Is it ok to leave the van on EHU when it is parked on the drive for long periods of time?

[Gina M]

I went out to the van to look inside and give it a clean recently (it had not been on EHU for weeks) and the key alarm would not work, anyway I found that the cab battery was flat at 2.5volts. Got that sorted then decided to leave the van on EHU so this never happens again so for the past 4 weeks the van has been on EHU on the drive just sitting there. Am I doing the right thing, or should I just power the electricity a few hours a week. Just wondered what the rest of you do. After reading on here that leaving the fridge on could cost up to 25 quid a month, I have switched that off. I was using it as on overflow as the fridge in my kitchen in the house is small!! Thanks in advance for any advice.

Gina

 

[LesW]

We have 100w solar, plus battery master, that keeps both leisure and starter batteries charged all year.

A decent battery minder would do the same.

 

[Sandancers]

We also have the MH parked on the drive. I put a plug in timer switch onto the socket feeding the MH. So the timer powers up the MH at 2am for 3hrs. Nothing is switched on in the MH (apart from the battery charger circuit obviously). This is enough to keep both batteries at about 12.8v which is a good figure.

 

[Derbyshire wanderer]

While most modern chargers are ok and safe to be on constantly it is a waste of electricity. One day a fortnight should be plenty to keep everything in good order.
It is likely though that the cab battery is damaged beyond use though unless you replaced it.

 

[Just smiffy]

As others have said I would plug it in for a few days every other week and maybe more when it gets colder during the winter, I wouldn’t leave anything else switched on in the van except the chargers..

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[DavieA]

Mine is also kept on my drive. I have a Vanbitz Growler alarm and a non starter. I have hookup on a few hours a week from October through to March as Solar Panel does heehaw during this period. I also monitor the battery voltage regularly. This works for me.

 

[Gina M]

While most modern chargers are ok and safe to be on constantly it is a waste of electricity. One day a fortnight should be plenty to keep everything in good order.
It is likely though that the cab battery is damaged beyond use though unless you replaced it.

Thank you. I will swop to one day a fortnight to save on electricity. Yes, battery was knacked at 5 years old so replaced it

Gina.

 

[Gina M]

Mine is also kept on my drive. I have a Vanbitz Growler alarm and a non starter. I have hookup on a few hours a week from October through to March as Solar Panel does heehaw during this period. I also monitor the battery voltage regularly. This works for me.

Thank you. The van has 2 solar panels. I regularly monitor the battery voltage on both of them since the cab battery died

Gina.

 

[L' Hobo]

Far, far better is to take it for a run of, at least 25mls every fortnight so that the engine gets fully up to temperature and any water that has accumulated in the chassis, gets dispelled by the air travelling through the vehicle at 60 mph.
Take it somewhere nice, have a cup of tea, boiled on the M/H stove and accompanied by your favourite biscuit, have a little 'me' time!


The alternator will charge the battery and the journey will remove the rust from the brake disc's and keep them working!

PS. IF the weather is inclement during the coldest months, plug it in to an EHU for, at least, 12hrs, once a week!

 

[Gina M]

Far, far better is to take it for a run of, at least 25mls every fortnight so that the engine gets fully up to temperature and any water that has accumulated in the chassis, gets dispelled by the air travelling through the vehicle at 60 mph.
Take it somewhere nice, have a cup of tea, boiled on the M/H stove and accompanied by your favourite biscuit, have a little 'me' time!


The alternator will charge the battery and the journey will remove the rust from the brake disc's and keep them working!
PS. IF the weather is inclement during the coldest months, plug it in to an EHU for, at least, 12hrs, once a week!

Brilliant Idea. Any excuse for tea and a biscuit, I am in also the dogs get to go somewhere different for a walk

Gina.

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[Wildbill]

I went out to the van to look inside and give it a clean recently (it had not been on EHU for weeks) and the key alarm would not work, anyway I found that the cab battery was flat at 2.5volts. Got that sorted then decided to leave the van on EHU so this never happens again so for the past 4 weeks the van has been on EHU on the drive just sitting there. Am I doing the right thing, or should I just power the electricity a few hours a week. Just wondered what the rest of you do. After reading on here that leaving the fridge on could cost up to 25 quid a month, I have switched that off. I was using it as on overflow as the fridge in my kitchen in the house is small!! Thanks in advance for any advice.

Gina

Best to leave it on EHU for a bit then a bit on battery's like to be used.
Run them down a bit to exercise them stops sulfate buildup
Bill

 

[MisterB]

Why not just move into the Moho for a few days, I know this next suggestion is extreme, but you could even go away overnight somewhere rather than just a day out?

Now I just need to follow the same advice lol!!

