Battery Charging

I have an 05 Nuevo and am puzzled by some aspects of battery charging.

I had always understood that both batteries would charge when running the engine or when plugged into mains electric supply.

I have now been told that the Leisure battery will only charge  when connected to the mains and that the "car" battery will only charge when the engine is running.

Can someone please clarify this for me.

That's a load of cobblers Mike.

I'm not good at electrics, but both batteries will charge when the engine is running, and you should have a manually switched option on your control panel to select which battery charges while on hookup.

I always selected "engine" battery and left it on that setting for a fortnight or so, then changed to "leisure" for 24 hours or a couple of days. The engine battery is the vital one, and the leisure battery is less likely to discharge as quickly anyway.

I can't remember that far back, but there is an easy option anyway. Get a Battery Master or similar and you can opt for permanent leisure battery charging on hookup, and forget about it thereafter.

Plenty of information [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Hope this helps.

I have a decent sized solar panel on my 04 Nuevo ES, should I switch from habitation to car when travelling ?
On my way home from a weekend out there was a strong bad egg smell which to me seems to show that the battery is overcharging.
Any advice please

Raybo wrote:I have a decent sized solar panel on my 04 Nuevo ES, should I switch from habitation to car when travelling ?
On my way home from a weekend out there was a strong bad egg smell which to me seems to show that the battery is overcharging.
Any advice please

Is you solar regulator not a twin to charge both? If a twin, leave it on habitation all the time, a percentage of charge will be directed to the engine battery. Or do you have a battery-master fitted? If so , same rule applies. If only a single regulator then both batteries will be charged y the engine alternator when driven but when not driving leave on habitation most of the time, only switching to engine every couple of days just to make sure the engine will start.. As to the bad eggsmell, have you checked the electrolyte level? If a sealed battery you can't of course.