Guest Bill Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 According to a reply on page 21 of the January Caravan Club magazine, it is a bad idea to charge a leisure battery with a “standard” car battery charger. Does it really matter? And, if so, what sort of non-standard charger should one use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Bill, I can only assume that the article to which you refer was written by someone who knows how to spin a yarn but not enough to understand the yarn that is spun! What is a "Standard" battery charger?? My advice would be that either leisure or starter batteries can be charged with a modern charger that controlls the charging current and voltage in accordance with an accepted charging parameters. If charging is pushed close to the limits then Gel batteries require a gentler charging regime than wet cell batteries, lower maximum charging voltage for example. OK, Nice answer but what does it mean? Well what size battery is it and what is the charger in question's characteristic? Summary - Not enough information to be more specific. Happy New Year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mel B Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 Clive - another question for you! I don't doubt for one minute what you are saying but if the vehicle and leisure batteries need to be charged differently, how come campers only have one battery charger to charge up both batteries?!?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 Traditionally a motorhome had lead/acid ('wet') batteries for both vehicle and leisure functions, so a single charger was fine for both. Nowadays it's not uncommon to have a lead/acid battery for the vehicle functions and a gel ('dry') battery for leisure functions. In this case it's important that the battery charger be matched (usually via a switch on the charger itself) to the gel battery as a gel battery's charging requirements are more finicky. Although the resultant charging regimen may not to optimum for the lead/acid vehicle battery, it won't hurt it and it will still charge it. So, even though there might be technical advantages having separate chargers (one for the lead/acid battery and another for the gel battery) you don't actually NEED them. (Does this layman's explanation sound OK, Clive?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bill Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 I have what Derek describes: a lead/acid vehicle battery but a gel leisure battery. When on the move, both seem to charge quite happily from the standard Mercedes alternator + voltage regulator. And my rig is 15 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Hi all, well, just to be specific both wet and gel batteries are both lead acid. When batteries are charged the current passing through the battery changes the chemical composition of the plates and the electrolyte - sulphuric acid to change. This charging current would if 100% efficient not produce any gassing, that is spliting some of the water content of the electrolyte into its component parts of hydrogen and oxygen gas. However as we know some gassing does occur and the closer to fully charged the battery gets the more gassing will take place. Its easier for gas to escape from a liquid than from a gel. Hence with gel batteries one needs to take more care during the charging cycle, especially during the later stages of charging. Also with gel batteries its easier to damage them by very deep discharging. So by and large gel batteries are more fragile. Some modern wet cell batteries today incorporate a catalist in the cell filler caps which convert the gasses back to water which then drips back into the cells. This helps a lot. All cell filler caps are designed to allow the cell to breath but to stop bubbles escaping. So don,t take the caps of when charging a battery. All this results in is a loss of electrolyte, a wet battery top and corroding battery terminals. But as has been said when the engine is running both batteries, starter and leisure will have the charging regime set by the alternator, 14 volts limited by the alternators maximum current capability and the resistance of the cables. I too have a gel battery for leisure, 160 Ah second hand and it came for free. If I had to pay it would be a wet electrolyte battery for sure. If you are looking to replace a leisure battery then deep cycle golf cart batteries and rather attractive. Happy New year. Clive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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