In the past, when storing my caravan at home, I've always left the mains connected in order to keep the battery topped up. Is this the right thing to do or will it shorten battery life or have an effect on the charger?
It will shorten the battery life. I would only charge my battery the night before for a few hour's if i was only using the battery, but if i'm going to a mains electric site i dont! Your battery last longer than you think! Hope this is some sort of help!
A few hours may not be enough dependent on the state of charge.
Modern chargers will not overcharge the battery and will not reduce battery life by being on continuously. Do a search on this and numerous other forums.
Hi JohnT, When your caravan is in storage through the winter the best thing to do is to bring the battery out of the caravan if it is stored away from home. Then charge it up over night. Then over the winter just leave it and give it a charge a few days before starting the season again.
If you are talking about topping it up during the season then if your caravan has got a charger built in then I would not worry about it at all because its getting topped up if you are on an electric pitch. Like laura says they last longer than you think. I only use mine for the water pump and the lights when we first get back to the caravan late. It never suffered last year when we never had a charger in the caravan and it is only 85amphr one.
Since your 'van is stored at home it is best to leave the battery on charge during the storage period. It will not harm the battery or charger to do this.
If you should follow Raccoons advise and take it out of the van, then please do not just leave it. The battery will discharge naturally and the plates will sulphate and could render the battery useless. Ideally a battery needs to be worked to maintain its performance.
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