# Newbie help: How long to charge my leisure battery?



## 116839

Hi Guys,

Went out for the first time ever this weekend ... stayed nr Amble, Northumberland right on the beach.... can't remember who, but someone gave me the co-oridnates on this board.... had a fantastic time thanks a lot, you know who you are !!!! Absolutely hooked on wild campign now, cant wait for the weekend to come again !!!!!

Had one slight problem though.... my leisure battery... its an 85bh.

We ran very little electricity while we were wild camping, all on gas... fridge, water heater etc...

Silly me ran a normal 40w consuming mains tv through my 300W inverter for about 3 hours so probably thats why the leisure battery didnt last long..... but in doing so i was confronted with a few questions I don't know the answer to:

OK... HERES MY QUESTIONS:

a) How long do i have to charge my now nearly dead leisure battery up for to get it to full charge ?
b) If I leave it on overnight and maybe its a few hours too long on charge.... will i kill it ?
c) Is there a right time to "recharge" the battery after using it, or does it not matter? Example, can i leave it till a day before i go out next time, or should I recharge it immediately ?
d) If I need to recharge it while wild camping in an emergency, can you suggest any means ?

Sorry for the grilling guys, but it was our first trip away and I have learnt somethign very valuable on our overnight stay..... the life of the leisure battery is probably the second most important thing to consider behind pickign the right place to go camping.... am i right ! lol 


Thanks for your help in advance.....

Oz


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## ladyrunner

*Re: NEWBIE HELP: HOW LONG TO CHARGE MY LEISURE BATTERY ?*



ozmen said:


> OK... HERES MY QUESTIONS:
> 
> a) How long do i have to charge my now nearly dead leisure battery up for to get it to full charge ?
> b) If I leave it on overnight and maybe its a few hours too long on charge.... will i kill it ?
> c) Is there a right time to "recharge" the battery after using it, or does it not matter? Example, can i leave it till a day before i go out next time, or should I recharge it immediately ?
> d) If I need to recharge it while wild camping in an emergency, can you suggest any means ?


Hi Ozmen

My answers from experience would be:-
a) I'd buy a multimeter and trickle charge it on a low setting for 12-24 hours. Until it was back to full strength 13v+
b)My mechanic friend assures me that I could kill my battery on trickle charge.
c) I'd recharge it immediately and check before you head off next time that it's still holding the fully-charged voltage.
d) In an emergency I start my engine for 5/10 minutes to top battery up and I also use a 13w solar panel briefcase. But neither of these would be good to run a 40w tv through 300w invertor and keep the battery fully charged.

Either you would need to change the tv (mine runs at 15w per hour) or possible think about installing a large solar panel or give up on the luxuries such as tv's and hairdryers.

Julie


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## 107558

A heavily discharged battery is likely to be permanently damaged (balance of probabilities). There are chargers on the market that claim to be able to recharge a fully discharged battery but, I would imagine that, it depends on what damage has occured (if any) as to whether they are successful.

If it were me, I would put this down to an expensive lesson and go and buy a much larger capacity flooded cell battery (the largest that will physically fit in your battery box).

*Opinion*


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## 101405

Untill it shows 14.8volts , which is then fully charged. if not its duff !! have you topped it up .


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## Kelcat

Hi - sorry to jump in - but it's kind of related & I suspect Ozmen would appreciate the answer also :wink: 
My Van's battery thing tells you the volts(?) i.e. 12.7 etc but doesn't tell you how much is left - so theres effectivly no warning that it will run out. Is there a device that would (i.e 60% charge, 50% charge etc) ?


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## b16duv

Hi Kelcat,

I use a NASA BM-1 battery monitor and the display shows voltage, charge or discharge current in amps, time to charge/discharge at present consumption in hours, and a %age charge state. 

I have been very happy with it, but there are other devices on the market apparently.

'OPINION' not fact!

David


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## inkey-2008

You need to use a decent output battery charger to recharge a fully discharged battery with an indicator to show when fully charged. 

It could take a day or two before charging check the water level is ok , just on the top of the plates. 

If it is a gel Battery then you need a charger that will cope with that as they have different requirement to bring them to full charge. 

Your van Battery charger should be ok to charge the 85amp ok, you may have to check it if it is a gel, some have a switch to change to a gel. 

Some chargers like the Victron will charge a battery up to the gassing stage then cut the charge back to balance out the charge across the plates and then monitor the battery and charge when it is required. 

Battery state gauge 

I have seen some in the car spare dealers not sure how good they are. If you keep a eye on the battery voltage this will give an indication as the volts fall back to around 12v then that is discharged. You have to do this when there is now heavy discharge as the voltage will recover after being rested for a while. 

