Trickle charging during long term storage or not?

[TobyQuest]

Thinking of trickle charging my engine battery when storing for 3-6 months outside by leaving a 10w or 20w panel on the dashboard and wondering if thats a good or bad idea.
Will it overcharge the battery, is that worse than coming back to a flat battery and then charging it up? If both damage the battery what would be better?

 

[Brains]

Fit a Battery Master, the best one is the VanBitz model for £70 off ebay
(Cheaper versions are available, but you get what you pay for)
That way both batteries will be charged, and neither will be over charged

 

[autorouter]

If the battery goes flat, and it's left for more than a week or two, then the sulfation forming inside the battery will start to harden and after a while won't be possible to charge it up again. A small solar panel can keep the battery up at 100% to avoid this problem. A small panel is used, usually without a solar controller box, and is usually fine for keeping the battery topped up. Anything bigger than about 20W will need a solar controller box, one of those 100W portable panels for example.

 

[Reallyretired]

My 2x100w panels keep both batteries charged in storage even in the winter as the charge rate is very low but so is the usage.

 

[VXman]

Thinking of trickle charging my engine battery when storing for 3-6 months outside by leaving a 10w or 20w panel on the dashboard and wondering if thats a good or bad idea.
Will it overcharge the battery, is that worse than coming back to a flat battery and then charging it up? If both damage the battery what would be better?

If it's a very low output it will be fine. If higher use a solar controller which will manage the amount of charge being given to the battery. If it delivers a flaot charge it is fine being on permanently. Better than not charging at all.

Fit a Battery Master, the best one is the VanBitz model for £70 off ebay
(Cheaper versions are available, but you get what you pay for)
That way both batteries will be charged, and neither will be over charged

That's fine if the Leisure battery is being charged in someway - solar or mains. If not then it's useless.

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[Brains]

If it's a very low output it will be fine. If higher use a solar controller which will manage the amount of charge being given to the battery. If it delivers a flaot charge it is fine being on permanently. Better than not charging at all.


That's fine if the Leisure battery is being charged in someway - solar or mains. If not then it's useless.

Best suggestion would be to bit the biggest solar panel you can to the roof, and a battery master, and then charge both batteries equally

 

[FrankNicklin]

I bought 100w folding panel from Amazon. Comes with a waterproof MPPT controller and a number of cables and fittings. I'm able to face south when parked in storage so the panel sits in the Windscreen connected to the engine battery. Used the MH last weekend and engine battery was 100% give or take. I've only got a BM2 on the battery to check its status so it wont be entirely accurate.

You really need around 1amp to trickle charge less than that it it could struggle to keep up with parasitic drain but that all depends on your MH and what is connected. Alarms, Trackers, Radios, ECUs etc.