the power in non use. Maybe radio or some bulb?
 
The batteries are dead after 3 or 4 days of non-use /QUOTE]

If the batteries are dead after non use, it is seems like it is no problem in charging,but something waste the power in non use. Maybe radio or some bulb?
check the earth leads mate sometimes the earth wire burns itself out put a jump lead onto a good clean earth on the bodywork put the other side onto engine see if the dim light goes out put elec testers onto the batteries make sure the alternaters sendinig out a charge sounds as if u have a bad earth check all cables can be hard to see had the same prob it was the earth lead changed it and it sorted it
 
Hi im not sure how old this is but if your batterys are draining over a few days then you have an amps leak,you need to remove the earth from the battery then put a multimeter in line and set to amps,you will find out then how many amps are been lost,you will have a small drain for things like clock but it will be small.then if you have a drain you need to find the circuit where its leaking from.it can be traced by testing each item via the fuse box but to me reading through the posts you have a live that is earthing before the ignition switch,i.e starter ,alternator ,also earth straps can cause all sorts of gremlins so replace if in doubt or give them a good clean.hope this helps someone
 
I've got a 1999 Fiat 2.8 TD based Autotrail Mohican.
I had all sorts of silly little electrical problems like dull headlights, rear-view camera shutting down when I operated the electric windows, culminating in the alarm system working when it felt like it would.

I got on to Cobra alarms and got a lot of help in tracing the Alarm fault, Mr Brown from Cobra intended to get me to reset my alarm over the phone under his instructions. Before he could do that he told me to check that I had good Earths at certain points.

I took my multi-meter, connected the black to the battery negative and with the meter set to the resistance range, checked the various Earth resistances back to the battery. I was expecting in the region of 0.2Ω to 0.5 Ω, but what I got was about 16Ω, so this raised my suspicions right away. I rigged a temporary Earth with a length of cable and a couple of crock clips and suddenly all my alarm faults were gone.

Since then I have checked all the Earths throughout, both on the vehicle side and the caravan side. I found them all to be rusty, dry and high resistance.

I cleaned them all up, re-terminated where necessary, covered both surfaces with a good water proof grease (I used Vaseline), I put shake-proof washers between mating faces, so they would bite into each other and make good electrical contact. I also put a good stout cable from one of the vehicle Earth points to one of the main caravan Earth points. Now when I do resistance checks between any Earth points on any part of the whole motor home, they are all less than 1Ω.
That’s what I did, but the results on the motorhome are; no alarm problems, my headlights are pure bright blue/white, electric windows are much quicker, rear-view camera does not die on me, starter turns faster and the electrics generally seem sharper.
My advice; if you have electrical problems you cannot sort, check both the supply lines and the Earth returns. Do this before you start buying ad replacing thing that may be serviceable. The Earth is the one that usually gets forgotten, but remember the power goes out on the positive and returns through the negative (Earth), so they are equally important.
RexH
 
The Bitron Video 204etc. thingy is the flame-start relay. No longer made.

Saw one on ebay the other day, £285 !! Only one.
 
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