Leisure battery charging question

Most lead acid battery systems in vans seem to float at 13.7 volts or thereabouts which is a convenient way of determining whether the charger is working or not. Although 13.7 volts is good enough to maintain a charge and will not damage 12 volt van systems, to recharge a discharged sealed battery you need 14.3/14.4 volts.

So called ‘intelligent chargers” which are fitted to most modern motorhomes and some caravans, take the battery offline to fully charge whilst still providing “12 volts” to the van systems. If you don’t have an intelligent charger and your battery is partially discharged you need to disconnect it and bench charge it.

Generally speaking it is better not to leave the van permanently connected to EHU as the leisure battery is not best suited to being permanently on charge unless you have a genuine trickle charger like a CTek.