I’ve fitted one of those PowerPole connectors to the back of my Challenger 650s electrical box - directly across the battery cables, same place the dealer tapped off for our motor movers. My cable has a 20A fuse and a blank cover to ensure nothing touches the terminals when it’s not in use. Whenever I need to charge the caravan battery I have a connection under the front seat so don’t have to mess around with clips, especially as my battery is in an outside accessible box. I use a homebrew “TrailerPak” battery box from when we went camping 20+ years ago in a tent. A 90A Lithium battery in this and a 350w inverter is more than sufficient to recharge the caravan battery, and was far cheaper than any of these “all in one” power station/solar generators. I also leave the spotlight over the bench seat by the door on when the caravan is at the storage yard we use. It’s pointing straight out so you’d notice it, even if only locking the door from outside. An easy mistake to make, and you had a solution to hand, so no harm done - thanks for sharing this reminder to us all.

Hi Dan, great you got it up and running and sorted the issue out to a certain extent however a few observations Battery only showing fully charged as connected to the Jackery still which the mttp thinks it’s fully charged. Your solar set up in winter will not even deliver 4 amps charge a day so don’t rely on that. Don’t rely on solar to even keep things topped up. The app whilst showing 54 amps charged, does not give an accurate status. You really need to have a battery shunt so you can measure amps in and out. The voltage reading whilst is accurate at the time, the battery needs to be resting in your set up to get anywhere near a reading based on voltage to advise of your battery state of charge. If in drastic situations why not just connect up to the car and make sure the fridge is off and you could have put 15amps in an hour whilst you were trying to sort things out, that could have put 14% charge back in straight away before you even left the caravan. Over the years I have learnt a lot and pretty much got all angles covered to ensure the situation you found yourself in never happens. Nice video at a basic level but there is much more that can be done in your set up to prevent this bit appreciate you rarely need the power as on EHU.

Nice one Dan

Hi Dan Think we all have made similar mistakes by leaving the main panel switched on. Like the idea of the LED light will be interesting to see how you do that 👍 . Another quality vlog 👍👍

I feel so much better now Dan, if an expert like you can do it then I don't feel so bad, although I've done it twice! It wouldn't matter so much if both times I hadn't needed to use the motor mover! Anyway, as usual, very interesting, thanks for the video.

Cool bits of kit Dan and a really interesting video! I have one of those small fold up solar panels. It’s only about 5w but in fairness I nipped up to our van, put a multimeter across the terminals and the battery was showing 13. Something volts so I’m assuming it’s full and in good condition. I’ve only a basic battery charger - something Fred Flintstone might have used so really reluctant to put that on a leisure battery. Thanks for showing us your gear 👍

Very useful vids as usual

I feel your pain Dan - We are all capable of making schoolboy errors and everyday is a schoolday as the saying goes. Best to you and the family - David & Rachel (Essex)

Hi Dan did the same thing last year just changed my van bought a 120ah battery (expensive) anyway put van away some time later went to van and I had left the control panel on battery had 2volts on it tried quite a few times to recharge can't get it to hold charge so new battery again lesson learned stay safe 👍

Hi Dan, whe we bought our new to us Swift Sprite Major it has a Sergant Power System with an on/off switch but I have also forgotten to turn this off so will look forward to your video of a visual light 👍

My alarm and tracker all had battery backups. That’s why your alarm still worked. Take it off and take it home to charge for two days. If super low run on a regen cycle if a wet battery. If you have a Jackery already this is one way for sure.

Funny enough thanks to Black Friday I got a Jackery 500 complete with 100 watt solar panel for £399. I got this to run my Waeco freezer. But although it won’t run the van it will run the on board battery charger to top up battery when off grid if sun not shining much. So like you I would also recommend people get a Jackery really useful bit of kit.

Good advantage of internal battery in the Baileys. Couldn’t do that with external battery locker !

Hi Dan I call on my stirage site every 2 weejs and plug the car into the caravan for 30 mins ..the battery soon shows full charge ...car engine running while i read the paper Happy caravaning

Hi Dan I have that same control panel in my Coachman Acadia and it’s one of the only things I don’t like about the van, it’s a poor design with it having no light to indicate that you have switched on the twelve volt power. I have to leave the light switch on so that when the panel is activated the light by the door illuminates to tell me it’s on. My previous coachman had a light on the switch to tell you it was on, progress hey! I keep my van at home and have in plugged in and switch on the power every now and then to keep the battery charged but it’s very easy to see how that mistake can be made with that panel especially.

Hi Dan - been there, done that... had to push cos the motor mover wouldn't work in my case. Shame the caravan doesn't have an alarm with an in built battery - I never had to worry about removing the battery in my last van the battery in the alarm system lasted several weeks without charge being put into the van.

