skyrider Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 ok we went out in the van yesterday for a run to charge the batteries but later on in the afternoon we decided we would take them off for the winter so this morning i went down to the indoor storage and brought them home . the leasure battery is now on the charger how long do you recon to fully charge it and how often should ido it thanks (?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 If you search the forums you'll see this type of question time and time again, but in short it depends on the charger used, it depends on the age / and state of the battery, and remember some have a very limited charge / discharge amount of cycles, so if at all suspect get a new one. ;-) Perhaps the mods could make the best thread on this a sticky, to save a lot of finger ache. :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Non technical answer! Depends on the charger and on the battery but an overnight charge once every two or three months should do no harm. Or you could check the voltage with a digital multimeter and when it drops to about 12.5 then give it a charge for a couple of hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyrider Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 Thanks for the reply's guys by the way the battery is only about three months old :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 skyrider - 2012-12-10 7:06 PM Thanks for the reply's guys by the way the battery is only about three months old :-D In which case there is probably no need to bring them home - just disconnect and leave it/them there and they should be ok for weeks at a time. It pays to start and run your engine from time to time when the van is out of use because if anything the engine battery flattens quicker than the leisure battery on many modern vehicles. a If you can't get to it every couple of weeks or so you might want to consider disconnecting the engine battery too - but be aware that by so doing any alarm is probably disabled as well which might upset your insurers and void any claim if a break in occurs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Yes agree with tracker, but to help prevent sick van syndrome take it for around a 50/70 miles round trip say every three / four weeks through the winter to keep everything freed up, surprising how you can end up with a stuck handbrake for example, and you will keep the batteries charged as long as they have not been subject to any real amount of discharge whilst standing that is.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Tracker - 2012-12-10 7:37 PM skyrider - 2012-12-10 7:06 PM Thanks for the reply's guys by the way the battery is only about three months old :-D In which case there is probably no need to bring them home - just disconnect and leave it/them there and they should be ok for weeks at a time. It pays to start and run your engine from time to time when the van is out of use because if anything the engine battery flattens quicker than the leisure battery on many modern vehicles. If you can't get to it every couple of weeks or so you might want to consider disconnecting the engine battery too - but be aware that by so doing any alarm is probably disabled as well which might upset your insurers and void any claim if a break in occurs? Richard There shouldn't be any need to disconnect Leisure batteries as nothing should be draining them.....unless some chump forgets to switch a light off or left an empty fridge running! The starter battery is a different story though as with 99.9% of vehicles it's under continual drain with either the immobilser light flashing or powering any alarm. If possible I would disconnect that.......not the leisure battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Bulletguy - 2012-12-10 8:55 P There shouldn't be any need to disconnect Leisure batteries as nothing should be draining them.....unless some chump forgets to switch a light off or left an empty fridge running! The starter battery is a different story though as with 99.9% of vehicles it's under continual drain with either the immobilser light flashing or powering any alarm. If possible I would disconnect that.......not the leisure battery. Sorry Paul, can't agree - the experience of others, and my own using a multimeter to check residual current (often about 150 - 250 milliamps) with everything switched off suggests that the leisure battery too is under constant drain. This is reinforced when by the fitting of a solar panel with a two way regulator to divert solar charge to which ever battery needs it most the problem of flat batteries goes away. This is why I fitted a 50 watt panel and two way regulator a few years ago and I have never had a battery problem since that day - magic!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooie Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 1footinthegrave - 2012-12-10 8:35 PM Yes agree with tracker, but to help prevent sick van syndrome take it for around a 50/70 miles round trip say every three / four weeks through the winter to keep everything freed up, surprising how you can end up with a stuck handbrake for example, and you will keep the batteries charged as long as they have not been subject to any real amount of discharge whilst standing that is.. I never leave the handbrake on when the van is parked up at home but use 1st gear instead with a couple of wooden wedges at the wheels. The next problem was to stop the water from " Pooling " on the roof. I made some substantial wooden ramps using a " Railway Sleeper " bought from the Wood Yard. The sort they use for making " Raised Flower Beds " with. They are new and Pressure Treated and so not plastered in Tar and Creosote. They are " 125mm X 250mm what used to be ( 5" X 10" ) and are more than capable of coping with the weight . I cut them at a shallow angle and then fixed a " Stop " on the end. I then drive the van up on the ramps so the front wheels touch the stop keep it in first gear then put a wedge behind the front wheels as well. You soon get the hang of setting it up and it`s " Automatic " now every time we come home and i know that i haven`t got a " Little Swimming Pool " sat up on the roof of the van. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul- Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Buy a aldi or lidl charger the next time they're in, then you can leave the battery on charge and the charger will adjust to maintenance charge once its full :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyrider Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 Thanks for that i did actually bring home the leasure and engine batteries to keep on charge even though they are both fairly new but as said taking the hand brake off and into gear sounds like a good idea which i will be doing next time we are passing at the weekend :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Buy a "smart" charger, it will monitor the battery and only charge when it is needed. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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