Handbrake On or Off during Winter lay-up?

Hi My Symphony is a manual.Never leave the handbrake on. To be honest on a flat surface it takes 2 of us to move it.

Micky

Liam wrote:No, that's it now for this winter - Its too big to go for the odd shopping trip!! So am in the course of putting it to "bed" until early Spring -  hence the handbrake question. Hopefully with its "intelligent charging system management, EHU and solar, a bit of background heat and the occasional checkup all should be fine. Its had its final clean and polish and now just awaiting delivery of a cover to hopefully keep most of the winter ravages at bay. 
So handbrake will be in the off - with a reminder note to self on the cab screen!
Cheers,
liam

If you leave it on EHU don't forget to switch the charger off or you will have a dry and failed battery in the spring. I have a Malvern and use it at least twice a week, its no problem to park at the far end of a supermarket car park.

Peter

As I understand the workings of the Motorhome electrics.

Latest intelligent chargers such as my Cetec are for continuous use.

Zig x-3 types built into the van should not be left on for more than 6 hours.

Micky

Liam wrote:Peter 
Re your comment/recommendation regarding leaving the charger on permanently - my Malvern (2014 model) is fitted with the EC500 and the A/S manual clearly states that "the charger may be left on continuously"! It also refers to the "smart charge" feature which is alleged to monitor both batteries and auto adjusts and directs the charger power (including solar ) to maintain the batteries at an optimal level!! 
Now not been too inclined to the "sparky" world and as a mere mech I would read that statement and not consider that the system might boil itself dry. However are you saying that the charger should be switched off - for occasional periods or all of the time. I am assuming that the solar will continue to inject some power as the vehicle management system and alarm will still be consuming battery power?
As an aside, if you lived down our road (very narrow and some very inconsiderate parking) you would not be taking it out for a spin every week!
Cheers 
liam

I have no practical experience of the PX-300 charger used with the EC500 but the Instruction manual says that when the battery is fully charged the voltage is decreased to 13.6v to deliver a float charge to maintain the battery in the fully charged state.  It also says the charger can be left switched on continuously as required.

I do though have over 40 years experience in designing and maintaining DC power supplies in the Telecommunication Industry that operate on the float charge state.  The lead acid cells do require regular attention to top up the electrolyte with water.

In a true float charge scenario the battery is being continuously charged/discharged by varying loads and although the float charge voltage is maintained the battery is never truly charged to 100% capacity.  If you maintain the float charge voltage with no (or very little) load then the battery will become fully charged.  As the battery approaches a full charge, gas bubbles form and the electrolyte is depleted.  To minimise this, the so-called hysteresis charge disconnects the float current when the battery is full. As the terminal voltage drops due to self-discharge, an occasional topping charge replenishes the lost energy. In essence, the battery is only “borrowed” from time to time for brief moments. This mode works well for installations that do not draw a load when on standby but Sargent do not say that their charger does this.

In summary I would be happy leaving the charger on continuously [except - see note below re EC325] if I was living in the van but when not I would only charge the batteries for about six hours a week.

If you have a solar panel installed then that effectively simulates a hysteresis charge as you cycle through day and night so continuous charge when in store by a solar panel will not deplete the electrolyte and the battery will not suffer the subsequent damage.

I may be wrong in my assumption that the Sargent charger is not quite that clever and you may not incur damage to the batteries by leaving them permanently on charge with no load but personally I would not take the risk.

Note: Sargent introduced the EC325 for a short time. On this unit only, when the PSU is switched on the batteries are disconnected from the load and only connected to the charger. Therefore when you are living in the van with the PSU switched on, the batteries are doing no work and will gas so if you are hooked up on site for a period on time you should switch off the PSU for a few hours every 3 or 4 days to discharge the batteries a bit.

Peter