Leisure batteries and long term van storage

[Kiwitraveller]

I’m new to the Cali club - forgive me if I make mistakes......
My question is around the long term storage of my van and the maintenance of the leisure batteries....
I have a 5 year old California which is used for a couple of months each year here in Wales (I live in NZ) - when away the van is stored securely. On my return this year the leisure batteries were totally flat and unable to be resurrected. I’ve bought new ones (yes,expensive). I have the main engine battery on a smart trickle charger and this was OK.
How can I best maintain the “health” of my leisure batteries during long term lay-up?
Is it possible - and safe - to plug the mains supply into the van and leave it connected for a year or so - I guess this would keep the leisure batteries charged but I was warned that this long term hook-up could cook the batteries?
Alternatively I could remove both batteries and put them in parallel (or should that be series?) on a second smart trickle charger but this is fiddly removing batteries etc......
Or is there a better solution please?
All help gratefully received.
Thanks
Stephen

 

[Elmo3]

Maybe leave on hook up with a timer to give it a charge periodically?

 

[Kiwitraveller]

In my post above, I should have said that it is not an option for me to hookup to the mains every month for a day. The van is stored and not visited until I return after a year or so.

 

[Kiwitraveller]

Also I do have easy access to power where the van is stored long term.

 

[WelshGas]

I’m new to the Cali club - forgive me if I make mistakes......
My question is around the long term storage of my van and the maintenance of the leisure batteries....
I have a 5 year old California which is used for a couple of months each year here in Wales (I live in NZ) - when away the van is stored securely. On my return this year the leisure batteries were totally flat and unable to be resurrected. I’ve bought new ones (yes,expensive). I have the main engine battery on a smart trickle charger and this was OK.
How can I best maintain the “health” of my leisure batteries during long term lay-up?
Is it possible - and safe - to plug the mains supply into the van and leave it connected for a year or so - I guess this would keep the leisure batteries charged but I was warned that this long term hook-up could cook the batteries?
Alternatively I could remove both batteries and put them in parallel (or should that be series?) on a second smart trickle charger but this is fiddly removing batteries etc......
Or is there a better solution please?
All help gratefully received.
Thanks
Stephen

So your Engine Battery Survived and that was on charge for the whole period. So why shouldn't the Leisure Batteries?
Plug the vehicle into the mains and use a Timer. The vehicle charger is a Smart Charger but set for AGM batteries only.

 

[Hotel California]

Hi , why should you take out the lesurebattery's when there's a build in charger?
Have it plugged in on 220v with a timer that switches on every few weeks for 24h in a row
Make sure everything is switched OFF , including the controlpanel .
You do need to check if the staterbattery is also beeing charged after both lesurebaterys are full , it should automaticly then start to charge the starterbattery but i think it depends on the Cali's builddate .

 

[Kiwitraveller]

Hi , why should you take out the lesurebattery's when there's a build in charger?
Have it plugged in on 220v with a timer that switches on every few weeks for 24h in a row
Make sure everything is switched OFF , including the controlpanel .
You do need to check if the staterbattery is also beeing charged after both lesurebaterys are full , it should automaticly then start to charge the starterbattery but i think it depends on the Cali's builddate .

Ok thanks for advice. So it sounds like there should be no problem with leaving it long term on hookup to mains but using a timer. I know about timers for controlling house lights etc over 24 hour cycle but is it also possible to get a timer that comes on for a set period each month??? If you know of one please give me details. Many thanks.

 

[kp64zl]

Why not just leave it on without a timer ? My understanding is that these kind of batteries like being "100% charged". (please correct me if I'm wrong).

And having unattended timer is just one more thing to potentially go wrong.

 

[MattBW]

A simple regular timer socket will be more than enough if you don't want it on all the time but the charger should be fine left on for prelonged periods but must admit I'd prefer not to leave it on permanently.

 

[Hotel California]

@kp64zl
Leaving it on hook-up at all time to me seems not a good idea....
@Kiwitraveller
A good timer should have diffrent setting to do so

 

[Lightning]

If it’s outside or you can put a panel outside you could consider solar.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Kiwitraveller]

@kp64zl
Leaving it on hook-up at all time to me seems not a good idea....
@Kiwitraveller
A good timer should have diffrent setting to do so

Yes I too am not sure about leaving it on hook up permanently for a year or so. However this is a gut feeling - why should this prolonged period really be any different to being on a site for a month or so in the summer? Any ideas?

 

[Kiwitraveller]

A simple regular timer socket will be more than enough if you don't want it on all the time but the charger should be fine left on for prelonged periods but must admit I'd prefer not to leave it on permanently.

Thanks for advice. Doesn’t a regular timer - such as one for a room security light - just operate over a 24 hour cycle. I am having difficulty finding a timer that operates over a settable period of say just one 24-hour cycle every month - such a timer seems to be getting very expensive (hundreds of pounds!!) - do you know of anything cheaper please?

 

[Kiwitraveller]

Hi , why should you take out the lesurebattery's when there's a build in charger?
Have it plugged in on 220v with a timer that switches on every few weeks for 24h in a row
Make sure everything is switched OFF , including the controlpanel .
You do need to check if the staterbattery is also beeing charged after both lesurebaterys are full , it should automaticly then start to charge the starterbattery but i think it depends on the Cali's builddate .

I’m having difficulty finding such a longer period timer which will do every few weeks for 24 hours..... do you know of a specific timer that can do this please?.

 

[WelshGas]

I’m having difficulty finding such a longer period timer which will do every few weeks for 24 hours..... do you know of a specific timer that can do this please?.

You can get 7 day timers and you could set it up for 6 or 12 hrs every week.

 

[Sp0_0k]

I have a strong feeling that Beach version doesn't require hooking up so frequently.
Simply due to the lack of any battery monitoring leaving the battery fully open with 0 drain.
The idea came to me only after installing the monitoring system with a shunt on a Beach. All of them have to drain the battery be it even 0,3-0,5 watts which adds up in months.

 

[MartG]

The 24 hours once a month is not a hard and fast rule, just a sufficient top-up amount to keep them from discharging to a low point. As long as the batteries don't fall far below 12V they should be fine, so once a week for 4-6 hours will be fine. I don't know about the charger in the van but it shouldn't be possible overcharge them with quality OEM units.

 

[GollyOlly]

The 24 hours once a month is not a hard and fast rule, just a sufficient top-up amount to keep them from discharging to a low point. As long as the batteries don't fall far below 12V they should be fine, so once a week for 4-6 hours will be fine. I don't know about the charger in the van but it shouldn't be possible overcharge them with quality OEM units.

I think the owners manual says differently.