Charging Main Starter Battery - Plugged in at home

[wadbanage]

With the current restrictions I am not able to drive my nearly new CV20 Campervan, I have plugged it in at home in order to keep the leisure batter charged and also so I can work in it from time to time with some heating on.

Now that I am not driving it at all I want to keep the starter battery charged, can I plug my 5 amp trickle charger into a 240v socket inside the van and charge the starter battery from that?

I think this should be ok and it will not be pulling much power but are there any potential problems I should be aware of?

Thanks

 

[cmcardle75]

With the current restrictions I am not able to drive my nearly new CV20 Campervan, I have plugged it in at home in order to keep the leisure batter charged and also so I can work in it from time to time with some heating on.

Now that I am not driving it at all I want to keep the starter battery charged, can I plug my 5 amp trickle charger into a 240v socket inside the van and charge the starter battery from that?

I think this should be ok and it will not be pulling much power but are there any potential problems I should be aware of?

Thanks

Just make sure it a smart charger intended for full time use with a suitably set float voltage. Depending on your setup, you might want to disable any split charge relay/B2B charger so each battery gets a proper charge profile from its own mains charger.

 

[Landy Andy]

I would test your current setup and check if the starter battery is already getting recharged from the inbuilt charger.

 

[Vanderek]

wadbanage have you seen this YouTube video Pearl CV20 battery mod

 

[GeoffnDee]

If you find that the existing fitted charger does not also keep the starter battery topped up, it would be worth looking at the Vanbitz battery master item that is designed for this purpose and easy to fit.

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[Sapper520]

When my van is plugged into the mains, it charges the Leisure Batteries and Float charges the Vehicle Battery.

I do have Solar, but that only charges the Leisure Batteries.

Probably be paying Vanbitz another visit to get a Battery Master, so the Solar also charges the van battery, when things ease up.

What does your user manual say?

 

[wadbanage]

What does your user manual say?

It says it charges the Leisure battery and from a number of posts on the CV FB forum it seems that a lot of people are finding that their Main battery is going flat. At the moment mine is OK but I dont want its to go flat if I cant access it for a few weeks.

 

[Sapper520]

Not sure if it’s your year / model, but found this........... Think you’ll definitely need to charge it.

 

[JustifiedAncient]

I plan to fit a battery master as soon as I can, but in the meantime I have fitted a CTEK comfort connector to the underfloor van battery. The end of this comes up just below the passenger seat to provide an easy connection point for connecting the CTEK charger when needed.

 

[Sapper520]

Think it says in my Fiat Manual, that I should disconnect and remove the vehicle battery to charge it. Why?

I connect my CTEK direct to my Peugeot car battery, and both our motorcycles have leads connected to them like above. No problems charging the vehicle batteries being charged in situ.

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[ramsthom]

Not sure about the cv20 charging system but on most newish motorhomes if you select the cab battery on the control panel it may charge it.

 

[Sapper520]

Not sure about the cv20 charging system but on most newish motorhomes if you select the cab battery on the control panel it may charge it.

Haven’t got a control panel on ours where you can switch between cab and leisure batteries.

 

[ian4apenny]

Anybody got any idea whether the Battery Master sold by MFUN shop is the same as the one sold by Vanbitz themselves?

 

[2bob]

go to search it might help

 

[Revolvor]

Anybody got any idea whether the Battery Master sold by MFUN shop is the same as the one sold by Vanbitz themselves?

Yes it is! I think it's cheaper from MH Fun too. I ordered one just before Christmas, and when it looked as if it was going to be late, Jim contacted Eddie, and he sent me another directly, saying I could return the first one when it eventually turned up. It did arrive, but I decided to pay for it, and gave it to my daughter.

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[ian4apenny]

Thanks Revolver. Need one quickly so MF it is.

 

[Richard n Ann]

It says it charges the Leisure battery and from a number of posts on the CV FB forum it seems that a lot of people are finding that their Main battery is going flat. At the moment mine is OK but I dont want its to go flat if I cant access it for a few weeks.

Our van is an Elddis and there was no starter battery charging provision from the main charger. I do exactly what you are proposing, an optimate charger plugged in inside the van for the starter battery.

When out on site the solar Votronic duo looks after the starter battery.