Will This Destroy My Battery?

[Reach For The Glass]

Hi guys

After some advice regarding a 110ah leisure battery in the van.

I havent connected my system up yet and am wondering about charging the battery.

I will only work 2 days a month to start with using this system. The van will be driven around for a few days a week doing other stuff about 100 miles a week then sits idle for 4 days at a time.

If i use a split charge relay will it destroy my battery. Lose charge, over charge?

Am i better working a day and taking it out to bench charge then putting it back in when needed?

Thanks guys

 

[Reach For The Glass]

To be clearer

In a month itll be driven for 15 days approx 500 miles.

And will sit idle for 15 days total but only 4 days at a time.

 

[Skxawng]

I'd guess it'd be fine with only two days a month. Probably would benefit still being charged with a decent charger occasionally though. You could keep an eye on the voltage and if it gets below 12.5v or if it's not fully charged (>12.8v) before you come to use it again then start bringing it in.

 

[noddy]

never charged any of my vans battery after fitting s. chargers to them and some off the bats are on there second vans over 4 years old , cant understand why people have to take them off and charge them still when using s.c. ? you get what you pay for with spilt chargers so stop away from the 4 quid ebay jobs

good s. chargers wont hurt the bat at all and you cant over charge when using them as the s.chargers will shut off charging when the second bat is full

 

[Reach For The Glass]

Oh really so im guessing if i use it for a day say 5 hours solid. Then not again for 2 weeks the scr will fully recharge it and not over charge, so no need for bench charging.

 

[Reach For The Glass]

Also will i really need a 110ah battery or would a 22ah or 60ah suffice?

 

[noddy]

110 is the lowest we fitted as its far better to have spear life left in a batt incase you need it on a big job , there only a packet of *** diffents in the price why skimp on you gear when it could cost you big time if it dies on a roof job

 

[spruce]

For a single operator we ran 85 amph batteries and the twin operator van 110 amp.

On the 3 vans we have had in the system, Peugeot Partner, 2 Citroen Relays and a Ford Transit Connect we have had the SCR haven't kept the leisure batteries fully charged.

.

 

[Reach For The Glass]

I think its easier for me to just whip it out and charge it to be honest

 

[Skxawng]

The other reason why charging it occasionally might be good is that a good charger will have a stage at the end that raises the voltage to produce controlled gassing to mix the layers of electrolyte to prevent stratification. Whereas an alternator only provides a constant output. Depending on your driving or how many pot holes you drive over it may not be an issue anyway /emoticons/wink.png

 

[spruce]

If you have a proper leisure battery charger you can leave the battery 'on charge' for extended periods of time as they are designed to work like that.

The alternator on my Citroen Relay pushes the charge voltage to 14.5/14.6 on a fully charged battery. That voltage will aid to keeping the battery plates clear of sulphation. Battery charging and powering cycles are a chemical reaction that gets weaker over time. Hence the reason why a battery needs replacing for time to time.

For optimum battery performance and life they (battery experts) recommend a battery is kept above 50% charge and even better 75% charge.

As @noddy says a 110amp will give you more flexibility. It won't cost much more than an 85amph battery, but it will weight a lot more.

.