John swift Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 We are storeing our swift voyager motorhome for its 1st time for winter and need advise do we leave it powered to mains or not if its pluged in does it charge the cab battery if so do i leave the power on on the controll panel Or do i just run it every 2weeks 1st motorhome used to caravans cheers :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero boy Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 If it has a Sargent PSU you have two choices, bearing in ming that an unattended motorhome will run down the vehicle and the leisure batteries through the alarm and control systems monitoring. You can leave it on EHU if available and, provided that you have 'smart ' charging set (default i think) it will charge both leisure and vehicle batteries. We use a roof mounted solar panel to carry out the same function. Otherwise, you can charge the batteries up fully and then ' disconnect' them. The leisure batteries can have the drain removed by turning off the PSU with the large power down button. The vehicle battery will need to be disconnected in situ, i believe. Alternatively, you can keep using it. It is a motorhome after all, and you're no longer a tugger, so get your a*se out there! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 MH going to be left for three months at Alicante airport so reasonable sun. I have a 90watt solar panel connected to a Ctek D250S and as I understand it the leisure batteries are charged first and then surplus diverted to vehicle battery. On the leisure side there will be nothing left on and there is no alarm on the vehicle battery. Should I just leave as is or disconnect vehicle battery and leave leisure battery to take solar input, or disconnect all but panel would still be active? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero boy Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Hamish, many far more qualified than me to advise you. However, you have options which will all do the job. If the batteries are fully charged, they can be disconnected and left for a significant period without deterioration. If the solar panel does what you think and tops up all batteries then this must also be perfectly viable. I you power down the PSU in the van, will this still allow the CTEK to charge the vehicle battery? On our van, the solar panel is connected directly into the PSU and the software inside is responsible for diverting the current to the battery most in need. If the PSU is turned off, the current is directed solely to the vehicle battery, but this is a Sargent PSU not a CTEK arrangement. If it were me, let the sun do its job, which wont be much as you have no alarm on the vehicle side and no comtrol panel functions active on the habitation side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Thanks Chris. I have the same Sergent PSU that allows me to charge the vehicle battery. The Ctek is independent of the Sergent in that it is connected to the vehicle battery, solar panel and the leisure batteries. I can easily isolate the Sergent from the leisure batteries by removing fuses and likewise from the vehicle battery by removing fuse at split charge relay thus removing any quiescent load of the Sergent. I can also isolate the vehicle battery thus leaving solar to keep leisure battery on charge. Decisions, decisions. Think I will only isolate from Sergent as it will be easy to get jump start if necessary ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 We have a battery master fitted http://www.vanbitz.com/product/battery-master/ It looks after all three batteries if on hook up or relying on the solar panel. Our van is stored three miles away and it looks after itself from October to March with monthly check ups. The only time it let me down was when there was a foot of snow on the roof for six week blocking out the solar panel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Thanks for the info and link Cliff. It looks like my Ctek will do the same job so your posting has given me the confidence to leave all as is. I do not think I will get such severe weather conditions at Alicante airport although there was snow on the mountains behind about two weeks ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John swift Posted November 27, 2013 Author Share Posted November 27, 2013 Thanks for the advice you have a solar panel is fitting one a diy job as i am an alarm engineer or do they need fitting by a MH place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Strachan Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Fitting a Solar Panel may or may not be a DIY job, as an alarm engineer you will have some knowledge of electrics. But you also need to consider size of panel, where you will fit it on the roof, whether you are going to fit an additional battery, and battery to battery charging. At present all you need to do is get through the winter, with your pride and joy, IMHO leave it hooked up, make sure there is no water in it, leave the taps open. Start it up every fortnight. Take it for a run if you can. Put chocks at the wheels and leave the handbrake off. Enjoy using it next year as soon as you can Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 If your the m/home is near an electric point, I would buy a couple of Cteck chargers and leave them permanently connected with the supplied battery to connector leads. I use two because the leisure battery and vehicle battery have differing draw down rates. If a single unit was used and cross connecting the batteries would probably to one battery being over charged. Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 John swift - 2013-11-27 11:02 PM Thanks for the advice you have a solar panel is fitting one a diy job as i am an alarm engineer or do they need fitting by a MH place Mine was fitted when I bought the van so I do not have first hand experience but I would say that being an alarm engineer you should have no problem with the wiring there is plenty of info on the Internet to help see this link as an example http://www.the12voltshop.co.uk/Shop/how-to-fit-solar-panels-1.html Drilling the roof would be my worry but I am sure you could get good advice from this forum on how to do it without causing water leak problem. There are solar panels now that are very thin and stick direct to the roof of the van even around curved surfaces. Mine is the old style with feet on which I believe are bonded to the roof by a large fillet of special sealer (Silkaflex I think?). The cable goes across the roof in plastic miniature trunking then through a gland in the roof in to the wardrobe where the controller is mounted. The gland is also well sealed. If I did not have one I would get one and do it myself and I am only a mechanical fitter and turner (retired). We can stay off hook up indefinite in the summer with no problem, out of season with the short days we have to be a little careful with TV use if off hook up for more than 3 days. If you don't need to be away from hook up you should be able to manage with just two decent batteries. Where the solar panel is most advantageous is if you store the van away from home over winter, no worries about flat batteries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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