Finally after lots of hiccups we have had a lovely first season in our van. She is now safely storage for the winter, after loads of advice lol. Now hopefully my last question - we were told to take out our battery which we did, now we have been told to 1) trickle charger it 2) don't trickle charge it. Help!!! The battery is a leisure 12 volt 85 amp hr, what type of charger is best! Solar or what
best to charge once a month for me.if you buy a quality trickle charger this will do just as well.if in a garage or a shed protect the base by putting it on a thick cardboard,to protect from frost.
lots to read.
You need to keep the leisure battery fully charged at all times to get the max out of your leisure battery, in other words it's best never to let the volts fall below 12.7 volts. You need a multi-meter to check this plus the best trickle charger to buy is one that charges in stages such as the one shown in the link. Don't be tempted to buy the Maypole trickle charger because although they are cheap they are not really designed for this application and two of my leisure batteries only lasted a maximum of 2 years. The 110 ah battery I have now is on it's fourth year so the proof is what you save on the charger you spend on leisure batteries so basically it's a false economy in the long term.
I as a new caravanner for the last 5 yrs I have read all manner of things about leisure batteries and the amount of information is over whelming, however i have come to the following conclusions about leisure batteries and there maintenance.
1> unless the caravan is relatively new the onboard charger will only charge to about 80 - 85% full capacity.
2> Over charging is just as bad as under charging.
3> Leaving battery in the caravan whilst not being used i.e. in storage is also bad, best to bring home and store in garage.
4> Trickle and std battery chargers can be used but for differing period of charge time. Best to buy a Trickle charger rather than a standard charger. I have one of aldi trickle chargers for a 120 amp battery and it never lets me down.
5> Trickle chargers can be left on continuously as they monitor the state charge and top up as necessary. Also very good for vans without or broken chargers on board. We have an Adria with no charger, so use the aldi trickle charger, this is very similar to the Ctek units.
6> Std charges can be used, i use one once or twice a year for 24 hrs at a time only.
7> During winter remove battery form caravan and store on bench in the garage of shed, on an old piece of carpet of polystyrene ceiling tile. Also keep it from draughts to prevent freezing.
8> Where possible check electrolyte levels and top up if necessary.
9> Don't over stress the battery when in use, as we don't have an on board charger we disconnect our battery when set up as it is not required. Some new caravans need the battery connected to normalise the 12v supply so removal or disconnection is not always possible.
10> Keep both the battery terminals and connectors clean and bright. Smear petroleum jelly on battery terminals when not in use. Most problems can be traced to poor fitting connectors on the battery especially when using a motor mover which draws massive current.
Hope this helps some and others may disagree with some, but it is what I have found and it works for us.
It is misleading to think of the Aldi and for that matter the Lidl or smaller CTEKs as "trickle" chargers.
All of these can punch a full charge of at least 14.4 volts whereas "trickle" charging is done at no more than 13.8 volts. Using them is very much preferred to using a trickle charger which is by definition a pretty dumb animal.
The current they can muster is in a different sense a "trickling small amount" but don't confuse that with the accepted term "trickle charging".
Unless your battery is over about 100AH then it serves no purpose to charge it with other than the Aldi or equivalent charger, unless it is already in poor condition where a brief higher current charge might just help it a bit.
normal trickle chargers do not monitor anything, they are simply transformers, but low current ones, usually less than 1A, mainly around 500mA, they are "automatic" in the sense they the do not have enough power to overcharge the battery, once the battery is full, its internal resistance stops the charge (this is how the charge indicator works)
the Ctec style chargers are intelligint multistage chargers, which can give varying voltages to the battery depending on the state of the battery.
Trickle Chargers are for maintenance, not for charging generally, CTEK style ones are for charging and maintenance.
I may have been unlucky, but I had a 'Lidl' smart charger fail on my within a few days, plus it's replacement didn't last the week either. I realise there are folk on here who swear by them, but I take as I find.
I since bought a C-Tek model MXS5.0 which has been faultless and which safely keeps my leisure battery charged over the few months I 'winterise' the van. C-Tek MXS5.0 from Amazon
Can anyone advise...we have to leave battery onthe van because of the phantom tracker....are we going to do any damage leaving the van hooked up to the electric (Its on the drive)..will it cause more problems or should we disconnect it ???
------------- Coming home back to a caravan
2013
Whit week Kelpie Manorbier
July/Aug Carpenters Farm Isle of Wight
Quote: Originally posted by vonc on 20/11/2012
Can anyone advise...we have to leave battery onthe van because of the phantom tracker....are we going to do any damage leaving the van hooked up to the electric (Its on the drive)..will it cause more problems or should we disconnect it ???
i have the caravan hitched up to EHU on the drive 24/7 but it is on a timer.this timer is set to come on for 4 hours per day.this is enough to keep the battery fully charged.i have used this method for years without a problem.only buy a quality timer as cheap ones are dangerous and a fire risk. we need the battery full for the mover.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
I've seen a few posts with people using a timer, but not sure why, I leave it on 24/7, its a new van and the inbuilt charger keeps the battery fully charged and the fridge cold
Power consumption is tiny, so I don't see a need to switch it on and off
I must be doing this all wrong..... I only ever take the battery off the van maybe three times a year for a full charge, it stays on through the winter with only one removal for a charge .... and I've only had 3 batteries in 32 years.
Quote: Originally posted by jaiash on 21/11/2012I must be doing this all wrong..... I only ever take the battery off the van maybe three times a year for a full charge, it stays on through the winter with only one removal for a charge .... and I've only had 3 batteries in 32 years.
That's reasuring to read, as this year for the first time in 5 years of caravan ownership, I am thinking of leaving the battery in because of the fitted alarm on our new caravan, and have been worried that it might do it some irreparable damage.
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Topic: Leisure battery
