Leisure battery charging

[Andy Norfolk]

Hi, approximately how long do you think you'd have to tow your caravan to charge up the leisure battery say from 50% to 100%?

We've had ours in storage during a house move and are ready to bring it home. The drive is about half an hour. Is that long enough to charge it up? When we get home we'll need to use the motor mover to position it so I'm trying to see if I'll have enough battery. Alternatively we'll take it for a longer run. Thanks.

 

[Mel]

Don’t know and would be interested in the answer. If towing won’t do it, can you bring the battery home and put it on charge for a bit, before going to get the van?
Good luck
Mel

 

[otherclive]

You may find 30 minutes not adequate especially if car has smart alternator, and charge level of battery. I’d echo Mel’s advice and bring battery home for a proper charge.

 

[Andy Norfolk]

Thanks. I don't have the facility to charge the battery at home. I'll see what is left in the battery when we go to pick it up and decide if we should take it for a longer run.

 

[RogerL]

Thanks. I don't have the facility to charge the battery at home. I'll see what is left in the battery when we go to pick it up and decide if we should take it for a longer run.

I think it would be cheaper to buy a cheap smart charger than pay the fuel just driving around to charge it up - about £34 at Halfords - you'd need to drive for several hours to give it a decent charge

 

[borderbilly]

Thanks. I don't have the facility to charge the battery at home. I'll see what is left in the battery when we go to pick it up and decide if we should take it for a longer run.

Don't you have electricity at home?

 

[GUMPY]

Mine charges at 5 amps from the car. That's 10hrs to get 50% of the battery capacity.
However the motor mover on a decent run, 50yards, and a manoeuvre at the end only uses a maximum of 4% of the battery .

 

[Jcloughie]

There are far too many variables to give an answer. Battery age, current state of charge, size and length of cabling, car charging system.

I would agree with others, go to Aldi or Lidl’s and get a cheap smart charger. If you can, perhaps bring the van home, then if the mover does not work, charge the battery for a few hours, move the van then put it back on charge.

John

 

[Andy Norfolk]

Thanks for all your replies. Yes we have electricity at home! It's the charger I'll need to get.

 

[JTQ]

Basically IMO there is no chance at all to put 50% in a typical caravan battery with a 30 minute tow.
Even the more sophisticated caravan chargers that feature boosting the voltage reaching the van's battery to 14.4 ish, will only peak at about 8 Amps, so these" might" put in 4Ah, about a 4% lift.

However very few vans feature these better systems and most are at the mercy of the large voltage drops from the cars voltage controller to the battery, and even that few volts could be further diminished if the tow car has an active smart alternator system.
To be pragmatically honest few caravan batteries will see any useful charging from the tow vehicle with the systems the vehicles have, and the voltage drops a useful current flow with induce.
We have a van with a Schaudt controller, that does feature the van battery voltage boosting system and that is quite effective on the longer runs.

 

[Sam Vimes]

If you're bringing your caravan home then you could connect that to your house supply and use the charger in the caravan.

 

[otherclive]

If you keep the van in storage why not buy a low wattage solar panel that will keep the battery topped up. That won't help today's problem though.

 

[borderbilly]

Thanks for all your replies. Yes we have electricity at home! It's the charger I'll need to get.

Sorted 👍

 

[borderbilly]

I have used a A.A. brand charger for years about £30 , argos, amazon etc. Never let me down.

 

[Banus]

I have used a A.A. brand charger for years about £30 , argos, amazon etc. Never let me down.

That sounds just what I need as we dont plan using the van for a few months over the winter period and my battery is in good shape but a few years old so, do you have a link as when I search AA smart charger in Amazon all I get is chargers for AA batteries, or can anyone recommend a decent trickle charger for a 12v leisure battery ?

 

[GeorgeandAde]

Banus....try tapping in AA 12 volt charger.
Lots for sale on Fleabay.👍

 

[otherclive]

That sounds just what I need as we dont plan using the van for a few months over the winter period and my battery is in good shape but a few years old so, do you have a link as when I search AA smart charger in Amazon all I get is chargers for AA batteries, or can anyone recommend a decent trickle charger for a 12v leisure battery ?

Try this

AA charger

 

[borderbilly]

Try this

AA charger

yes thats the one i use, it can charge a dead battery, but takes time. wish i could learn how to post links.

 

[otherclive]

yes thats the one i use, it can charge a dead battery, but takes time. wish i could learn how to post links.

