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Subject Topic: Leisure battery over winter
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PersonMick Jennings
24/1/2021 at 3:57pm
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I have my camper parked on the drive and obviously its not being used at the moment. I am getting a new leisure battery soon as my old one is dead. My question is ... Is it ok to have the van on EHU all the time when stored, i,e using the onboard hookup/charger. Or does this wreck the battery by over charging it.
Should i just connect the EHU say once a month to top everything up. Also if I am using the van for daytrips running fridge etc, should I keep it on charge betwwen trips or leave it a couple of times.
Hope this makes sense!!


Personsaxo1
24/1/2021 at 4:14pm
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It depends entirely on the charger.
If it is a smart charger in the camper then you can leave it on indefinitely,
The leisure battery in my caravan was plugged in 24/7 all year and it was still going strong after 12 years.
saxo1


PersonColin21
24/1/2021 at 6:17pm
 Location: East Herts
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My caravan is stored on my driveway, and in wintertime I take the leisure battery off and bring it inside where I can put my smart-charger on it. I don't leave it permanently connected, although I could, I just give it a charge for a few hours every now and then. I have done this for some years now and the batteries seem just fine doing that. My charger is one of the Aldi ones.



-------------
Best Regards,
Colin


Persontango55
24/1/2021 at 6:43pm
 Location: Lichfield
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You can leave the van connected to the mains to charge the leisure battery via the onboard charger without any issues regarding over-charging but the onboard charger only charges to around 80% of the battery capacity which in the long term shortens the life of the battery. The solution to get maximum performance from the battery is to remove the battery and charge it independently via a smart charger which is more sophisticated as it is designed to charges in stages and monitors the charge in progress. The percentage of the battery capacity is then higher which then reaches the float charge so you can leave the battery connected and switched on 24/7 without any issues therefore maximum life of the leisure battery is achieved. My leisure battery is now on it's 10th year charging via the smart charger method whereas before I was only getting about 3 years from a battery so well worth the investment.   


Personsaxo1
via mobile 24/1/2021 at 7:56pm
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The charger in my van was a smart charger and kept my battery fully charged as I posted it was still OK after 12+ years.
The van was a Burstner with a German charger.
Saxo1


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PersonMick Jennings
25/1/2021 at 1:05pm
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Thanks for the advice.
To get the leisure battery out is a bit of a faff due to its location( i need to remove a side panel from the kitchen unit behind the drivers seat), and hopefully next winter we will be more able to travel so I would like to be able to leave it in place.
Would it be ok to leave it connected up to the van system but use a separate smart charger via clips when I get home between daytrips/odd overnights etc. Obviously I wouldn't use any EHU at those times. I have a maypole 4amp smart charger on order.


PersonColin21
25/1/2021 at 1:34pm
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If you do decide to do that Mick, it might be as well to connect the smart charger directly onto the battery terminals and turn off the battery isolator switch if you have one. That will protect any electronics that may be installed.


-------------
Best Regards,
Colin


PersonPaul_B
26/1/2021 at 9:29am
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I leave my caravan on the mains charger over winter as the solar panels don't get enough sunlight, this battery is 5 years old, the last one died at 11 years.


PersonHency
26/1/2021 at 4:05pm
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Mick, do your research when considering buying the leisure battery. There's quite a lot of brands all claiming to be the best. Decide which one you want then look for who sells it the cheapest.


Personjim oldham
27/1/2021 at 10:29am
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Scroll down on these posts to see my comment on a Yuasa battery.

https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=31&TopicID=........


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woodman2
27/1/2021 at 4:17pm
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I asked Coachman about this very point and was advised that the charger within my caravan is a smart charger and it was OK to leave it connected to the mains 24/7.

I suggest you do the same with your camper and ask the manufacturer.



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