I have just been looking at a charger for my leisure battery and im still pondering over it , the charger is called Ring Powering smart charge 4 it is a fully automatic SLA 3 stage smart charger, it charges between 2-4 amps would this be ok as the advice with my new 85amp battery states that for a 85amp the charger needs to be 8 to 9 amp and for a 110amp 10 to 11amp .
can anyone help PLEASE.
------------- ALWAYS A PLEASURE NEVER A CHORE. CRAIG
If you want an intelligent charger for your leisure battery at a bargain price of £19.99 then this is for you CLICK HERE
Doesn't matter if you have a Lead Acid, Gel, AGM or whatever, this will charge your battery to 100% charge and maintain it as long as you want.
A mate of mine put me onto it, and I bought one for my 110ah battery. Its a 4 mode one, and is suitable for long term connection to a battery.
There are dearer chargers, but this does what it says on the box!
By the way, you DON'T want a powerful charger, charging a battery too quickly distorts / damages the plates inside the battery and shortens the life of your battery.
At £19.99 I'm thinking of buying another (was £23.99 the other week and I thought that was a bargain!)
I did bye the maypole 5 stage electronic charger from towsure and i must say it is exelent i have now also puchased a 600 watt inverter so when im on site with no hook up in can use the inverter to run my power and at the same time be charging the battery or a second battery how simple is that .
------------- ALWAYS A PLEASURE NEVER A CHORE. CRAIG
Quote: Originally posted by crbrakes on 18/7/2008
I did bye the maypole 5 stage electronic charger from towsure and i must say it is exelent i have now also puchased a 600 watt inverter so when im on site with no hook up in can use the inverter to run my power and at the same time be charging the battery or a second battery how simple is that .
Right, correct me if I've miss-read your post . . .
You intend to use a 600watt inverter when you are on a site with NO hook up. So the inverter is powered by your battery, yes? And you are planning on using your mains charger plugged into the inverter to charge the battery?
Sorry, it doesn't work like that!
If it did, you'd never need mains electric ever again!
no i mean you can use the inverter to charge a second battery the charger is only 3.8 amp and as a five stage system the first rescues the battery if it is under 7.5 volts with pulse charging then when at a safe level it does a bulk charge then some other stuff and finishes off on maintenence charge and this can be left on for months even when the battery is in use. so what you can do is alternate charge the batterys
------------- ALWAYS A PLEASURE NEVER A CHORE. CRAIG
no i mean you can use the inverter to charge a second battery the charger is only 3.8 amp and as a five stage system the first rescues the battery if it is under 7.5 volts with pulse charging then when at a safe level it does a bulk charge then some other stuff and finishes off on maintenence charge and this can be left on for months even when the battery is in use. so what you can do is alternate charge the batterys
Nice idea , but you would flatten the supplying battery before you get near fully charging the second one , you would be better off fully charging both batterys at home , and not taking the charger with you ( said in a nice way ).
Quote: Originally posted by tykey on 23/6/2008
Sorry, I wouldn't buy the cheapest. The cheap ones are probably cheap because the plates are thinner and don't last as long.
I have always bought the cheapest that the local caravan dealer has on offer. I bought my first 85 amp battery in 1992 and added a second 85 amp battery in 1994 as I was spending a lot of time on sites without hook up and it was helpful to have a spare available whilst we got some charge into the first one. These two batteries lasted till 2000 when I replaced the first one with a 110 amp battery ( again the cheapest of it's type I could find ).In 2003 I bought a new HYmer that came with a gel battery fitted and the second 85 amp battery ( still working well at 9 years old ) went with the old van. I am still using the gel battery and the 110 amp battery and still get 5 days or more of use from each one ( lights water pump and a couple of hours TV a night ).
As to the OP if you are not likely to be stopping on sites that do not have hook up just get the cheapest 85 amp battery you can, this battery's sole function will be to smooth out the 12v supply to the lights and pump and it will last for years with care. If you are planning on spending time on sites that do not have hook up then a pair of 110 amp batteries and a setup in your car to allow you to charge the battery whilst you are out and about on your holiday are a good idea, that way you can stay away almost indefinitely as long as you do a few miles every day in the car.
Batteries are a bit of a lottery, regardless of the price. Even the most expensive ones can fail quickly and some of the cheapest will go on for over 10 years. I've seen a few 15 year old cars with the original battery on and others fail at 3 months old.
If you are on hookup, you really don't need a good battery, is is only being used as a capacitor in reality, you are drawing the power from the charger.
I have two 85 aH batteries and with conservative use can easily get a weekend from one without EHU. The TV kills it within a few hours. In the summer with a 13 watt solar panel, I have never managed to flatten a battery.
My recomendation is if you always use EHU get a cheap small capacity battery, even consider a second hand car battery. It won't last as long as a proper one, but if you get it for £5 - £10 and it lasts a year you're laughing. Given that your charger should keep it topped up on ehu, even if it dies you probably won't notice.
If you have the odd weekend without EHU, it might be worth getting a 110 aH.
If like me you rarely use EHU I would consider 2 batteries, a lot of people have a 110 aH for use and an 85aH as a spare and swap them over if their main battery does go flat. If you rarely use EHU, I also recommend some form of renewable power source, normally a solar panel, but wind generators are starting to appear on sites as well. If you go for a solar panel (or wind generator) get the biggest you can afford. I find a 13 watt doesn't quite keep up with my demand unless it is height of summer and I keep my power consumption to an absolute minimum, but does make a huge difference to the time it takes to flatten the battery. You could also fit a battery box into your car and connect it to your 12S socket. You can then keep a spare leisure battery in the car fully charged so if you flatten the one in the van, you can swap them over.
Quote: Originally posted by LegsDownKettleOn on 24/7/2008
Batteries are a bit of a lottery, regardless of the price.
That's very true, but price shouldn't be the be-all-and-end-all. I guess a lot depends where you buy it from, battery dealers and caravan shops are probably the best bet.
Quote: Originally posted by charlichoo on 10/7/2008
If you want an intelligent charger for your leisure battery at a bargain price of £19.99 then this is for you CLICK HERE
Doesn't matter if you have a Lead Acid, Gel, AGM or whatever, this will charge your battery to 100% charge and maintain it as long as you want.
A mate of mine put me onto it, and I bought one for my 110ah battery. Its a 4 mode one, and is suitable for long term connection to a battery.
There are dearer chargers, but this does what it says on the box!
By the way, you DON'T want a powerful charger, charging a battery too quickly distorts / damages the plates inside the battery and shortens the life of your battery.
At £19.99 I'm thinking of buying another (was £23.99 the other week and I thought that was a bargain!)
Chaz
Hi,
There is lots of evidence in the "Old Bike Mags" and from my own experience that the Optimate and similar devices are not kind to batteries.
I had three motorcycle batteries fail in a year and a half when connected full time to one of these so called "intelligent" chargers. I now use it every month or so just as a top up and all seems fine.
My son's battery was declared u/s by the Optimate, I then whacked it on a £6.99 Halford's charger and it was brought back to life.
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Topic: Leisure battery
