Do you own a caravan? If yes, then you must know that a caravan battery works as the brain of a caravan. It lights everything around the camper and powers the appliances you use while camping. It is also called a leisure battery. A caravan battery is not the same as a car battery. Therefore, the maintenance of the caravan battery and the regular battery is not the same. A caravan battery is a stable source for charging the appliances when the caravan has been hitched.
Various types of caravan batteries are available, but every leisure battery demands the same level of maintenance if you want to ensure its longevity. Leisure battery makes your caravan more comfortable than just a vehicle. Therefore, its timely care and maintenance are important. So, here will give you some top tips that you can follow every day to increase the lifespan of your caravan battery.
Credit:images.unsplash.com
Use of a Voltmeter
The use of a voltmeter ensures that the caravan battery is charging/discharging the power effectively. Also, another important job of a voltmeter is checking the voltage of the appliances installed in the caravan to make sure that there is no leakage.
One more important thing to follow is to let your battery rest for some hours after it is fully charged. Also, avoid taking the voltage readings of freshly charged leisure batteries. You should at least wait for 6 hours since the freshly charged battery does not display accurate readings.
Avoid Overcharging Your Caravan Battery
The other thing that you should not ignore if you want your caravan battery to work longer is the unusual smell. This smell can be due to the sulphur gas when the caravan battery gets overly charged. You can also check it by touching the battery if it feels burning hot, then disconnect the power supply immediately before it gets wrecked.
This stale smell may indicate gas leakage, which can be dangerous if it leads to ignition. Therefore, the one way is to check your caravan battery temperature when connected to the power supply for charging.
If it is a sealed battery, overcharging can lead to the draining of the liquid topping permanently. On the other hand, if it is a non-sealed battery, the topping can be redone, but it hampers the performance for the long term.
Credit:images.unsplash.com
The Right Connection
The right connection of the batteries and voltage plays an important role in the current /voltage production. So, the voltage production increases when you connect the positive terminals with the negative terminals in series. However, when you connect the positive to positive and negative to negative terminals, then it increases the current value.
Therefore, if you are interested in retaining the capacity of the caravan battery, you prefer to connect the batteries with identical capacities in series and identical voltage meters in parallel.
Avoid Battery Drainage
Regular check on the battery drainage is important to ensure its longevity. The caravan batteries provide specific cycles of discharge depending upon their type.
Therefore, make sure you recharge your caravan battery when it goes to 75% of charging. And most importantly, never let it drain below 50%. Otherwise, it may start causing problems with passing the time.
Credit:images.unsplash.com
Regular Cleaning and Inspection
Like any other appliance, the caravan batteries also need cleaning and inspection after a fixed interval. While cleaning the battery, you can inspect the cells, then clean the tray, terminals, and connectors. Moreover, the most recommended cleaning agent is petroleum jelly.
Another mandatory thing is checking the battery if it needs a distilled battery. Moreover, the right time to clean the batteries is after every two months. If you found any technical issue with your caravan battery, then contact the professionals without any delay to fix the issue.
Caravan Storage
If you are not a full-time traveller, storing your caravan the right way is important for battery life. You should disconnect the battery when it gets fully charged. Don’t let it drain completely.
Moreover, if you are not about to use the caravan in the coming months, don’t forget to charge the caravan every two months. Secondly, when using the caravan battery, use a trickle charge to stabilise the power level.
Liquid Topping
Caravan batteries that need liquid topping, then make sure you avoid use of normal/tap water. It does not matter the battery type; the topping routine enhances the sensitivity to the variable voltage. The absence of the topping liquid can degrade the quality of the caravan battery.
When the caravan battery reaches 0%, and you don’t charge your battery for more than seven days, it can become sulfated. So, timely liquid topping is mandatory to ensure its long lifespan. However, the sealed caravan batteries do not require topping.
Turn Off the Appliances When Not in Use
The habit of leaving the appliances on even when you are not using them can threaten your caravan battery life. This causes the constant discharge of power when you leave the appliance on while recharging the battery.
The continuous discharging of the battery can impact the caravan bakeries’ lifespan negatively. Therefore, to save your battery from constantly depleting the power, make a habit of turning off all the appliances when you are not using them.
Summing Up
The caravan battery is an important part of your camping trip. And its lifespan depends on how well you treat and maintain your caravan battery. So we have given you good tips to follow to ensure the pronged usage of the batteries.
