I'm a sort of semi grey nomad. I qualify due to the fact my hair started going grey at the age of 14 and now at an age fast approaching retirement I can't even remember what dark hair looks like.
It's the nomad part I have problems with. Apart from five weeks a year on short tours around WA and weekends snatched when we can, our van sits on the drive.
My question to other member's is, 'how often should I connect up to power or should I leave it connected all the time?
I've not the slightest idea what would be best for the battery. I'll probably be getting solar panels on the roof before too long and I'm assuming the charge from these will keep the battery in good condition.
justcruisin01 said
03:43 AM Aug 15, 2012
Grahame Readwin wrote:
I'm a sort of semi grey nomad. I qualify due to the fact my hair started going grey at the age of 14 and now at an age fast approaching retirement I can't even remember what dark hair looks like.
It's the nomad part I have problems with. Apart from five weeks a year on short tours around WA and weekends snatched when we can, our van sits on the drive.
My question to other member's is, 'how often should I connect up to power or should I leave it connected all the time?
I've not the slightest idea what would be best for the battery. I'll probably be getting solar panels on the roof before too long and I'm assuming the charge from these will keep the battery in good condition.
You need to keep batteries charged, when left sitting for extended periods they will gradually go flat even though you are not using them.
JC
Yuglamron said
03:51 AM Aug 15, 2012
Hi Grahame,
The modern chargers like the CTek chargers are designed to be on pretty much 24/7 and they extend the life of a battery by a fair amount.
I actually have two in my motorhome.
One runs the fridge on 12 volt and another is used as a solar panel regulator.The warranty is good and they seem to be robust and I have had no problems with mine
There are other brands that do the same thing.
Hope that helps.
Big Gorilla said
03:02 PM Aug 15, 2012
I keep 240 volt power on my Motorhome when it's idle, the charger keeps the house batteries topped up. However there is no real need for me to do that because I don't use any 12 volt power when the MH is idle and the solar panels will do the same job, keep the batteries fully charged. An important point you should not ignore is to check the water level in the batteries regularly. When I'm on the road, I do it weekly, when not in use, I check every 4 weeks. Keep the batteries topped up with water but use distilled water, not tap water. You can buy 4 or 5 liter bottles of distilled water at Auto stores. Distilled water has no minerals or impurities therefore extending your battery life.
Delta18 said
08:09 PM Aug 15, 2012
Big Gorilla wrote:
You can buy 4 or 5 liter bottles of distilled water at Auto stores. Distilled water has no minerals or impurities therefore extending your battery life.
You can buy it in 2L (from memory) bottles in Coles and Woolies or any supermarket too probably cheaper.
Cheetrs Neil
aussietraveller said
06:38 AM Aug 16, 2012
I recently replaced our van battery with a 100A/H Fullriver battery and asked the dealer the same question and his advice was charge overnight about once per month and make sure that everything in the van is turned off, this will ensure that you always have a fully charged battery and it will also extend the life of your battery.
Big Gorilla said
02:12 PM Aug 16, 2012
When you are on the road and free camping, even though you will put some charge back in your house batteries from solar panels and the engine alternator, you will be unlikely to fully charge them. I therefore make a point of going into a caravan park once a week, connecting to power and let the 240 volt charger top up the batteries. This is also the time I check water levels. Once a week in a CP also gives you the opportunity to do the washing and hang your clothes out to dry in the sun, rather than use dryers at Laundromats....
sandsmere said
02:31 PM Aug 16, 2012
As the other posters have said , it's important to keep the batteries topped up . We don't often frequent CPs , but use the gennie to top up a couple of times a week if we aren't near any 240v power .
I'm a sort of semi grey nomad. I qualify due to the fact my hair started going grey at the age of 14 and now at an age fast approaching retirement I can't even remember what dark hair looks like.
It's the nomad part I have problems with. Apart from five weeks a year on short tours around WA and weekends snatched when we can, our van sits on the drive.
My question to other member's is, 'how often should I connect up to power or should I leave it connected all the time?
I've not the slightest idea what would be best for the battery. I'll probably be getting solar panels on the roof before too long and I'm assuming the charge from these will keep the battery in good condition.
You need to keep batteries charged, when left sitting for extended periods they will gradually go flat even though you are not using them.
JC
Hi Grahame,
The modern chargers like the CTek chargers are designed to be on pretty much 24/7 and they extend the life of a battery by a fair amount.
I actually have two in my motorhome.
One runs the fridge on 12 volt and another is used as a solar panel regulator.The warranty is good and they seem to be robust and I have had no problems with mine
There are other brands that do the same thing.
Hope that helps.
You can buy it in 2L (from memory) bottles in Coles and Woolies or any supermarket too probably cheaper.
Cheetrs Neil
As the other posters have said , it's important to keep the batteries topped up . We don't often frequent CPs , but use the gennie to top up a couple of times a week if we aren't near any 240v power .