Winter battery charging ? with motorhome winter cover on

[suethedriver]

I am about to put my protec winter cover on my van for the first time ..

I have a solar panel which i realise will not work to keep leisure charged but i am just going to plug in to mains every now and then to keep topped up ( or cut a hole in the cover !! for the winter sun B-)

My query is the vehicle battery ... If i use a intelligent trickle charger and periodically plug it in to the outside mains point in my drive to keep it topped up .. do i attach both croc clips to terminals ?? ( i know when jumping off you dont attach both due to all the relay wiring etc ) taking the cover off to manually start it and run it every few weeks would be a faff.

Advice and experience welcome please

Thanks

[buddy]

When you plug the mains in to charge the leisure battery would the starter battery not be also charged as well ? If not , a Vanbitz battery master , if fitted , would keep the starter battery also fully charged via the leisure battery and would also work well in the same way with the solar charging when you are using the van again.

[Derek Uzzell]

Sue

 

I would help if you could provide details of your motorhome.This recent posting of yours mentioned that it was made by Autocruise

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Leaky-Shower-Tap/58264/

 

but you did not say which model it was, nor (significant in this instance) when Autocruise built it.

 

If your motorhome were based on a pre-2006 Fiat Ducato, the starter-battery would be in the engine compartment and temporarily connecting a battery-charger to it via crocodile clips should be relatively straightforward (except the charger would presumably then be in the open air). Conversely, If your motorhome were based on a post-2006 Fiat Ducato, the starter-battery would be in a compartment in the cab floor on the passenger side and you’d need to remove a large cover (perhaps two large covers) to access the battery to connect the charger to it - though it should at least then be practicable to have the charger within the cab area.

 

I’ve periodically charged my motorhomes’ starter-battery using a CTEK ‘intelligent’ charger, but to make things easier I’ve permanently fitted a CTEK Connect Eyelet (example here)

 

https://www.ctek.com/uk/battery-chargers-12v-24v/connect-eyelet-m10

 

to the battery that allows me to rapidly (and securely) connect up the charger without messing about with crocodile clips.

[suethedriver]

It is an Autocruise Starfire 2006 with the vehicle battery back of engine bay so a charger direct to that would be easier and can be tucked under the cover easily enough , my issue is can i connect both croc clips or 1 on pos & 1 on chassis earth . It is a brand new battery a few months ago .

[buddy]

You can connect the croc clips either way you have described , but you may as well go direct to the battery , just make sure that the charger you are using resets to charge mode automatically when the mains power has been off then on again , most do , but some have to be set to charge mode again each time mains power is reconnected after being disconnected which would mean having to move the cover to do this.

 

[suethedriver]

Thankyou all for the advice

[ColinM50]

Or make it really easy for yourself and buy a second charger so charge both batteries at the same time. I have mine set to come on an hour or two a day automatically. Just bought myself a second one in Aldi. Cheap as chips;

 

https://www.aldi.co.uk/auto-xs-car-battery-charger/p/090030347442700