Charging batteries when at home

I use a 12w solar panel. Works well.

Smart charger that goes to float when fully charged. Connect to 240V and forget. You will find that probably most forumites will have this.

Regards
David

Solar panels keep ours charged when not travelling in our motorhome,don't forget to check the water level every now & then.
Cheers Bob.

Allowing the battery to discharge below 10 volts could damage the battery or at the least shorten their life. It is recommended by battery manufacturers to plug the caravan into normal household 240 volt system every 4 to 6 weeks for 24 hours to keep the charge up in the safe zone. Remember to switch the isolator switch off when not being used but turn on when charging. Most modern caravans have an isolator switch on their battert circuit to prevent leakage. Have a look around the van somewhere in the vicinity of the batteries and you should find a switch marked "battery switch. This has to be on to allow you to use the batteries but turned off when the van is in storage. Hope this helps.

Hi there,
We use solar panels when away and when we come home we use a ctek charger.
I have often wondered if we should just use one 60 watt panel while at home.
I would be interested to hear of any pros and cons. My ctek charger is the 7 amp model, Batteries are 180 amps combined deep cycle, and I use a pl20.
May possibly consider selling the ctek if most think that the pl20 would be fine.

Cheers
Chris.

Easiest way here Darcy , correct voltage little plug pack designed for the job , under $20.

Robin Miller

I leave the Jayco plugged in when it's packed away in the garage and flick the switch most Sat mornings and flick it off again when doing the rounds and locking everything up sun evening.

Have AGM's in the CT, and after coming home from camping, charge them up with an Absorbed Power 10A charger ( approx 24hrs) , then leave them until I go camping again !! Simple !!!

But with "wet" batts, a small maintenance charger is the go, plug in and leave it !!

I use a 1.25A Battery Fighter (trickle charger) plugged into 240v, turn it on and forget it.

Baz.