Leisure Battery
Maybe another silly question but I will ask anyway. When I put my caravan into storage I would like to keep the battery charged to ensure the alarm and tracker are connected. The only way I can think of ensuring the battery is charged sufficiently is to have two batteries and change them on a regular basis.
So my question is what type of battery would be suitable for this? I currently have a 110ah fitted.
Many thanks for your comments in advance.
Peter
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you could fit a solar panel?
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you could fit one as a temporary install ......
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i know for some storage is the only option, but i often wonder, '
a. would anybody respond if the alarm went off
b. how easy is it to disable the tracker, surely an experienced thief would break into the battery box and disconnect therefore disabling the alarm and tracker
thief now not only has your caravan but an expensive solar system too boot.
perhaps for insurance purposes you have to have alarm/tracker and be able to show they were working, but we have heard of instances where thieves have used busun burners to burn off wheel locks etc.
maybe best if they stole the van and hope it is not recoverable then claim for a new one on insurance
hope it doesnt happen to you, do not use storage so not sure how secure these places are. 0 -
Years ago I had a motorhome with two leisure batteries. Whilst in storage we alternated every three weeks or so charging the spare back at home. It worked well but invest in a good charger which is designed the leisure batteries mind.
When touring both came with us and I would alternate between the two every couple of days. This meant we could go to non electric 'sites' for much of our tours.
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The last time I used bunsen burners was in a school lab. Unless they have improved considerably they were hardly capable of melting chocolate and certainly not able to burn off a wheel lock, even if a gas supply was available.
i couldnt spell "Acetylene" but i can now
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I used to swap batteries every 1-2 months. The current drain for Tracker and Alarm is not too high so you could get away with a small car battery. Make sure you recharge with a decent multi-stage charger.
80 Watt solar panels are often fitted to motorhomes and are more than adequate for keeping the battery topped up even in the darkest times of the year. You could probably make do with less depending on how much light there is at your storage location (overhanging trees, buildings etc.).
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Unfortunately if it's inside and no power is available, swapping over the batteries or nor setting the alarm / tracker are your only options. Even if not set I assume, unless removed, the tracker would still pull power, so it would probably be necessary to disconnect the battery while in storage.
When we had a caravan I used to swap them over and recharge at home with a smart charger. However, I was finding it increasingly difficult to lift carry and manoeuvre 25kg or so of battery in the confines of the storage facility. If we had kept the van I would either have fitted a solar panel, as outside, or removed the tracker / alarm from the insurance. The discount wasn't that huge and my back was more important.😂
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I have had my Lunar for 3yrs now which is stored outside.
I use two 2 solar panels (solid aluminium frames) which I got off Ebay plus a control module (required if output is 20 or higher £9).
Both are temp fitted to the inside of the caravan. One goes in the nearside window (Sun comes up there), the other is fitted in the front window (Sun travels across through the day. Fitted in series so one takes over from the other.
On a sunny day they get fully charged (up to 14 or a bit more) the battery never drops below 12.6 over night.
I just remove them before I travel, only takes 10mins to disconnect and stow them in the car.
I used to change the batteries over to keep the tracker / alarm active but have no need now.
You will also need some SP wire, fuses and inline fuse holder x 2.
One of the best things I've ever bought.
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I'm not fully understanding of all things battery related but I've been advised that a battery which drops to 12.6 overnight is a problematic one. They need to maintained but an occasional drop due to usage is usually fine if recovery (after a charge) is relatively quickly followed. My leisure battery can hold a charge of around 13.6 for several weeks according to my meter. Undercharging can be a real problem and unless the solar can give this it too may be undercharging on a regular basis if the weather is against you. Maybe others can help my understanding.
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Agree DD. no battery will hold 13.8v unless there was a trickle charge attached. 12.6v is the fully charged state after having a full charge and left to settle for possible a day and can hold that charge for a good few weeks if battery is in excellent condition.
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Agree, I was monitoring ours fairly closely when we used it off grid for the first time. On a sunny day with the panels generating plenty of power the display read 13.5, the float charge. As soon as we used the pump it would drop to 13 or 12.7 and then recover fairly quickly. Once the sun went down the reading went down to 12.7, then 12.5 as we were pulling power watching a DVD, plus lights, pump and charging pads etc. It remained at that level until the morning, when it recovered to the 13.5 float in a few hours, once the sun came up.
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It may well initially be more DD. The LED gauge in the van only goes to 13.5. Ours also, if I understand correctly prioritises the leisure battery. The solar controller has an array of lights. When the batteries are fully charged they flash, so I am reasonably happy everything is working OK. As there is minimal drain on the vehicle battery once parked up, that almost always shows as full. We only have the one leisure battery and I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly it returned to full charge after a nights use.
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I hope others are reading DD's table and noting the "+" on the 12.6+ open circuit volts [OCV] indicating 100% SOC. I suspect the table's origins is quite dated and does not reflect the modern technology used by the better makers.
I would suggest few batteries we would use in our vans these days would only be at 12.6 volts[OCV] when fully charged , even if just considering flooded types and if using AGMs would be higher still.
Far more typical for our leisure flooded batteries would be 12.7 >12.8 volts for 100% SOC, and 12.6 being nearer just 90% SOC.
The actual voltage is dependent on the type, its construction details and the trace elements alloyed within the lead.
The only reliable guide is the battery makers data sheets for the battery in question.For two of my flooded batteries the makers data sheet info is, the Varta LFD it is 12.7>12.8, and my Banner Energy Bull 12.7. My Varta actually is 12.8 OCV rested.
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Sorry, don't agree. I have 2 batteries in the garage and when connected to my Milenco smart charger one at a time the digital display shows 12.6v while it does it's checks them boosts to 14.5 for about half hour then drops slowly till back to 13.6v float. Both batteries are 18 months old.
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I will still keep to the data published by Varta , Banner and Exide for my batteries, rather than ignore that and rely on a generic table pulled off the internet.
One wonders why your "smart" charger thought it needed to do anything if it was happy with 12.6 volts?
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Even a caravan charger gives a boost when first plugged in to mains and my solar gives a boost when sun out first thing in morning at storage site. even when 12.6v is registered at 3 in the morning. Seems a lot of members have a go at DD no matter what he says.
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Thanks folk my understanding is improving!
Yes DD, 13.6 is the float value which drops slowly over several hours to 12.8 once the charge is removed. I had been told 12.6 was about 80% charged. However, is my meter and my charger accurate to + or - .2 volts, I don't know? It seems such a tolerance will be important in making assumptions about the state of batteries.
My main point was however that constant undercharging is damaging to a battery and different chargers will shut off at different voltages. It's very important then that the charger itself meets the demands of a specific battery and type. There are different chargers for different kinds and construction of batteries.
I had also been told we should ensure our solar charging systems are capable of delivering that required level of battery specific 'hygiene'.
If this is still not quite right please point out the errors in my understanding as I'm trying hard to get it right and help in this complex subject is appreciated.
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