Battery maintainance
Hi. Any advice for keeping the battery maintained over the winter months whilst the caravan is in storage. I have heard of battery chargers that also maintain the battery as well. Anybody got some advice on makes, prices etc.
Thanks in advance
Comments
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Not sure where you keep it. If at home and you have an external power socket you can just leave it plugged in. If you do not have one just plug it in from time to time to keep it topped up.
If the caravan is in storage and assuming there is no alarm powered from the battery you can keep an eye on it and charge it if you find the charge dropping. Alternatively a solar charger might keep it topped up.
Alarms do use a fair amount of power and unless you have a second battery if in store a good solar panel would be neccessary.
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We have two batteries as our van has a tracker, which slowly drains it. The reserve is kept at home connected to a smart charger, which I understand charges it / preserves it in optimal condition. The batteries are changed over every month / 2 months depending
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If you dont have power you will need to swap batteries every 1 - 2 months so will need a spare. If you have EHU then it depends what kind of charger you have in the van. If it is a so-called "intelligent charger" then you can keep it permanently connected,
however, if you have a conventional charger in the van which produced about 13.8 volts then it is not a good idea and not recommended to keep permanent on charge. Certain types of trickle charger should also not be permanently connected.If you want to buy a smart charger for permanent connection then most people recommend CTek. I have two of them!
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Our van is in storage and no alarm on van so during Dec/Jan the battery does come out and comes home for a rest and a charge in the garage. To my cost we've left them in van over winter "It'll be all right" attitude and doesn't do them any good at all!
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I remove the battery from the van and store it in the garage, it's a good opportunity to give the battery, terminals & clamps, tray and locker a good clean. I have an 'Optimate' charger and I stick the battery on it for 2 days every month or so to keep
it topped up, although any decent battery charger would do just as well. I wouldn't leave a battery constantly on charge all winter, it's just not necessary.0 -
In my opinion, if a lead acid battery is on permanent/constant charge 24/7/365, the batteries' float voltage must be regulated to be no higher than 13.5 - 13.8 volts, anymore can damage the battery when on permanent/constant charge. An example is the lead acid battery inside your house alarm panel, it's constant float voltage is 13.5 - 13.8 volts.
Colin
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In my opinion, if a lead acid battery is on permanent/constant charge 24/7/365, the batteries' float voltage must be regulated to be no higher than 13.5 - 13.8 volts, anymore can damage the battery when on permanent/constant charge. An example is the lead
acid battery inside your house alarm panel, it's constant float voltage is 13.5 - 13.8 volts.Colin
It isn't the voltage so much as the current. At 13.8 volts a normal caravan charger will push current into the battery even though it is fully charged and this will cause deterioration. A smart charger will reduce the current because it is monitoring the
battery terminal voltage.0 -
Well I have had my Banner Charging Bull battery in my van for about 3 or 4 years now and from the minute I park it and set the Wheel lock in place, it is connected to a mains hook up. The heating is set to 6 degrees to prevent freezing in winter and of course the battery is on charge. Its never given any indication of feeling poorly due to that!
TF
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The comments I made above are what the manufacturer's say. Of course, in practice you may not notice any deterioration but some claim to get 7 years plus from a battery. I don't think you can judge the condition unless you regularly fully discharge the battery.
If you always use EHU then it is irrelevant what condition the battery is in and you might as well have a cheap car battery.0 -
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In my opinion, if a lead acid battery is on permanent/constant charge 24/7/365, the batteries' float voltage must be regulated to be no higher than 13.5 - 13.8 volts, anymore can damage the battery when on permanent/constant charge. An example is the lead
acid battery inside your house alarm panel, it's constant float voltage is 13.5 - 13.8 volts.Colin
It isn't the voltage so much as the current. At 13.8 volts a normal caravan charger will push current into the battery even though it is fully charged and this will cause deterioration. A smart charger will reduce the current because it is monitoring the
battery terminal voltage.In principle I totally agree with you Colin, but the said current that is being pushed into the caravans' battery is not high enough to cause any significant damage in my opinion. I will explain my reasoning;
I know this for a fact as I have measured it, most (not all of course) house hold alarm systems use a sealed lead acid battery of around 2.6 amps, when said battery is fully charged it only draws around 7mA charge current to hold it on a constant standby
float voltage of 13.8v, not high enough to do any significant damage to the battery, most last at least ten years within said alarm systems.Reference to the avarage caravan leisure battery of 110 amps. When said battery is fully charged, it only draws around 300mA current to hold it on said constant standby float voltage of 13.8v, again not high enough to do any significant damage to the battery.
Having said all this, I also totally agree that a smart charger is the most optimum and kind'est way for a battery to be on constant charge as it (as you say) reduces the current even further. Do also agree that a battery that has been on a continuous float/standby
charge for any length of time, it's true condition cannot be measured without discharging & recharging it a number of times.Having said all this! who am I to say what is right or wrong?
Colin
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I recently considered buying a Halfords low amperage trickle charger for the car and there was a warning in the instructions saying that the charger should not be used for long periods or the battery would deteriorate. A caravan charger has very coarse current
control and no monitoring of the battery terminal voltage. The internal impedance of a 90 - 110 Ahr battery is milliohms so large currents can flow even if the battery is fully charged because the internal voltage is much less than 13.8 volts. In practice
the current is limited but in reality it needs to be limited to milliamperes which doesn't happen.By comparison, a CTek (for example) has a staged charging regime until eventually it reaches a "maintain" charge which is a pulsed charge against a measured terminal voltage.
It is difficult to say whether a battery left on a coarse regulated 13.8 volts supply will noticeably degrade but all battery manufacturers warn against permanent connection, as do many caravan manufacturers handbooks and the Club. The exception being caravans
like some Coachman and Swift models which tell you that you can leave the EHU permanently on with the battery in-situ.0 -
Hitchglitch;
Very interesting reading Colin, I must admit, I'm not qualified enough to argue/challenge manufactures on their reasonings on this matter. Like always, I have noted what has been discussed as this is how one learn's.
Kind regards
Colin
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I recently considered buying a Halfords low amperage trickle charger for the car and there was a warning in the instructions saying that the charger should not be used for long periods or the battery would deteriorate. A caravan charger has very coarse current control and no monitoring of the battery terminal voltage. The internal impedance of a 90 - 110 Ahr battery is milliohms so large currents can flow even if the battery is fully charged because the internal voltage is much less than 13.8 volts. In practice the current is limited but in reality it needs to be limited to milliamperes which doesn't happen.
By comparison, a CTek (for example) has a staged charging regime until eventually it reaches a "maintain" charge which is a pulsed charge against a measured terminal voltage.
It is difficult to say whether a battery left on a coarse regulated 13.8 volts supply will noticeably degrade but all battery manufacturers warn against permanent connection, as do many caravan manufacturers handbooks and the Club. The exception being caravans like some Coachman and Swift models which tell you that you can leave the EHU permanently on with the battery in-situ.
Hitchglitch;
Just been doing some research Colin, you are quite correct about some caravan & battery manufactures not recommending that caravan leisure batteries be left on permanent standby charge on many modern caravans. This is due to many modern caravans being fitted with a two stage power unit (for example, the Duo charger) which gives one out-put of 13.8v for the caravans' 12v appliances and one out-put of up to 14.8v to charge the leisure battery. This meaning that "yes" on permanent use it could overcharge the battery as you say. The reason for this type of two stage unit is to frequently boost the battery to stop it sulfating up etc. This two stage system stops the caravans' 12v appliances from being boosted at the same time, which would not be good!!!
Colin
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