Trickle Charging Batteries over winter

Hi, sorry if silly questions but new to camper vans, and this is our first winter where van will be standing not used for couple of months.  

If I plug van into mains will this also trickle charge the engine battery as well as leisure battery?
Or should I trickle charge the engine battery direct?

How long and often should I plug van into electric over the winter?

Regards
Pete

Hi Pete. on a van your age, unless it has been fitted with an after market  "battery master", it will not charge the vehicle battery.

Lots of differing views by members on leaving the vehicle plugged into the mains over the winter.  I personally leave mine plugged in the full winter with a low voltage oil filled radiator on a low setting and a dehumidifer also in constant use.  I switch on the battery charger for two or three days to top up the battery then switch off the charger for a couple of weeks.  I am fortunate to have room at home and an outside proper motohome electric point and generally look in on the van every three or four days.  I also have to be allert for mice as I live in the country.

Others, particularly if van is in storage, use a timer to cycle the charger on/off.  Others use a separate smart charger that uses a float charge when the battery is fully charged.

Hi Dave, ours is on drive so have easy access, so will have a look at your recommendations. Thank you

To add to what Mr. Slaphead said, the mains charger (if original) on a Trooper of that age will not be very sophisticated, so it's not advisable to use it for long-term trickle charging.

I personally would go with his last suggestion - a good smart charger that you alternate between engine and leisure battery.