I have just bought a new 110AH leisure battery and I am suffering some trepidation about charging it. My inbuilt charger states it is an automatic jobby and to leave it conected permantly, it charges the battery to 14.8 volts then cuts out and cuts back in when the battery drops to 12.6volts.
The new battery is a bog standard cheap and cheerfull lead acid leisure type.
The question is ....in manufacturers marketing blurb that I have seen they make various claims that their battery can take say 300 "charges" up to a 1000 "charges" in more expensive ones. Can anyone tell me what constitutes a "charge", bearing in mind when driving the split charger is cutting in an out as the van is stopped and started etc. I just want to get the most life out of the battery as due to lack of knowledge in the past, I have let previous ones go flat over the winter, because My charger draws about 80 milli amps from the battery when not charging and then wondered why it wouldnt hold a charge next season (I know why now thanks to this forum)
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I would say that a charge means bringing a battery from empty to fully charged.
I have never come across a statement with regard to the number of charges.
For me the biggest risk to batteries is deep discharging them, it is much better to keep them topped up with a trickle charger or a battery maintainer. I have heard that some Leisure batteries are not sensitive to deep discharge.
Sorry I have just re-read one of the manufacurers blurbs and for "charges" read deep discharge "cycles" so how deep is deep discharge because from what Ive read let it discharge too much and the battery is starting to loose its poke
Membership number 4647 Put a beggar in a SYNCRO and he'll drive to the devil
Every time you allow a leisure battery to 'go flat', lead sulphate deposits build up on the plates. Eventually the battery becomes 'knacked'. They are specifying the number of deep discharge cycles (or how often from flat) their product will remain reasonably efficient. Just don't let it go flat and occaisionally fully charge it on a three state charger as the in-built chargers in your camper are designed not to fully charge (to prevent gassing). Some of the better batteries use carbon fibre technology and specify 1000 deep discharge cycles. The definition of 'flat' is debatable as they are rated in ampere hours. Yours should maintain a voltage for 1 hour and provide 110 amps or 55amps for 2 hours or 1 amp for 110 hours. After that.....its technically 'flat' and fully discharged and the terminal voltage will drop significantly when you connect something to it. Next time, it will be slightly less efficient and so on and so on.....
Thanks for your input guys I didnt want to connect the battery up to the charger via hook up and leave it on permantly if when it cut in and out it was gradualy doing harm to it.
Anyone got any comments about the 80milli amps the charger draws from the battery I read a post by IrishDave that a 50ma was just about acceptable but there was a circuit to isolate this problem.
The charger by the way is 18 years old like the van but little used so its automatic but not one of these new wonder boxes.
Membership number 4647 Put a beggar in a SYNCRO and he'll drive to the devil
What model/make charger is it? Anyway, just fit a 15Amp single pole switch to isolate the output of the charger from the leisure battery when not in use. Don't use a diode based solution.....wrong! ZIGs use a switch....correct! Yours is possibly drawing current for a variety of reasons and I wouldn't worry to much about them.
The charger was made in Australia where the van came from, (no upside down jokes plese )when I touch the negative lead to the battery I hear clicking like a relay making in the charger
Membership number 4647 Put a beggar in a SYNCRO and he'll drive to the devil
The only way you will know is to peer inside it. An 80ma draw could be to switch a relay, it could be a solid state regulation/current limiting circuit, battery voltage condition monitor,etc, all of these will allow reverse leakage into the unit and a the simplest solution is to have a switch. The important thing is that it supplies 13.4 volts when it is on. Without a schematic there is no way of confirming where the 80ma is going. It should have some means of isolating the charger from the battery anyway and it may well be that the relay (if it is a relay) does just that. Zigs employ a switch and label it 'touring-on site'. All it does is disconnect the charger and link the leisure battery to the split charge relay or the starter battery depending on which conversion company installed it.
and another reason for a switch, to isolate the charger from the alternator.
So , Angeloevs , i don`t wish to bogart this thread , but do you mean that , on my 1986 Autohomes Kamper , the touring-/-on site switch links the leisure battery to the split relay ?
I just cannae understand zigs .
At just £9.99 these little solar panels produce around 125mA on a good day, so will positively counteract the 80mA discharge. Just crocadile clip one to the leisure battery or make it a more permanent fix with eyelets etc
The important thing here is not to allow the battery to fully discharge and for that these little panels are ideal.
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my heart it feels a broken beat
Touched soul and hurt lay wounded deep
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Yes, if a relay has been fitted. The 'touring-on site' switch disconnects the leisure battery from the charger and re-connects it to the starter battery and the alternator charges through the switch. (the ZIG CF8 manual does not recommend/require the use of a relay as it disengages the starter battery as an alternative source to the leisure battery). Autohomes overcame the problem by using a relay to link the two batteries with a heavier gauge cable so that most of the charging current went through the relay and not through the switch.
E D I T. IIRC mine only had the Fridge relay and it charged through the switch......just in case some are different!
I have just re-read one of the manufacurers blurbs and for "charges" read deep discharge "cycles" so how deep is deep discharge because from what Ive read let it discharge too much and the battery is starting to loose its poke
)when I touch the negative lead to the battery I hear clicking like a relay making in the charger
but do you mean that , on my 1986 Autohomes Kamper , the touring-/-on site switch links the leisure battery to the split relay ?