Atlas tipping trailer battery not charging

[firewood]

i had the extra lead fitted to charge the battery. unfortunately it turns out that due to the size of the battery in the trailer, you need to be looking at doing at least 50 miles before it ever starts to put charge in. sorry for the bad news...im in the same boat myself!

 

is that 50 miles with the additional charging socket installed or without?

[firewood]

sounds a bit poor to me, don't forget batteries don't like sitting on cold hard surfaces, treat them to a handy bit of board for insulation,

 

good tip. will give it a go.

[firewood]

Dont forget this cold weather will knock down the efficiency of batteries too. Personally, I would trickle charge batteries on vehicles and trailers if they are out of use for a few days too.

 

 

It has been cold up here in aberdeenshhire. early saturday morning temp gauge in car was showing -27 c. not sure how accurate gauge is mind. it did feel that cold.

[Steve Bullman]

is that 50 miles with the additional charging socket installed or without?

 

i have a second caravan socket with the grey cover on the navara, i assume this is what you mean by the charging socket

[Lee Winger]

vehicle electrics ok. had this problem towing with two different vehicles.

 

 

caravan socket? I have twin electrics on the towbar but assumed that it should charge just on the normal socket. is thi not the case?

 

:laugh1: you need to take the battery off periodically and charge it with a battery charger, you'll get about 20 tips from a charge , roughly from memory...

[John Russell]

Just an idea: you can buy a 12v PV charger in Maplin (PV=solar panel that produces electricity). If mounted somewhere on the trailer where it won't get damaged it should keep the battery permanently topped up. PV (photo voltaic) uses UV (ultra violet radiation), so whether it's sunny or just cloudy the battery will charge all day.

 

Here they are: SolarPowered 12V 12W Battery Charger Free Delivery : Solar Battery Chargers : Maplin

[bushy]

I don't bother with trickle charging, just plug the mains charger in overnight once a week. My battery is located under the trailer floor, so I have added some insulated 12v wire from the battery terminals, coming forward to charge from, saves having to tip up to get to battery terminals.

[niftysteve]

so if i plug the trailer into the caravan socket will it then charge say overnight (with ignition on towing vehicle off)?

 

 

I cannot believe that you need a separate charging socket to charge the battery!!

 

 

that was never mentioned when i bought it.

 

VERY POOR IMHO. verging on not fit for purpose!

 

Stevie, who fitted your 2nd socket? how much did it cost?

 

you will need the secondary (grey) socket fitted and then a split charge relay fitted usually in the engine bay

if you just run wires to the battery from the towing vehicle ou risk flattenening tow vehicle battery if left overnight after a lot of tipping

 

something like this fitted will do the job

RELAY VAN SPLIT CHARGE RELAY KIT-12V 30A SELF SWITCHING on eBay (end time 24-Dec-10 04:58:02 GMT)