Leisure Battery Charger

[Louise_374544070]

We have recently become caravanners and have a caravan which is kept in storage. Obviously over the winter the battery has not been charged since we were last on a site last year and the battery has/is losing charge. Can anyone suggest a leisure battery charger that we can have at home that we can connect the leisure battery to? (after removing the battery from the van!!). My husband has an "optimate" on his motorbike which basically trickle charges the battery, lets in run down then trickle charges power in on cycles to ensure longivity of life to the battery. Is there anything like that I can buy to do the same for my caravan battery over periods of none use of the caravan? We have tried the car battery charger but it does'nt look like anything is going into the battery. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

kind regards - Lou :0)

 

[JTQ]

A really high quality charger that will recharge your battery and can be ideally left connected to it continuously is the CTEK XS3600.

These are expensive but an excellent product to have about the place.

here is a link:

http://www.roadpro.co.uk/retail/product_detail.aspx?prod=CTEK MULTI XS 3600 BATTERY CHARGER&id=284
A very much cheaper unit claimed by some to have similar feature is often sold by Aldi for about

 

[RogerL]

Aldi/Lidl vs CTEK

I have both an Aldi XS and a CTEK XS3600 - the CTEK (about

 

[JohnnyV]

An option that you could also explore after getting it fully charged is a small Solar Panel that will top up the battery whilst in store - you can get one for about

 

[lairdAl_374474951]

Ho Louise.

I use a RAC battery charger it has a 6/12v function as well as trickle/fast charge.

I usually put my charger to the battery on trickle charge & leave it on continually until it is charged.

Dont forget to top the cells up (if needed) before charging.

I got my charger from argos about 4 years ago now & its still going strong.

Argos book (last yrs) page 848 item 4..cost

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Hi Louise.

All the messages above are good advise and recommendation, the only thing I will add is, I have just taken a leisure battery off my van infact it was on my very first van some 8 years ago.

I have only ever removed it one winter and brought it home to charge it and when it has needed a charge I have used a normal battery charger 6 volt and 12 volt .. slow charge and fast charge,always put it in on slow and as I say it is now 8 nearly 9 years old .

I hope this helps you

Sir Roger

 

[Louise_374544070]

Thanks for all your responses, in particular the solar panel idea that is a great idea and would work well for us. How long would you expect having to charge the leisure battery if it is v low would take with a 12v battery charger?

Many thanks

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Hi Louise

In answer to your question how long ,.

The answer is easy , leave it on over night and that will do .

I havent had any problems charging mine this way

Sir Roger

 

[Sproket]

Louise

I have one of these Halfords Fully Automatic Battery charger i have it plugged on to the spare battery.

( Also suitable for deep cycle leisure and gel type batteries )