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Hi - Just bought a new 75A battery.

Very confused by the varied advice regarding charging/keeping up the charge/regular re-charging!

1. Is it essential to have the battery "deep" charged?

2. Is a "Smart" charger the correct one?

3. Can I "start off" the battery by trickle charging and purchase the appropriate charger later?

4. Are new caravans fitted with "Smart" chargers? If not, why not?

Reason for new battery - had a mover fitted and it showed how feeble (dead) the old battery was!

Hey Ho - keep smiling !

smart charges are the way to go. see looking after battery

http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/helpandadvice/technicalhelp/datasheets/

We never seem to need to charge ours ,have we found the secret of unlimited power ?

Seriously though ,it seems to keep its self charged but then we dont have a mover :/

We did however fork out a lot of money for a smart charger as were told a normal one damage the battery ?

Quote: Originally posted by idmainian on 13/6/2011

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Hi mine is on charge all the time pluged into the garage on a timer 2 hours a night but before we go off I always give it a good 4 hour boost on the battery charger because we have a motor mover.Ian

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When you are at a campsite do you leave it on charge permanently? My battery is an 85ah. I don't have a motor mover. The only 12v in mine will be lights and the water pump?

Fred.

Here are some interesting facts regarding battery maintenance that may be of some help to you.

http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/helpandadvice/technicalhelp/power/your-leisure-battery/

Thank you for the replies. I had a folding camper and never used a battery with it. I had caravans quite a few years ago with no batteries. I bought a 1996 coachman late last year but not used it yet. I have been doing my homework on everything including batteries. I have read the caravan club info and lots of others but never seen mention of 'when caravan is in use on campsite leave battery charger switched on?' There are lots of good tips about batteries and battery care including car/ leisure differences. It seems to me to make sense to leave the charger on if I am using lights etc. I wondered if it should be turned off during the day and if it harmed it if the charger was left on? The battery that came with the caravan 85ah seems in good condition showing 12.7 volts when the charger is switched off. I see above Michael leaves his on charge on site. I have my caravan on the drive with electric plugged in and have charged it from time to time. I have now (as jhsw above) put a timer on it for 2 hours a day.

Fred.

 hi brian dont use an ordinary charger on a liesure battery it will ruin it use a smart charger i got one it charges then goes into maintenance mode  £25 from halfords

 hope this helps allan-d

Quote: Originally posted by allan-d on 23/2/2012

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 hi brian dont use an ordinary charger on a liesure battery it will ruin it use a smart charger i got one it charges then goes into maintenance mode  £25 from halfords

 hope this helps allan-d

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I fully agree with this also and was advised this by an expert in the auto electrical trade. I also use a smart charger myself made by 'Durite' but on many occassions you get people on here stating that it's okay to use an ordinary car battery charger to charge a leisure battery when it's not. It has been mentioned times out of number also with links that a car battery and leisure battery are designed completely different and due to this being the case the chargers are also designed differently supplying different pulse rates of charge. If the input charge is too fierce it will buckle the internal lead plates and when the plates in time eventually touch you get a short circuit and that's when the battery is well and truly had it's day.