OK to leave leisure battery on permanent trickle charge between trips?

[Sooty6.1]

Hi, I’d be grateful for some advice please.
My husband used to deal with all the technical stuff when we had a motorhome, but he passed away suddenly in 2019 and I’m mustering up the courage to embark on some solo travel in a T6.1 which is shortly to be converted.

Basically, in between trips my husband used to disconnect the leisure battery from the moho when we parked it up in storage, and leave it on ‘trickle charge’ on a charger in the garage at home until our next trip. We went away every 2-3 weeks mostly for weekend trips. This routine worked perfectly. Am I right in thinking that a leisure battery won’t be as easily removable from a T6 as it was from a large motorhome?
This time though, the camper won’t be in storage, it’ll be parked on the drive so I was wondering should I leave the leisure battery (in situ in the vehicle) connected to the charger in the garage all the time when not in use?
This is the charger we have (is it a smart charger??)

Thanks in advance.
Sue

 

[Pete C]

The answer is yes, but there may be simpler options.

Will your van have an onsite electrical hookup capability, and of so, do you know what sort of power/charging device will be used to power the van when it is hooked up like that ? You may be able to use that.

Pete

 

[CAB]

As Pete said.

Presumably you have a battery charger in the van which charges your battery when it is hooked up to the mains when on site.

If so, then if you can hook it up at home then try that, easier than messing with battery connections.

You can get adapters to connect a hook up lead to a standard domestic 3 pin plug.

We have been connecting ours every couple of weeks during the winter, for a day at a time.

Also worth considering charging the van battery at the same time, they can go flat in a few weeks without use.

I have a Ctek Mxs 5.0, it is plugged into the 240v plug in the van, and a cigarette lighter adapter to plug into the dash. When I connect the van, the Leisure Battery charges, and the van battery charges as well

 

[JOG]

I would go with the hook-up at home option and let the van do the charging

 

[Pete C]

You just need to be careful if you go for the hookup option, that the power supply / charger unit that the converter provides is actually a decent smart charger. Some hookup power supply units are not suitable for trickle charging, hence why I asked the question above.

Pete

 

[JOG]

Good point Pete!

 

[Sooty6.1]

You just need to be careful if you go for the hookup option, that the power supply / charger unit that the converter provides is actually a decent smart charger. Some hookup power supply units are not suitable for trickle charging, hence why I asked the question above.

Pete

Ah yes, I’ll have to check the power supply the converter will be using. I’m confidence it’ll be a good one, the rest of the equipment is v. good standard. I will have hook up connection situated under the bonnet, and actually we do have a domestic hookup lead at home that we used when were cleaning the moho on the drive. I’d completely forgotten about that! Would I leave it it hooked up all the time when not in use (so long as its an appropriate power supply fitted) or just, say, one day a week?

 

[Sooty6.1]

As Pete said.

Presumably you have a battery charger in the van which charges your battery when it is hooked up to the mains when on site.

If so, then if you can hook it up at home then try that, easier than messing with battery connections.

You can get adapters to connect a hook up lead to a standard domestic 3 pin plug.

We have been connecting ours every couple of weeks during the winter, for a day at a time.

Also worth considering charging the van battery at the same time, they can go flat in a few weeks without use.

I have a Ctek Mxs 5.0, it is plugged into the 240v plug in the van, and a cigarette lighter adapter to plug into the dash. When I connect the van, the Leisure Battery charges, and the van battery charges as well

Yes, battery charger in the van. So confusing trying to get my head around all the terminology and equipment. Fortunately the converter is great and i know he’ll go through everything but it’s like learning a new language!
So do you charge both van and leisure battery about one day a fortnight over winter when not being used?

 

[JOG]

Ah yes, I’ll have to check the power supply the converter will be using. I’m confidence it’ll be a good one, the rest of the equipment is v. good standard. I will have hook up connection situated under the bonnet, and actually we do have a domestic hookup lead at home that we used when were cleaning the moho on the drive. I’d completely forgotten about that! Would I leave it it hooked up all the time when not in use (so long as its an appropriate power supply fitted) or just, say, one day a week?

If you have a smart meter, you can leave it running. It will ping on and off as required! The great thing about having the EHU in action is that you can run a dehumidifier which keeps everything in the van in tip-top shape

 

[CAB]

Yes, battery charger in the van. So confusing trying to get my head around all the terminology and equipment. Fortunately the converter is great and i know he’ll go through everything but it’s like learning a new language!
So do you charge both van and leisure battery about one day a fortnight over winter when not being used?

At the moment it is on every evening with these.....



But otherwise yes, I stick it on every other weekend and also the van battery charger. Just during the day should be enough.

