Is it better to charge leisure battery occasionally or keep it on permanent float charge?

[Lyrick]

would you allow your leisure battery voltage to drop before charging it ?

On a recent thread several funsters said that they only charged their batteries every few weeks.

My Motorhome is on my drive and is connected to mains electric. I normally leave the batteries on a permanent float charge - CBE 516 charger , float voltage is 13.5 volts. The leisure batteries don't power anything , except for keeping the engine battery topped up, when the van is not in use.

So should I charge occasionally , and when , or should I leave the batteries on a permanent float charge ?

Thanks , Patrick

 

[herald_400rl]

Mine (no solar) get 4 hours twice a week overnight. This keeps them above 12.3v but means they aren't constantly on charge.

 

[rosalan]

For many tears, right or wrong, I have left my van on permanent hook-up. To date this has not caused me any problems, other things have but not hook-up. I thought, rightly or wrongly that the batteries would, when full, be controlled by my electrobloc.

 

[herald_400rl]

Ours has no maintainer function, it's an older unit and it just pushes out ~13.8v constantly which I think can cause damage to the battery plates (but then it's 13 years since I've done any physics).

 

[HarryML7]

I leave the EHU on, but with no battery master, direct wire an optimate 4 to the cab battery.

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[SpeedyDux]

EHU every 2 weeks for 4 hours. This also keeps the starter battery charged.

 

[Lyrick]

EHU every 2 weeks for 4 hours. This also keeps the starter battery charged.

Thanks for that , but after two weeks without charge what voltage is your leisure battery ?

 

[Brains]

I have solar and a battery master.
The battery is only running the alarm and any residual drain.
I switch off the Electroblock if I'm leaving the van for more than a couple of weeks.
Both batteries are always full, even in midwinter.

If I was leaving it plugged into the EHU at home, I'd stick a £5 timeswitch on the socket, so that it only charged for say one hour a day,
(or splash out on a £10 timeswitch, so it would charge for say 12hrs every week)

 

[Spriddler]

Thanks for that , but after two weeks without charge what voltage is your leisure battery ?

Frankly the voltage of other peoples batteries is irrelevant to what yours is doing. At the beginning, whatever charging regime you choose, just keep an eye on the voltage of yours once or twice each week for the first month or so to see what's happening.
Turn off te charger(s) for an hour or two before checking their voltage or you'll get a false high reading.

 

[Lyrick]

Frankly the voltage of other peoples batteries is irrelevant to what yours is doing. At the beginning, whatever charging regime you choose, just keep an eye on the voltage of yours once or twice each week for the first month or so to see what's happening.
Turn off te charger(s) for an hour or two before checking their voltage or you'll get a false high reading.

I agree that other peoples battery voltages are irrelevant .
I'm just trying to find out at what voltage I should recharge my batteries.

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[Spriddler]

I agree that other peoples battery voltages are irrelevant .
I'm just trying to find out at what voltage I should recharge my batteries.

Mine keep at minimum 70% SOC and have not had any issues with my batteries which are both (cab and hab) at least 5 years old, but we all have our preferences.
My hab battery is charged by the onboard charger and for my cab battery I use a Halfords 'Intelligent' charger because the onboard charger only charges the hab battery. All charging is on a timer - a couple of hours every fortnight. There is no background/parasitic drain whatsoever on either battery.

 

[herald_400rl]

M

I have solar and a battery master.
The battery is only running the alarm and any residual drain.
I switch off the Electroblock if I'm leaving the van for more than a couple of weeks.
Both batteries are always full, even in midwinter.

If I was leaving it plugged into the EHU at home, I'd stick a £5 timeswitch on the socket, so that it only charged for say one hour a day,
(or splash out on a £10 timeswitch, so it would charge for say 12hrs every week)

Mines on a BG Home smart outdoor socket so I can control as needed and it'd scheduled on my phone. Means I can put it on at work if we're going away so the fridge is cold.

 

[SpeedyDux]

Thanks for that , but after two weeks without charge what voltage is your leisure battery ?

Usually 12.6 V - I have 2 Banner ones about 6 months old now. The starter battery drops to 12.5 V, I think because of the radio on standby drawing a small wattage.

 

[Stealaway]

would you allow your leisure battery voltage to drop before charging it ?

On a recent thread several funsters said that they only charged their batteries every few weeks.

My Motorhome is on my drive and is connected to mains electric. I normally leave the batteries on a permanent float charge - CBE 516 charger , float voltage is 13.5 volts. The leisure batteries don't power anything , except for keeping the engine battery topped up, when the van is not in use.

So should I charge occasionally , and when , or should I leave the batteries on a permanent float charge ?

