nimpy1 Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 I have just had to replace my vehicle battery to my 2011 auto trail chieftain which went completely flat in less than three weeks. What now is the best way to keep this battery charged. Should I regularly plug it into electric and use the on board charger or will a short journey every few weeks suffice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninian Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Hi, I just leave my van plugged in all the time on the drive using the on board charger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimpy1 Posted February 15, 2016 Author Share Posted February 15, 2016 Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mids Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Hi had the same problems bought a ctek 5.0 charger just plug it in andforget about it simlpe,see my pist and replies about this issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mids Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Sorry that was posts and replies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 We use solar. In summer it tops up the battery if we don't drive. In winter it will maintain a healthy charge if the van isn't being used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 nimpy1 - 2016-02-15 3:35 PMI have just had to replace my vehicle battery to my 2011 auto trail chieftain which went completely flat in less than three weeks. What now is the best way to keep this battery charged. Should I regularly plug it into electric and use the on board charger or will a short journey every few weeks suffice? If we're talking about a five year old engine battery, maybe it had a fair service life and needed replacing anyway so there isn't necessarily anything wrong with your charging system. If your MH has a good on board charging system and you have access to mains, then leaving it connected to an EHU throughout winter should do the trick. I left my MH like that during winter for over ten years without problems. If your MH is stored outdoors where there is no power, then a solar panel should provide enough power to maintain your batteries - and would be worth spending money on as an accessory anyway if you ever stop overnight off mains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wills Wagon Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 We have had AutoTrails for 13 years now with a max age of five years. We keep ours on a secure site and in winter we charge both batteries fully and leave them about 25 days. The only consumption is our Phantom alarm which also provides us with a remote voltage reading. After 25 days we give the van a run of about five miles to warm everything up and keep the tyres etc OK and then fully charge again. We continue the charging until the current feed to the batteries on the control panel is about 0.3amps. The batteries will then last for another 25 days and will still provide a voltage reading of over 12. Our only change to this routine is if the weather is very cold for a week or so at minus 5 degrees as the battery output is reduced the colder the weather. Would bring the van home after 18 days then. Fingers crossed no problems so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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