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Subject Topic: Leisure battery advice please?
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PersonPinkpigeon
22/11/2015 at 4:06pm
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We just bought our first - new to us - caravan yesterday and we're absolutely delighted with it, can't wait to get going with it. There's so much to learn!

We're going to put it into storage and I'm wondering what we should be doing with the leisure battery - should we take it out and charge it at home in the meantime?


Personbirdman101
22/11/2015 at 4:18pm
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If you have not a solar panel fitted I would take it out and charge at home. If you stand it on a concrete floor stand it on a piece of wood to stop it discharging through the casing.


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Persontonyv8power
22/11/2015 at 4:22pm
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Hello, assuming your van is not fitted with a burglar alarm or solar panel, then it would do no harm to remove the battery and put on a suitable trickle charger at home, then it will be fully charged and ready for use when required.


PersonPinkpigeon
22/11/2015 at 4:26pm
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Great thanks - we don't have a solar panel or burglar alarm, no. Are trickle chargers generic items or will I need to it a particular one to suit the particular battery?

Do I just continually leave it charging till I need to use it?


Personbirdman101
22/11/2015 at 4:55pm
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Aldi and Lidle both have hadsuitable smart chargers recently


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Persontonyv8power
22/11/2015 at 7:56pm
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Hello again, yes trickle charge is a generic term. Check out Optimate chargers online, with an Optimate, you can leave it connected to the battery all the time without damaging the battery, and it constantly checks the state of charge and tops it up as and when required. There are cheaper chargers, Lidl and Aldi, but read the instructions first to see if you can leave them connected on charge.


PersonGlamcamping
22/11/2015 at 8:07pm
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Hi Pinkpiegon

We take ours out and leave on a charger over winter.

Try to keep it off the floor ie cold concrete. Place on some timber off the floor if possible. We got a trickle charger from halfords and once charged it just maintains. It's for sealed lesiure batteries or can also be used for unsealed top up batteries too and was about £30 from memory.

Hope this helps

-------------
Bailey Pegasus Ancona 2016
Adria adora Thames platinum 2018 👍
Happy vanning all 😎


PersonPinkpigeon
22/11/2015 at 8:30pm
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Thanks all. Tony I've had a look at the OptiMate website. They have so many different products, not sure which would be suitable


Personlexie71
22/11/2015 at 10:48pm
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A resting leisure battery should read about 12.7 volts just keep a eye on voltage readings over the winter I always check mine once a week when I bring it home


VangoMan02
23/11/2015 at 12:03am
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I store caravan at home and remove leisure battery and stick it on the Ctek charger about once a month.

I also have a small car battery which I hook up when leisure battery is removed. Lets me have lights if needing to do any jobs inside the caravan. We generally don't use the van in December and January.

-------------
It is a wise man who has something to say.
It is a fool who has to say something.


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PersonGrampian91
23/11/2015 at 12:18am
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The static voltage when not under load can be misleading though.

Stick a load on the battery like a headlamp bulb or similar and check the voltage after a few minutes with the bulb still powered.

Sister left her battery in the van and didnt charge it, I picked it up and charged it with the CTEK which is supposed to condition them.

I topped the battery up and charged it, it took a while and boiled off quite a bit of the electrolyte, good job i put the tube into a jar.

All seemed fine with 13+ volts, but putting an 8 amp load on it the voltage dropped quickly and within 20 minutes it was at 10.5 volts.





Personfreeatlast
23/11/2015 at 10:59am
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Quote: Originally posted by Glamcamping on 22/11/2015
Hi Pinkpiegon
Try to keep it off the floor ie cold concrete. Place on some timber off the floor if possible.



Grief! This old wives tale is still being flogged. The need to keep a battery off a concrete floor went decades ago when batteries came with plastic cases. This old wives tale goes back to the days when cases were tar lined wooden boxes!

While I agree it is better to remove the battery from the van during winter, leaving it on constant trickle charge is certainly not necessary, and may damage the battery, as well as wasting electricity. Put a battery on charge every couple of months or so for a few hours is all that is needed. The Battery University suggests a maintenance charge every 6 months.

If anyone is in doubt about the effects of constant trickle charging, look at burglar alarm batteries. They are on constant trickle charge and soon fail. One only has to have a power cut and everybody in the neighbourhood finds out that many of these internal batteries have failed when the alarms sound.


Personjeff juke
23/11/2015 at 11:56am
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All about leisure batteries here....Click

-------------
Animals have feelings..

JEFF................


Persontonyv8power
23/11/2015 at 4:01pm
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The Optimate 6 ampmatic goes up to 240 amphours and the CTEK Multimxs 5 is good to 110 amphour batteries. Your leisure battery is likely to be 90 or 110 amphour. These are so called smart chargers and the CTEK blurb says it is connect and forget. Either would do the job.


Personnaturlist123
24/11/2015 at 12:00am
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THE LIDL AND ALDI BATTERY CHARGES GO TO TRICKLE CHARGE WHEN REQUIRED AFTER BRINGING BATTERY UP TO THE REQUIRED CHARGE.
JUST REMEMBER TO SET ON 12 VOLT SECOND PRESS OF BUTTON
NO NEED TO USE SNOWFLAKE CHARGE UNLESS BATTERY IS REALLY FLAT AND IN A VERY COLD GARAGE.
I HAVE USED ONE FROM LIDL FOR OVER TEN YEARS IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY I PAID LESS THAN £1O FOR IT.
ARGOS SELL A RAC ONE FOR £19.99 BOUGHT ONE YEAR BEFORE LAST YEAR TO KEEP BATTERY UP TO DATE WHEN HAVING PROBS AWAY IN WALES WITH PRINTED CIRCUIT ON ZIG UNIT, JUST FITTED INTO CIRCUIT BETWEEN EHU AND BATTERY


PersonJTQU
24/11/2015 at 7:04am
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Just a point of caution on the Aldi & Lidl smart chargers.

Those I have known are not smart enough to reset following a power cut. So in that regard they are not really "fit and forget" and probably better used to fully recharge the battery then disconnected for a few weeks before being re employed.

Here with local overhead mains cabling few weeks pass without some power outage.

Both my CTEK units do reset, neither of my two Aldi which were purchased years apart do. That feature recognised and taken into account they are IMO good units for a cheap price. I went for the Aldi versions as these both had LCDs giving charge voltage and a crude state of charge indicator whereas the Lidl units I have known only feature LED indicators; just a personal preference.



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