Ian0354 Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 Hi, Although we have had campers and motorhomes for many years now I wonder if I may have fallen into a bad habit and would welcome advice/comments regarding leisure battery charging. I replaced my Sonnensheim 80s with a pair of Elecsol 100s last summer and I would like to do the best thing for their longevity. I am getting ready for the season now and wonder if I am doing the right thing by leaving the camper on permanent hook-up? Or should I just "top-up" every week, fortnight or monthly? While on hook-up the on board monitor shows 14.4v which is exactly what elecsol paperwork says, but is there anything else that would work better and help battery life. The camper is kept at home so I can adapt to other ways if convinced that it would be of benefit. Thanks in advance for your help. Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 There is a bit of good info on charging regimes here. https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=18597&posts=172#M202115 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 The following site is a worthwhile (IMO) read as well. See http://www.batteryuniversity.com/index.htm Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 It depends on the precise algorythm used by the charger in your van. Who,s make and model number is your charger? C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian0354 Posted March 14, 2010 Author Share Posted March 14, 2010 Thanks for your help, Fellas, I'll do some swotting. Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian0354 Posted March 14, 2010 Author Share Posted March 14, 2010 Thanks, Clive. Unknown at the moment but I'll do some homework and see if I can find out. It is the factory unit fitted by Westfalia. Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian0354 Posted March 15, 2010 Author Share Posted March 15, 2010 Clive - 2010-03-14 10:15 PM It depends on the precise algorythm used by the charger in your van. Who,s make and model number is your charger? C. Hi Clive, I've done some digging through the WWW and found this: http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.westfalia-van.de/fileadmin/pdf/downloads/Kundendienst/Technische_Informationen/Ladegeraete/Ladegeraet_12A_2A_Technische_Informationen.pdf&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwestfalia%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26rls%3DSUNA,SUNA:2006-11,SUNA:en&rurl=translate.google.com&usg=ALkJrhjaO3wTl-979QYnS8yoWJfb1fTWJw Sorry about the long URL but Tiny wouldn't help! I would really appreciate any help you could give. Thanks, Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian0354 Posted March 16, 2010 Author Share Posted March 16, 2010 Clive - 2010-03-14 10:15 PM It depends on the precise algorythm used by the charger in your van. Who,s make and model number is your charger? C. Hi Clive, OK, I've now had the van apart and found that the charger unit is a Philips PE 2169/01F. I've been on Google to see if I can find out more but there isn't very much. It seems from detail found on a forum that the unit may have been made for Philips by Cherokee Europe, now Mitra Energy & Infrastructure for Wavre, Belgium, although I picked this detail up from another model PE 2169, an /04. What I did find when examining the unit was that the connecting plug has six contacts which, again looking at others, seems to possibly indicate there is a voltage sensing circuit, does this mean that it might be an intelligent, multi stage charger and so have a float mode making it suitable for long term hook-up? Or am I being too simplistic? I have just replaced the Sonnensheim Gel batteries with Elecsols and I was surprised to find that the PE 2169/01F has no visible facility to switch between battery types. Have I done wrong in changing type? Also since my original posting I have checked the accuracy of my on board voltage read out using a multi-meter. The 14.4v originally shown equates to 14.29v on my MM, so not a lot of difference but still some. Today when I went to the camper the on board meter was showing 13.1v, this was 24hr after removing the hook-up and taking a ten mile drive, whereas the Elecsol paperwork says fully charged Open Circuit Voltage should read 12.80v. Does this indicate a problem? Sorry to ask so many questions but as I said in the OP I’m concerned as to bad habits. Regards, Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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