To plug in or not the plug in

[Asherwin]

Hi

Just purchased my first Motorhome. It’s an Elddis Accordo 125 on a 2015 plate. I am concerned that the hookup socket is behind the same hatch as the leisure battery, so to hookup I would need to leave the battery open to the elements. Is this going to be a problem? Also my husband wants to keep the hookup on when it is parked in the garden. This is to keep the battery topped up and keep the fridge running. Can you foresee any issues with this?

[accordoman]

There should be a cutout in the frame of the battery box which will allow the door to be closed over the cable.

[ColinM50]

As accor says, there will be a cut out on the for the cable to pass. As regards keeping it plugged in, mine is also in the garden and is plugged in all the time via a timeswitch so it comes on twice a day for an hour or so to keep battery topped up. Seems to work OK.

 

I don't keep the fridge on when it's at home, just switch the timer to "on" the day before we go away and swithc the fridge on then

[Brian Kirby]

If the socket is inside the battery compartment then, logically, the hatch itself should have a cable way, probably somewhere on its bottom edge. to allow the hatch lid to close with the hook-up connected without pinching the cable.

 

Regarding leaving the van permanently on hook-up, it depends on whose electrical equipment is installed. Some makes are kinder to batteries than others, so you'll get a more helpful reply if you can identify the make and model of the on-board charger. If it isn't written on the control panel, or visible on the charger itself, have a look in the handbook - which I hope came with the van! However, even if the advice is not to leave it on permanent hook-up, you could install a time switch into the supply socket so that the electrical supply automatically comes on for a few hours weekly, or whatever is best likely to suit the size and type of battery/ies fitted.

 

While looking at the charger details, also look to see whether it also charges the starter battery. Again, some do, some don't, and others are switchable to allow whichever battery to be charged.

[Robinhood]

If the hook-up cable doesn't feed up through the floor of the locker, then it is most likely that there is a small cut-out in the (bottom of the) locker door and/or lip, into which the cable can be fed as the locker door is closed. (The Elddis manual is far from helpful in this case, but there will definitely be a method of securing the locker door and still being connected).

 

You will get varying answers as to leaving the vehicle semi-permanently on hook-up. My own experience over many years is one of no issues doing the same. Most reasonably modern electrical systems fall back to a "float" charge after a certain period. The details of the Elddis-fitted system are rather scant, but there is an implication that it is capable of semi-permanent use in the manual.

 

Unless I were actually using the fridge, I wouldn't leave that permanently powered on, even though I am comfortable with leaving the battery on a float charge.

 

Edited to add:

 

I knew I'd find a picture somewhere. This is an earlier Elddis, you will have the equivalent of the slot bottom right in this picture (yours may be on the left) to put the cable into on closing the locker door.