Leisure battery conditioning

[A900ss]

Hi,

 

I have a 110ah leisure battery and a small 100W solar panel.

 

My electricity is managed by a Sargent EC160 unit.

 

The vehicle is driven a lot so the leisure battery gets charged by the vehicle alternator. Hardly ever on EHU.

 

My question is, should I put the van on EHU regularly to get a full charge to the leisure battery? If so, will the Sargent be sufficient to charge or should I hook up the leisure battery to my CTEK battery conditioner and not charge with the Sargent battery charger?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Derek Uzzell]

Sargent’s User Instructions state that their EC160 product has an integrated "150W 13.8V fixed voltage battery charger”.

 

This type of power-supply/charger was the norm for UK-built caravans/motorhomes in the 1990s, but it still seems to be a quite popular choice for UK small-volume panel-van converters, presumably because all the ‘gubbins’ are in one unit and - at around £200 - it’s not expensive.

 

I have a several-years-old CTEK 5A battery charger

 

https://www.everybattery.com.au/datasheets/CTEK/CT5000_12_manual.pdf

 

that can output up to 14.7V and has a ‘reconditioning’ mode (that I’ve never felt a need to use).

 

(It could be be helpful to know which CTEK product you have.)

 

If you allowed your campervan’s leisure-battery to become heavily discharged, the EC160, with its fixed 13.8V output, won’t be able to bring the battery back to a 100% state of charge. So when your motorhome is not being used and you have access to an EHU, you’d probably be best to charge the leisure-battery with the CTEK unit and not the EC160.

 

 

[A900ss]

Thanks. You’ve confirmed what I was kind of thinking.

 

My Ctek is a MXS 5.0

[Keithl]

But DO NOT use the 'RECOND' setting of your CTEK when the battery is connected to the MH electrics.

 

The 'RECOND' setting raises the voltage to 15.8 volts and this MAY damage the electronics in the PSU.

 

https://www.ctek.com/uk/products/car/mxs-5-0-uk

 

Keith.

 

Edit to add, you should only be using the 'CAR' setting unless you have an AGM battery.

[mikefitz]

Providing the solar panel is connected to the battery via a quality solar controller you should not need any additional charging.

 

Although somewhat lacking as a charger the Sargent 13.8 voltage will eventually charge up the battery after several days.

 

If you have worries that the leisure battery is not performing as expected it may be time for renewal.

 

As others have cautioned using a conditioning battery charger on either the leisure or engine battery is not recommended where these batteries remain in circuit.

 

Mike