# Leisure battery charging and 240v



## Kenski (Aug 17, 2010)

Very new to motorhoming and either have an electrical fault or am not understanding something! Motorhome is a 2007 Swift Sundance 590RS, bought privately, and came with a new leisure battery. Couple of weeks ago managed to cook the battery - not sure how - and have had to replace. 

Problem is that now the 240v system will only work when the battery charger is switched on, and in view of the above I'm reluctant to leave it on for extended periods as I wonder if the charger/transformer is overcharging the battery. I'd kind of assumed this wasn't possible, but am not sure now!

Any advice would be gratefully received.


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## geraldandannie (Jun 4, 2006)

Hi Kenski, and welcome to the forum.

Sorry you've been having some problems. Have a look through the guides some of the members on here have created:

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/forum-185.html

There might be something on there.

Cooking batteries? Possibly, but a good charger and battery combination should stop this happening. Which charger does your van have? What make and type of battery is it?

As for 240V only working when the charger is switched on? That sounds very strange, and I would suggest you get to a motorhome dealer or service agent and get them to check it out. Are you sure it's the charger you're switching on?

Gerald


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## Kenski (Aug 17, 2010)

Thanks. Not sure what make the charger is - I guess it's whatever one came as standard equipment. The battery was 'Platinum' brand. 

The switch is definitely labelled 'battery charger', and when switched on lights up, and the control panel shows that the battery is charging rather than discharging. As I said previously, when it is not switched on the 240v circuit definitely doesn't operate.

I did wonder if the problem was caused by leaving it on EHU for 2 or 3 days before going away, but looking at other threads this seems to be fairly common practice, and suggests that chargers are usually smart enough toi cope with this.

I think your advice re a specialist is good - that'll be my next stop.

Thanks again.


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## pieterv (Feb 3, 2009)

A modern three or four stage charger can be left connected and switched on, because it has a charge regime that switches down to a very low maintenance charge after some time. This very small current will not over charge a battery, and in fact is said to be good for a it.

So, it is indeed the question what kind of charger do you have, and is it working properly. You could monitor its voltage over time and eventually it should go down (in the case of my Elektroblock it goes down to 13.8V, which gives a current of as low as 0.1A). If it doesn't the charger will indeed harm your battery and either needs to be switched off on time (which would be a hassle to monitor and do on time) or replaced.

Pieter


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