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 Topic: Caravan Batteries
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17/12/2011 at 2:07pm
Location: Cheshire
Outfit: Coachman Vision Festival 2014
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Hi all, I wonder if anyone can help? We have had two new batteries in our Coachman Amara (2008) and if we don't use it for two to three months the leisure battery disharges completely. This has just happened for the second time even though when we had it serviced in July this year we asked them to check the charger in the van and they said all was well. On all our other caravans the battery remained charged over the winter no problems. Can any one suggest what might be wrong.
Happy Christmas and a Joyous New Year to you all when it comes.
Thanks Denise.
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17/12/2011 at 2:14pm
Location: Wales
Outfit: Volvo XC60 R Design
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I take my battery home when we store the van for the winter and I now have it on maintainance charge ready for when it's needed. The power must be being used somewhere, have you tried uncoupling the leads and see how the charge lasts?
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73 going on 25
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17/12/2011 at 2:15pm
Location: Lichfield
Outfit: Coachman Amara 450
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We need a bit more information regarding this really before any help can be offerred. Firstly, is the caravan in storage with no electrical supply or is the caravan outside your home connected to the 240 volt mains supply on a constant charge using the caravan onboard charger?
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17/12/2011 at 2:55pm
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Have you got an aerial booster ? A lot of people forget to switch it off and this can drain the battery.
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Animals have feelings..
JEFF................
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17/12/2011 at 2:59pm
Location: Wiltshire
Outfit: sold van so looking for a nice tent
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Quote: Originally posted by jeff juke on 17/12/2011
Have you got an aerial booster ? A lot of people forget to switch it off and this can drain the battery.
good point! didn't think of that one myself.
Although I remove the battery when it gets laid up for the winter...better to be safe than sorry.
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Rich
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17/12/2011 at 3:03pm
Location: Lancashire
Outfit: Caravan now Sold
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think something is draining the battery like the alarm or tv aerial booster left on or a fridge display panel.when you leave it in storage remove the negative terminal and cover with a plastic bag to prevent earthing.this way no drain can happen.check if alarm contains it's own battery as ours does.or as said remove it and store/charge it at home.
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the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
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17/12/2011 at 3:20pm
Location: Cheshire
Outfit: Coachman Vision Festival 2014
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Hi, thanks for your help, here is some more information. Our caravan is stored on the drive. We do not leave anything switched on. We do not leave it plugged in. We have never used a TV but will check if it has a booster. When the last battery drained we checked for a drain source and couldn't find one that's why we asked the charger be checked at service. We do have an alarm but was under the impression that this has own battery source as that is still working even though caravan battery is as flat as a pancake. We understand that leisure batteries cannot be recharged once flat so I think we will need a new one again. We will disconnect battery in future as we can't afford to keep renewing but we have never had to in the past so are mystified by this.
All ideas warmly recieved.
Denise. 
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17/12/2011 at 3:21pm
Location: south cheshire
Outfit: VW Caddy Maxi
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All of the above. I usually disconnect mine (by just disconnecting the -ve terminal) after every single use, and connect again just before going away.
All is not necessarily lost if your current battery is flat, I ran mine right down once but I put it on a normal? charge ( from a car battery charger) for a couple of hours, then left on a trickle charge overnight and the next day. It charged right up to the top again, I hope yours does the same.
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17/12/2011 at 3:31pm
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Ive lost 2 new batteries in 2 vans.When i took them out for the winter they were "warm"to touch.I found the water/acid level went down over the season by the heat in the air also,when i got the charger checked the engineer told me that evan though the batt was fully charged the charger will trickle feed thus still putting a charge in and cause the battery to get warm and the water to evaparate.
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Animals have feelings..
JEFF................
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17/12/2011 at 3:33pm
Location: Lancashire
Outfit: Caravan now Sold
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All ideas warmly recieved.
Denise.
ours is stored at home on the drive and we have a shed with a plug that i can plug into 24/7 and using a timer,this timer comes on for 4 hours a day.this keeps the battery fully charged and runs a dehumidifier if required.also keeps the battery full for the mover.done this for years.DO not buy a cheap timer as they are not safe.a caravan charger will only charge to 13.5 volts at any time.if no shed you could have an outside water proof plug fitted.
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17/12/2011 at 4:31pm
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Caravan chargers aren't very good, they will never fully charge a battery, so it's always advisable to take it home from time to time & give it a proper charge with a proper battery charger. Even car alternators won't give much more than 80-90% charge at best.
Your problem is obviously something still using power & draining the battery over time. Best to disconnect it every time you leave the van until you find out what it is.
Your battery may be salvageable, give it a charge with a proper charger, you may get lucky (I have in the past).
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17/12/2011 at 4:40pm
Location: Lichfield
Outfit: Coachman Amara 450
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As our caravan is in storage I always remove the leisure battery and keep it on charge 24/7 in a spare ventilated room via a smart charger as this is ideal to keep the battery in tip top condition throughout the winter period. I used to re-charge then leave disconnected over the winter hoping the battery would hold the charge for about 3 months but it apparently discharges very slowly over time and due to this I was only getting 2 years maximum out of a leisure battery. If my caravan was situated outside my home I would connect the 240 volt lead from the house to the caravan (same as an electric hook up) and charge via the onboard charger as this should keep the battery fully charged without having any voltage drop at all.
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17/12/2011 at 4:45pm
Location: Eastbourne East Sussex
Outfit: Elddis WistonGT
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Agree with magsruby - my battery went flat, it took 3 days to charge it up again using an 8 amp car charger, but was then fully charged and trickle charger kept it topped up.
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17/12/2011 at 5:37pm
Location: Lichfield
Outfit: Coachman Amara 450
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General rule of thumb: The less your deep cycle battery is discharged before being properly recharged again, the longer it will last.
I have provided a link which someone provided on this site in another thread regarding discharged batteries.
http://www.energymatters.com.au/renewable-energy/batteries/battery-voltage-discharge.php
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