Flat Battery

You could take the battery home to charge it.

Solar panels will keep it charged but depend on various factors such as availability of daylight. Then there’s your leisure battery to consider as well. 

You can't beat having the van a regular run.

 

agree with all three of TW's points..

the first issue is to get the van running again....take the battery home for a charge or borrow a starter pack (perhaps call AA/RAC?)...

keeping all batteries healthy throughout a layup period where EHU isn't available usually means a solar panel.

provided the van is out in the open, an 80-120w panel 'should' be sufficient to maintain all batteries (cab and leisure).

systems vary, but a dual channel regulator can send power to both sets of batteries.

alternatively, solar might be set up for just the leisure batteries, with a device called a Battery Master diverting excess charge from the leisure battery to the cab battery....

both are fairly simple but straightforward systems.

MHs have ,any more oily bits than caravans and really do benefit from being used, even if occasionally during a layup period.

good luck.

Depending on how the motorhome is parked you may be able to jump start from another vehicle. Many motorhomes have the engine battery located under the cab floor so they provide positive and negative terminals in the engine compartment. Of course, you could try jumping from another fully charged starter battery but this is not as effective as charging from a running vehicle where the voltage and current is boosted by the alternator.

Clearly a jump start will get the vehicle up and running, however I would not consider this as a longer term solution if power is not available at the storage facility to maintain it.

Jump starting deep drained batteries does them no good in the longer term especially if the vehicle is fitted with a normal car type battery that unlike leisure batteries is designed to give an initial high boost for the vehicle starter motor at full maintained power.

Vehicle type batteries do not fare well from constant deep draining, also if a vehicle battery has deep drained it will likely not take a charge from a normal charger once the voltage level has dropped to around 10 volts or less.

My preference (and the one I have used for years) would be to remove the battery and take it home, then put it on a constant maintenance charge with an 'Optimate' charger or similar.  These are intelligent chargers that are designed to maintain a battery by way of a cycle that will both charge and desulfate the battery at regular intervals. Using this method extends the life of the battery.  Solar panel are also a more expensive solution and of course will not desulfate batteries.

 

 

 

The user and all related content has been Deleted User

 I've been trying to convince myself for a few years that I really really need one of of these 😁😁  ..... Costco have a variation on the theme at the moment. 🤔

The user and all related content has been Deleted User

 ... and I have a good set of long jump leads and more than one car to jump start from.

Use the Motor home every week, even although it's just a day trip to picnic in a nearby country park or coastal viewpoint. It's a motor vehicle and designed to be used.  Regular use will prevent the vehicle battery from becoming completely drained which could cause the battery to be damaged. 

K 

Ours is in our driveway and used twice a year. Bit of a waste really but I find it cumbersome and noisy to drive just for days out, especially compared with our electric car.