Ducato flat battery

I have just spoken to my brother and he says that he never opens the distilled water filler plugs he just connects charger and that's it.

Also I have just read Halfords 'How to charge battery' and nowhere does it say the filler cap's have to be loosened.

Am I just old fashioned?

Not  Old  Fashioned,  GL,  just  not  used  to  dealing

with  these  more  modern  batteries  !!   Some  of  'em

don't  have  any  "removable" plugs  at  all,  others  just

have  a  form  of  'vent'  system.  By  and  large  it's

probably  best  to  just  check  that  connections  are 

tight  &  clean  and  keep  the  charger  leads  away  from

those  other  connectors.

You don't slacken/remove the caps when the vehicle's alternator is charging your battery   in fact  you needn't have removed either cable.

Not sure if this is the answer. My Rhythm has 2 leisure batteries under the front seats. These are automatically charged when hooked to the mains.  The vehicle battery is under the passenger footwell and difficult to access.  However on my  van electric clock I can change "habitation charge" to "vehicle charge" by changing one of the press buttons. Have you looked at your manual to see if this can be done. I only found out when the rescue man cam to sort out my vehicle flat battery!!

Thanks for that.....seems modern batteries do not need my old fashioned ways.  Just retrieved the manual from the van, does not explain if the hook up charges the engine battery, but does explain how to jump the engine.  Only connect the positive to battery and negative to earth.

Tomorrow purchase jump leads.

Positive to positive on each battery and negative of jumper to a decent  earth point on the jumpee. Connect the leads with both engines off  before you start the jumper.  And don't  buy cheap 

Thanks!

greylag - the reason you can't move the plate upward may be that there are probably two small screws still holding it down.

The screws are possibly at the point marked A on the picture.

Hope this helps

Don't know what year your Ducato is, but if it is an X250 there is a terminal under the bonnet specifically for jump starting. It can be found on the N/S under a black plastic cover with a + sign on it. The jump battery + connects to this and the negative clips on to the engine earth.
Before making any connections make sure you have the van keys in your pocket. When connections are made the central locking may activate and you won't be the first to lock yourself out.

I had similar problem and didnt top up the rear two cells, result they gassed off until they were dry,  had to have a new battery.

Poor design by Fiat , they could have made it a bit easier to top up the whole battery.