12v camping equipment battery care

How do you maintain our little 12v camping equipment gadgets?

I have a 12v lantern with inbuilt battery, Coleman hot water system, etc.

From my experience leaving them for long periods of time not charging kills their batteries which I have found with my Coleman hot water system.

Lately I've been leaving my lantern on charge but forget about it and go down to the shed to find it's still in charge for the last month.

Dangerous?

Fully charging 12v gadgets, leave them for X months before topping up before they drain too long for X weeks/months, what is the best practise to keep them in order for the next camping trip?

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Originally Posted by AB

How do you maintain our little 12v camping equipment gadgets?

I have a 12v lantern with inbuilt battery, Coleman hot water system, etc.

From my experience leaving them for long periods of time not charging kills their batteries which I have found with my Coleman hot water system.

Lately I've been leaving my lantern on charge but forget about it and go down to the shed to find it's still in charge for the last month.

Dangerous?

Fully charging 12v gadgets, leave them for X months before topping up before they drain too long for X weeks/months, what is the best practise to keep them in order for the next camping trip?

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Andy, I leave all my rechargeable gear on the charger, all the time. When they are full the charge is zero but you do have a small cost with the heat load of the charger. I have never had a charger die and catch fire, only die and thats it. I used to charge them, then take them off, but typically lost the charger, couldn't remember where I had stashed the gadget, all became a pain as I would simply go and buy a replacement, then end up finding the 'lost item' anyway. In the days of nicad I think this was not a good practice, but a lot of the batteries today are NIMH and they seem to cope with this. others may diagree, but it works for me, and I don't care about the cost.

NIHM batteries maybe ok left on charge,but if you have anything lithium or LiOn i wouldn't risk it

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Originally Posted by Avo

NIHM batteries maybe ok left on charge,but if you have anything lithium or LiOn i wouldn't risk it

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Agree.
And its always best to leave things fully charged than flat

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Avo

NIHM batteries maybe ok left on charge,but if you have anything lithium or LiOn i wouldn't risk it

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Good to know, I don't have any of this sort of battery.