Ehu/charge

Phil Harris

Phil Harris

Senior Member
T6 Guru
A question for the knowledgeable: I use the van for pleasure therefore due to work, may sit for a week or 3 is it appropriate to leave plugged into the EHU to keep battery topped up?

Thanks in advance for advice
Phil
 
It depends on what battery charger/maintainer you have fitted on the 240vac side.

Some chargers from say Noco or CTek are designed to be left constantly connected and are able to keep the battery it top condition.....

But other cheaper chargers can just boil the battery....if they are not multiple stage chargers.....
 
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Dellmassive said:
It depends on what battery charger/maintainer you have fitted on the 240vac side.

Some chargers from say Noco or CTek are designed to be left constantly connected and are able to keep the battery it top condition.....

But other cheaper chargers can just boil the battery....if they sent multiple stage chargers.....
Click to expand...
Thanks, Dellmassive.. is there an idiots guide to find out?!? Phil
 
As above. Only thing NOT to do is to connect the charger (negative) directly to starter battery negative terminal. That's because T6 has a battery monitoring unit at battery negative terminal. So not to confuse it, charger negative must be connected to van chassis. This way any current to/from battery will be accounted for correctly.
 
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mmi said:
As above. Only thing NOT to do is to connect the charger (negative) directly to starter battery negative terminal. That's because T6 has a battery monitoring unit at battery negative terminal. So not to confuse it, charger negative must be connected to van chassis. This way any current to/from battery will be accounted for correctly.
Click to expand...
Well gents I’m confused! (Didn’t take much)... so none the wiser, but obviously need to do some homework! Thanks for your offer of support... phil
 
Do you have a leisure battery? Most EHU setups only charge the leisure battery and its quite likely that plugging in will not charge the starter battery at all. The Hillside Birchover doesnt, so I have a homebrew B2B which I connect every couple of weeks to maintain the starter battery.

Phil Harris said:
... is there an idiots guide to find out?!?
Click to expand...
Have a meter ready, plug in the EHU and measure the battery. Then leave it connected for a few hours and measure again. If you see around 14.5 initially then about 13.8 later, then its a staged charger and you can safely leave it connected.

Cheers
Phil

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Phil_G said:
Do you have a leisure battery? Most EHU setups only charge the leisure battery and its quite likely that plugging in will not charge the starter battery at all. The Hillside Birchover doesnt, so I have a homebrew B2B which I connect every couple of weeks to maintain the starter battery.

Have a meter ready, plug in the EHU and measure the battery. Then leave it connected for a few hours and measure again. If you see around 14.5 initially then about 13.8 later, then its a staged charger and you can safely leave it connected.

Cheers
Phil
Click to expand...
I do Phil, will try at the weekend, thanks for the advice
 
mmi said:
:) Check out product sheet at CT5 START/STOP
Click to expand...
Why CTek call that a "Stop-Start" charger is beyond me, they state that it charges fully to 14.55v rather than to the typical 80% quiescent state of a stop-start battery... ;)
...and they show direct connections to battery pos & neg, bypassing the current monitor...
shrug.gif
 
Phil_G said:
Why CTek call that a "Stop-Start" charger is beyond me, they state that it charges fully to 14.55v rather than to the typical 80% quiescent state of a stop-start battery... ;)
...and they show direct connections to battery pos & neg, bypassing the current monitor...
shrug.gif
Click to expand...
I agree, marketing terminology is too often too confusing. Probably idea being that for a buyer it is easy to recognize “start/stop” and thus make “informed” buying decision :confused:. I would say that the company is just targeting to sell these battery chargers to owners of newer cars. I think they call this at marketing departments “market segmentation” :D.

True that by vehicle’s own charging arrangements the battery is not fully charged. But still my understanding is that it won’t hurt the battery to keep it fully charged when not used for a while. Should actually be beneficial for lifespan of the battery.

Also true that the documentation has contradicting information. That’s why just tried to point out just the product sheet (which has this correct) hoping everyone would just ignore :whistle: the user manual which definitely suggests to connect directly to battery negative – however interestingly all the pictures suggest that it’s the battery alone o_O. Anyways, definitely not clear at all – for anyone reading documents and manuals ;).
 
Agreed, theres no harm in fully charging a bluemotion battery. Contrary to popular belief, the brakes still work
grin.gif
grin.gif
:rofl:
 
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We have Ctek and Noco Chargers.

And find them both to be quality and reliable......

So I suppose the answer to the original question is.....

Does his van already have a charger, maintainer? Already?

If so which one and is it suitable?... I've read the on-board charger/fuse box/EHU is not suitable as a battery charger.

In that case then a Ctek maintainer charger would be beneficial.

They even do quick connect kit that can be permiantly wired in and just plugged in/out when needed.


So a bit more detail on his setup is needed.

.
 
I’ve done a search and think I’m sorted but Rather than start a new thread I have a battery charging question which hopefully is sufficiently linked to this one.

Our campervan (T6 T32 converted by CMC) won’t be used much (if at all) over next few months due to wife having had an op so I want to keep van battery charged up. Can anyone tell me if there is anything wrong with my proposal below:

Buy a CTEK CT5 start/stop charger and a CTEK CTX cigarette lighter plug/cable
Run the charger off the 13amp socket (EHU plugged in) and trickle charge the van via the permanently live dashboard 12v lighter socket.

