Leisure Battery

[sujole]

Hi

Daft question number 2. My leisure battery has gone flat so I need to recharge it. Can I use a standard car battery charger or is there something else I need?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

By the way, loving the forum. A wealth of information you wont find in any books :thumb:

John & Suzanne

 

[madbluemad]

Hi

Daft question number 2. My leisure battery has gone flat so I need to recharge it. Can I use a standard car battery charger or is there something else I need?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

By the way, loving the forum. A wealth of information you wont find in any books :thumb:

John & Suzanne

Hi John and Susan.

Unfortunatley no you cant use a car battery charger on your liesure battery. You need a liesure battery charger.

You can charge your liesure battery from an EHU.

There will be others along to reccomend which one. If you google halfords or even liesure battery charger you will see what it is that you need.

Cheers

Jim

 

[Tony Lee]

Depends what type the battery is. Deep-cycle flooded cell, Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) or Gel.

The first two types can be charged by almost any charger in an emergency - and having a dead flat battery IS an emergency as the longer you leave it flat, the worse the permanent damage becomes. Even a dead flat Gel battery is not going to be improved by leaving it flat. Careful use of an unsuitable charger is better than nothing.

Check what the battery capacity is - say 100Ah
Hook the battery charger to the battery and see what the charge current is - say 4 Amps.
Divide the Ah by the current -- 100/4=25 hours
It would be safe to leave the charger connected for say 80% of that time as this will get at least some charge back to stop further deterioration.

CONDITIONS - this would apply to normal chargers with output currents up to say 8 Amps into a flat battery and where the current starts to taper off after a few hours. IT DOES NOT APPLY to the older high capacity quick chargers that are often found in the corner of a garage.

Then of course - as Jim said, you really should get hold of a decent three-stage charger that will get your deep-cycle battery up to 100% capacity on a regular basis.

Many RVs have a 13.7V charger (so-called) and these are OK when on hook-up as they will prevent the battery going flat, but relying on it all the time must result in chronic undercharging and reduced battery life. After each weekend out, hook up the 3-stage when you get home and if convenient, you can leave it connected until you head off next time because once the battery is fully charged, it will drop back to float mode and that can be maintained indefinitely.

Best not to have the shore supply hooked up at the same time though unless you can be sure the inbuilt charger is switched off.

Also need to find out why the battery went flat. Inbuilt charger not working, transfer relay to allow charging from the engine alternator faulty, too much camping and not enough driving. more electrical load than previously

 

[iceni]

Hi
If you have the facility to supply 230v to the van then this will charge it.


But you have to think about what caused it to go flat in the first place as even if left for a month or so they shouldnt be flat. Have you left a light on in a cupboard somewhere. Do you turn the control panel off when not using the van.


Phill

 

[Terry]

Hi John & Suzanne, yes you can use your normal car batt charger for a good 24 hrs without damaging your l/b Your van should have a 3 way charger inside it that is connected to the l/b so plug it in and charge away :thumb:
You can buy 3 way chargers from both Aldi (auto 5 -£12) and Lidl (tronic - £10)from time to time,both excelent 3 way chargers,failing that pay for a Ctec from about £40 ish.
Check your van as said it should have a charger fitted :thumb: it may be a case of just turning it on :thumb:---3 way = boost - charge - then standby tricke maintannce to put it in terms you will understand :thumb:-- this you can leave charging for as long as you like
terry