Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: JandS on July 02, 2021, 11:07:04 am
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I remove my battery from the van every night and charge in garage......going away for the week in a few days time, would you leave the battery on charge whilst away or not......would it damage it by not leaving it on charge?
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Don’t leave it discharged.
Best practice would be to leave it charging as long as you have a battery charger which goes to float mode once charged. Then it’ll cut in & out as needed.
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I cut the crocodile clips off my charger and extended the lead with some 2 core lighting flex.
The charger stays in the garage the battery stays in the van.
The lead has been hung on a clip outside for years it's a lot easier then lugging a battery around.
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I run an extension reel into the vans . Shut them inside with a ctek charger that will charge then trickle
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I remove my battery from the van every night and charge in garage......going away for the week in a few days time, would you leave the battery on charge whilst away or not......would it damage it by not leaving it on charge?
i always charge my batteries up overnight......just leave it on charge as itll go over to float charge once charged up fully...
you can also leave a leisure battery fully charged for 3 months before itll need a slight charge again(if your storing them away)...itll be fine
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I run an extension reel into the vans . Shut them inside with a ctek charger that will charge then trickle
Same, but I cover the extension lead with a plastic bag in case it rains. If I go away for a week I'll not worry about the battery until I get home, it's not going to drain.
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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?
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Pete,this has been discussed many times on here before so I’m not going to go through it all again. Use the search or wait for a long fully informative reply from Spruce.
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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.
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I run an extension reel into the vans . Shut them inside with a ctek charger that will charge then trickle
pics
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just charge up fully and leave, silly things like leaving on can cause a fire surely. especially for a week, seems too long to left switched on
going away for a week all sockets off, except broad band
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all you need is the spring controller with split charge relay function, still cannot believe there are guys who lug the battery out of the van every night to bench charge it, fit a split charge relay controller once and forget about it. It has 1 extra which is connected to the van battery so even the inept could manage it
https://windowcleaningstuff.co.uk/shop-all/spring-controller-v16-digital (https://windowcleaningstuff.co.uk/shop-all/spring-controller-v16-digital)
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If you have a diesel heater you need to charge the batteries up overnight every night as well as a split charge relay fitted if you want your batteries to last...mine are 3 and a half years old.....I run extension cable to the van
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Ive never needed to mains charge the batteries either until I got the newer vans with "smart" alternator
As above I'm not paying 230 quid when a 20 quid charger will do the same thing - we don't remove the battery just use an extension reel into the back of the van
Darran
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I made a pump box. It houses battery, pump, controller and a ctek charger permanently wired to battery with 3 pin plug. I simply run an extension cable to it each night and plug it in.
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Got a split charger and a 100w solar panel that power my leisure battery. No need to worry about it and the last battery lasted me 5 years like this
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just charge up fully and leave, silly things like leaving on can cause a fire surely. especially for a week, seems too long to left switched on
going away for a week all sockets off, except broad band
It’s not a fire hazard if it’s a smart charger , they are designed to be left on for long periods , no more a fire hazard than your fridge or broadband router .
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Ive never needed to mains charge the batteries either until I got the newer vans with "smart" alternator
As above I'm not paying 230 quid when a 20 quid charger will do the same thing - we don't remove the battery just use an extension reel into the back of the van
Darran
A battery should last longer if charged with a quality smart charger , such as a ctek, rather than with a cheap bog standard charger.
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Extension reel into van. Ring smart charger lives in the van, connected to battery.
Charged most evenings, can leave it on charge indefinitely if needs be due to smart charger capabilities.
If I was going away I’d fully charge the battery then leave it unplugged. Why wouldn’t you? It’s absolutely fine to leave a leisure battery fully charged for a period of time.
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In the winter yes but at the moment I wouldn’t worry
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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.
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If you run a water diesel heater you need to charge them every other day at least.
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If you run a water diesel heater you need to charge them every other day at least.
All depends what amp hour batteries you have and how long it’s running each day , that will determine how often they need charging , but it’s good practice to charge them every day with a smart charger .
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I've got a 115 ah lead acid leisure battery I charge it every time after working.
I used to use a 4Amp charger and it used to take all night and sometime not fully charged for the next day.
It failed so I got a 12 Amp charger I couldn't believe the difference now it's charged in about half an hour.
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I've got a 115 ah lead acid leisure battery I charge it every time after working.
I used to use a 4Amp charger and it used to take all night and sometime not fully charged for the next day.
It failed so I got a 12 Amp charger I couldn't believe the difference now it's charged in about half an hour.
Even smart/intelligent battery chargers for bench charging are designed to 'cover all bases.' My Numax smart charger will only charge at 13.9v. This is the same charge voltage as my Peugeot Boxer's alternator. My previous Citroen Relay charged the starter battery at 14.6v. The starter battery for that van was in under the bonnet, where my Boxer van has the battery in the driver's cabin. There is less chance of the battery gassing at a lower charge voltage.
As I have a maintenance free leisure battery, I can set my Battery to Battery charger to boost that charge voltage to 14.2v or even 14.6 for a flooded leisure battery. So my B2B Sterling charger will charge my leisure battery quicker than my smart charger would.
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Smart / intelligent chargers are sometimes just a bit too smart.
I left the radio on when I went away for a few days.
Tried to charge it with a smart charger - nothing happened it wouldn't light up at all.
Checked the bumpf and it said "If battery is 40% charged or less this charger is not able to re-charge."
Fortunately I have an old "simple" battery charger so I put that on for a couple of hours then switched to the smart charger and it worked.
It's been running for a couple of years since with no problem.