Vehicle charging
Hello,
we keep our van at home and due to an accident my husband is unable to drive. We use our van both for overnights and day trips throughout the year. I am worried that the vehicle battery will go flat while hubby is ill. It’s a Peugeot Boxer base vehicle 2012. Any ideas on how to keep vehicle battery topped up .i am nervous of driving it. Can I use a solar charger attached to battery or is this a no no for modern vehicles.
Many thanks.
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Buy a CTek charger, connect to the vehicle battery, switch it on & then you can forget about it.
Ctek chargers The smaller/cheaper version is more than enough to keep most batteries topped up.
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Not too sure about that MM. A few years ago we came back from 6 weeks holiday and our Yaris had been sat on the drive. Tried to start it and it cranked slowly with clutch pedal down and just managed to fire up. Ran it for 20 mins. Next day OH had a nail appointment car started fine and probably not used for more than 3 miles a day thereafter but no need to charge. I used to store cars for 6 months at a time without problem but that was before alarms were fitted which drain power. If at home a charger is best bet I agree.
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You might have got away with it on a 1000cc (?) Yaris, but a larger diseasal on a motor home is likely to struggle on an iffy battery.
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Are you able to use the electric hook up cable to provide electricity to the motorhome from the house/garage? Assuming that the mains does not provide a charge to the cab battery you could fit a Battery Master which will divert a charge to the cab battery once the leisure battery is fully charged. I had one fitted to my motorhome on a recommendation from someone on this forum.
David
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Mg
Mollys mummy has given you good advice for a very simple short term solution.
The 2012 Boxer has two terminals under the bonnet suitable for connecting jump leads to , but can be used to easily connect a CTEK type charger to with simple crocodile clips . They have "soft start" and shouldn't damage the vehicle electronics. One of their smallest & cheapest will actually do the job for maintenance/trickle charging. Easily available on Amazon or Ebay.
David's solution of a B2B Battery Master type thingy requires a bit more wiring prowess and dependent upon your ability, might require fitting for you, which would certainly end up costing more than the Ctek solution.....
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Assuming you have an adapter (readily available) you just need to plug your hook-up lead into a house socket. 24 hours every 2 to 3 weeks should suffice.
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If Maplin are still in business a £10 solar panel with crocodile clips to the battery terminal. It can even sit inside on th dash.
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We have a solar charger which we have now attached, let’s hope Manchester gets some sun in next few days. I didn’t think plugging in the power lead would charge vehicle battery but you live and learn. Never been a problem before. Maybe I just need to be braver and take Dora for a run to charge battery.
Thanks fir all your ideas and advice.
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You could always ask a friend to take you all for a run.
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mg55, many vehicles of 2012 vintage have chargers that charge the leisure battery and the cab battery....our old Bolero certainly did.
however, as you mention a Peugeot base, i know it is used by some UK converters who DONT (generally) wire their chargers to feed the cab battery.
DK, has a Bailey and his obviously didn't..
from what ive been reading of late on their forum, Autosleepers are equally 'tight'...
Elddis/Marquis almost certainly wont either..
.but you might be lucky....tell us what van you have and ill try and find out.
if it does charge both batteries, you only need to plug the ehu lead in, no extra chargers, devices, wires etc.
good luck.
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Generally it is recommended to take a Motorhome for a run about once a month, however, dealers cannot do this and my dealer says that they simply start the engine and let it run for thirty minutes or so which should keep the battery topped up at least.
Autosleepers for some years have arranged for the control panel to charge both batteries from mains hook-up but as Bolero Boy says, if you can post your model details it should be easy to check.
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I could take it for a drive but not completely confident driving it. Will see how the charger works over next week and maybe ask a fellow motor homer to take it for a run.
Our van is Autocruise Rythmn Sport. Don’t think it charges both from EHU.
Thanks everyone
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my 2010 Bolero had the Sargent EC450 ECU and i would have thought your 2012 Rythm Sport would,have the same or similar.
this unit does charge both batteries (see sections 3.3 and 3.7).
the 'charging' function can be set to Smart (clever charging to both batteries, the default) or Leisure or Vehicle (self explanatory).
similarly, any solar panel charging is controlled by the same options.
there is also a quick way to 'force charge' to one battery or the other, and this is by using the button on the control panel...simply press the 'vehicle' button to force the ehu to charge the cab battery only.
you can try this.
also, see section 3.7 to check that the charging regime is set to 'smart' and not 'leisure' as this would mean never charging the cab battery.
good luck, happy to help more if required.
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Perhaps, but if the vehicle is up to a good running temperature (maybe more than 30 minutes) it seems unlikely. Anyway, if the OP cannot drive the vehicle nor charge the battery easily then this is probably the best compromise and at least gets the oil moving and the battery charged.
I am not condoning the dealer practice but if you had thirty motorhomes awaiting sale what would you do?
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If its a factory conversion look at the box of tricks that has all the press buttons for everything like water pump, clock etc. There should be a setting for habitation charging. That is the default, If you press the centre button it should then change to Vehicle battery. If conected to the mains that will automatically recharge the vehicle battery and when fully charged revert to habitation. Look in the handbook for more details. No need therefore to lift the engine bonnet or get your hands dirty.
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agreed.
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I would go as far as recommending seperate Ctech chargers, one for the vehicle battery which discharges (probably) the quickest because it sits there waiting for signals from key fobs or doors to activate, or otherwise, burglar alarm or immobiliser , radio codes etc. Plus inherent losses through the main ecu.
The leisure battery has a lesser task, but still discharges waiting for signals in standby mode. Long gone are the days of a physical switch that turned off the voltage. Soft switching from low to on uses power.
you can opt for connecting and disconnecting the charger and swapping positions, but can be a pain if you forget, or have to brave the storm to change.
With the Ctech you can buy permeant connectors that snap connect the charger connection. Some connectors have a traffic light system which tells you the state of charge. Once wired in, just snap connect, leave the Ctech to do its thing, once the battery is charged, the Ctech will go to maintenance charge and be left on, using next to nothing electricity wise. UN snap, and drive away !
I Have used this system, for years and has shown no ill affect on the batteries.
I could use the on board charger, but for continual use, the inboard charger never fully charges the batteries because the charge is regulated. Also if the charger breaks down for any reason, it's mega bucks to repair. Ctecks are not cheap, but a lot cheaper than a new inboard charger.
rgds
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My Autocruise Jazz 2012 version, certainly charges Either battery from the Orange mains lead. Assuming its the same :--
1 } plug lead into 'van
2 } then plug into 240 mains socket
3 } study the Control panel ( Mine is over the sliding door )
4 ) press the centre of the Right Hand part marked 'Vehicle battery' and the voltage should appear about 12 -- 13 volts which should rise over a period if its charging ok.
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Today was a dry sunny day.Had all the doors open to fully air. Put on Mains from Garage and moved gizmo box to Vehicle Charging. Job done simples just what we oldies want without any additional gear. Last used early Dec and next trip late January.
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