Halfords Leisure Battery & solar panel topping up

charging time depend on how flat the battery is at start. a trickle charger is what it says and will not give the battery a boost at first and monitor the progress. as soon as you took charger of voltage will be high and settle after a few hours down to normal volts of approx 12.7. if it keeps dropping with nothing connected then i would get a new one. should keep hold of charge for a month at least

Thanks for your input, sorry I only just noticed it, I didn't get a notification for some reason

Yes my mistake was not putting a meter on it before charging so I don't know how low it was

Just checked it again and its at 12.89

So far so good

Any ideas on the solar panel ?

H.A. my caravan is in storage 1/2 hr from home so I fitted one on the roof 100w. no matter where the sun is it will get some sunlight to give a charge where as one in the front window you have to make sure caravan is facing south most of the time to get enough sun. once on the roof its done and dusted. worth the money I remember I paid £249 for everything. https://www.photonicuniverse.com/en/catalog/full/171-100W-12V-Dual-Battery-Solar-Panel-Kit-Back-Contact-Solar-Cells-for-Motorhome-Caravan-Campers-and-RVs.html

A 2.4 watt panel won’t do much at all. If you want to keep the battery topped up during winter you will need quite a bit more, maybe 20 Watts but much depends on whether you have an alarm/tracker etc.and how much sunlight you can capture. Some people seem to manage with about 10 - 15 Watts.

Thanks again

Again no notification, I have followed the post, am I supposed to do something else?

Perhaps in time I may go for a bigger and better solar panel, but don't have the funds at present and due to various things haven't been out with this caravan as yet, if it carries on the same way I may have to sell it anyway which would be sad 

I did expect as much but its all I can afford at present

Its in storage with no alarm or tracker connected while in storage

I am going to try this small panel and see what happens

As we are in Cornwall we get more sunlight than most

good luck and hope you get everything sorted soon so you can join the clan.

If you have no alarm or Tracker (or mover?) then you would be better off taking the battery out and keeping it at home. An occasional top up charge, say, every 4 to 6 weeks will keep it in perfect condition.

Thanks for that and a very valid point

My only reservation is the weight of the darn battery :-(

But certainly worthy of consideration, thank you