Dan I just bought one and today it was delivered. Have it on charge and seem very pleased with it. With the carrying bag it cost me £750 and was sent from Scotland. Thanks for your help in this matter. Will use it for caravan rally’s. Colin

I did exactly the same thing with my Elddis when it was in storage 35 miles from home. I rang the insurance company and explained the issue. They were very good and said take the battery home to recharge it and they would continue cover for 30 days by which time a battery must be back in position and operating as before. I was shocked.

I feel your pain! What I struggle to understand is why British caravan manufacturers remain stuck in the dark ages?? The standard on board battery charger that is in nearly all caravans, is incompatible with Li Ion batteries. And as you showed in a previous video, they install cheap PWM solar controllers. Lead acid batteries in all their forms are 100 year old technology. Why not AT LEAST, offer an option where they can keep the old tech and have a Li Ion option? I am about to buy a new caravan. I do not want to fit an ancient Lead Acid leisure battery. But to fit a Li Ion battery, I have to rip out the charger and the solar controller. Time for manufacturers to wake up. Sell it without the old stuff and just pre-wire, then we can do it ourselves!

I'm on a CASSoA Platinum Storage Site with 24/7 CCTV & Security Guards, a 10ft tall security fence, and RFI enabled two stage automated security gates, the van is over 15 years old on CAMC Insurance. For a few weeks the existing battery was 0.85v DC, there's no such security tracking system, just seems too much of a worry having a newer van, I'll stick with cheap and cheerful I think.

Get the biggest flexible solar panel that will fit fastened to your roof, use it to charge your battery through a moderate MPPT controller. I have a 5w panel keeping a 80AH battery full successfully with no load (til spring!). If you have permanent loads then you need to calculate them into the charge requirement sadly, in the UK winter solar harvest is about 5% of the panel's rating.

A work colleague over winter used to run his motorbike (SORNed and garaged) once a week for about 6 hours idling just to keep the battery charged up. Then I introduced him to my Bluetti AC50S and a bike charger. He now doesn't run the bike at all but charges the bike for a couple of days once a fortnight and then charges the battery pack in his flat. He then bought his own Bluetti and found that on 'power saving' mode it would shut down if it doesn't see the throughput of power it needs to stay away so the bike only gets about 4 hours of charge at a time but the battery pack lasts ages now between charges. So yeah, those battery packs are awesome and it is encouragement to keep things charged up on the caravan. You could also have hooked up the battery to the EHU socket outside and a cable running inside the van to the battery but then you would have compromised some part of the security by leaving something unlocked and open (even a crack) to get the power cable through.

nice

Hi Dan Thanks for video. I purchase early last year a Ecoflow Delta 2 power pack plus extra battery and a 400w solar panel (treated myself 😊), for the camper when off grid, but I was wondering if it is possible to plug the power pack straight into the input 13 amp to run the caravan, does this sound durable? Obviously for security I would if possible have a cable made up to storage the power pack in the gas bottle cupboard as I only have one bottle in there? Your thoughts would be appreciated. Keep Up The Good Work, Colin

As a newbie, leaving the “Main” power on is something I have done a number of times. My solution is to leave the light switch on, a light near the door on, and turn off the main as I leave. The tell tale is if the light is on, the main is on. Wouldn’t the light on the control panel be a PITA on a night when you want the van dark?

Hi Dan. Another option is to simply attach the Jackery DC in place of the battery till you got the real battery charged. My guess is you know that though 🙂👍

Hi Dan. My alarm and tracker have back up batteries within the unit.

Fantastic blog I have a question do I have to put my charger on in the caravan with electric hook from the house to keep my battery topped up cheers

Great channel, learning loads. Been motor homing for years but switched codes 2 weeks ago and swapped it for a caravan.. Surprised myself on how different it is ! Anyway, just regarding the Jackery, I have the same one, did the 240v outlet actually turn itself off because it wasn’t pulling any current ? Not sure I’ve left mine on long enough to test that but didn’t know it was a function.

What are you like boyo? We've all done it mate.😂

You can also use a 12v alarm battery from a house alarm so you could take you leisure battery of and use the alarm battery to keep everything running

Great tips Dan! Which Bluetooth accessory do you have connected to the battery to let you know the charge status or is that part of the caravan set up. I have an older caravan without such delights.

Hi Dan yip been there and done that, I get the point about your Insurance however I don't think I will be going out and spend over £1000 to charge my battery whilst its in Storage sorry i would have to take it home to charge it up insurance or not.

Most alarms and trackers will have some form of internal backup battery fitted so you can remove the main van battery but still have a working alarm & tracker. If it just relied on the van battery then that would make it easy to steal, just break into battery box and disconnect battery or cut cable!

