Charging a leisure battery

[Denise4]

We purchased a new leisure battery in Aug, but do not yet have a charger. I have not a clue what sort to buy and how often we should chage the battery over the winter. We are not using the van, it is in storage until spring. Can anyone advise me what sort of charger I need the battery is a 12V/88AH. ps I want to spend as little as possible on one! Thankyou.

 

[Jim_5040709]

Hi Denise,

We just use a solar panel charger over the winter to keep the battery charged and it does a good job.Would reccomend that you buy one well worth forking out for one.Good Luck Jimbob

 

[James_374408700]

Denise,

Ideally you should buy a "smart" charger or a 3 stage charger.

These will be able to charge the battery fully and will look after the battery if left connected over the winter. It is a case of you get what you pay for and the two chargers I know that fit the bill are the CTEK charger and the Ring Smart charger8. The latter is available from halfords or off the net. at around

 

[Denise4]

thankyou for your quick replies. the battery is in the garage so it is easy for us to top up every month or so ( is that how often you should do it). the battery is still showing good condition now but I am conscious that it has been disconnected since the beg of Sept.

 

[James_374408700]

Denise,

If you have access to a multimeter (volt meter) then the best way is to periodically check the voltage and charge when required. You can pick up a cheap meter from the likes of Lidl or Maplin for around a

 

[TD42]

Hi Denise, If you get to your local Lidl & or Aldi store they may still have some of their battery chargers in stock.they are multi stage chargers with a maintenance mode & are very good value @

 

[RonD]

Hi Denise,

We just use a solar panel charger over the winter to keep the battery charged and it does a good job.Would reccomend that you buy one well worth forking out for one.Good Luck Jimbob

Jim,

Good advice. I also use one. It sits in a south facing window and the battery is usually over 13v during daylight.I've never taken the battery off my van to recharge it.

Ron

 

[Guest]

Denise, get yourself a Ring or CTEK charger... I recommend the CTEK Multi XS3600. You then put the battery on a board or somewhere off the floor of the garage, connect up the CTEK charger and forget about it until the spring. These smart, multi-stage chargers have a maintenence program that keeps the battery in top condition and you can safely leave them connected for months without having to remember to do it.

Beware of cheap chargers... even if they say they are multi-stage. Look at the performance figures particularly the current ripple... this should be below 5%. A high current ripple will heat up the battery and not do it any good at all long term.