leisure battery

Sep 8, 2009
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can anyone tell me if i leave my caravan hooked up to 240v at the house and the battery left on charge would it do any damage to the battery?
 
Nov 25, 2009
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i have done this for 4 years and the battery is in a1 condition
the charger (if a new ish van ) has an in built regulater float - to stop overcharging
i think this is the best option rather than letting the battery die then have to try to recharge again
 
Jul 1, 2009
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are you saying you are on mains and the battery is also on the mains via the van and a charger as well.
 

JTQ

May 7, 2005
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Sorry but the answer to your question depends on the sophistication of the controller fitted in your caravan.
If it contains a so called "smart" multi phase charger then no it would do no harm and be positively beneficial to leave it on EHU.
If not which is the most likely then its wise to disconnect from the EHU after 24 hours or so.
To my knowledge some German vans have had "smart" chargers in their control system for over 8 years; Swift have used one for several years. I am afraid that is the limit of my knowledge on what builders have used.
 
Sep 8, 2009
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Thanks Thelma, the van is 3 years old, i bought it 3 weeks ago, it had been laid up for 2 years due to bearvement, the battery (110a) had been charged up to use the motormover to get it out of the drive. I had it on charge from when i got it home and on friday, was going away for the weekend, used the motormover to take it out the drive, the battery was losing power, after the weekend (ehu on site) there was not enough power in the battery to use the mover.
 
Sep 8, 2009
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the ehu is on at the house to power the fridge on 240v and the charger is on to keep the battery fully charged. van is a Swift Colonsay (Charisma 555) 2007
 
Sep 8, 2009
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could it be that the van was laid up for 2 years and the battery been discharged for this time that it won`t hold a charge now?
 
Nov 1, 2005
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if the batterys been left discharged for 2 years it'll most certainly be knackered. you could try using grenvilles battaid tablets and give it a good kick with a very powerful fast charger, but my guess is the plates will be bent.
what this means is the battery may charge to an acceptable voltage, but the voltage will be held in maybe four of the cells rather than all six. as soon as the battery comes off the charger the voltage will drop considerably.
 

JTQ

May 7, 2005
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the tortoise said:
could it be that the van was laid up for 2 years and the battery been discharged for this time that it won`t hold a charge now?
It is very likely that being laid up for two years has irrevocable damaged the battery. A low or zero charge over time quite quickly makes the plates unable to "hold" a charge again; what you describe is exactly that.
A good battery dealer can very easily test it but I am sure they will find its now "duff".
 
Sep 8, 2009
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when i charged the battery it was reading 12.6v, after 2 days it has dropped to 8.4v. this was done on a slow charge
 

Damian

Moderator
Mar 14, 2005
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If the voltage has dropped to 8.4v despite being charged, it is dead and you need to get a new battery.
At that voltage it will never recover
 

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