Trailertrek Towbars – Leisure Battery Problems & Advice

During the COVID Crisis it has been difficult for us all to adjust to the new normal. Problems have occurred in both caravans and motorhomes due to overcharging and electrical issues due to inactivity.

Clearly as a result of COVID 19 we have been unable to get away in out motorhomes and carvans. This has ment problems with batteries which were unable to charge to being flat. While it may appear to re-charge ok please bear in mind that capacity and longevity of the battery may have been compromised and it is more likely to let you down in the future.

Totally dead batteries are rarely able to maintain full capacity on charge and if it is cold or hot they may discharge more quickly leading to issues with your electrical system on your caravan.

There is one thing that all caravan and motorhome owners need to take care with and this is the use of battery charging via solar panel or mains charger. The risk of over heating and serious damage and even explosion could occur is you do not carefully monitor the charging of your battery.

If you are using a solar panel charger it is highly important for you to use a good quality one to avoid over charging.

Leisure batteries connected to mains chargers are also vulnerable if the charger isn’t sophisticated enough to reduce the level to a trickle level once the battery is fully charged. Most modern charger do this but please check you have this feature and enable it to preserve your caravan battery.

If there is no drain on the battery then to be honest it is likely that the battery doesn’t need continuous charging or even a trickle charge.

Perhaps consider charging it periodically or using a timer switch.

If you connect the battery to the house mains this can cause issues with overloading of the power connectors or cable as the house electrics won’t trip out if there is an overload.

Please remember the caravan and motorhome hook ups are designed to cope with these loads so it is prudent to check batteries and connectors to ensure they are safe. If you are using your outfit regularly it may be worth getting an electrician to check out your electrics and put in an approved charging device.

Be safe check your leisure battery.