Do you leave your battery charger on?? (1 Viewer)

Dec 18, 2011
745
508
Hull
Funster No
19,200
MH
Autotrail 634
Exp
Since 2006
Is it advise able to leave your van battery charger ,or any other 249 volt charger,on 24/7 when your van is laid up for,say,6 weeks.Does it harm the batteries to do this?Advice appreciated ,thank you .
 

UK Pete

Free Member
Jan 16, 2014
284
333
kent
Funster No
29,727
MH
Renault van conversion
Exp
on/off since 1991in campervanss
I leave mine ,on and have done every time i park up since this time last year, i suppose it depends on the charger, if it goes to float charge i cant see the harm, i was hoping it would preserve my batteries but i could be totally wrong, however my batteries are fine so it cant be too bad, running a battery right down is bad, they only have a certain amount of charge cycles before they are knackered
pete

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Don Quixote

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Jul 29, 2012
2,966
5,257
Lost in La Mancha, Spain
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22,171
MH
VW T6 Campervan
Exp
Not long enough, but a little common sense helps..........
I know a man that will know @Don Quixote theirs nothing he dose not know abut battery's
bill
Bill, that's very kind of you, but after being shot down a few times on here about batteries I no longer advise about batteries as others know better than me. I do however help at meets as and when I'm asked for a beer or two.(y)
To the original poster I have a CTEK charger which I use whilst MH is parked up in garage ( sometimes for months on end ) and have done for past fours. Works for me.
 
Nov 18, 2011
11,857
42,484
Planet Earth
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18,938
MH
A van
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Over 25 year's
o
Bill, that's very kind of you, but after being shot down a few times on here about batteries I no longer advise about batteries as others know better than me. I do however help at meets as and when I'm asked for a beer or two.(y)
To the original poster I have a CTEK charger which I use whilst MH is parked up in garage ( sometimes for months on end ) and have done for past fours. Works for me.
The google brigade know nothing there is to much of the shooting down done by smart Arce know it all's.
you spent your entire working life dependant on battery's if any one should know you should.
john no battery's no comes no defence of the realm.
and also if CTEK is good enough for you its good enough for any one
bill
Illegitimi non carborundum
 

injebreck99

Free Member
Dec 5, 2011
1,706
1,795
norfolk
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19,123
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Since 1997
I always leave mine on when on EHU, always have done, no probs yet!

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grumps147

LIFE MEMBER
Jun 6, 2010
1,838
2,442
St.Helens
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11,938
MH
Between
Exp
MH 12 yrs -Tent/Caravan 49 years
I had a problem only last week because unknown to me the permanently on charge power plug from my garage had fallen out of the socket for some reason. I got a text warning from my tracker that voltage was dropping when I was away at our son's over Christmas. Managed to get back in time to save everything. So I am with @Don Quixote and @billthedrill
 
Nov 18, 2011
11,857
42,484
Planet Earth
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18,938
MH
A van
Exp
Over 25 year's
I had a problem only last week because unknown to me the permanently on charge power plug from my garage had fallen out of the socket for some reason. I got a text warning from my tracker that voltage was dropping when I was away at our son's over Christmas. Managed to get back in time to save everything. So I am with @Don Quixote and @billthedrill
Especially in the cold weather it will do more harm if it runs down than it will a full battery.
Lead acid battery's do not have a memory but suffer if they run down with deposits on the plates.
And the plates distorting from what I have ben told any intelligent battery charger will do the job
bill
 

pappajohn

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Aug 26, 2007
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Dark side of the moon
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172
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Since 2005
from what I have ben told any intelligent battery charger will do the job
Agreed Bill.

An inteligent charger constantly monitors the battery voltage and only allows enough charge to top it up then it reduces to a very low charge rate to maintain the battery.
A standard charger will continue to charge at a comparitively high current regardless of battery state of charge and could overcharge (boil dry)

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PeteH

Free Member
Nov 22, 2007
6,853
9,029
East Riding of Yorkshire
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900
MH
Rapido, 999M.
Exp
18+yrs plus 25+Towing
Assuming the Charger is of the "Intelligent" variety, then there is little or no reason to not use it, According to the information that came with mine it "monitors" the battery state and maintains (or introduces?) a light float charge where necessary. I have a C-Tek (type) charger which I leave on the Car whenever it is not in use, the battery (cheap) is now 5 years old and still appears to be OK.

SOME of the older, "Caravan" (eg the early "plugin systems" type) charger units where ONLY for keeping the battery charged whilst Being used on a Hook up. They supplied a constant charge which could if left on continuously without any battery load drain damage the battery over time.

