It’s amazing to hear how many people charge their batteries overnight.
I have a ctek smart pass charger in the van (this one : https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/ctek-smartpass-120s-power-management-system.html )
I’ve never once mains charged my leisure battery, it’s been perfectly fine for 3 and a half years.
I’m curious to know if my use is unusual and this is why I’ve never needed to.
I run a normal aquatec pump with analogue pump controller (I like a good strong flow), and a waterworks 3D electric hose reel. I drive about 30 miles on average per work day. I work 4 and a half days every week, and use about 500 litres per day.
How does this compare?
It compares very well but I'd rather have £230 in the bank!
It takes seconds to clip the leads on the battery and switch it on.
Again, this could be down to each cleaner's circumstances. Some can only park their vans on the street, and sometimes it might be in the next block. That would make bench charging very difficult.
IMHO there aren't many cleaners who can rely on the van's charging system to replenish the charge in the leisure battery. Pete Thompson drives around 30 miles a day which is a massive plus for his battery charging. If he regularly gets caught in traffic jams then that helps as well, as the idling engine will continue to charge his battery at the same rate it does when he is driving.
I have a Sterling Battery to battery charger. I took 6.5amps from my battery today. When I started my engine at the end of the day my alternator was pumping 27 amps into the battery. My drive home was less than 1/2 a mile. By the time I got home, my battery was accepting a charge of 8 amps. Tomorrow it's the same again. If I do this too often, my battery will eventually be flat, as I will be taking more out of it than putting it back.
As my battery gets lower in charge, it will accept a higher charge rate from the alternator for a long period of time. However, Numax tell us that you should 'trickle charge' a leisure battery. According to them, your rate of charge shouldn't be more than 10% of the battery's capacity for battery longevity. This means my 105amp battery shouldn't be charged higher than 10 amps.
The closer a lead acid battery gets to full charge, the lower the rate of charge it will accept. You can boost that rate of charge a little by increasing the charge voltage, but a sealed lead acid battery shouldn't be charged by more than 14.2v. A flooded Leisure battery can be charged at 14.6v.
