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charging my new battery

A

alan_5126663

we have just bought a new battery for our caravan,and were told it is best to let it drain down before we charge it up again after we use it the problem is when we hook up to mains our charger starts charging straight away and also i have a little solar panel that gives it a little trickle charge when we are not hooked up,so do i or dont i charge it while we are away andwill it affect the life of the battery if its always on charge while it is connected to the mains
 
Alan, if it is a regular Lead/Acid type battery, then they do benefit from a discharge to 10.5 volts then a full charge to 14 volts, or they"can", but not necessarily, suffer from Memory Effect, where the battery gets used to only discharging a certain amount, then appears dead.

If, for example, it only discharges to 11 volts, then is recharged to 13.5 it will, in time, "think" it is dead at 11 volts, and you only have 2.5 volts to use, instead of 3.5 to 4 volts , which is its supposed operating tolerances.

Rmember, a battery NEVER has the capacity to discharge to 0 volts, it is technically "Flat" at 10.5v
 
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