Pete
 
May 3, 2008
198
161
North Wales
Funster No
2,497
MH
A class Carthago Chic I47
Exp
34 years
Bill, that's very kind of you, but after being shot down a few times on here about batteries I no longer advise about batteries as others know better than me. I do however help at meets as and when I'm asked for a beer or two.(y)
To the original poster I have a CTEK charger which I use whilst MH is parked up in garage ( sometimes for months on end ) and have done for past fours. Works for me.
We have Gel batteries and when at home hook up to Mains electric permanently, they are the original ones supplied with our MH when new in 2008 (2 x 80 Ah) we manage Thurs - Mon shows is this normal or are we just lucky ? :think:
 
Feb 22, 2008
12,258
44,933
Norfolk
Funster No
1,575
MH
Nearly Tugging
Exp
Since 2004
I used a c tech charger permanently on my last mhome (RV) , now with Hymer leaving plugged in using system charger although with summer here may unplug and let solar do the job.

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Don Quixote

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Jul 29, 2012
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Lost in La Mancha, Spain
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22,171
MH
VW T6 Campervan
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Not long enough, but a little common sense helps..........
We have Gel batteries and when at home hook up to Mains electric permanently, they are the original ones supplied with our MH when new in 2008 (2 x 80 Ah) we manage Thurs - Mon shows is this normal or are we just lucky ? :think:
With Gel you should get 10/15+ years if they are treated right and in your case I think you are. Enjoy
 

davidallan

Free Member
Oct 22, 2007
122
43
Leeds
Funster No
685
MH
C class
Exp
26 yrs CVing + 14< MH' ing
Just recently returned to M/Homing after a 2 yr caravan break.....Not a Good move !!- But now the happy owners of a new Auto-trail 'Tribute' with a 'seargant' on board Charger/distribution -all-in-one unit. Having just also bought one of those 'Watt' meters from Fleebay.....set to answer my own Q's.
After depleating the Hab battery down to circa 1/3rd capacity ....Left the 'Tribute' on Charge. Max Watts used to start with was just over 60w. after all day + 1 night ...this settled down to 10/11watts. [Apparently our onboard charger is a 4 stage max 12 amps. ]
So MY conclusion is that I shall leave the M/H hooked up and let the clock timer keep things topped-up for a good few hours each day.
The expense was one 'Watt' meter....£10.00
& Plug in timer.....£2.
And now busy checking all the Gadgets in the in the home ....Another useful toy to play with eh ?!?! (y)

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Ricardoe

Free Member
Apr 11, 2016
131
64
West midlands
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42,418
MH
Hymer544
Exp
Just started
Hmm so would a 100w uv panel keep the batteries charged up in winter or is the uv too week in our latitude. ?
 
Feb 27, 2011
14,670
74,876
UK
Funster No
15,452
MH
Self Build
Exp
Since 2005
I have my charger permanently wire into the mains, whenever I am on a hookup it is charged. I do the same for the cab battery using a CTEK charger.

I am a fulltimer and keeping the batteries in tip top shape is important for me. My experience based on 7 years fulltiming is the more fully charged you can keep your batteries the longer they will last. Whether you use solar or a mains charger is not important. Letting batteries discharge especially over the winter will kill them quicker.

The only exception to this is if you have old batteries and a cheap charger. I had a cheap charger and it burnt out when one of the batteries went down. I believe one of the cells went practically short circuit causing the charger to operated 24/7 and eventually the magic smoke escaped from it.

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May 3, 2016
2,154
20,254
Ayrshire, UK
Funster No
42,868
MH
Swift Kon-Tiki
We have a Bessacarr caravan that I use as a craft room. Its been round the back of the house for around four years now & the charger is never switched off. The caravan has a 110 amp leisure battery which is now around 8 years old & is still in perfect condition. We have a few systems for checking batteries including a heavy discharge tester & the battery passes with flying colours every time that it gets tested.
 

Steve

LIFE MEMBER
May 8, 2013
1,613
2,062
Compton Berkshire
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25,895
MH
C class
Exp
on and off for 40 years
Is it advise able to leave your van battery charger ,or any other 249 volt charger,on 24/7 when your van is laid up for,say,6 weeks.Does it harm the batteries to do this?Advice appreciated ,thank you .
Hi, as most battery chargers are also conditioners, no problem leaving it on. But check it when ever possible as things do go wrong. Also if possible give the battery something to do now and again.
 

PeteH

Free Member
Nov 22, 2007
6,853
9,029
East Riding of Yorkshire
Funster No
900
MH
Rapido, 999M.
Exp
18+yrs plus 25+Towing
Hmm so would a 100w uv panel keep the batteries charged up in winter or is the uv too week in our latitude. ?
In answer to your question, yes, I had to leave the Winnebago stored in the USA for over a year once, the 80w solar panel kept both the house and start batteries in Good enough condition that it started first time, and gave no trouble in just over 5000 Miles of use the following year.

Pete

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