That way it’s all contained within the van.

The only downside as far as I can see is the purchase price of the kit but given the cost of the van battery it’s probably worth it and I’ll have the charger if any of the kids cars need a boost.

Ta.
 
Markymark said:
I’ve done a search and think I’m sorted but Rather than start a new thread I have a battery charging question which hopefully is sufficiently linked to this one.

Our campervan (T6 T32 converted by CMC) won’t be used much (if at all) over next few months due to wife having had an op so I want to keep van battery charged up. Can anyone tell me if there is anything wrong with my proposal below:

Buy a CTEK CT5 start/stop charger and a CTEK CTX cigarette lighter plug/cable
Run the charger off the 13amp socket (EHU plugged in) and trickle charge the van via the permanently live dashboard 12v lighter socket.

That way it’s all contained within the van.

The only downside as far as I can see is the purchase price of the kit but given the cost of the van battery it’s probably worth it and I’ll have the charger if any of the kids cars need a boost.

Ta.
Click to expand...

I dont see an issue with that, it will only charge the starter battery (and not any AUX batteries)

and charging via the 12v socket will enable the van to monitor the charge current of the battery via the shunt, so the ECU will correctly report the SOC of the starter battery.

i think @Loz does something similar with a 12v Solar panel on his dash in summer . . . . (via the 12v socket i mean)

*****************************************************

quote from California 2016 ➤ , Caravelle 2016 ➤ , Multivan 2016 ➤ , Transporter 20 ...
Electrical system - Edition 09.2018

Charging battery/Battery recharging or jump start on vehicles with start/stop sys‐
tem:
When recharging or jump starting vehicles with start/stop system,
note the following: first connect charging cable to battery positive
terminal then body earth. This ensures that the battery monitor
control unit - J367- is not bridged. Charging the battery directly on
the negative terminal causes the battery monitoring control unit
to be bridged. The battery data is not collected by the battery
monitoring control unit during the charging process. Then, the
values concerning the battery state and saved in the data bus
diagnostic interface would not correspond to the values of the
charged battery

************************************************************

Basically dont bridge out the battery monitor . . . . . so "slow"charging via the 12v socket should be fine . . . . . but well under 10amps . . . . . so a 5amp smart charger would be good.

.
 
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Markymark said:
I’ve done a search and think I’m sorted but Rather than start a new thread I have a battery charging question which hopefully is sufficiently linked to this one.

Our campervan (T6 T32 converted by CMC) won’t be used much (if at all) over next few months due to wife having had an op so I want to keep van battery charged up. Can anyone tell me if there is anything wrong with my proposal below:

Buy a CTEK CT5 start/stop charger and a CTEK CTX cigarette lighter plug/cable
Run the charger off the 13amp socket (EHU plugged in) and trickle charge the van via the permanently live dashboard 12v lighter socket.

That way it’s all contained within the van.

The only downside as far as I can see is the purchase price of the kit but given the cost of the van battery it’s probably worth it and I’ll have the charger if any of the kids cars need a boost.

Ta.
Click to expand...
Out of interest I, today, have purchased one of these with the same intention, any thoughts whilst I still have time to cancel? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0722XB3VQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
Nigel W said:
Out of interest I, today, have purchased one of these with the same intention, any thoughts whilst I still have time to cancel? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0722XB3VQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Click to expand...

@Loz might be the best person to advise you of the effictiveness of a low power (18Watt) solar 12v battery maintainer. . . . . . . Not tried this myself yet.

we have a couple of mobile 100W panels for camping setups, not done the trickle charge thing yet.

though looking again at that Amazon listing . . . . . . its just chucking out voltage all the time the sun is shining . . . . with no battery monitoring or any smart multi stage charging (just a revers flow blocking diode and 18V). . . . . That could possibly damage the AGM starter battery . . . . . . i think with @Loz setup he used a stand alone MPPT charge controller that was suitable to charge various types off batteries like AGM etc.

that solar is listing:
Imp = 1Amp
Vmp = 18v
Voc = 21.6v

and the spec sheet says for sealed lead acid battery's

it doesnt look like it has any type of charge controller PWM or MPPT, just a blocking diode.........so i cant say for sure.

.

.
 
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I’m in a similar position. My setup is as follows:-
T6 conversion with leisure battery.
EHU feeding a fixed auto battery charger; charge/bulk/float. This is connected directly to the Leisure battery.
Solar panel/alternator charging of leisure battery via CTEK 250, this also tops up the starter battery via the solar panel.

The van has been parked up for about 6 weeks, connected to the EHU at home. I started it a couple of weeks ago & it started fine. Went out to it this weekend & the starter battery was completely flat, wouldn’t even operate the central locking.

SO! Can anyone see a problem wiring in a CTEK ct5 under the passenger seat & hard wiring into the 240v EHU, & connecting the output to the permanent live from the alternator/starter battery that feeds the CTEK 250? This would charge the starter battery whenever the EHU is plugged in. The only issue that I could see is a possible conflict with the solar charging of the starter via the CTEK 250, but this is only the same as having the engine running, so unless I’m missing summat......:thumbsdown:
 
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