Having just found out my leisure battery of just over two yrs service is knackered, sorry, sulphated, to use the correct word, (made getting the van back on the front of the house interesting with no motor mover - thank God for steroids) I thought other members might be interested in an excellent website, I've recently found, detailing everything you need to know about caravans and batteries.
http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/
I'm going out tomorrow and buying a new 110 AmpHr monster, if that let's me down, I'm trading the van in for a tent.
Thanks for the link most informative . Watch your back when your lifting that heavy 110 amp/hour monster ! You have checked it will fit in your battery box have'nt you .....??!!!
no not really unless the Zig (or Equiv is bust) Its strange for a regularly charged battery to die so quickly (even if it is Zig Charging rather than a proper charger)
always worth checking the battery levels but on Zig it wont run down that quick.
No it just wont fully recharge your battery , it will charge it to 80% of its capacity :~) .Caravan chargers wont fully recharge it for the exact reason you've stated . The biggest risk you run is tripping over your hook up lead !
Quote: Originally posted by rd57chad on 14/05/2005
No it just wont fully recharge your battery , it will charge it to 80% of its capacity :~) .Caravan chargers wont fully recharge it for the exact reason you've stated . The biggest risk you run is tripping over your hook up lead !
Thanks for the responses. I can fit the new battery in but the old washing up bowl that served as a battery holder for the smaller battery has had to go. It would seem the surest way of protecting the battery is to never let it run down except when unavoidable, maybe when on site without power. My intention was to have the new battery permanently plugged in to the mains via the onboard charger, but I'm a bit worried about this 80% thing. The instructions for my charger say it's a " float charger. It has a fixed ceiling voltage of 14.5 volts and the charging current allows the battery to float up to this ceiling, by which time the charging current falls to zero."
In other words it presents a fully charged battery doesn't it ??.
have you thought about checking your charging unit ? if it is a standard type i.e. a constant 13.8v charge then you should thimk about installing a 2 or 3 stage charger this will give a charge rate of 14.4v approx if battery is in a low or flat condition if you apply 13.8v constant charge in this state it will not charge to its full capacity and if left too long this will cause battery to fail
Thanks Mick. I measured the voltage on the charger and it was 14.6 I used to keep shallow charging when the voltage dropped slightly over time, which apparently is wrong. I'm reasonably confident that by having it permanently charged by the onboard, in summer, it should stay somewhere near fully charged. I have just invested in a new Halfords top of the range battery charger for the winter months when its too cold to have a lead through the window, so that should self regulate a full charge if left on in the garage, hopefully. The problem with the battery was sulphation of two cells, which apparently can best be prevented by equalizing the cells every so often, by applying a higher voltage charge i.e. a 5 to 10 % overcharge of the absorption stage voltage. I've yet to see a charger where you can select a charging voltage manually though. Anyway fingers crossed from now on.
Read some stuff in the latest Practical Caravan (July edition, mentioned on front cover). Talked about replacing caravan battery chargers. Seemingly many caravan "chargers" are not proper chargers and what you need, according to the article, is a two stage or multi stage unit. A two stage charger will deliver a higher voltage kick automatically to a flat battery (ie "overcharge" as mentioned above), and then reduce the voltage as the charge increases. This helps prevent "sulphation", and thus prolongs battery life. Related to this is that you should not charge a leisure (aka deep cycle) battery with a conventional car charger, but one designed specifically for leisure batteries, ie a two/multi stage device. Nor should you ever leave a battery fully discharged...
Quote: Originally posted by clairemc on 24/05/2005
At the moment we are having trouble with our battery on the caravan,we are wondering why it is going flat a lot and wondering what is causing it.
Hi
Three possible reasons, not being charged properly due to faulty charger, a short in your 12v system, or more likely, a kna**ered (a technical term) battery due to the reasons stated above and in the Eric Fowler guides. The solution is probably a new battery, but even then consider your charge/discharge regime. If your van charger is a single stage device (most are), it is likely that battery life is being shortened, especially if you allow the battery to fully discharge from time-to-time. If you can't run to a new stepped type charger for the van consider a leisure battery charger from Halfords or similar (must be a stepped type, not a conventional car charger), here is one example, although you would need to ask questions about voltage output (ie is it a true stepped type), http://www.halfords.com/opd_product_details.asp?id=16902&type=0&cat=28. Armed with this, or similar, remove your battery for a full recharge from time-to-time. Also, if the van is left for long periods consider removing the battery and leaving it on permanent trickle charge at home.
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Topic: Leisure battery not so leisurely
