battery chargers & battery charging

[TD42]

I'v read a few posts regading battery chargers & it would appear that most van's have only single stage chargers which are not suitable for long term charging of leisure battery's,& could cause damage to them? Most 2 stage chargers seem to be around £70/100 However I have a Halfords automatic Charger which is supposed to be ok for charging & maintaining both standard,& leisure battery's & GEL batterys & only cost £35.

My question is do you have to disconnect the van battery in order to charge it,& can I connect the van to the mains without a battery & still use the 12v systems. could I disconect the van charger & replace it with my Hafords unit?

 

[JeremyClarksson]

I would not swap the halfords charger with the van one, remember the van one is deigned to work properly when your 12V equipment is working.

The Halfords one is only designed to charge batteries and I would disconnect the battery when using it otherwise the 2 chargers could well be working against each other and cause problems

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Tony,

I agree with JCS and with part of what you wrote.

Yes, many caravan power packs are only single stage - with an output limited to around 13.4 volts - and will never fully charge a battery - but they can be left on all the time and it doesn't matter if your battery is only charged to 95% (say).

Caravan power packs are also designed to run all the 12 volt appliances in the caravan as well as recharge the battery - water pumps, interior lights, radio, etc.

Multi-stage chargers achieve a full battery charge by increasing the charge voltage during one part of the charge processes - typically a voltage just under 15 volts is needed for this. Your caravan appliances may not appreciate this.

Our Eriba has a split power supply - whilst on EHU the battery is charged and the 12 volt appliances operated by the BIP power pack; but when towing the van - the battery is fully charged by a Schaudt W1214 "booster" that raises the car 12 volt supply to the near 15 volts required to fully charge the battery - but this is automatically disconnected when on EHU

So I'd suggest keeping the caravan power pack as it is.

Robert

 

[TD42]

Hi Tony,

I agree with JCS and with part of what you wrote.

Yes, many caravan power packs are only single stage - with an output limited to around 13.4 volts - and will never fully charge a battery - but they can be left on all the time and it doesn't matter if your battery is only charged to 95% (say).

Caravan power packs are also designed to run all the 12 volt appliances in the caravan as well as recharge the battery - water pumps, interior lights, radio, etc.

Multi-stage chargers achieve a full battery charge by increasing the charge voltage during one part of the charge processes - typically a voltage just under 15 volts is needed for this. Your caravan appliances may not appreciate this.

Our Eriba has a split power supply - whilst on EHU the battery is charged and the 12 volt appliances operated by the BIP power pack; but when towing the van - the battery is fully charged by a Schaudt W1214 "booster" that raises the car 12 volt supply to the near 15 volts required to fully charge the battery - but this is automatically disconnected when on EHU

So I'd suggest keeping the caravan power pack as it is.

Robert

many thanks to JCS & Rob Jax

So,for winter storage I should charge to full capacity with my Halfords,charger replace battery in van & then its ok to connect van to mains for the duration?