Charge me to full capacity hopefully (1 Viewer)

Brakers

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Feb 28, 2016
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Hi There intelligent people,
I’m looking for user information on these battery conditioners.

I’ve read that these battery chargers installed in our Motor homes only charge our batteries to 80% of their capacity for one reason or another that is why we need these so called battery conditioners like the CTEX MSX7.0 which gets a great review.

Now with the fact that I cannot keep the Motor home connected to a power source constantly, will I be helping my batteries by purchasing a CTEC or similar battery conditioner and connecting it for a day or so or as I’m not able to keep it connected for a long period of inactivity will I be just wasting my money.

Any help understanding this will be more than helpful.

Many Thanks Tony
 

funflair

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Dec 11, 2013
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Never used one but I would think it will need more than a day to do its stuff.
Could be wrong though.
Could be right as well and will partly depend on the state of charge of the batteries when they go on charge.

Martin

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Feb 27, 2011
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I have the MXS 5.0 version of this and it is excellent.

I use it on the van battery to do the desulphation cycle and keep it topped up.

For leisure batteries I think you should look for something with a bit more power to it. The MXS7.0 would take too long to get your batteries up to full charge then to run through the maintenance cycle. It certainly won't hurt and will extend your batteries life somewhat.

I have a in my van for the leisure batteries. This is a top of the range 60 Amp charger designed for big battery banks however and is pretty pricey.

If you are serious about your batteries then one of the baby brothers of this such as the Although this is still pretty pricey and 20Amp is probably not much larger than your current charger it is a full multi stage charger with maintenance modes.
 
Feb 27, 2011
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PS: if you only have limited time for hookups, then 3 options spring to mind.
1. Get a high capacity charger to give it a boost in short time.
2. Get a solar panel to keep the batteries topped up.
3. Disconnect the leisure batteries when not in use and put a small solar panel on it or take it home for maintenance charging.
 
Feb 4, 2016
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I think Tony you are worrying to much about charging etc if you use your mh regularly. If its not going to be used over winter etc its different . If its not going to be used over the colder months i would worry more about draining down the water etc . You asked a valid question though (y)

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Jul 5, 2013
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I’ve read that these battery chargers installed in our Motor homes only charge our batteries to 80% of their capacity for one reason or another that is why we need these so called battery conditioners like the CTEX MSX7.0 which gets a great review.
That may be true for some motorhomes, but not all. Modern (expensive!) chargers found in some motorhomes have similar charging regimes to these so called battery conditioners. So find out what charger you have in your motorhome and what its characteristics are before buying another one that may simply not be needed.
 

Lenny HB

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Oct 18, 2007
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As Peter says your vans charger is probably a multi stage charger. Vans over 20 years old often only had caravan type charges which just gave a float charge of 13.8 volts, I've not seen one of those this century.:D
 
Aug 18, 2014
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As Peter says your vans charger is probably a multi stage charger. Vans over 20 years old often only had caravan type charges which just gave a float charge of 13.8 volts, I've not seen one of those this century.:D
Mine has one.:) ( 27 years old ):LOL:

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PeteH

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Nov 22, 2007
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I have a C-Tec charger which I used to leave permanently connected to the Motorcycle during winter layup. I doubt that it would bring a "Flat" battery up to full charge in under 36hrs and condition it.

My Winnebago, before we sold it, was stored long term in Texas, and I used an 80W solar panel sat in the window, this kept two 760cca Batteries in good condition for over 10 Months one year. IMV, if you are stored "off Grid" that would be the way to go.

Pete
 
Feb 9, 2008
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I went the route of the solar panel, this way you don't need the battery to be 100% all the time as every day it's getting a charge. So far it has been an unqualified success.
 
Oct 5, 2012
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Yep solar panel....but also look at the ancillary electrics on the 12v leisure, for example on some MH (like mine) there is a monitoring system for the temperature so the hot water valve can be opened and dumped. Obviously not needed if the tank is drained so make sure the 12v system is switched off completely.

On the vehicle side I disconnect my radio which uses power to keep settings even when switched off and switch off the infrared alarm internal system which uses power and just have the perimeter alarm on.

I have a CTEK charger and charge the cab battery to full before putting it into storage.

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Jul 5, 2013
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Yep solar panel....but also look at the ancillary electrics on the 12v leisure, for example on some MH (like mine) there is a monitoring system for the temperature so the hot water valve can be opened and dumped. Obviously not needed if the tank is drained so make sure the 12v system is switched off completely.
Draining the drinking water tank does not drain the hot water system.
 
Apr 18, 2009
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Not long enough!
A 100w or 80w Solar panel and a good MPPT regulator will set you back about about £200 as long as you fit it yourself, and its self contained so fit and forget(y)
 
Oct 5, 2012
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Draining the drinking water tank does not drain the hot water system.
No there are two valves (on my system) one in the cold water tank and the manual/electrically operated one on the outlet from the hot water tank (which is the one I was talking about) . Which I did not make clear....obviously. There is no 'drinking water' tank on my van as we don't drink from any taps :sick:

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Xabia

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I fitted a 100 watt solar panel to my motorhome which has 2 x 110 AH batteries and it hasn't been on mains connection since as the batteries are always fully charged.
 

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