Wintering your leaisure battery
As a newbie I'm sure what to do with our leisure battery when we finally stop touring over the winter. Should we leave it in situ or remove ir for storage at home? If its at home, is there any wisdom as to when to use a charger on it, or not at all unless charger has dropped/gone? Any pointers gratefully received.
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The battery will discharge over time, especially if you have a tracking or alarm system dependent upon it, and very cold weather can have an effect too.
It depends on how long you won't use it for but if a number of months I would take it out and keep in at home and put a smart charger on it.
Other options are installing a solar panel but even in winter that might not work.
The best option personally is not to stop touring? Your choice but your caravan on EHU or gas will keep you (very) warm, we find 1Kw once warmed up will do, use sites with hard standings (if they are open over the winter they will usually them) and really the only thing is to watch out for very cold weather when your aquaroll or outside pipes might freeze but there are ways around that. Obviously don't tow in really bad weather.
If you are new then also make sure you empty all the water from your caravan or it will freeze, expand and split any fittings and usually frost damage is not covered by any warranty. (sorry if you knew that)
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If you are new then also make sure you empty all the water from your caravan or it will freeze, expand and split any fittings and usually frost damage is not covered by any warranty. (sorry if you knew that)
Just to add, remember to leave all your taps fully open in the mid position, and the fridge/freezer door open too.
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I keep my van at home and made the mistake of removing the battery the first winter after purchase and the back up battery in the Swift Bluetooth/Internet/tracker communication system drained and needed to be replaced (expensive mistake). I now leave the main battery in over winter and give it a `1 hour charge top up once a month using the hook up and on board charger.
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The best thing to do is keep your leisure battery charged. If your van is equipped with a smart charger and you can connect at home or in your storage facility then just plug in and leave it; the smart charger should keep the battery in top condition.
If you have to remove the battery for charging at home then again use a good quality smart charger and just leave it connected. With a smart charger there is no need to give it a boost once a week or month. That harks back to the old days of dumb constant amperage chargers which could cook a battery if left constantly on.
Currently on the continent Lidl are selling a particularly good Osram smart charger at a very competitive price (Lidl Osram Smart Charger). I assume it will become available here fairly soon; otherwise CTEK chargers are excellent.
Finally, as others have said, to winter you van there is more than the battery to consider.
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We also swapped over batteries when we had a caravan in order to power the alarm and tracker. However, I found lugging and fitting 20+ kilos of battery in the tight confines of the storage compound rather difficult. Therefore when we switched to a MH I had sufficient solar added to adequately power the alarm and tracker, plus keep the battery topped up, even in the depths of winter. Not the primary reason for them being fitted but we have also found the panels useful off grid on Aires when touring in France, which opens up many more stopping places.
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No simple solution unfortunately. The battery should be topped up every month or so and if you have a tracker or alarm you will need to use a spare battery whilst charging. This is what we did but, yes, it’s heavy to lug around.
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I may be an exception here, but I don't have an alarm or a tracker in my caravan, so I remove the battery and store it as it is in the basement, not connected to any charger. It has lasted me for over 6 years since I bought it and it seems to still be going strong when it's back in the caravan. There's enough charge left in it after 6 months to enable the motor mover to shift my 1800kg caravan about 50 yards out of storage, even before the first recharge.
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