 

[Sooty6.1]

If you have a smart meter, you can leave it running. It will ping on and off as required! The great thing about having the EHU in action is that you can run a dehumidifier which keeps everything in the van in tip-top shape

That would be perfect. So I really need to check what power supply/charger is being fitted

 

[Sooty6.1]

At the moment it is on every evening with these.....

View attachment 96272

But otherwise yes, I stick it on every other weekend and also the van battery charger. Just during the day should be enough.

Ha, brilliant. Hope you don’t have your heater on or Frosty won’t be there in the morning

 

[JOG]

That would be perfect. So I really need to check what power supply/charger is being fitted

Yep, and let your converter know how you’d like to maintain the battery (and van) when it is parked up at home. That way he can put the most appropriate solution in for you. There are better qualified folk on here who can suggest make/models etc.

I would recommend you pick up a dehumidifier - it maintains our caravan beautifully. I put it in our California occasionally too to give it a good drying out

 

[Sooty6.1]

Yep, and let your converter know how you’d like to maintain the battery (and van) when it is parked up at home. That way he can put the most appropriate solution in for you. There are better qualified folk on here who can suggest make/models etc.

I would recommend you pick up a dehumidifier - it maintains our caravan beautifully. I put it in our California occasionally too to give it a good drying out

Great advice, thanks. I hadn’t considered one but can see how it’s going to be a maintenance necessity so will definitely pick one up *thumbs up* (i can’t seem to get emojis on here!)

 

[EdH]

Yep, and let your converter know how you’d like to maintain the battery (and van) when it is parked up at home. That way he can put the most appropriate solution in for you. There are better qualified folk on here who can suggest make/models etc.

I would recommend you pick up a dehumidifier - it maintains our caravan beautifully. I put it in our California occasionally too to give it a good drying out

Just out of interest, what dehumidifier do you use? Never thought of one of those to be honest, but it makes perfect sense given the cold and damp weather at the moment.

 

[JOG]

Just out of interest, what dehumidifier do you use? Never thought of one of those to be honest, but it makes perfect sense given the cold and damp weather at the moment.

Ours is a “Ruby” but I can’t find it online anymore. A dessicant one is better than a compressor one as they are much lighter and release a little heat too!
However, after a quick search I found one that is comparable: Meaco DD8L Junior 8L Desiccant Dehumidifier with Humidistat for up to 5 bed house 2 Year Warranty DD8LJUNIOR | Appliances Direct

 

[cgtmiles]

I got a solar panel fitted when ours was converted and though it’s not the biggest or best it does a great job of keeping the leisure battery topped up all year round even in the weather we are having at the moment

 

[Clanadventures]

I got a solar panel fitted when ours was converted and though it’s not the biggest or best it does a great job of keeping the leisure battery topped up all year round even in the weather we are having at the moment

That's great to hear, we are buying one with solar fitted. So this will charge the leisure bàttery between trips?

 

[Ricardo T]

As Pete said.

Presumably you have a battery charger in the van which charges your battery when it is hooked up to the mains when on site.

If so, then if you can hook it up at home then try that, easier than messing with battery connections.

You can get adapters to connect a hook up lead to a standard domestic 3 pin plug.

We have been connecting ours every couple of weeks during the winter, for a day at a time.

Also worth considering charging the van battery at the same time, they can go flat in a few weeks without use.

I have a Ctek Mxs 5.0, it is plugged into the 240v plug in the van, and a cigarette lighter adapter to plug into the dash. When I connect the van, the Leisure Battery charges, and the van battery charges as well

Very useful info @CAB...so just to get this right in my head....I connect up my MHU to charge my 105ah Lifpo4 lithium leisure battery...and in turn plug in my CTEK MXS 7.0 into the 240v socket in the van and connect that somehow into my cig lighter socket which will in turn charge my van starter battery?....is there a specific connector to connect up the CTEK to the cig adapter or I guess I could make up a plug in connector of some sort? Im not really sure what type of a starter battery I have but I think its fairly standard original.
Thanks for the info.

 

[EdH]

I think the cig lighter you refer to needs to be a permanent live 12V socket in order to top up the starter battery.

So has to be the one on top of the dash rather than the cig lighter socket near the gear lever

I'm sure someone will correct me if this is wrong...

My understanding is that the cigarette lighter plug next to the gear stick (lower dash one) is powered from/by starter battery. This is what I ascertained via this forum. While upper one is powered by a leisure battery if one fitted from factory. I am sure that someone will correct me if I am wrong as well. (Thinking about it now, I am positive that the lower one is definitely powered by starter battery as my cigarette lighter usb plug was indicating higher voltage when I was going downhill (regenerative charging was kicking in).

@Ricardo T this is what I have purchased recently for my charger (Ctek 3.8)

Ctek Cigarette Lighter Connector Adaptor 56-263: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike

Ctek Cigarette Lighter Connector Adaptor 56-263: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike

www.amazon.co.uk