Battery Charging from electric hookup

[hightower]

Just about to fit a leisure battery and split charge relay system to charge it up while driving, however i cant really afford a fancy battery charger to charge it from the electric hookup while onsite or from home when connected up.

However i do have a standard battery charger that also has a trickle (maintain) charge function, could i just use that and plug it in to the 240v socket and hook it up to the leisure battery (also main battery if required) to charge it up when required???

I've read a few posts that say you should disconnect the battery from the electric system in the van before charging, i'm a bit confused as over the years if i have ever needed to charge a vehicle battery i have left it in situ in whatever vehicle i've had and connected up without any problems.

[kevtherev]

However i do have a standard battery charger that also has a trickle (maintain) charge function, could i just use that and plug it in to the 240v socket and hook it up to the leisure battery (also main battery if required) to charge it up when required???

as long as you are not drawing a heavy current from the leisure I don't see why not
I have a lidl charger about to be wired in... I shall be using a simple switch to fire it up. Best doing the charging overnighte I suppose.

[Mocki]

as long as you dont "hardwire" the charger to the battery without a isolator switch, what you have will be fine.....

batterys need a good proper charge from the mains everynow and again...

[hightower]

Thanks Guys,

Yeah i wont be hardwiring the charger in, will just be connecting up with the crocodile clips for topping up should the battery require it, i can't imagine it will be needed for a weekend camping as will only be running the stereo and 12v lighting from the battery and maybe a tv when funds allow.

I find it bizarre that Autosleeper put in a big under floor watertank and fancy water meter but didnt fit a leisure battery and hook the 12v lights to the main vehicle battery.

[Mocki]

you get what you pay for....... if the buyer dint ask for it, it didnt happen........ there are converters and converters,
some even used chip board instead of voringer ply, beleive it or not

[hightower]

I think i'm going to replace the main vehicle battery for a new one and use the old battery as the leisure at the moment, as not sure how old the vehicle battery is and would prefer to know the van will start when required and if the old one used for leisure isn;t upto the job then i can replaceit in due course.

Reading a few posts on batteries i see a 65, 75, 85 and 96 will fit and someone said you want to look at 65AH at least for the vehicle battery, however on the Tanya website the 65 only has 55Ah, the 75 has 60AH, the 85 only 44AH and the 96 has 72AH but is 190mm high and i thought the height limit was 180mm to fit under the seat, so would the 75 be ok?? its all very confusing.

Halfords wanted £97 for a replacement van battery, don't know the spec on it as none in stock but Tanya seems to be around £60.