 

[Masman]

Mines on all the time when on drive. I only have battery charger on everything else is turned off. Never had any problems in 20 years of doing this.

 

[busbuddy]

Just keep going away in it throughout the winter

 

[Landy Andy]

Mines plugged in and on 24/7. Batteries are all good after 5 + years of this.

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[carolyn]

If you stop using the fridge your two solar panels should be more than enough to just keep the batteries topped up unless of course you’ve knackered the engine one. We only have one solar panel,120, and this happily keeps our engine battery and our 140 leisure battery topped up over winter.

 

[franknjan]

A reply from Sargent when I asked the same question.

Morning,
This is fine to leave on whilst parked though we would always recommend keeping a regular check of the battery condition during this time.

Regards,

Craig Foot
Technical Support Specialist
Sargent Electrical Services Ltd.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Depends on your charger, some are not very good, ours was just a 13.8v power supply and the battery broke at 5 years old.

I've now got an optimate 2 on the leisure battery 24/7 it trickle charges at very low current then 'rests' the battery every half hour. Uses very little power.

 

[TOAD on Tour]

Mines on EHU all the time for past 18 months, never really seen an increase in leccy bills either

 

[donkey]

My CTEC charger switches off after so many days and only comes back on if voltage drops to a pre-determined level.

Geoff

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[DelViv]

One more for the leave it connected to EHU. As above, no noticeable rise in lecky bill. Nothing left on in MH so only keeping the batteries topped up.

Just noticed we are neighbours.

 

[maison]

We also have the MH parked on the drive. I put a plug in timer switch onto the socket feeding the MH. So the timer powers up the MH at 2am for 3hrs. Nothing is switched on in the MH (apart from the battery charger circuit obviously). This is enough to keep both batteries at about 12.8v which is a good figure.

We do similar but only run our timer three times a week for two hours at a time. Only necessary (for us) during winter as solar keeps us topped up during the summer.

Alarm, tracker and radio place a small, but constant, drain on the battery.

 

[jezport]

Schaudt advise NOT to leave on permanent charge. They should know they make the equipment.
My van is 6 years old, with 140w solar and is never left on charge and the batteries are fine.

 

[maison]

Ginam
I would be concerned about the state of your battery now if the voltage was allowed to drop as low as 2.5V. When discharged too low, damage can occur, although you may be lucky.

I would fully charge the battery then switch off the charger for a week. If the battery holds its charge you are OK. If it doesn’t then it will need to be changed.

Better to find out on your drive rather than when you are away on holiday.

Good luck.

 

[Just smiffy]

Thank you. The van has 2 solar panels. I regularly monitor the battery voltage on both of them since the cab battery died

Gina.

Two solar panels should keep your batteries topped up what wattage are they, I would imagine the frankia has a battery master and trickle charges the cab battery or I could be wrong… do you know if it has a battery master.?

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[The Dotties]

Once a week for 15 hours to allow charge and float time.
Automatically via a WiFi socket on a timer, and can be switched on/off outside the hours timer if needed.
Sargent charger looks after it all very well.

 

[SpeedyDux]

The cab radio on standby will drain the cab battery. For this reason, and also to try to prevent a recurrence of airbag ECU module failure, I put my van on EHU for 3 or 4 hours the day before I am going to drive it, and never leave the batteries off EHU for more than 2 weeks. I use the van to go shopping as well as for days out.

My charger does charge both cab and hab batteries at the same time.

 

[Gina M]

Two solar panels should keep your batteries topped up what wattage are they, I would imagine the frankia has a battery master and trickle charges the cab battery or I could be wrong… do you know if it has a battery master.?

Cab battery is 13.5 and Hab is 13.9. I have just turned off the electricity supply to the van so will keep my eye on itdon't know if fun time Frankie has a battery master.

Gina.

 

[L' Hobo]

My CTEC charger switches off after so many days and only comes back on if voltage drops to a pre-determined level.

Geoff

The CTEK charger I use will resurrect nearly dead batteries and it automatically switches to 'maintenance mode' when charging is completed
I used CTEK to maintain my Coach and Bus fleet batteries and I would not use anything else! They have never let me down.

 

[autorouter]

Thank you. The van has 2 solar panels. I regularly monitor the battery voltage on both of them since the cab battery died

Solar panels on some MHs sometimes only charge the leisure batteries, not the cab battery. You may find the cab battery voltage drops over time. If that happens you can get a small device that trickle-charges the cab battery from the leisure batteries. So the solar panels can keep both batteries topped up indefinitely.

There are various brands of device that do this, but a favourite on here is the VanBitz BatteryMaster. They are usually easy to fit into the existing wiring.

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