Andy


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## Wizzo

Hi Oz,

I assume you are using your van's built-in charger? If so:

1) I would charge it for a couple of days.
2) Most chargers will drop to a level that will not kill the battery if left for a while.
3) Always recharge it as soon as is practically possible. Your journey home will put some charge back in but will not fully charge it. A fairly new battery should read about 12.7 volts when fully charged.
4) Solar panel but is reliant to some extent on a decent amount of sun. Generator but noise may annoy yourself or others. Efoy fuel cells - quiet but obtaining fuel?

Leisure batteries are made for deep discharging so I shouldn't worry too much but like any other battery they last longer if you keep them topped up and try not to fully discharge them.

JohnW


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## maddie

Hi ozmen,firstly your inverter would have stopped working (hopfully)before dammaging your battery,and 3 hrs sounds about right :lol: Charge your battery as soon as possible -overnight with (if you have one? your van may well have one ) a 3 stage charger then it can be left on forever :lol: if you wish.If your engine does not charge your battery while running fit a relay (about £10) so that it does.Small v/good 3 stage chargers come on offer from time to time at Netto (tronic) Aldi (car charger) and Lidle at about £10.If your van does not charge off the engine(relay as above) then you are looking at £0000 plus for solar pans and gennys.It is more advisable to fit a second (same size-type) leisure battery for your needs :lol: or even a third :wink: 
terry


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## CliveMott

Your Motorhome should have its own inbuilt charger / power supply. If you connect your van via a hookup to the mains at home for 24 hours you should expect your 85AH battery to be at least 80% charged. If its a simple current limited constant voltage charger unit then the voltage should get to 14.0. If its a three stage charger then the voltage can go a little higher but will then revert to 13.8 volts as a maintaining voltage. 
It should not damage the battery if the mains is left connected for a prolonged period of several days if it has any of the modern charger / PSU units.

You should always re-charge your battery as soon as possible after discharging it. Leaving a battery in a discharged state can cause permanent damage.

Hope that helps.
C.


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## 116839

Guys/Gals.... thankyou SOOOOOOoooooooo much for all your advice one and all..... i have taken on board all your wealth of experience and I'm goign to purcahse myself some solar's for emergency. I will monitor my battery levels during charging, and I know exactly what i'm looking for in a fully charged battery reading wise.

thankyou all again.

I am going to hook it up at home to my 240v plug socket using the lead and adapter that came with it and charge for 24 hours then see what the reading is.

Thanks,

oz


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## MicknElsa

*Leisure battery*

Please could someone tell me how long my leisure battery should hold its charge?
I am having problems with a battery supplied under warranty last year by Swift through UK battery. This battery was checked by Swift who said it was duff. It has been back to UK battery who say there is no fault in it.
I received the battery back on Thursday last week and it was fully charged according to UKB. I have just put in the vehicle and the reading says 10.3!

Mick


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## ToffeApple

Hi Ozmen,

Since I bought my campervan last year, I have learnt more than I ever knew I NEEDED to know about batteries!
The inbuilt battery charger turned out to be duff & so was the leisure battery!
Bought new, larger battery & a Ctek battery charger. Brilliant!
I charge up after every camping trip & about every fortnight when not.

Fingers crossed , that's that. Also got a volt meter on the dash which, when the engine is running, shows the voltage of the engine and the leisure battery.
These were all retro fitted so no instructions with any thing.

Chris & Tilly.
:? :?


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## BillCreer

*Re: Leisure battery*



MicknElsa said:


> Please could someone tell me how long my leisure battery should hold its charge?
> I am having problems with a battery supplied under warranty last year by Swift through UK battery. This battery was checked by Swift who said it was duff. It has been back to UK battery who say there is no fault in it.
> I received the battery back on Thursday last week and it was fully charged according to UKB. I have just put in the vehicle and the reading says 10.3!
> 
> Mick


Hi Mick,

Your battery should still be showing well over 12v if it had been fully charged and not used.

Do you know it was fully charged?
Do you know it hasn't been used?

The last question is not as daft as it looks because if you had fitted in your van, even if you are not using it, there might be something like a radio, alarm or dump valve solenoid that is draining the battery.


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## MicknElsa

*Leisure battery*

I have been on to Uk Battery this morning who now have uturned and agreed to replace the battery.
What is a Ctek charger? Is it on the mains circuit or the 12 volt chassis system?
Have you used a solar charger to top up?
Thanks for your help.
Regards Mick


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