Hook up or not when stored

[Lanerboy]

I have my motorhome 66 plate rapido parked next to my house year round

My question is should I have it plugged in 24hrs a day I don't have the heating on as don't want to put hundreds of hrs on the burner but I do have a dehumidifier on all the time in the winter well did last year

My question is am I doing any harm having it plugged in regards cooking the batteries as they are obviously on charge 24/7 I do have a solar panel to keep batteries topped up too

So question is if possible would you have yours plugged in all the time or not

LB

 

[Top Hat]

I could have my van on permanent ehu but don't, the solar panel keeps the batters topped up, if I see either battery falling below full I give them a 24 hour ehu boost.

 

[jollyrodger]

Solar panels on mine ,keeping topped up ,just at the moment.
But on ehu permanently when home with oil fired rad on low .
Quite comfy and batteries (5) all healthy.

 

[cruiser]

I have mine on 24/7 . But it only charges the hab battery. So I have a smart battery charger plugged in and that tops up my van battery . But my van is 29 years old . So needs to be kept warm.

 

[Badknee]

I’m a great believer of letting well alone. We full time now but before we did I didn’t put any heat in there or use a dehumidifier. I opened all the cupboards and doors, drained any fluids and moved any soft furnishings and bedding away from outside walls BUT made sure there was plenty of ventilation in the moho.
I let it change temperature with the weather so as not to cause condensation and all was fine.

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[Ingwe]

Our van is kept indoors which means that the solar panel cannot charge the vehicle battery. So we've fitted a battery master and then put the van on hookup but with a timer so that the leisure battery gets about 3 hours a day on hookup. Touch wood, it's kept both hab and vehicle battery fully charged. Am going to the van tomorrow to give it a clean and air before we go for a short break on Monday. Then a longer three month trip to Spain and Portugal.

 

[Minxy]

Don't waste your electric on a dehumidifier, it's just gobbling up the cool air which is then instantly replaced by more cool moist air due to all the vents etc which, IMV, is worse than not having one at all as that doesn't encourage more cold moist air to find its way in.

Also heating, IMV not necessary and can do more harm than good as it warms the air in the camper and can actually create more moisture/condensation than not having it on at all.

As for your batteries, why not use a timer on the socket which the lead is plugged into, that way you can set it to come on once a week for example to keep the batteries topped up with no danger of 'frying' anything, or just leave it for your solar panels to look after and check every now and then.

 

[Driventemple]

With previous 'vans I have left it on EHU permanently and I do think I shortened the life of my Habitation battery so now I follow the method described in Westfalia manual - I connect up to the mains for 24hrs every month.

 

[Richard n Ann]

I don't like the idea of 'cycling' the battery by charging it every so often, or leaving it on solar which may take the battery to 14.4v every day. Neither is it a good idea to leave it on charge with a charger capable of delivering many amps in case there is a fault. I leave ours on an optimate 2 charger/maintainer, it can only deliver 0.8 amps and it let's the battery rest every half hour.

 

[Reallyretired]

I just leave my solar to keep all the batteries topped up. Max charge at this time of years is just a couple of amps in the middle of the day, maybe excessive even so just running the alarm, tracker and rodent repellent. The solar regulator claims to be a smart charger, so hopefully not cooking the batteries.

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[Khizzie]

I leave mine on ehu all the time when not using it. Done this for past 6years, not had any problems with the batteries in all that time . Having said that no doubt at least one battery will now give up the ghost. Lol.

 

[Landy Andy]

Plugged in all the time at home, dehumidifier running 24/7, and all cupboards left open. Works well

 

[sylvester1954]

We took out the mattress and drained out the water a month or two ago. We also take ours out for a round trip of at least 30 miles at least once a week so that combined with the solar panel keeps everything tickityboo...

 

[autorouter]

My question is am I doing any harm having it plugged in regards cooking the batteries as they are obviously on charge 24/7 I do have a solar panel to keep batteries topped up too

There is no reason to think you are harming the batteries by keeping the MH plugged in 24/7. But with a solar panel, it is probably unnecessary.

The mains charger should be a smart charger that runs through at least three stages whenever it is connected. The final stage is 'float charge', also called 'trickle charge. A voltage of about 13.8 volts is applied, which is ever so slightly more than the voltage of a fully charged battery, 13.6 volts. This small extra voltage is enough to push a small charging current into the battery, just enough to compansate for the natural self-discharge of the battery, and to power the alarm, tracker and other small devices that use power when the MH is stored.

The solar panel should perform a similar function if the controller is working as it should, and the panel is bigger than about 50 watts.

It's not a good idea to put the charger on a timer to come on say 3 hours per day, because the charger is cycling through all the three stages each time it is switched on. Two of these stages will be overcharging a fully charged battery. Many smart chargers will sense that the battery is charged, so will skip through the first stages quickly. But some, especially when set for Gel or AGM batteries, will have a timed stage of two hours or more before the trickle charge stage is reached. Better to set the timer to come on once a week or once a fortnight.

 

[Wildbill]

past 30 years of motor homing caravanning never bothered to plug in I just used to keep my battery charged in the garage for my caravan or motorhome/camper now the solar dose that.
we don't even take the bedding out and nothin get damp but we do use our van a lot in the winter months
bill

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[Minxy]

Better to set the timer to come on once a week or once a fortnight.

Over winter we our EHU cable goes into a timer switch that is set to come on once a week for the day, been doing this for years and never had any issues with it, no having to remember to turn it on manually.

 

[ABZSteve]

I am on EHU 24/7 but do not put the heating on or use a dehumidifier. All cupboard doors open, fridge and freezer left open to avoid mould and I use damp traps front and back. I have a solar panel but also use a ctek msx-5 to manage the cab battery. No problems with this van or the last. I do an all-round damp test once a month for peace of mind.

 

[Robin McHood]

Think it much depends on moho make and construction and also on quality etc of battery chargers. We keep ours on EHU 24/7 with Alde heating set to around 12C. Inside stays in perfect condition regardless of weather, no damp or mositure and with full insulation and db tanks van is ready to go whenever we want. If a battery charger is properly designed it wont damage or fry batteries if left connected continually. Ships emergency batteries are on permanent charge and the batteries last for years

 

[thebriars]

I put my spare leisure battery on charge today. It was last used in early August and hasn't been connected up or charged since. It was still showing 95% charge.

 

[MyrtleGuru]

We just rely on the solar panel (120W) to keep the leisure batteries (2 x 100Ah) charged whilst parked up (even in winter) -- no need for EHU. They are lead-acid and still going strong after five years.

As it is stored rurally, we don't keep it heated, as that would be far too welcoming for the little furry beasts!

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