Hello all, I have now packed my caravan up for the winter, I have taken the battery out and have put it on the trickle charger, the trickle charger has been on roughly for 2- 2 and half weeks and the battery indicator is still showing charging needed, would the trickle charger be this slow at charging? The battery had charge in it before we took it out as I used it in the van. Thanks
Doesn't sound right to me. What brand/model charger is it? Do you have a multimeter to check state of battery on it's own (without charger connected) and also to check for an output when charger connected?
If there was sufficient charger in the battery to start with, the charger should have indicated some reasonable condition after a fairly short time.
Leaving it on a trickle charger for that long is probably not good unless it's an intelligent charger i.e. stops charging when full. It may destroy the battery.
If it hasn't take a full charge it may be past it's best now.
The charger is fifth gear 12v trickle charger, it's 500ma constant output, the caravan battery is a Numax leisure. You think the battery has gone then?
I have just recently purchased a CTEK smart charger. Although expensive it is (I am assured) very good at maintaining a charge as it has an automatic pulse setting. Which Keeps the battery charged. but only after it has dropped voltage. So it is not on constant trickle charge but only when it needs a boost. It also has a RECOND setting which apparently re-conditions a battery, if it is a bit tired. (see my catastrophe forum entry on dead or flat battery)
Edit: A fully charged battery will read about 12.8 volts a couple of hours after the charger is removed, and when it's being charged should read about 13.5 volts, although some chargers will boost the voltage to 14.4v for a while.
A trickle charge only type charger will not fully charge a battery as it will only be supplying 13.8v in order to maintain the battery (many caravan chargers are the same)
to fully charge a battery it needs 14 + volts but if this is supplied without keeping a check on the battery condition it can result in boiling dry & ruining the battery. you need to fully charge the battery then put it on the trickle charger.Or best bet is to buy a smart charger which will fully charge the battery & then drop down to a maintenance charge of 13.8v
if you local Lidle or Aldi store still has any their chargers are ideal at half the price of a CTEC charger
a cheap multimeter is the tool to have.. you can get them off ebay for not much more than a fiver..
they wont tell you much other than the batteries state of charge and even a 90% knackered battery will still show a full state of charge but knowing that is worth knowing..
one of these will tell you the true state of your battery.. a bit more than a fiver but they tell you all you need to know with a simple quick ten second test..
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Topic: Caravan battery!
