# Looking for inexpensive mains-powered charger - which one?



## Nettle (Jul 22, 2009)

Hello!

We've just splurged on a shiny new Elecsol 125 Ah leisure battery which I'd like to take good care of.

Rather than leave it to the whims of our aging Hymer's inbuilt charger, and rather than spend megabucks on replacing it with a more sophisticated one, I'd like to buy an ordinary household-grade mains powered charger that we can plug in and hook up to the battery when we're on-site.

I'd originally planned to buy one of those Halfords fully-automatic things for about £40, but it turns out these are for 110 Ah max.

Can anyone recommend an equivalent inexpensive (up to about £60, say) but fully-automatic (as in, three-phase, overcharge-proof, etc.) charger that'll look after our 125 Ah battery?

Cheers!
Michael


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## clive1821 (Mar 27, 2010)

Hi what's wrong in just using your original charger, give it a try first the battery will be fine... If you are not happy with your original charger try the halfords one the battery ah is only the capacity... And not the charge rate.... Just my basic view could go into lots of doos and donts just give it a try first.


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## Nettle (Jul 22, 2009)

Hey Clive,

My main concern with using inbuilt chargers is that, unless it's a more sophisticated one like a CTEK unit (£££££), it's got a preset max charge voltage of around 13.8V. The Elecsol (and I guess most other batteries) need to be charged to a higher voltage (14.4V, in my case) in order to avoid sulphate crystallising on the lead plates due to undercharging, thereby limiting the capacity of the battery, which is exactly what happened to our last one, a 118Ah unit.

The same issue exists with the Halfords charger, which I think is set to something like 12.6V, still too low for higher-capacity batteries like our 125 Ah.

So, it's gotta be something that's built for high capacity batteries, or the battery will lose condition over time.

Cheers =)
Michael


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## clive1821 (Mar 27, 2010)

Ok as you wish, all the battery chargers I know of will usually go up to 14+ volts and just regulated by the battery it's self.... I know my internal charger has a open circuit voltage of around 14 volts which works fine only my view....


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## Dick-Vanagogo (Nov 26, 2010)

Hi
If your not sure about your onboard charger then you could have a look at these..http://www.optimate.co.uk/accumate pro 12.htm

I use the optimate for my motocycle when it's not being used, they are very good.

Hope this may help

Dick


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## Dick-Vanagogo (Nov 26, 2010)

Hi
If your not sure about your onboard charger then you could have a look at these..http://www.optimate.co.uk/accumate pro 12.htm

I use the optimate for my motocycle when it's not being used, they are very good.

Hope this may help

Dick


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## Nettle (Jul 22, 2009)

Thanks, Dick - this looks like exactly what I'm after! Pity this stuff is always so pricey =)


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## richardjames (Feb 1, 2006)

I use a CTEK for my vehicle battery plugged into the cigar lighter - it conditions the battery and can also act as a 12volt supply, to retain codes etc, when changing batteries
>>>Ctek<<<


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## Nettle (Jul 22, 2009)

Thanks Richard - that looks great too, although a bit out of my price range.

Happily, I found an Accumate Pro on eBay for £52 inc. postage, so I'm pretty satisfied!


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## joedenise (Jul 20, 2007)

Have you checked with a Multi-meter what your charger is putting in? Both on and off hook-up and with the engine running. We never had a problem with our Hymer even when I added a 2nd battery.

Joe


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## Nettle (Jul 22, 2009)

I haven't, actually, but we haven't had any problems with the charger per se, other than those shortcomings that affect all such things - it charges the battery up to the level it's designed to charge to just fine.


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## joedenise (Jul 20, 2007)

I've got a solar panel going through the Schultz regulator and that charges the batteries to 14.5 volts, the same as when on hook-up. Whatever it says in the book it's worth checking anyway.

Joe


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## Nettle (Jul 22, 2009)

Interesting, perhaps you have a more sophisticated model than we do. We have an Electromatic LA110R, a device I can find no information on, aside from archaic circuit diagrams. That said, our voltmeter reveals that our battery doesn't reach anywhere near 14.4V when "fully charged" (according to the system).


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## andrewball1000 (Oct 16, 2009)

I bought a Sterling Power Probudget a couple of years ago. This is a digital 4 step constant current charger and it is much better than the Halfords charger I replaced it with. I believe these are discontinued so you may pick one up cheap(er) . Once up to charge it will go to a float/maintenance charge so wont cook the battery. I used it to keep two 75ah electric canoe batteries (in parallel) topped up throughout the year when I wasn't using them. I don't like leaving it on all the time so I connected it to a timer which comes on 2 hours a week. It has been doing this for 4 years now and the batteries are fine.


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

From what I can see a super-whizzo charger will cost about 50% the cost of a new battery, so the question is "Will this super whizzo charger extend the life of your battery by more than 50% ""?? 

If not it does not make financial sense to splurge out on one surely??

I lashed out on two new 115 Leisure batteries and thought about a Ctek or similar. Having looked at all the info I decided to save my money towards another set of batteries as and when (if) they start playing up. (If of course I still have this MH when that happens!!)

In the meantime I have a solar panel keeping them both topped up AND the solar panel will be cominmg with me to my next MH (along with the twin Gaslow!!)


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## Nettle (Jul 22, 2009)

I'm in total agreement - I considered getting a CTEK or something to replace our built-in charger, but I just couldn't justify the expense (which is actually about the same as a new battery, or more).

Hence the cheaper, portable charger that I can hook up manually every now and then. £50 instead of £150+, and I know our expensive new Elecsol's gonna be well looked-after.


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## andrewball1000 (Oct 16, 2009)

Mrplodd said:


> ...In the meantime I have a solar panel keeping them both topped up


I agree with that. I have 3 solar panels on the MH and haven't used the charger in 14 months since.


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

I think you have been reading far too many company "blurbs" remember they are only interested in parting you from your money.

Just use the built in charger like 95% of the rest of the motor home owners do ! Dont look for problems that are not there !!


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