Can I leave my battery on charge indefinatley?

[Litespeed]

I always put the caravan away for the winter hooked up to the mains with the heater running on low, a dehumidifier running permanently (with vents blocked) and the battery charger on all the time.

Is this harming the battery, or doing it good???

 

[JeremyClarksson]

It is much better than draining the battery flat but I prefer to remove the battery and charge it in the garage once a month to a higher charge than the on board charger can give, but I am not fortunate enough to be able to do what you are doing as our van goes into storage.

BTW regards heater and dehumidifier I would only run that dehumidifier on a very low setting and as it generates some heat would probably not bother with the heater

 

[rob_jax]

Litespeed,

If the battery discharges below 50% for days or weeks at a time - like in storage, then it will suffer from the effects of Sulfation (irreversible deposits on the lead plates) which will eventually kill the battery.

The effect progressively worsens as the charge state drops ever lower. However if you do discharge the battery and immediately recharge it, no damage is done.

At the other end, if you continually charge the battery with a charging voltage about 14 Volts - this is above the point at which water breaks down into Hydrogen and Oxygen - so electrolyte is lost.

The ideal situation is to charge the battery to 100% - which does require a voltage of 14.4 volts, but which also drops back to below 14 volts when the charge point is reached - and then trickle charge the battery at around 13.5 volts with a current of 50 milliAmps to 100 milliAmps.

This will maintain the battery in 100% condition, and not cause any out-gassing or other damage.

A good quality caravan charger should do this for you (but if the battery or the charger develops a fualt - it is still capable of delivering a dmaging 10 amps into the battery) - or you may just want to buy a trickle charger (which are limited to 100mA) so that even if the charger goes mad - it still won't hurt the battery.

Robert

 

[Litespeed]

Thanks for all the info so far....as a note the battery is a 'Gel' type. Would this make a difference??

 

[JTQ]

Yes being a GEL type battery necessitates a lower maximum voltage of 14.2 volts as opposed to the 14.4 or 14.7 depending on the specific construction of a "wet" battery.

As you have an expensive GEL battery the likelyhood is that you have also a quality caravan charger as well, a Schaudt Electroblock? If so then assuming it is set for a GEL type then it will be fine for looking after your battery on a continuously on basis.

 

[rob_jax]

Quote "as a note the battery is a 'Gel' type. Would this make a difference??"

A GEL battery has had the liquid electrolyte - dilute Sulfuric acid - in a traditional wet cell battery replaced with glass matting / polymer gel / and the same Sulfuric acid.

The glass matting and polymer helps protect the plates against vibration (travel) damage, and the design means that these batteries should last about twice as long (service life) as a wet battery.

Having said all that, it's still a lead acid battery - so the charging process is almost identical - the GEL makes a minute difference to the optimum charge voltage - and a trickle charger should be fine.

Robert

 

[Robert_374242026]

I am one of those people who leave the battery on the caravan charger nearly all the time and so far the distilled water has not dropped since new which is now 22 months. Its a 110 amp and the caravan is a Coachman 460/2 the meter inside shows 14.4 volts when i look. Any comment?.

 

[colin-yorkshire]

hi all

I once tried a gel battery on the bailey and nearly blew the van up. I had been on site about a week and a half when I smelt somthing burning on looking into the battery locker found that the battery was so hot it had started to glow and the case resembled a football as it was so soft.

after disconnecting it and placing it carefully at a distance it took 7 hrs to cool down.

on buying a new lead acid lesure battery from a van dealer the next day was told that gel batterys are not designed to accept a constant charge but should be flattend completely before recharging otherwise they short out internaly and can explode if left on charge (no arguement from me on that score)

so that my experience of gel batterys you can keep them>

colin

 

[Litespeed]

Thanks for that Colin,

I'm sat hear now after 3/4 bottle of red on a saturday night and the caravans parked 10 miles away with my Gel battery on charge permenantly - and after your post about to burst in to flames......How do you expect me to sleep now!!!????

I'll get there 1st thing in the morning!

 

[JTQ]

Well my GEL battery been on continuous charge, except whilst on CL sites, for 6 years without bursting into flames.

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with GEL batteries other than the price; enjoy the last quarter of that red without any concerns.

 

[colin-yorkshire]

hi

sorry litespeed I did not want to spoil your evening but can only speak from experience the battery was used to power an electric o/b motor which it was brilliant for as it would run the motor all day on one charge, and was about 180 amps full.

I also used it on the van for a week on a site with no hook-up

without problem a month or so before with it lasting the whole week running everthing including the telly but: after 9 days on constant charge ???.

if it was me I would finish the wine get a good nights sleep and in the morning go over and see if the battery feels warm and disconnect it just in case.

colin

 

[JTQ]

As I had said earlier a GEL battery has to be charged at a lower voltage than a liquid lead acid battery, considerably less than the newer liquid ones with traces of Cadmium.

If your caravan charger is specifically designed and set for a GEL you should have no problems. You could easily have problems if you had just connected a GEL to a conventional caravan or bench charger.

Whilst other advice might have told you "the charging process is almost identical", the difference is nevertheless very important.

Its safe to charge a liquid battery with a GEL charger though it will no fully charge it, but its not safe the other way round.

 

[derek_374326452]

Take a look at Ctek battery chargers quite expensive but can be left permanently connected over the winter they only charge when the voltage drops and are even used to rejuvenate old betteries they are also water proof and very small mine is a CteK 7000 made by the swedes.

I believe they are ok for gel types as well.

I have had mine for 2 years now and its the best i have ever had in 30 years

Derek