I put it on a reconditioning charge, eventually it did show charged but it took longer than I’d have expected and did show an error at one point so I wasn’t totally convinced. The ‘van started and ran round the block OK but it didn’t last - when I went out today to do a couple of things the battery was completely dead again. I headed off to Halfords for a replacement; the old battery was at least 5 years old and had suffered through little usage during lockdown and ever since so I’m really not surprised it failed.
I need to avoid the same thing happening again, which means finding some way of trickle charging the new battery. Mains charging isn’t really an option and I think trying to hook up the big solar panel (which charges the leisure battery) for dual charging wouldn’t be easy or cheap. The answer is to get a small panel just for the starter battery, quite by chance I’ve already got a spare controller (bought for £1 at a boating event). I’m thinking I can mount the charge controller under the bonnet and mount the panel on a bit of ply. I’ve got some strong magnets “in stock” I can use four of those to attach the panel to the bonnet when the ‘van isn’t in use for long periods.
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