Best use of Leisure battery

[RDL1066]

Hi All. I’d value some advice
I’m months, and a couple of short trips, into life with our Cali and we’ve a 4 night festival coming up where there won’t be the option of a hook up.
So 2 questions
How do I ensure the leisure battery lasts (I really want the fridge to keep going) and
Can I charge the leisure battery through running the engine?
I’ve my first overnight tonight deliberately without a hook up to see how it goes.
Cheers
Richard

 

[Nick from Bath]

A few tips:
Don’t over chill the fridge, it doesn’t need to be on max. Usually keeping the fridge on 3 or 4 is plenty.

Use camping mode and don’t leave devices plugged in to the sockets unless being actively used.

Minimise the lights that are on too.

If you’ve got time before the festival, get a solar system in place, either fixed or portable panels depending on preference.

You can change the leisure batteries pretty quickly running the engine on max charge mode but at the risk of annoying those around you, though most people are pretty understanding if they even notice

Before we got solar, the batteries would last 3d without any need to charge via the engine, sure some get longer

 

[CC44853]

_Only_ use the fridge (we find setting 2 more than enough, you could even lower it to `min` overnight) and lights (with camping mode).

Never use any ports and take a portable power bank for phones etc instead. This is actually more convenient too (you can have it anywhere with you in/out of the van).

I honestly think solar is over the top for short trips (less than a week) like this.

 

[RDL1066]

Thank you bith
That’s really helpful
R

 

[dspuk]

You can easily get 3 days on leisures. 5 if you are super frugal, as above.

When we did Wilderness a load of vans ran their engines for 30 minutes for a top up when it was quiet through the day. It wasn’t really an issue. Couple of curtain twitchers but no-one minded really.

We have solar, just a 100w panel, but never had an issue.

 

[pluc99]

How long your leisure batteries will last depends not only on how little you use them but also their age. Assuming your van is a T6 as indicated on your profile they might no longer hold a full charge. Make sure to plug in the EDU with the cooler filled and on before you leave and set the max charge option to make sure they are as fully charged as they can be while driving.
In a pinch you can run the engine to charge the batteries. Your neighbours will probably not like you for it. I wouldn't do it for more than 10 minutes at a time but that would probably be enough anyway.

 

[ArunAlec]

Is it still the case that charging from the engine only goes to 80% capacity whereas charging from the mains /EHU goes to 100%? If so, unless the leisure batteries are below 80% running the engine won’t do much.

 

[pchmlk]

Is it still the case that charging from the engine only goes to 80% capacity whereas charging from the mains /EHU goes to 100%? If so, unless the leisure batteries are below 80% running the engine won’t do much.

If you turn the lights on or a heated seat, the engine will then charge them to 100% as I understand it.