Battery for winter

[Andy Norfolk]

So I have been through the manufacturers requirements to put our caravan out of service for the winter. No mention of the battery. Do you hook your van up to the mains periodically over the winter to keep the battery topped up. If so, how often? Thanks

 

[RogerL]

I connect mine to the EHU once a month for 24 hours - seems to be enough.

 

[otherclive]

So I have been through the manufacturers requirements to put our caravan out of service for the winter. No mention of the battery. Do you hook your van up to the mains periodically over the winter to keep the battery topped up. If so, how often? Thanks

I used to remove battery and store in garage connected to a CTEK smart charger. If your van lives at home and you have an inbuilt smart charger then that would look after it. What year is the caravan as newer ones have the smarter chargers.

 

[Buckman]

A solar panel keeps as topped up all winter.

 

[Andy Norfolk]

I used to remove battery and store in garage connected to a CTEK smart charger. If your van lives at home and you have an inbuilt smart charger then that would look after it. What year is the caravan as newer ones have the smarter chargers.

Thanks. I think it needs to stay in to keep the tracker working. It's an Adria Adora Seine, 6 months old. Haven't read anything about it having a smart charger.

 

[Buckman]

Thanks. I think it needs to stay in to keep the tracker working. It's an Adria Adora Seine, 6 months old. Haven't read anything about it having a smart charger.

It may be worth considering having a solar panel fitted to charge the battery throughout the year?

 

[Mel]

If your van is accessible; for less than a solar panel get a second leisure battery and a smart charger and charge one at home and swap them periodically.
mel

 

[otherclive]

Thanks. I think it needs to stay in to keep the tracker working. It's an Adria Adora Seine, 6 months old. Haven't read anything about it having a smart charger.

At that young age it’s own charger will be able to maintain the battery whist not in use, and having a solar panel would obviate the need to connect to 240 volts.

 

[Beardy]

Chatting to a friend at work who keeps her caravan on a storage site. They have a small solar panel that they sit in the roof light 'cavity' inside the caravan just to keep the battery topped up and say that it works well. I was toying with the idea of doing the same. I think I could fit a 40-50 watt panel in my roof light, so 4 amps max (more likely 2 amps due to light loss through the roof light) then plug the panel via a controller into one of the 12v sockets in the caravan . The only issue I can see is that the caravan 'power' would have to be left on to make the connection between the 12v socket and the battery unless I run a direct connection from the battery to a new socket.

 

[Beachball]

We use take our battery home to our garage and keep it connected to our smart charger so it was fully charged and ready for the next season

 

[Raywood]

Our caravan is in storage. and we keep a solar panel propped up inside the front window. The caravan faces East so gets the morning sun so the location of a panel inside might depend on where it will get the sun best.