Why not charge leisure batteries by idling?? What’s the harm.

[CYCLOPATH]

After reading the solar panel discussions, someone commented that the engine is a big diesel generator, why not use it.
What is so wrong with idling to charge. I’ve always had it in my head that it’s not good for the engine. But never had an explanation.
We have had the Cali 5 yrs, and done many trips, some up to three months. Battery charging has never been a problem as we tend to move on every two to four days. I’ve never got below 60%
Recently however, we have been more static , and the other day the battery reached 50% . I’ve read that it really shouldn’t go any lower. We didn’t want to move, but needed more water, so I switched in the engine, put the roof down, kept it idling while I finished packing a little, drove a few hundred yards to the tap, filled up, then drove back. Idling all the time, perhaps 20 mins. The engine had just got to normal operating temperatures. The battery read 100%, then quickly dropped to 90, where it stayed for the day ( only using fridge on3) .We had a couple more days, dropped to 80%, then we left.
ideal, can’t have used much diesel.
Why bother with solar panels, where is the harm in what I did??
pic is where we were camped, Seathwaite £8 a night ain’t bad!

 

[sidepod]

Fine providing you’re all alone.
I have in the past gone and switched off a van and chuked the keys away.

 

[Hedley Wright]

Really good for the environment - NOT.

 

[GrannyJen]

After reading the solar panel discussions, someone commented that the engine is a big diesel generator, why not use it.
What is so wrong with idling to charge. I’ve always had it in my head that it’s not good for the engine. But never had an explanation.
We have had the Cali 5 yrs, and done many trips, some up to three months. Battery charging has never been a problem as we tend to move on every two to four days. I’ve never got below 60%
Recently however, we have been more static , and the other day the battery reached 50% . I’ve read that it really shouldn’t go any lower. We didn’t want to move, but needed more water, so I switched in the engine, put the roof down, kept it idling while I finished packing a little, drove a few hundred yards to the tap, filled up, then drove back. Idling all the time, perhaps 20 mins. The engine had just got to normal operating temperatures. The battery read 100%, then quickly dropped to 90, where it stayed for the day ( only using fridge on3) .We had a couple more days, dropped to 80%, then we left.
ideal, can’t have used much diesel.
Why bother with solar panels, where is the harm in what I did??
pic is where we were camped, Seathwaite £8 a night ain’t bad!

View attachment 80668

Something I have done before in desperation. As long as fuel in the tank I see nowt wrong with using it if it bridges an emergency.

 

[Perfectos]

I see nothing wrong with doing this occasionally, particularly as disposing of a battery prematurely in favor of running the van for a relatively short time would be the Environmental offset.

the reason for not doing this with any regularity is for the health of the DPF / Egr etc, which relies on the vehicle being driven normally (turbo pressure / exhaust temperature) to operate properly and prevent blockages Associated with short journeys and lower than normal engine operating temperature.

A short drive on the highway may be preferable if your sharing a site with @sidepod

 

[Wildcamper]

As others have said, "if on occasion you have to then ok". Personally I would try to avoid doing this. Engines, in my experience, do not really like idling for long periods and one may tend to clog the particulate filter. So emergency yes, on a regular basis no.

 

[CYCLOPATH]

Really good for the environment - NOT.

But if I had gone for a drive for no other reason than to charge the batteries, that would have done worse. And as I’m only likely to do it two or three times a year, less carbon than the production of solar panels?

 

[CYCLOPATH]

I see nothing wrong with doing this occasionally, particularly as disposing of a battery prematurely in favor of running the van for a relatively short time would be the Environmental offset.

the reason for not doing this with any regularity is for the health of the DPF / Egr etc, which relies on the vehicle being driven normally (turbo pressure / exhaust temperature) to operate properly and prevent blockages Associated with short journeys and lower than normal engine operating temperature.

A short drive on the highway may be preferable if your sharing a site with @sidepod

I totally agree with sidepod. As you can see nobody was close by.
as far as my DPF is concerned, we had good long journeys before and after ( Somerset to the lakes) so it had a good blow through, which is always likely to be the case

 

[Perfectos]

I totally agree with sidepod. As you can see nobody was close by.
as far as my DPF is concerned, we had good long journeys before and after ( Somerset to the lakes) so it had a good blow through, which is always likely to be the case

Agree,
just explaining for completeness to your question in your head as to why it’s not a good idea to idle a (diesel) engine.
Edit:
another reason is the increase in condensation within the engine block / Exhaust, which can be detrimental when an engine does not reach full operating temperature/ driven normally.

 

[Lightning]

I do this several times a week in winter. My van is petrol so no DPF concerns.