Thanks , Patrick

Never, ever less than 12.5 volts home or away.
Never, ever less than 12 volts to avoid permanently damaging your batteries.
If you have EHU simply leave it connected to that

 

[Terry]

Van has Gel batteries and is left on charge 24/7 for last 4.5 years when not in use = no problem. On other vehicles they have flooded lead acid and I found if left on charge for very long periods they can evaporate the electrolyte so keep an eye on levels or charge every 4/5 weeks for 24 hrs

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[PhilandMena]

would you allow your leisure battery voltage to drop before charging it ?

On a recent thread several funsters said that they only charged their batteries every few weeks.

My Motorhome is on my drive and is connected to mains electric. I normally leave the batteries on a permanent float charge - CBE 516 charger , float voltage is 13.5 volts. The leisure batteries don't power anything , except for keeping the engine battery topped up, when the van is not in use.

So should I charge occasionally , and when , or should I leave the batteries on a permanent float charge ?

Thanks , Patrick

No harm will come from keeping them on a perminate float charge. I've been doing just that for over 15 years when the van is not in use.

 

[PhilandMena]

Van has Gel batteries and is left on charge 24/7 for last 4.5 years when not in use = no problem. On other vehicles they have flooded lead acid and I found if left on charge for very long periods they can evaporate the electrolyte so keep an eye on levels or charge every 4/5 weeks for 24 hrs

It is my understanding evaporation from charging does not occur below 14.1V for LA batteries.

 

[Terry]

That could well be true but I use different charges on different things . Van uses its own charging system, then I have a Lidl and a Aldi smart chargers along with an old jump/charge booster charger. I think I used the booster charger on one of the batteries then checked levels and found it was low so topped it up with distilled water. I never checked levels before I charged so next time I use booster/jump charger I will have to check before charging I normally stick smart chargers on and forget for a few months/ over winter

 

[Marie-Claire]

A white van man who leaves the engine running all day I guess has batteries on charge permanantly

 

[two]

"Smart" chargers are simply not "dumb" ones but some are smarter than others. If you want to leave a battery on charge continuously, you need a 'good' "smart" charger that is set for the battery type you're charging. I don't trust these "Smart" devices, so charge my batteries once a month (there's a list of things I do on a calendar monthly schedule and the first of each month is much easier to be aware of than trying to keep track of fortnights). I leave mine on overnight and it seems to do the trick (mostly to keep the cab/starter battery up as that has a parasitic drain from the alarm).
Leaving them on charge continuously is a lot easier, of course, but I think it's better to let the battery voltage rise and fall a bit (for 'exercise').

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[Greenie]

At home, our AGM habitation and 'normal' vehicle batteries are powered by solar (except when there's no solar gain like now) and then with EHU connected, I leave the battery charger on a timer for a couple of hours every other day.
On a different issue, I was asked recently by a newbie to our fun way of life if it was ok to start their engine with EHU connected and switched on. I was unable to give them a safe answer. What does the membership think?

 

[LesW]

I just leave our lead acid leisure and starter batteries on charge via the 100w solar and a battery master.

No issues all year round here in Mid Suffolk.

 

[The black dug]

At home, our AGM habitation and 'normal' vehicle batteries are powered by solar (except when there's no solar gain like now) and then with EHU connected, I leave the battery charger on a timer for a couple of hours every other day.
On a different issue, I was asked recently by a newbie to our fun way of life if it was ok to start their engine with EHU connected and switched on. I was unable to give them a safe answer. What does the membership think?

In my Bailey autograph instruction manual it states not to start the engine when on hook up

 

[Bailey58]

Ours has no maintainer function, it's an older unit and it just pushes out ~13.8v constantly which I think can cause damage to the battery plates (but then it's 13 years since I've done any physics).

Only 13 years, it's been 60 for me and even then I used to go missing when I could and play football instead!

 

[Beemobile]

I'm lucky enough to have my van at home not in storage so I keep an eye on my battery, I do nothing unless it loses to below 12.5v then I act upon the advise I was given years ago to not let it drop.

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[Richard n Ann]

My engine battery is 10 years old in July and it's always been connected to an optimate maintainer at home.
The leasure battery lasted 5 years because was intermittently charged at first, also it was a shite elddis charger.

Here's the optimate in action 24/7 it charges and then rests the battery every 30 minutes

 

[PeterE1947]

On my 'van I have Sergent electrics. If I start the engine with EHU on, I get a warning shrill!! I suppose it's meant to warn you and not drive off with the EHU connected(hopefully)!

 

[Boo and Goo]

EHU every 2 weeks for 4 hours. This also keeps the starter battery charged.

Don't you have to switch the control panel from HAB to VEHICLE in order for the charge to go to the specific battery?
I'm sure I do on my 2003 Autosleeper Nuevo.

 

[bigalw35]

I keep ours on change 24/7 when at home, until spring

 

[Apacheman]

Use a timer plug and programmed to come on at midnight for 1.5 hours each night. Keeps both batteries at about 12.5 - 12.7v when I check them. Also has solar during the day but not sure how useful that is this time of year.