Looking after your motorhome battery
If you’re putting your caravan or motorhome into winter storage, take the battery home with you. Why? It helps to keep your leisure battery in good condition ready for spring. You don’t want to try and collect your motorhome for a holiday, only to find that the battery is dead as a dodo.
As easy as it can be to blame the battery for running out, it is in fact the owner’s responsibility to make sure it continues to perform. That’s because a battery isn’t just a factory-fitted component you can ignore. It has to be taken care of and kept charged. A battery that’s left to its own devices will discharge quite quickly.
By giving your motorhome’s battery some much-needed attention, you can keep it in good nick and fully charged. This guide explains how to look after your motorhome’s battery so you can enjoy your adventures without interruptions:
- Start the engine at regular intervals: Storing your motorhome at your property? Running the engine for about 45 minutes twice monthly should keep the battery charged throughout its period of inactivity.
- Trickle charger: Alternatively, you can regularly connect the battery to a trickle charger. You can leave a trickle charger on without fear of overcharging, limiting damage to the battery. This will keep it at its optimal charged level.
If your motorhome is stored elsewhere, it's essential to visit the facility with your charged battery and run the engine regularly.
A voltage meter will tell you if the battery is being charged enough by the engine run. A fully charged battery is around 12.7 volts. Always wait around 4 hours after the battery has been fully charged to take a voltmeter reading. Otherwise, it will show a deceivingly high reading which isn’t a true reflection of the state of the battery.
- Avoid freezing your motorhome battery: When a motorhome is kept in long-term storage, opportunities to start the motor may be limited. The best option in this scenario would be to remove the battery and keep it at home on a trickle charge.
Trickle charging makes it less likely that the battery will freeze during those chilly winter months. Battery freezing could potentially cause damage; however, batteries which are kept charged are unlikely to freeze.
- Don’t overcharge: Another threat to your battery is the damage caused by overcharging. Using a balanced charger will make sure the battery is not overcharged. It does this by cutting down to a trickle once the optimal charge level is reached. Chargers which are ‘on’ all the time will boil the electrolyte - de-ionised water that makes sure the plates in the battery are covered - dry, leaving the battery prone to freezing.
- Vaseline: No, we haven’t gone mad! The final tip is to inspect the battery terminals for corrosion. Applying a smear of petroleum jelly should keep moisture out, helping to avoid corrosive build ups.
Now you know how to care for your motorhome battery
There are few more frustrating things for a motorhome owner than a van that won't start. Jumping into your motorhome at the beginning of the season and finding that it can't move is enough to make your heart sink.
While following these steps doesn't guarantee that your battery won’t let you down, they will certainly help to iron out pesky problems and give you peace of mind.
Correct at the time of publication. Information in this article has been gathered from various sources, therefore Safeguard cannot be held responsible for any view or opinion expressed herein.