Been Shoping at Aldis

[AxlFoley]

Saw this in Aldi, and had to have it, should come in handy for charging my leisure battery, not bad for £12.50 it can charge 6v and 12v, trickle and rescue function, i like the fact that its got holes to mount it, nice and compcact too. get em while you can!!

 

[the councillor]

does it *actually* say that it's suitable for charging leisure batteries in the instructions / spec. sheet ?

they are different to 'car' batteries :|

 

[mgconvert]

on the subject of chargers, if i run a trickle charger on the battery do i have to disconect the battery leads?

 

[AxlFoley]

from the tech sheet

it is suitable for charging and maintaining the charge of the following rechargable 6v or 12v lead batteries with electrolite solution or gel;

12v capacity of 1.2 Ah to 1.4 Ah
12v capacity of 14 Ah to 120 Ah

does that cover leisure batteries?

 

[pete nice]

Sounds like it. It can't much worse than charging from the cars alternator.

 

[steve92]

might have to see if ours have them. need one to wire in to my 12v 240v set up thats in still in a box in the house, waiting for warmer weather! aldis pretty good for a bargin. got a chop saw the other week for £19.99. they do sell alot of crap too though!

 

[AxlFoley]

most if not all of the Aldi stuf is TUV, if you see that you know its going to be a good piece of kit!

 

[the councillor]

i couldn't say definitively whether it's suitable or not

it's not exactly one of my specialist subjects (ask me about hedgehogs however...) i just remember when i first fitted one to my bus, i used the magic of the internet to research them (i'd never even heard of one before that :roll: ) and discovered that their construction, although fundamentally the same, differs enough to warrant a different form of charger.

now pete's absolutely right; your generator doesn't sense the battery type and vary the charge accordingly... no quantum physics in my engine bay thank you very much, but then i've always seen my alternator's role as that of a 'topping-up' device, and it's the dedicated leisure battery charger that i use to ensure maximum capacity before a 'trip' that does the lion's share of the charging.

a 'normal' car battery charger will undoubtedly 'charge' it, but it's the type of charge that's important here, and using any old charger might effectively shorten the battery's life, and if as you hint in your original post it was bought with one eye on the price then it might prove in the long run to be somewhat of a false economy

in truth, there are loads of variables at play here; i'm just giving you a heads up :wink:

 

[the councillor]

most if not all of the Aldi stuf is TUV, if you see that you know its going to be a good piece of kit!

i got some crackers from there a while back which were clearly marked 'TUC' on the packaging... some sort of departmental off-shoot i shouldn't wonder...

 

[mjknight71]

http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/Documents/Looking%20after%20your%20leisure%20battery.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"What is the best way to charge a battery?
What's needed is a staged charger that senses the state of charge of the battery and supplies the voltage that best suits that condition. There are several models from which to choose, ranging from a decent two-stage charger at around £80, to complex multi-stage chargers that use state-of-the-art circuitry to ensure optimum performance of the charger and battery, but these can cost hundreds of pounds.
A two-stage charger will sense the battery's state and, if its charge level is above a pre-set level it will supply the 'normal', or 'float', charge of 13.8V. But if it detects that the battery charge level is below the pre-set level, or is fully discharged, it will start charging with a 'kick-start' at over 14V and automatically switch back to 13.8V once it has detected the battery charge has risen out of the danger-zone. This initial boost prevents the build up of sulphate deposits. Overall, it takes four to six hours for the battery to hold a credible charge.
The root of the problem is money. Caravan manufacturers, who strive to keep production costs down, fit a 'charger' that does the job for the least cost. (Dealers then fit the batteries.) But, with a decent 110Ah leisure battery now costing well over £100, spending a few extra quid on a better charger is a good idea. Once your battery fails, most battery retailers will take another £100 off you without exploring or explaining the cause. However, change normally only comes in response to consumer pressure and certain makers are looking at improvements in this area.
For the time being, the only option for most of us is to change the existing constant-voltage charger for a newer, staged charger. Several are on the market, costing from around £80, and they're relatively easy to fit (see p137). If you're not competent with electrics, your dealer will fit it for £30-£50. "
:mrgreen:

 

[the councillor]

(to be honest i had hoped you'd be laughing at the TUC cracker joke...)

 

[mjknight71]

After 1 minutes silence I posted a reply :wink:

 

[the councillor]

 

[AxlFoley]

right! so does any one run one of these staged chargers?

also, if my charger is on a switch and is only used to top up my abttery during the night, i guess it should do the job ok!

plus, a leisure battery is only £58 so i'll take the gamble

 

[the councillor]

right! so does any one run one of these staged chargers?

err, yeah; me.

also, if my charger is on a switch and is only used to top up my abttery during the night, i guess it should do the job ok!

err, no.

plus, a leisure battery is only £58 so i'll take the gable

dunno what it's got to do with your roof ?

:wink:

 

[AxlFoley]

Haha, my roof has every thing to do with it!

I think i'll get the system up and running and go from there.

Ta for the help though.

Mark