Morning all,
I have an old battery charger (trickle charger) in full working order is this ok for charging a leisure battery?
I have an old battery charger (trickle charger) in full working order is this ok for charging a leisure battery?
Battery charging
- Thread starter Gerry N
- Start date
I have the same, maybe 20 years old, with gel,/standard settings, it works well for charging off the caravan.
A trickle charger will work - just slowly and won't ever quite get to fully charged - a smart charger would be better as most have a conditioning cycle, to minimise sulphation, and will fully charge a battery by the end of all their cycles.
I have a CTEK which can be used for charging, and also can be left connected for battery maintenance when it was away from the van in the garage.. Being fully waterproof IP65 I can use it outdoors if required. Other companies p, such as Ring, do similar and Aldi periodically have a smart charger for sale.
www.ctek.com
Smart Battery Charger
www.ctek.com
It depends on the design of the "trickle" charger, but some older ones from the 70's and 80's are little more than a transformer and a rectifier with no smoothing or regulating components. I have had practical experience of some of these very simple chargers where they have been used on a batteries that are in poor condition, and over an extended period of a few days, the battery has overheated which damaged it which had splattered acid around its location.
Just check that yours is smoothed and properly regulated and it should be fine. But as Otherclive has suggested a modern multi stage device not only prolongs the life of a battery but it may actually help to recover some batteries in poor condition.
Just check that yours is smoothed and properly regulated and it should be fine. But as Otherclive has suggested a modern multi stage device not only prolongs the life of a battery but it may actually help to recover some batteries in poor condition.
CTEK are probably the best and one of the most versatile chargers as can do lead acid and also AGM batteries.I have a CTEK which can be used for charging, and also can be left connected for battery maintenance when it was away from the van in the garage.. Being fully waterproof IP65 I can use it outdoors if required. Other companies p, such as Ring, do similar and Aldi periodically have a smart charger for sale.
Smart Battery Charger
There are several other good brands of multi stage chargers, and even some quite respectable ones from Aldi and Lidl at considerable savings.
Aldi and Lidl only have them in periodically. Halfords do one of their own too but it’s spec doesn’t give its IP rating. If required to be used outdoors where it could be exposed I would go for IP65, like CTEK or one of the other makes with that rating RING, NOCO, CTEK etc.
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It very much depends on what your envisaged usage and budget is. Do you want it just to top up and maintain a battery, or fully recharge and condition. Will the battery be indoors or outside feeding the caravan. Would you use it for caring for a car battery, possibly one with stop start? Best to look at the various makers specifications. Halfords or Ring are regular makes that are always avaible, Aldi only come periodically and so you need to watch their website. Not knowing what you budget and usage is really puts it down to you. I’ve had a CTEK for some 20 years or so and it was used for caravan and car, but it wouldn’t suit our two cars now with stop start AGM batteries.. My son has a ROCO which does all his batteries if required.
just for the caravan Battery to top up and maintain tight budget so possibly under £100
Thats quite a budget and puts CTEK and ROCO well within your sights, but if you are only likely to use it as described I would go for a Ring at half your budget, and IP 65 specification too.
Smart Car Battery Chargers
www.ringautomotive.com
IP65 means that the unit is essentially waterproof. Why would you need that on a car charger?
IP44 means they are splashproof which even most outside lights comply with. You are likely to put the unit somewhere out of the rain which means IP44 is perfectly adequate and likely much cheaper!
IP44 means they are splashproof which even most outside lights comply with. You are likely to put the unit somewhere out of the rain which means IP44 is perfectly adequate and likely much cheaper!
I have been lucky that when I have needed a charger for a new project it just so happened that Aldi or Lidl has had them on sale. and their prices have been very attractive, to the point I almost consider them to be a consumable but in practice apart from one that got damaged when something dropped on it, they have continued to work very well.
I was looking for a more powerful charger (10A for a different project when I discovered a Ctek model which not only was a multi stage charger, but it could also function as a 13.8v 10A power supply. I went for this as it could be used to power a 12Vdc portable coolbox. Other wise I might have gone for a different make. The first one of these I had was faulty, but the replacement has been fine.
So All I can do is to say I am happy with the units I've had, but that does not mean they are better than any other makes.
How much cheaper are the equivalent spec IP44 units. I could leave my CTEK on the drive when plugged in to my external socket. So I see no problem in owning a quality charger that includes IP65.
I would try your original charger and after a week, see what the voltage of the battery is. If it is at 13 .5 volts when you take the charger off. It will probably suit your needs. Do that every month for three days when not in use then it will be fine.
We need a charger for my wife car so i will keep and eye on Aldi / LidI thanks for advice
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would a ring 4A charger be ok for my leisure battery (105AH) in your opinion?Thats quite a budget and puts CTEK and ROCO well within your sights, but if you are only likely to use it as described I would go for a Ring at half your budget, and IP 65 specification too.
Smart Car Battery Chargers
I have a smaller CTEK XS 3600 which is 3.6 amp nd is rated for up to 120 AH batteries in cold conditions. I used it regularly to keep the 110ah battery maintained when I brought it home to store. Where it will struggle is to speedily recharge a large battery that is flat. It has done it for a flat car battery but it wasn't bought for that duty. So that size Ring should be fine.
+1 I use a CTEK 3.8 amp unit which works fine on a leisure battery, and car battery used for leisure purposes - as said it would need time to recharge a flat car battery.
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