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...or does it need to be driven ?
As its winter and i'm not using the camper van so much does leaving it to run for 20mins a week actually charge the battery ?
Thoughts please
It does but a 20 min run will not do much.
Get a battery conditioner [url= http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/41546/gunson-1 ]Battery Conditioner[/url]
I just disconnect my battery if its standing for more than 4 weeks to stop the alarm draining it.
On a modern engine, yes.
On a 20 year old veedub, probably not.
Delete as applicable.
if all the electrics (lights, heated screem, etc) are off then just idling it will charge the battery. However the question is will letting it idle for 20 minutes put more charge in the battery than was removed by starting it.
20 minutes might not be long enough.
Also its not good to let an engine idle for long periods.
You're better off just getting a decent battery charger and leaving it on charge over winter, just make sure you get an intelligent one that wont overcharge it etc.
No alarm to drain and not possible to get a charger to it.
Don't really want to remove the battery or leave it on charge in the house.
I'd better go for a long drive once a week !
[url= http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/solar-powered-12v-15w-battery-auto-trickle-charger-l58bf ]Solar Battery Charger?[/url]
It would be better for the van all round to take it for a run fairly regularly - running the engine only doesn't give the brakes, steering, gearbox, suspension etc. any exercise so come spring you might find some nasty surprises around a sweetly running engine..
I have a solar charger...but I have put a cover on the van so unfortunately that idea won't work !
not really as alternators respond to load rather than than actually charge - that is turn on your lights and they increase output to meet it.
the amps will be considerable initially from your alternator but after about 10 mins it will reduce to a trickle as the "battery floating voltage" will be at 13. 7 V ish and it will assume its fully charged its not.
the cranking amps of starting and drain will be considerable as well so i doubt you will do much beyond replace what you use.
You need an intelligent charger that fits to the alternator to take accurate battery measures and false load the battery to produce charge
A solar charger is not a bad practical solution
I lived on 12 volts for about 8 years on a boat.
I am not sure what Cougar is referring to with a modern car tbh so it may have been updated by electronics recently but I cannot really see why a car, under normal use, would require such a a feature.
Depends how big your alternator is, my camper has a beasty 160amp job, I tend to leave it running for 40mins or so, this will get the leisure battery up to 13v, I don't think 20mins on a standard alternator at tickover will do much.
Lidl battery chargers are excellent for £15, might be easier to connect one of these up for a weekend every now and then, look for one with a battery conditioning mode.
I wouldn't leave it idling for 20 minutes every week regardless of whether it charges the battery. The oil/engine will never heat up at idle in winter, you'll just cause excessive wear.
Disconnect the battery, and possibly charge it with one of those portable things, or take it for a drive instead.
Depends how big your alternator is,
It doe snot really that just gets it to trickle charge faster as it puts more in for a shorter period
See my explanation above
As for 13 v fully charged is 12.7 so 13 is the float charge under alternator and not the real voltage or the Amp/hr left which is what really matters.
Seem to work for my old Bora when I had it the battery was dodgy so often needed a jump to start it. Then letting it run for a short while would charge it enough to last a day or two to allow it to start the car again. Everything had to be off though or it wouldn't give it a great deal of charge.
Yes, but you'd have to run it for ages. However idling an engine from cold for ages is quite bad for it (aparently) because it spends a lot of time cold and the oil pressure's low when idling.
Depends how big your alternator is,It doe snot really that just gets it to trickle charge faster as it puts more in for a shorter period
See my explanation above
As for 13 v fully charged is 12.7 so 13 is the float charge under alternator and not the real voltage or the Amp/hr left which is what really matters
I'm sure it's down to a lot of factors, my camper is all run on 12v with a solar panel charging the leisure battery through a MPPT controller. All I know is that the engine battery gets through a winter without use much better if I give it an hour on the alternator every month. I assume the OP isn't charging from flat, just topping up the electricity that falls out in the cold.