 

[Perfectos]

I do this several times a week in winter. My van is petrol so no DPF concerns.

That’s a rare beast you have

 

[sidepod]

I’m not too bothered about the environmental impact more the “don’t screw up my feng shui” by running your van next to my pitch for 20mins/day

 

[CYCLOPATH]

I’m not too bothered about the environmental impact more the “don’t screw up my feng shui” by running your van next to my pitch for 20mins/day

We get around the risk of having our Feng Shui upset by camping well away from anyone. This is another night last week, alone, half way up wrynose pass. Our stay on Seathwaite was extended because it was so peaceful, and almost nobody around on the site except at the week end, when they still were not within 100 meters.

 

[CYCLOPATH]

Here is the evidence

 

[Eber123]

I also believe that in an "emergency" it should be ok to let the engine idle for 20 or 30 minutes to charge the batteries. Beside this in general I wouldn't do it for the follwoing reasons:

Environment - yes it is not good for the environment and if possbile I try to do my bit
Engine - I must admit I learned also that running an engine idel is not good
Charging limites - charging batteries through the engine is only up to 80%
Noise - depending where it is, it could be annoying for other people

In general it is not an issue for us, because we use campsites most of the time. If we stay somewhere else it will be only for a night or two and for that we have plenty of power.

Have I said that, we have to have an eye on the leisure batteries. I don't know how long the last (following comments here on the forum it seems really to vary from 3x to 7,8 or even 9x years) and replacement will be expensive, I am sure.

Eberhard

 

[willwander]

I don’t see anything wrong with it.
But, You don’t get to feel all smug like you do with Solar.

 

[Eber123]

Obviously we are not in Germany ... but to let a car engine running idle, in Germany it can earn you a fine by the Police. It is not much (as far as I know) but nonetheless, it is a fine.

 

[barry]

Obviously we are not in Germany ... but to let a car engine running idle, in Germany it can earn you a fine by the Police. It is not much (as far as I know) but nonetheless, it is a fine.

and in many places in the uk.

 

[egena]

Unintentional revive of thread but thought I would add this DPF summary I posted in the following thread as an explanation;

⚠️How long to charge the battery by idling the engine?!

Hi! Our battery died while camping and we have no hook-up. We switched on the engine to idling. Has anyone charged like this? We just need enough battery to get the fridge through to the morning. It's not ideal. Hopefully it's quick!

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[kave]

Many manufacturers usually claims that idle running a cold engine causes unnecessary wear since engine takes a long time to get to proper working temperature.

 

[Lambeth Cali]

When I drove diesel Ford vans, we were told to idle the van until it warmed up, before we set off.
None of us ever did.

I don’t think I would idle the van to charge the battery. Each to their own.

 

[Steve1]

I do it fairly often to charge the battery in the summer if we don't have hookup. The dpf should get a good clean out on the return journey from holiday and any condensation will get blown out then too. If you have been stationary for a couple of days on a site with no hookup then it's a good way to get a bit of charge back in. The environmental impact of a bit of low speed idling is probably fairly low compared to the one of hauling my van hundreds of miles to the site in the first place. And there is usually a busier (noisier) period during the day where the noise impact is low, I try to be as sensitive as I can about it, but there are plenty of other noises that are louder like inflating beds, radios, children playing etc. Other people can expect a completely quiet time at night and relative peace during the day, but they don't own the site either (and probably make some noise of their own too at some point during the day) so a little tolerance to what amounts to a very small amount of disturbance is not unreasonable. I have never had anyone complain, or even seem annoyed, I certainly never had anyone try to touch my keys, they wouldn't try a second time.

 

[subthree]

Many manufacturers usually claims that idle running a cold engine causes unnecessary wear since engine takes a long time to get to proper working temperature.

It takes at least 10km for our 6.1 to reach greater than 90 degrees Celsius engine temperature.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Not saying you should do it in your camper... BUT... in the army we used to idle-run engines (petrol and diesel) for hours and hours when static, scrimmed up in some dank German forest, to keep the radio batteries charged. In fact we carried exhaust pipe extension hoses for that purpose. Never seemed to do the engines any harm.

 

[Eber123]

Not saying you should do it in your camper... BUT... in the army we used to idle-run engines (petrol and diesel) for hours and hours when static, scrimmed up in some dank German forest, to keep the radio batteries charged. In fact we carried exhaust pipe extension hoses for that purpose. Never seemed to do the engines any harm.

Well, for our MTW M113 carrying the radio equipment we had power generators ...

Sorry I couldn't resist...

Regards,
Eberhard