Battery charger?

[Beeezer]

In my van I have two 110ah lead acid leisure batteries.
They are charged by a Durite split charge when the van engine is running.
I want to put a 240v battery charger in the van permanently so when the van engine is not running I can plug the charger in to charge the batteries.
I’ve been looking at the Victron chargers, but unsure of what size I need as in amps.
Any suggestions please.
Thanks.

 

[knighty]

any one of them will work, just depends how fast you want to charge them

220ah installed, so a 10amp charger will take 22hours, and 20amp charger 11hours, a 30 amp charger 7 1/2 hours


20amps at 12v is only 1amp at 240v so hardly any draw on the mains (if you're running other stuff from the same plug etc.)


I'd aim for 20 or 30amps... it's enough that it'll bubble them a bit and keep them healthy.... but at the same time, they'll charge faster than that from the engine so it's not too much to worry about

 

[OJCar]

A rule of thumb safe charge rate for lead acid batteries in less than 1/10th of the capacity.
So, for each of your 110AH batteries you want to be charging them at less than 11.0 amps.

NB The higher the charge current, the more the battery will gas, more chance of acid splash.
Also the higher the current the greater the heat
Lead Acid batteries should always be well ventilated.

 

[Beeezer]

A rule of thumb safe charge rate for lead acid batteries in less than 1/10th of the capacity.
So, for each of your 110AH batteries you want to be charging them at less than 11.0 amps.

NB The higher the charge current, the more the battery will gas, more chance of acid splash.
Also the higher the current the greater the heat
Lead Acid batteries should always be well ventilated.

So a 20amp charger or below roughly??

 

[sg66]

Yes and most modern ones will monitor and adjust to suit, I've a big victron for a large lithium it's been great, you can lower the charge rate with the app.

 

[OJCar]

So a 20amp charger or below roughly??

Yes.
Make sure the automatic control is suitable for Lead Acid batteries.
Should be in the spec of the charger somewhere which battery technologies the charger can support.

 

[sg66]

Yes.
Make sure the automatic control is suitable for Lead Acid batteries.
Should be in the spec of the charger somewhere which battery technologies the charger can support.

Again depending on the charger it's selectable in the victron app

 

[Jack_K]

Look at the data sheet for the batteries. The size of charger required is also determined by if they are just sitting unloaded or if you are running stuff when the engine is off.

Victron is a good choice.

 

[frank horton]

I bought a battery charger with a dead batt start facility.....
need to look but it does give battery details, gel, lead acid etc....
two birds with one stone comes to mind....

 

[not done it yet]

Most “leisure” batteries, these days, are little more than rebadged automotive batteries. Therefore likely the maximum depth of discharge should not be allowed in excess of 50% and likely much less for longevity.

Questions arise as to whether this charger is to maintain full charge (may only need a 5A charger, but dependent on the power-draw from the system) or to recharge after considerable energy usage.

Assuming the batteries will be looked after and not abused, a CTEK Mx5 would likely be my choice. I’m most certainly a Victron supporter (I have several of their products), but I also regularly use my CTEK.

The obvious question is of what you might purchase for replacements. Lithium ion (or maybe even Sodium ion in the near future) would be my choice, over lead-acid, for sure.

 

[knighty]

everyone talking about charge rate..... charger will hardly ever hit that charge rate anyway?

 

[ajlelectronics]

everyone talking about charge rate..... charger will hardly ever hit that charge rate anyway?

Maximum charge rate of 10% of battery capacity is key, it will foldback from that as required, determined by state of charge. Some batteries will accept more but "tenth rate" is the universal safe figure for unattended charging.

 

[GRW]

I've got a Deep Sea Electronics (DSE) 5A intelligent charger for my 2 x 100ah lead-acids.
These are the same chargers used on a great many backup generator battery packs.
It's a trickle or top-up charge needed, not really a charge cycling unit.... it keeps mine well topped up & nothing larger needed tbh.

 

[GRW]

One of these "panel type" dse9702 is what I have in my camper......

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[winchman]

When I fitted one to winch girls camper I went for one you could just plug in and no buttons to press, works great
This one but saying no longer made?

https://uk.farnell.com/yuasa/ypc8a12/charger-yu-power-8a-12v/dp/2082848

 

[8ob]

I’ve been looking at the Victron chargers, but unsure of what size I need as in amps.
Any suggestions please.
Thanks.

Most horse boxes have these permanently wired into the hookups, never understood how they can do this with fridges and lights running off the leisure batteries at the same time

Bob

 

[GRW]

Most horse boxes have these permanently wired into the hookups, never understood how they can do this with fridges and lights running off the leisure batteries at the same time

Bob

The charger is just another DC battery in parallel with similar voltage as far as the battery & system loads are concerned, so it has no effect other than to introduce extra current into the system (& if the the charge current is greater than the demand on the battery - the "extra" is available to charge the batteries - in the same way the charge alternator does).

I have an old-school 3-way Absorption Fridge in my Camper - so on hook-up I can switch that to 230vac which of course removes the load off the dc side (being Absorption type it's got a 20A dc draw, so it's DC feed is via a Relay off a switched live - so the dc can only be available to the fridge when the ignition is on to ensure the batts cannot he flattened accidentally).

 

[RichardM]

Are the batteries well ventilated while charging?

 

[not done it yet]

Are the batteries well ventilated while charging?

Probably VRLA, so although ventilation should be provided, no hydrogen gas - so no explosion risk. Important only when over-charged and the batteries are losing capacity. Losing hydrogen means losing oxygen at the same time - they are both derived from the electrolyte with no opportunity to top it up for a VRLA