Battery chargers.

[trevor11sqdn]

Happy new year to all. We almost lost our holiday over Xmax due to not being able to get the caravan off our fairly steeply sloping drive (parked nose-in for security reasons). Our motor mover just was not up to the job as I suspect the battery was not fully charged although hook up cable and caravan battery charger was switched on. It was a very cold morning and I know that batteries lose a proportion of power the colder it gets. I kept having to remove the battery and give it half an hour on the car charger in the garage to get another few yards worth out of it !! I shall now consider replacing battery from 85ah to 110ah but Im also considering a 3 stage caravan charger to replace the standard-fit one. Has anyone else with a mover suffered similar problems and have you upgraded your charger ? If so , was it a job a competent ex-engineer could tackle.

 

[PaulA3]

Trevor from experiance and your comments I suspect that the fault lies with the battery and not the charger, your creating work for your self that may not be necessary.

 

[Paul_5064559]

Trevor, I think you should invest in a 110ah battery. Have had problems in the past with my mover at various times which is an 110ah. Each time the problem could be traced to low charge in the battery.

The current you need to activate the motors and apply sufficient energy to move from standing over a ton of caravan is not possible with a battery less than half charged. You may think that hell everything else works so the bat. can't be flat but its a bit like a car where lights and wipers work OK but the starter motor will not crank a cold engine.

By the way I also think that like a car when you have a discharged battery you need to get it onto mains charger which will get it up to FULL charge quicker and more efficiently than just plugging the van into mains and expecting the van charger to do the job.

Best of luck.

 

[Colinn]

Hi Trevor,

If you do decide to invest in a new battery, perhaps you can benefit from the wisdom I have acquired after making elementary mistakes in my purchase of a new one!

a) make sure there's a guarantee, and keep that receipt - batteries are totally dependent on proper care and maintenance and if your new one doesn't hold its charge you may well want to take it back

b) talk nicely to the dealer and get a battery that's only just come in (no point in having one that's sat neglected in his showroom for months)

c) in the period after buying, check it regularly in a stand-alone state with a multi-meter and make sure it's holding its charge over decent periods. Don't expect that it will do so just because it's new.

d) download the CC's fact sheet on maintenance and follow to the letter if you want your battery to give long service. (Their expert contradicts the charging advice offered in the last paragraph of Paul's posting!)

I bought a battery three months ago which after extensive testing I have decided is not up to scratch, and I'm taking it back for a replacement tomorrow. Only possible because the one wise thing I did was to file the receipt, as I know we always should!

Good luck,

Colin

 

[trevor11sqdn]

Thanks for all your replies, I will definately be investing in a 110a cell, but am also thinking of going twin -axle so this would be essential. (Not buying a twin axle just because my caravan would,nt move !!!) But my point was rather that a 3 stager charger would top up the battery to its full potential rather than the standard fit charger which never does, so consequently the battery loses its effectiveness over a period of time.

 

[RayS]

Agree with Colin, get the leaflet (download) from the CC site. Unfortunately, however, their advice is virtually impossible to follow with a standard car battery charger, as they suggest you do not let the terminal voltage on charge rise abouve 14.1 volts.

I'm not familiar with 3 stage chargers; I've looked at the website of a major manufacturer - Gunsons - and found no help whatsoever.

Perhaps someone with the knowledge will add a posting explaining 3 stage chargers and where to get them ?

 

[joeby]

i have had caravan movers for about 5 years ,and have had no trouble using the standard inbuilt charger whether it be 85 or 110 amp battery ,it sounds like your battery needs scrapping or its shorting out

 

[RogerL]

I can't easily explain 3-stage chargers, I'm surprised the Gunson website doesn't, they've included these in their range for many years.

Check out the CTEK 3600 at www.ctek.se (there is an English option!). It's available from Road-Pro, Towsure or Hamilton Classics for about