For links you copy the web page address that you want. Then go to the little chain link symbol at the top of your post. Press it and you see a box open. In the section of box named URL paste the link you copied. Then in the box section underneath type in the name you want to use.
You will know if you’ve got it correct as you see your link with its name appear in your post before you post it.
Some links you can just paste into the post but others like Amazon or EBay still paste okay but come out with lots of lines of code. They work but some members don’t like them and say so. ☹️

 

[Banus]

Try this

AA charger

Thats brilliant and thanks for that and I take it that this charger can be left on indefinately without any worries about 'cooking' the battery? FYI, my LB is a sealed maintenance free type.
So, removing the leisure to bring it home from storeage should be a pretty straightforward job, but still 2 questions.
1. As I have a 150w Sargent solar panel do I need to do anything before removing the LB?
2. Which terminal is best to disconnect first?
Many thanks.

 

[Anseo]

Try this

AA charger

OC, I have no intention of making criticisms of you or anyone else's suggestions, it's just that for a typical caravan leisure battery that is a very low amperage out put charger, not sure exactly what it is designed for as it is a little bit on the big side for a motorcycle battery, perhaps it would be suitable for some of the lower capacity mobility scooter batteries.

May I suggest that at least a 3 amp output, preferably 5 or even 10 amp for a typical caravan leisure battery.

Over the years I have bought and now own a lot of battery chargers, from 0.8 amps for motorcycle battery, to 25 amp continuous charge\ 200amp max boost.

I have purchased 2 number Lidl and 2 number Aldi battery chargers, I possibly had value for money from them but discovered that they all expired just as the warranty period ended, I returned one under warranty and it was sent back repaired only for it to fail a couple of weeks later, of course the warranty had expired by that time.

I strongly suspect planned obsolence, my best guess being around 50 uses at best; they are OK for very light DIY use and that is what most people will use them for so should last for many years, I would say that I used them for moderate diy use, certainly not heavy diy or day to day use.

I now stick to C-TEK, Optimate, Noco and Victron, much pricier (the Victron being very overpriced for what it is, but it best suited a particular 280amp lifePo4 that I purchased) said battery chargers do last for my usage (usage that is not particularly heavy) and are proving more cost effective over time.

 

[borderbilly]

Thats brilliant and thanks for that and I take it that this charger can be left on indefinately without any worries about 'cooking' the battery? FYI, my LB is a sealed maintenance free type.
So, removing the leisure to bring it home from storeage should be a pretty straightforward job, but still 2 questions.
1. As I have a 150w Sargent solar panel do I need to do anything before removing the LB?
2. Which terminal is best to disconnect first?
Many thanks.

Yes leave it on, it will cut off when optimum charge is reached.

 

[otherclive]

OC, I have no intention of making criticisms of you or anyone else's suggestions, it's just that for a typical caravan leisure battery that is a very low amperage out put charger, not sure exactly what it is designed for as it is a little bit on the big side for a motorcycle battery, perhaps it would be suitable for some of the lower capacity mobility scooter batteries.

May I suggest that at least a 3 amp output, preferably 5 or even 10 amp for a typical caravan leisure battery.

Over the years I have bought and now own a lot of battery chargers, from 0.8 amps for motorcycle battery, to 25 amp continuous charge\ 200amp max boost.

I have purchased 2 number Lidl and 2 number Aldi battery chargers, I possibly had value for money from them but discovered that they all expired just as the warranty period ended, I returned one under warranty and it was sent back repaired only for it to fail a couple of weeks later, of course the warranty had expired by that time.

I strongly suspect planned obsolence, my best guess being around 50 uses at best; they are OK for very light DIY use and that is what most people will use them for so should last for many years, I would say that I used them for moderate diy use, certainly not heavy diy or day to day use.

I now stick to C-TEK, Optimate, Noco and Victron, much pricier (the Victron being very overpriced for what it is, but it best suited a particular 280amp lifePo4 that I purchased) said battery chargers do last for my usage (usage that is not particularly heavy) and are proving more cost effective over time.

I was providing the OP with a link to the charger suggested by Border Billy. There’s a 4 amp version on the link. I use a CTEK 4 amp that is years old but still works fine.

 

[Anseo]

Thats brilliant and thanks for that and I take it that this charger can be left on indefinately without any worries about 'cooking' the battery? FYI, my LB is a sealed maintenance free type.
So, removing the leisure to bring it home from storeage should be a pretty straightforward job, but still 2 questions.
1. As I have a 150w Sargent solar panel do I need to do anything before removing the LB?
2. Which terminal is best to disconnect first?
Many thanks.

Banus, I am going to assume that the solar charge controller is connected to the battery and not the solar panel directly.

Assuming that is the case, I would disconnect the negative lead from the solar panel to the charge controller.
And then disconnect the battery earth terminal first then then the positive terminal, on reconnecting the battery it is positive terminal first followed by the negative battery terminal.
Then reconnect the earth wire to the charge controller.

 

[Anseo]

All I was doing

I was providing the OP with a link to the charger suggested by Border Billy. I use a CTEK.

I did not realise that OC, my apologies.