Hi Dan! Hope you're well? Is there any way to turn the alarm system off? I'm finding that it's flattening my battery if I leave the battery on the caravan in storage. I'm having to take the battery off every time...

Could you connect the Jackery directly to EHU socket and use the caravans internal charger, I know that would mean having the lead go through a window?

How long does it take to charge up with the caravan charger, i disconnected the sites main power and left the heating panel on to ensure the caravan stayed at around 10 degrees, but i left radion on too by accident, battery seems almost discharged, advice welcome.

Hi, What i do on our Alicanto. I leave a light on, then use the 12v power switch to switch all off, if the light is off then all power is too.

Thanks Dan, useful video, got to say though that French accent was bad ! 😂😂

Would doubling the solar panel too 200w help with the winters in the uk ! I am just thinking ahead when we order a bailey Alicante grande porto next year

We are all human Dan. Still very annoying, give yourself a row! As you will know the batteries life will have been shortened considerably. We upgraded our LA for a LifePo4 batt 3 years ago, 90AH LA to 155AH LifePo4, same foot print, effectively 3.5 times the available power. Also with a BMS that looks after it. Fantastic for being off grid.

I bought the Bluetooth dongle via your link however it comes with a different plug to the one you show. Mine is more like a small Ethernet. Do you have a link to one with the same plug that fits in the top of the controller as yours does.

Your tracker/alarm should have a battery back up, I had a similar experience over Christmas and when I removed the battery the tracker was still a live.

Are you sure there isn’t a separate alarm battery, there is on swift vans. Be surprised if not the same across brands. I have done the same as you and now have two batteries for use across the winter period, and switch them out once every 6-8 weeks.

Wouldn't the back up battery in the alarm have coped whilst you took the leisure battery home to charge? That should have covered you for insurance purposes.

Just a precaution you should never connect the earth cable first SHOULD ALWAYS Connect the earth Last & remove it first to prevent causing a spark which could cause any battery gassed to ignite

Dan, why don't you leave a light on in the kitchen so when your leaving if it's on you know to turn off the mains power.

Not sure of the make of your alarm, but on my Elddis the alarm has its own 12v battery supply, and if you have a tracker retrieve that is the same, so removing the 12v main battery wont cause you any issues.

Hi Dan, we have a moving intelligents alarm and tracker on our Bailey, both units have their own battery, I have removed my leisure battery to charge at home, because I've recently had an op on my shoulder so I can't go and swap batteries over, alarm and tracker work fine with the inboard battery. Just sayin 😊

Very interesting having this insurance dependency with just the 12v leisure battery. I would expect every thieve first unplug the battery then, even before vehicle is moving. My german Hobby caravan vendor tracking solution (which i don‘t use) as well as my after market tracking solution are installed (USB plug) with internal battery 30 days buffer which requires the thieve to locate the device (in my case requires disasemble furniture) until it could be set out of order. Downside here is if i got power alert from my device it meant my leisure battery is already dead for long time.. What f#=@s me up is i have trailer park shore power connected! but when expiriencing power loss (fuse, maintenance) it still drains my leisure battery and alarms me just a bit before game over. This season i start upgrading few enhancements installing smart home equipment which could helpful but requires continues internet.. #firstworldproblems

Forgive me Dan should your battery not be a GEL battery because it is inside the living space. We have a German caravan and the battery is inside and the battery is Gel. AGM would also work. Sorry if I missed something and it is. James

Hi Dan, is it your tracker that shows you the battery voltage? If so what tracker are you using?

I’m surprised you can’t just leave it and let the solar panel charge it over a few days?

Hi Dan if your charger was pulling 160watts of power wudnt your jackery only last about 6 to 7 hours not 2 days ? 👍

Hi Dan, Thanks for vid. I've tried to watch it 2x but the sound is faint? M

12A seems too high a charge amperage, that charge rate will damage your lead acid leisure battery, such an amperage is used for multiple parallel battery storage systems, as the charge is shared across those in circuit.

You may find that your alarm has a battery back up. I’m in a similar situation today.

Perhaps a stupid question, but if you modify anything on your brand new caravan, does it affect your warranty?

Something we've all done

Can you tell me the name of the app you have for your battery

An odd set up if i may say so.....why not just buy a second battery.....you have a charger [I have the XL version of the one you have]..no need for a power pack...as for insurance being void...with no battery installed....if it gets nicked they wont know....if it gets broken into,,,,put your battery back in then call them....as for a cheap car battery,,,nooooo

Exile to path hmmm

Don’t beat yourself up. If that’s what’s called a disaster I’d better keep quiet with the things I’ve done .

Second mistake of the day, connecting the battery charger incorrectly. 😂 Connect - positive then negative Disconnect - negative then positive

This is so depressing I can't listen to you moaning about this any longer