Campervan and Motorhome Electrical

You may think any old battery charger will do for your campervan or motorhome's 12 volt electrical system, but this is not the case. If you used a standard, stand alone battery charger while on mains hook-up (i.e. a charger used for charging up your car battery when it goes flat) you would run the risk of damaging your 12v electrical system. Conventional car battery chargers sometimes raise the battery voltage as high as 14.8 volts (to clear sulphation from the battery plates), whereas an on-board leisure battery charger probably won't charge the battery much more than 13.6 volts. If the voltage is too high (i.e. 14.8 volts and not 13.6 volts) there is a strong possibility of component failure in your campervan or motorhome's 12 volt electrical system.

Leisure battery chargers are also often referred to as 12 volt power supply units and some people may think that if your camping plans are to be always on mains hook-up then there's no need for a leisure battery in the system. In theory it's possible, but in reality a leisure battery should always be fitted in order to stabilise the 12 volt electrical system.

We would recommend using one of our Automatic/Smart battery charger range for keeping your leisure battery in optimum condition during long, idle periods and to clear the battery plates of sulphation.