How to prolong life of battery

[ThePlotter]

My van which is kept at home is always plugged into the mains but my question is how do I prolong the life of the battery ?

1/ Leave always on charge

2/ Charge every few weeks

3/ Via a timer switch charge for an hour or so each day

 

[Dustydog]

A lead acid battery does not suffer from "memory " problems.
Leave it plugged in all the time. I assume your charger will cut out once full charge is achieved.

 

[Dustydog]

Duplicate

 

[Gafferbill]

.......I store my caravan near my house and I charge the caravan battery every few weeks as I do not always have the mains turned on for safety reasons. I don't think it makes much difference as long as the battery is not allowed to become completely flat.

 

[paws]

I think to a certain extent it depends on how your caravan /battery is used.

1 If you are using the van on electrical hook up throughout the year including winter then the onboard charger should do most of the job and there should be very little need for extra charging

2 If you are not using the van for longer periods of time then it also may depend on what drain there is likely to be on the battery. Some folks have all sorts of gadgets connected in their vans from clocks to alarms and other Whizzo stuff and these when added to the natural discharge that most batteries are prone to, ( greater in higher temperatures, less in lower) can lead to problems if charging is not undertaken.

3 With my older van with no additional drain (no gadgets!) and being laid up for winter at the beginning of October, (with a relatively good state of charge (usually up to about 80%) after its last usage on EHU....) I find a charge up, around Christmas time with my £12 Lidl "smart charger" tops it up nicely until March when I give it a second charge with the Lidl ready for use at Easter.

4 I keep my van at home so leaving it on charge is no problem but for me its never been necessary, the two "out of season" charges doing the trick and keeping the battery in good shape. Keeping the battery and its terminals dry, clean and bright, and topped up with distilled water ( if its like mine and the older type) and never ever allow it to go below 50% state of charge is a great help.

5 I have never replaced a caravan battery until I have had at least 10 years use out of it (in the van) and then its generally relegated to duty as the electric fence energiser in a field we rent for the ponies.( where it needs charging every two weeks)

6 Come to think of it I've not had to spend much on batteries over the last 40 years or so... !

I do appreciate that not everyone uses their caravan battery in a similar way so folks' "milage may vary"
Regards to all and of course
Happy Caravanning
paws

 

[chrisn7]

Get yourself a CTEK smart charger, then you can leave it hooked permanently. Caravan battery has been maintained this way for 8 years now..

 

[SirRogerFFS]

If you dont want to spend that much on the CTEC charger and you are not that desperate ,hang on til Aldi get theirs in .They do the same job at a fraction of the price
Sir Roger

 

[ProfJohnL]

If you dont want to spend that much on the CTEC charger and you are not that desperate ,hang on til Aldi get theirs in .They do the same job at a fraction of the price
Sir Roger

I have examples of both the ALDI and LIDL products. They can to great job, but they both suffer one significant drawback. If the mains power is lost ( e.g. a power cut) the charge turns off and wont automatically restart when the power is restored. I also have two Ctek devices, and both do restart when power is reconnected. That could be a problem for a caravan at a remote storage site.

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Hi Prof. Not one to pick a fight but surely if it came down to using a smart charger ie Lidl Aldi or CTEC your battery will be at home so if there should be a power cut its not a lot of trouble to press the reset button on the Aldi/ Lidl.
Its not everybody that has that sort of money to chuck abouton Ctec chargers + the cheaper one does exactly the same job. (RANT OVER )
Sir Roger

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Sir Roger,

You are correct , the cheaper models do do a good job, but the point I was making is that if you keep a caravan on a storage site if there is a power cut at the site then the Aldi and Lidle models will cut out and wont restart without manual intervention. If you don't know the the site has suffered a power cut , then you would be unaware that the battery would be deteriorating. This could for example be due to an alarm system. The Ctek versions will automatically restart and thus the problem is averted.

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Hello again Prof.Let me throw another spanner in the works.If your caravan is on a storage site then I think you would be lucky if you had any electric to hook up too.When our van is in storage it is along with another 199 vans with no electric.When we park up for the winter I take my Leisure battery off and just stick a 12 volt cat battery on so I have the leisure at home away from the elements of winter .I think a lot of others do similar.
Sir Roger

 

[DeliDave_]

Same here,had two storage sites and never power,had a solar charger or removed the battery and took it home.I keep an Aldi charger in the van so if the onboard charger dies I can keep battery topped up til I get home and fix it.

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Hi Dave I know what you are saying I did 3 storage sites when I was working with John the service engineer none of them with power.On a brighter note and back on Topic how to prolong battery.Our first Caravan we bought from Caravanland Banbury lasted 6 years I think what helped it was now and again I would bring it home and charge on an 11 amp charger.I believe it is still being used but has a charger attached to it .
Sir Roger

 

[Gagakev]

My van is on the drive with power to it, but I only plug it in about two days before the off and a couple of times in the winter, just enough to keep it topped up. I bought a unbranded smart charger about 4 years ago and never used it and last year was in Lidl and because of the comments on here about there chargers decided to buy one, still havent used it gave the other one to daughters boyfriend.
Oh my battery is about six/seven years old.

 

[seth1]

Presuming the battery is good condition first of all.Fully charge it,and then leave it disconnected and in a warm place if possible,more or less the same as the suppliers do.I have a smart charger left on my ducati all year as they are a bit reluctant to turn over due to being a v twin but unless the battery is low it doesnt put any current into it.A decent battery should hold a charge on its own.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Presuming the battery is good condition first of all.Fully charge it,and then leave it disconnected and in a warm place if possible,more or less the same as the suppliers do.I have a smart charger left on my ducati all year as they are a bit reluctant to turn over due to being a v twin but unless the battery is low it doesnt put any current into it.A decent battery should hold a charge on its own.

All batteries will have some level of self discharge. It generally gets worse as the battery ages.

 

[JTQ]

Answering the original question; it all depends on the technology of the inbuilt charger that is fitted.

Should it be a sophisticated "smart charger" then it is designed to be left on continuously, monitoring the battery and acting in a way to optimise battery life and level of charge achieved. However such chargers are not common place and a cruder charger is fitted in, I would say most vans.

If a more rudimentary charger is fitted, and to be safe if the type fitted is not known, it is IMO best to charge the battery periodically. How frequently to recharge will depend on the drains placed on the battery by the van's connected systems and by battery self discharge.

What is needed to optimise the stored battery life is that it is as fully charged as possible for as long as possible. Time left at levels of discharge and the depth of that discharge are significant "life killers" of our batteries.
Avoidance of over charging is important and hopefully any inbuilt charger will seek to do this, but unless it is a proper smart charger with that all important monitoring function, then IMO its best not to give it any chance of doing so.