Moderators: Doone, westonwarrior
Mine clicks on and off at tickover even if the battery hasn't been used for a while I think that is just the voltage sensing in operation.Glenda wrote: When it was discharged the split charge relay tick tocked at low revs. Is this due to leisure battery being flat?
This happened again on pick up from Plymouth but has stopped after drive home.
The Tronic one sold (occasionally) by Aldi/Lidl is reckoned to be good as it's small fully automatic (so won't over charge) and cheap at £12.95 (I think).Please advise on 240 volt battery charger to use at home and for top up at campsites bearing in mind price, size and efficiency.
Yep. I'm within a whisker of replacing my LB with a starter battery when the time comes, because in all I've read about LB vvesus SB I still cannot get a clear picture of which is really going to perform better in a Bongo environment (i.e. fast charge from VSR) provided some precaution is taken (low voltage protection or - even better - a voltmeter, which I already have fitted, so yo can stop using it before it reaches 11.8v full discharge). It seems the only real way to find out is to suck it and see and hope it isn't an expensive wrong decision. I have a specific interest though in a battery that will maintain voltage under higher current drains (which my LB appears reluctant to do, though I cannot rule out the possibility that its because it is a bit knackered). If all you want is lights and TV then experimenting with a starter battery seems less enticing. Interesting to read at least one person on here saying though that they had used a starter battery for 2 years for LB use and had no problemsdandywarhol wrote:I think this highlights what Mike was talking about in a previous post about LBs not liking a high charge when they've been left discharged for a while. A starter battery wouldn't have that problem.
If you read the Spec. on that charger the Max current is 3.6Amps, which is really only adequate for float charging the battery over a lot of time.scanner wrote: The Tronic one sold (occasionally) by Aldi/Lidl is reckoned to be good as it's small fully automatic (so won't over charge) and cheap at £12.95 (I think).
Comments on it here..
http://www.motorhomefacts.com/modules.p ... ic&t=24735
And it's just that sort of charging that knackers true leisure batteries - or so we're told.g8dhe wrote: If your looking for something to recharge the L/B overnight when on a site then your going to need something that can put at least 8 Amps into it to achieve any sensible charging over night.
Hi Glenda. It really depends on what you take out of the leisure battery. If you are only running lights and the radio, for a few hours at night then an hours drive would easily charge that up. If you are running a fridge, then its a different story.Glenda wrote:I have the willinton package and its great. However, I ran the battery flat in Crete and never recharged it fully for a month as only driving an hour or so a day. Then the 12 hour drive home should have got it recharged (unless now knackered as C&C factsheet). But it has now stood around in Plymouth waiting for me to go and collect for 7 weeks until Tuesday.
When it was discharged the split charge relay tick tocked at low revs. Is this due to leisure battery being flat?
This happened again on pick up from Plymouth but has stopped after drive home.
I will show the lb more respect in future and hope I can save it.
Please advise on 240 volt battery charger to use at home and for top up at campsites bearing in mind price, size and efficiency.
I've got one of the Lidl ones connected to my LB when on hook-up. As it's connected for 24 hours a day, it more than replenishes anything I ever use on lights, TV, radio, tap etc. Let's face it, for most of the time you're camping, you're not using the LB.g8dhe wrote:If you read the Spec. on that charger the Max current is 3.6Amps, which is really only adequate for float charging the battery over a lot of time.
If you have made a significant drain on the battery to say 50% of an 85Amp/Hr battery then that battery is going to take 85/2 = 42.5Amp/Hrs of charging,
that's 42.5/3.6 = 11.8 Hours assuming no extra current is drawn from the battery for that charger (assuming it gives Max current all the time! .. it won't).
Its fine for bringing the battery back to full charge when at home and nothing else is being drawn from it, but if your on site and drawing a couple of Amps for say lights (24Watts worth) then your going take forever to get a full charge put back into it.
If your looking for something to recharge the L/B overnight when on a site then your going to need something that can put at least 8 Amps into it to achieve any sensible charging over night.
Oh I dunno John - depends on who you are and where you're campingfrancophile1947 wrote: Let's face it, for most of the time you're camping, you're not using the LB.
mikeonb4c wrote:Oh I dunno John - depends on who you are and where you're campingfrancophile1947 wrote: Let's face it, for most of the time you're camping, you're not using the LB.
But, as you wouldn't need a battery charger if you hadn't got a hook-up, I still think they do a good job (unless to need the light on, to frighten away the ghosties, whilst you're asleep )What sort of charging do you think I am suggesting then ? What would you propose ?scanner wrote:And it's just that sort of charging that knackers true leisure batteries - or so we're told.
but only repeating what I have been told. He said that a LB will discharge and charge just as happiliy and for as long as a SB . The LB does not mind being fast charged and in his words could happily be connected to a lorry alternator for a few years with no ill effects.
. That would seem about right I reckon. My needs are a bit eccentric of normal LB useage i.e. I'm trying to run an electric blanket off a 12v battery. That normally is a No-No as it will drain the battery quickly. But by controlling it via a unit with a thermostat and a low voltage protector it looks as though it may be practical. however, when it it IS on, the current drain can be relatively high, and a starter type battery may provide that without the voltage drop I experienced with my LB (which caused the low voltage protector to cut power to the blanket). Of course it could be my LB is in poor condition (which is also a possibility!) as I don't really understand why any healthy 110AmHr battery should experience voltage drop to below 12v just because 8amps is being pulled from it.madmile wrote:Just had an interesting chat with my battery supplier (importer and wholesaler with 1000's of pallets of batteries so should know what he is on about).
I posed this question to him about LB's not liking fast charge etc, and his rely was 'what a load of ******. I dont have an expert opinion on this
Where the difference is, is the plate thickness and construction which in the case of a LB will not handle the cranking power needed to start large engines. He then started taking about doulbe sided glass matt plates in LB's and to be honest lost me
Obviously a cheap battery is not going to do this as well as a better one, but it may not harm to use a starter battery as a LB if what he says is right.
I would think for a basic LB set up it wouldnt hurt to try, but for a full conversion with mains charging, extra loads such as more lights and fridges then its probably best to stick with a good leisure battery designed for the job.
Notwithstanding what Madmile says I have always understood that LBs prefer a slow trickle charge which I have always taken to be 4 amps or less so the 8 amps you suggested would be higher than recommended.g8dhe wrote:What sort of charging do you think I am suggesting then ? What would you propose ?scanner wrote:And it's just that sort of charging that knackers true leisure batteries - or so we're told.
."or so we're told"
