I purchased a Elddis 155 on the Peugeot 2.2 base in November (my 1st m/home) Stored at home, I can plug into the mains which keeps leisure batteries charged, the hand book say's " disconnect vehicle battery before charging". This means lifting carpet and floor panel to charge, is there a better way to keep vehicle battery charged over winter period? Any advice appreciated. Graham
battery charging
- Thread starter GJJM
- Start date
Hi "GJJM," and welcome.
Is it the "base vehicle" handbook (from Peugeot) which says that, or the converter's manual (from Elddis)?
Some vans are wired to allow the mains hook-up to charge the vehicle battery (if the control panel is set to "car"), others aren't - it will be the converter who sets that up (or doesn't).
If it's the Peugeot book which says "disconnect," it's still worth checking whether you can charge it from the hook-up. If you haven't got an Elddis manual, a bit of trial and error won't do any harm - it will either charge the van battery, or do nothing.
If the hook-up doesn't charge the van battery, I'm afraid you just have to go by the Peugeot manual.
Is it the "base vehicle" handbook (from Peugeot) which says that, or the converter's manual (from Elddis)?
Some vans are wired to allow the mains hook-up to charge the vehicle battery (if the control panel is set to "car"), others aren't - it will be the converter who sets that up (or doesn't).
If it's the Peugeot book which says "disconnect," it's still worth checking whether you can charge it from the hook-up. If you haven't got an Elddis manual, a bit of trial and error won't do any harm - it will either charge the van battery, or do nothing.
If the hook-up doesn't charge the van battery, I'm afraid you just have to go by the Peugeot manual.
Hi Graham - Are you looking at the Peugeot handbook or a section of the Elddis manual ?
It's most unusual to find a statement to indicate the one battery should be disconnected, whilst charging the other. If it were the case then when away on site & using EHU, we would all be doing it on a daily basis.
For your Leisure Battery charging using the EHU point this will primarily charge your Leisure Battery & direct excess charge to the Vehicle Battery. In all the years we have had a Motorhome, I have never disconnected the either Battery whilst charging the other Battery.
For the Vehicle Battery when not connected to your EHU point = Your Peugeot Handbook should show the charging connection point UNDER THE BONNET.. There is no requirement to connect directly to the Vehicle Battery
Like you I just hook-up via the EHU point at home the same as I would when away.
It's most unusual to find a statement to indicate the one battery should be disconnected, whilst charging the other. If it were the case then when away on site & using EHU, we would all be doing it on a daily basis.
For your Leisure Battery charging using the EHU point this will primarily charge your Leisure Battery & direct excess charge to the Vehicle Battery. In all the years we have had a Motorhome, I have never disconnected the either Battery whilst charging the other Battery.
For the Vehicle Battery when not connected to your EHU point = Your Peugeot Handbook should show the charging connection point UNDER THE BONNET.. There is no requirement to connect directly to the Vehicle Battery
Like you I just hook-up via the EHU point at home the same as I would when away.
Many thanks for replies. I was referring to the Peugeot handbook which states, disconnect the battery when using a charger. The only points shown under the bonnet are when jump starting. The vehicle had been stood for about a month when noticed battery was going flat, that's why I used my charger to top up. The Elddis handbook states obviously the charger will charge the leisure battery when connected to a 240v supply. I've caravaned for 40 years so this is nothing new. Referring to the control panel AUX/VEH quote 'when the switch in VEH position the M/H 12v system is powered from vehicle battery, when in AUX power from auxiliary battery or the 12v charger/power supply if connected to mains' Use only in VEH position sparingly so's not to flatten the vehicle battery. Hope this makes sense. Graham
Yes it does Graham.
Our vehicle battery doesn't charge from the EHU, but a previous one did if the panel was switched to "car." Sounds like yours doesn't.
If you connect a gentle charger to the jump start points, I can't see any reason to disconnect the battery - but electronics are all magic to me!
Our vehicle battery doesn't charge from the EHU, but a previous one did if the panel was switched to "car." Sounds like yours doesn't.
If you connect a gentle charger to the jump start points, I can't see any reason to disconnect the battery - but electronics are all magic to me!
Our first van was a 2004 Autoquest 100 so a bit different but apparently similar as far as the essentials of this thread go.
The Autoquest was wired to top up the leisure battery from the alternator/starter battery when driving but had no circuitry for topping up the starter battery at all. During the first winter we had the Autoquest the starter battery was flattened by the alarm (and possibly not switching the radio off completely). I used a Tronic T4X charger (from Lidl) on the starter battery from time to time in winter when it tended to run down. I could attach the crocodile clips to the battery and plug the unit into one of the van sockets, power to the van being supplied from a socket in our garage via the hook-up lead. The Tronic (like its Aldi equivalent and the rather dearer Ctek models) is a smart charger which should not damage a battery. I think the warning about disconnecting the battery is aimed at use of a basic charger which might cause problems.
Subsequently I fitted a Battery Charge Manager (BCM 12) from CAK Tanks which kept the starter battery topped up, in addition to the leisure battery, when on mains hook-up or when the solar panel was in use.
I think Lidl and Aldi both had their smart chargers as specials recently so with luck you might find one left at your local branch.
The VEH/AUX switch is purely for supplying power to the 12v habitation circuits and is redundant when it comes to charging. The warning about using it on VEH sparingly is correct, as we found when we inadvertently switched it over by mistake
Graham
The Autoquest was wired to top up the leisure battery from the alternator/starter battery when driving but had no circuitry for topping up the starter battery at all. During the first winter we had the Autoquest the starter battery was flattened by the alarm (and possibly not switching the radio off completely). I used a Tronic T4X charger (from Lidl) on the starter battery from time to time in winter when it tended to run down. I could attach the crocodile clips to the battery and plug the unit into one of the van sockets, power to the van being supplied from a socket in our garage via the hook-up lead. The Tronic (like its Aldi equivalent and the rather dearer Ctek models) is a smart charger which should not damage a battery. I think the warning about disconnecting the battery is aimed at use of a basic charger which might cause problems.
Subsequently I fitted a Battery Charge Manager (BCM 12) from CAK Tanks which kept the starter battery topped up, in addition to the leisure battery, when on mains hook-up or when the solar panel was in use.
I think Lidl and Aldi both had their smart chargers as specials recently so with luck you might find one left at your local branch.
The VEH/AUX switch is purely for supplying power to the 12v habitation circuits and is redundant when it comes to charging. The warning about using it on VEH sparingly is correct, as we found when we inadvertently switched it over by mistake
Graham
Many thanks, perhaps I didn't explain very well at first, that's obviously the way to go. I'll try to get one of these intelligent chargers as opposed to using my big garage one. Graham
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