Van Battery Discharging

[thecat7457]

 

 

Looking for some guidance please!

 

I have an Ace Milano and the the alarm/immobilisor gradually discharges the vehicle battery. I have previously used the switch on the control panel to charge up the battery from the mains hook up. I was advised not to do this because the battery was getting hot and reducing its shelf life. I don't want to disconnect the battery (as suggested) and try to drive it once a week to top it up. However this is not possible all of the time.

 

Could I connect an optimiser to the battery and plug it into the van socket, link the hook up and safely maintain a trickle charge? I have my motorcycle on a constant trickle charge and have never lost any starting performance.

 

[Charles]

The motorcycle maintainers are great for the job. I've got one on a fused spur inside the van , wired to maintain the engine battery.

Optimate brand are good, had one for 14 years now. When I sold my bike I bought a Land Rover Defender and put it on that. I emailed the manufacturer and asked if it would affect it being on a large battery, the answer was that no it will still work the same but the charging part of the program will be longer.

The one in the van is a lidl special £13.99 and so far so good.

[Derek Uzzell]

I would have thought that your 2007 Milano’s on-board battery-charger OUGHT not to heat up the vehicle’s starter-battery if its output is directed to that battery, any more than it OUGHT not to heat up the vehicle’s leisure-battery if the charger’s output is directed at that battery. Consequently, I’d be a mite concerned about the heating-up behaviour which suggests that the charging system (and/or the battery itself) ain’t right.

 

However, if you just want to try working around the heating-up peculiarity, I don’t see any particular reason why (when your motorhome is on 230V mains hook-up) you should not plug a separate battery-charger into one of your motorhome’s 230V sockets and connect that charger to the vehicle’s starter-battery.