OP you are much better off buying a battery charger/conditioner as everyone is saying. Yes the car will charge at idle and as @molgrips says it's not good to run the car at idle especially in from cold start in cold weather.
Drac if it lasted for a day or two it was not fully charged was it?
Trust me I lived on 12 volts I measured this shit with a geeky level of accuracy I had spread sheets and everything !!An alternator reduces to a trickle of circa 2-3 amps after 10- 20 minutes. This is further exacerbated by ruuning the engine at tick over It is a device that responds to load it is not a charging device for batteries.
Run your car at tick over then switch on the lights and then the fan you can hear the engine note change as the alternator kicks in. this is what it does in the main You can charge but you would need to run it for hours and hours and hours to do this effectively
I have one of those chargers but I can't get it to the van as its to far away from power and my neighbour wouldn't really appreciate a cable going over his garden.
A Long drive it is
make a see through window in the cover with some heavy gauge plastic and some epoxy glue. Put the solar charger behind the window.
A lot of covers now have see through pockets in them for just such a thing
Just disconnect the +ve terminal.
why not try a new battery?
batteries drop voltage in cold weather to say about 12.5 when it is about zero and have less power in them and cranking amps
The problem of losing charge is a knackered battery not an poor alternator
My camper starts with almost no charge in the battery. I've left it 4 months before and still got it going! 2.0 type 4 injection in a '79 westy.
There isn't anything wrong with my battery I just don't want it to drain over the winter months but I guess driving it is the answer.
A brand new battery will still drain slowly, more so in cold months.
The rest of the vehicle will benefit from regular driving though.
Park it on a hill,job done............
I am not sure what Cougar is referring to with a modern car tbh
I'm probably just talking arse TBH.
Fairly sure I've charged a battery sufficiently from flat to restart just by running it for ten minutes. Could be misremembering, thinking about it.
I was also thinking about the current crop of stop/start technology motors. Though they're probably $different somehow.
Assuming junkyard is talking about living on 12v he's talking about great big leisure battery's which are quite a bit different to your average car battery as a forklift service engineer we advise customers with gas or diesel trucks(mainly vw engines) that if they are not using them for any longer than a week to disconnect pos and neg leads as this slows discharge(still happens just not as quick because not in a complete circuit)when put back onto truck truck should be run for a min of 2hrs to fully condition battery
I take the battery out of a motorcyle over the winter and keep it in the kitchen cupboard so it is not subjected to freezing temperatures (well, not very much). It does not have a large capacity but I give it a quick charge in spring then it's fine for use.
No doubt the experts will tell me I'm doing it all wrong but the battery seems to survive OK and has done for 14 years.
Worth trying?
Drac if it lasted for a day or two it was not fully charged was it?
That wasn't the question.
the question was will it charge a battery - I assume to charge it has to be fully charged?
Assuming junkyard is talking about living on 12v he's talking about great big leisure battery's which are quite a bit different to your average car battery
I had proper traction batteries not leisure.
I also had a starter battery for the boat as well and I used a small solar panel to keep that topped up as I was in trouble if it did not start - you cannot bump start a boat
Either way we are talking about what an alternator does and not what size battery banks I had.
An alternator is still a terrible way to charge a battery as it is designed to respond to loads rather than to charge.
one of these so you can bump it from this and charge in your house? also useful when away in the van??
the question was will it charge a battery - I assume to charge it has to be fully charged?
At 20 minutes I guessed he meant put a little bit of charge in it.
Bikers face this all the time during the less frequent winter biking season. Have a look at this :
Loads of options to fit a short connection to the battery and then place the cable in a discrete and accessible spot. Plug in the Optimate and walk away. Its a battery charger / conditioner so it looks after itself. Good investment, lasts for years.
okay...at the moment the battery is fine but I don't intend to use the van over the next 4 months so all I want to do is stop it going flat etc. As mentioned though driving it is probably best as all the other parts will get used.
As said before I cant get a trickle charger to it as its to far from the house to get power to it.
thanks for all responses
