Motorhome in storage
Having brought forward the collection of our new (secondhand) Bailey Approach Autograph 625 2016, just before the dealership closed due to Coronavirus, it is now sitting in a nice secure compound about 1/2 mile from our house. My query is regarding leaving the motorhome for an enforced period of time before we will be on the road again. Is it worth starting up the engine and leaving it running for say 15 minutes to get all the appropriate fluids flowing and warmed up, and to hopefully keep the battery charged up? We could also do a few circuits of the compound to rotate the tyres etc. At present we don't not have a solar panel to keep the batteries charged up, but my main concern is leaving the engine turned off for such a long time.
Any thoughts suggestions would be most welcome!
Thanks
Colin
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Can you access your storage site by making an essential journey is more to the point.
It does motor vehicles no good to leave them standing but you need to do a good few miles to get everything up to temperature and well lubed. In the current circumstances many people have no choice but to leave them standing and hope the result is nothing more than flat batteries.
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Ours is right next door to a Supermarket we often use, although not the closest supermarket. I am intending to shop at said Supermarket once a month and look in just to check all is OK. I won't be starting the engine though. It's going to take more than a few circuits of the pound ( which I don't think they would approve of in any event) to warm it up and in particular get the exhaust system up to temperature. Ours has got a solar panel to charge the batteries, the OP says he hasn't got one. On our MH the leisure battery would be easy enough to remove and take home to charge, the cab one very difficult. Perhaps they could rig up a small panel in the windscreen that would just keep the cab battery topped up.
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If the storage site is closed as are the clubs ,then there is no access allowed except ,to return an LV or you are a "key worker" then 24hrs notice is req no one else can gain access, ,we have food items that in normal times would be used up,but will now be passed the use by dates ,which we cannot get to
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Everyones circumstances are different but we are all subject to the restrictions.
My MH is parked in my driveway, today we took it shopping for our weekly essentials, got some funny looks from some, but at the end of the day did it matter whether i went in my MH or my car?The trip was enough to warm all the fluids turn the tyres and top off the fuel tank etc. Intention is do this at least once a month depending on future restrictions.
However as an engineer, if your MH is laid up without preparation then do not run the engine for short periods or long periods at idle, acids form in the oil and exhaust which will cause long term damage. let alone the heat/cooling cycle of the engine. If you can disconnect the batteries (they will hold a charge for about 2-3 months disconnected if of a reasonable age), don't forget to ensure you have any codes needed for when reconnecting, better still as suggested take the batteries home and use a low amp maintenance charger ( I use and Optimate charger). Lets hope the water tank waste tank and loo are all empty and cleaned. Tyres if you have access, inflate them to the max pressure indicated on the sidewall, don't forget to lower the pressure before driving anywhere.
If this becomes very long term (6 months plus) then once on the road do an oil and filter change after about 100 miles to help remove any damaging condensation held in the oil ways.
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I wonder if perhaps a small solar panel that you could placed on the dashboard would help keep the cab battery charged?
David
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some certainly feel even a small panel can do the job provided there is only a tiny draw to replenish...
like David and others, our van is kept at home and cleaning (inside, outside, water tanks, roof etc) is easy.
our 100w solar panel continues to maintain all batteries (as it did in Spain for two months prior to having to return early) and hook up is available should it be required....it never is...
it has two full gas bottles (one refilled in the Uk and the other a Spanish Repsol one) and is champing at the bit..
we dont have a dog any more but im sure the van gives me the same doe-eyed look our springer used to when he wanted to go, out every time i pass it.....
having set the bar low in the Euro fantasy trip thread compared to some (please just let me get to Italy in the van sometime), for now ill have to be content with popping in and out of the van just to keep it company
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Thanks to you all for your considered comments. We still have 24/7 access to the compound, but under the current extreme circumstances, have decided to leave well alone at present. There is no alarm to drain the battery and I have a heavy duty set of jump leads, should the engine battery go flat. Hopefully after a few weeks, we may be able to move it, and then at the least, we can park it on our driveway, (friendly neighbour permitting!), for a couple of days and charge everything up. Would not be able to leave it on the drive full-time as it is too wide, but we all get on very well round here, it is Wales after all!
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ColBur
If you are thinking of charging the cab battery at home I would check that the electrical system in your model of Bailey does actually charge the cab battery, some of them don't. On both of my Baileys I have had a device called a Battery Master fitted which routes any excess charge from the leisure battery to the cab battery. However neither of them were Autographs so that range could be different.
Don't know if you use Facebook but the is a very good Bailey Motorhome Owners Group where you can get lots of advice.
David
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as David says, its best to check....but how to do that...?
if you cant get specific, accurate info from your handbook or from the FB site, you can put a simple volt meter across the cab battery terminals.
the battery is under a plastic panel on the cab floor and if the reading is 12.7v/12.8v or less, the charger is NOT charging the battery.
if charging, the charger should be putting out somewhere between 13.9v and 14.4v
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