hi proud owner of s6 bailey burgundy no probs yet just 2 questions does this van have facility to charge battery via 12s, because we have powrtouch mover by time moved out from where stored battery well drained {85amp} or is there alternative way of charging batt enroute so we got some power to move van on site thanks john
battery charging
- Thread starter johnwolves
- Start date
Damian
Moderator
John, as long as your car and van plug wiring is standard , you should have battery charging whilst driving, from the car.
Having a mover fitted you should upgrade to a 110amp battery.
Having a mover fitted you should upgrade to a 110amp battery.
Damian
Moderator
John, as long as your car and van plug wiring is standard , you should have battery charging whilst driving, from the car.
Having a mover fitted you should upgrade to a 110amp battery.
Having a mover fitted you should upgrade to a 110amp battery.
having looked in manual wiring connections as follows 1=yellow reverse 2 =blue no connection 3 = white common return except fridge 4= green interior 5= brown no connection 6= red fridge 7= black return for fridge also manual says room for 90 amp batt in box is there a smaller size 110 amp thanks john
Hello John
With reference to the battery size. Measure the battery compartment and then measure a new 110amp battery. You may find that it will fit, probably a bit tight however. It said the same about battery size on my 2003 Senator but it fits OK.
Magnum23
With reference to the battery size. Measure the battery compartment and then measure a new 110amp battery. You may find that it will fit, probably a bit tight however. It said the same about battery size on my 2003 Senator but it fits OK.
Magnum23
I have a powrtouch mover and it would only move a couple of feet then stop. The powrtouch rep came out and said that 85ah batteries are not man enough for the movers. Whilst using the mover the battery volts dropped to below 10.5 volts and the mover cut out. Fitted a 110ah battery and it works fine now.
Hello Ian,
I think you may have misunderstood the comments about your 85Ah battery. It is most likely that if the battery terminal voltage fell to 10.5V under load, then either the battery was not fully charged, or it was old or damaged.
The ability for a battery to hold a full charge diminishes with age and usage, and that would affect the amount of current it can provide.
Even though caravan movers may be rated to consume 60A, that is the peak current, and is only likely to be needed just as the mover spins up to speed. Once at speed, the motors will only draw 15 to 25A unless you encounter an obstacle that you need to climb over. A healthy leisure battery should be capable of providing a continuous current of 25A without distress, with peaks well in excess of that.
In general, the main difference between 85 and 110 Ah batteries is the total capacity, not the peak current discharge rate. It really affects how long the current can be supplied. As most movers are only used for a few minutes, the total power used is only a few Ah, and are unlikely to flatten a good battery under normal usage.
If you have been to any of the caravan shows where movers have been demonstrated, If you were to ask the companies how long their display batteries last before recharging will probably elicit a reply of about 4 to 6 hours of extensive display hours, and that is much longer than you are likely to need when on holiday.
Just a quick calculation, if we assume you need to use your mover for 5min, to position your caravan, then the 25A for 5/60 of an hour gives a total energy usage of only 2.5Ah so to allow for variations in surface you will most likely use less that 4Ah in total - not a great deal compared to the total capacity of either an 85 or 110Ah battery!
I think you may have misunderstood the comments about your 85Ah battery. It is most likely that if the battery terminal voltage fell to 10.5V under load, then either the battery was not fully charged, or it was old or damaged.
The ability for a battery to hold a full charge diminishes with age and usage, and that would affect the amount of current it can provide.
Even though caravan movers may be rated to consume 60A, that is the peak current, and is only likely to be needed just as the mover spins up to speed. Once at speed, the motors will only draw 15 to 25A unless you encounter an obstacle that you need to climb over. A healthy leisure battery should be capable of providing a continuous current of 25A without distress, with peaks well in excess of that.
In general, the main difference between 85 and 110 Ah batteries is the total capacity, not the peak current discharge rate. It really affects how long the current can be supplied. As most movers are only used for a few minutes, the total power used is only a few Ah, and are unlikely to flatten a good battery under normal usage.
If you have been to any of the caravan shows where movers have been demonstrated, If you were to ask the companies how long their display batteries last before recharging will probably elicit a reply of about 4 to 6 hours of extensive display hours, and that is much longer than you are likely to need when on holiday.
Just a quick calculation, if we assume you need to use your mover for 5min, to position your caravan, then the 25A for 5/60 of an hour gives a total energy usage of only 2.5Ah so to allow for variations in surface you will most likely use less that 4Ah in total - not a great deal compared to the total capacity of either an 85 or 110Ah battery!
I agree with your comments the 85ah battery should be man enough. The terminal voltage prior to starting on both my 85ah batteries were approx 12.7v. One had been on the van for about a week the other had just come of the battery charger after a week of charging. The mover is ok on a perfectly flat road, but as soon as you hit a slight hill the mover kept cutting out. We tried both batteries and both are only 1 year old. Both did exactly the same and stopped intermitently. The mover rep tried his 110ah battery and it went up and down the hill with no problems what so ever. So though although the calcs workout and prove that an 85ah battery is big enough, in reality mine were not. I would recommend 110ah to anybody buying a type 3 powrtoch mover. In fact the rep for powrtoucxh said he recommends people with 85ah batteries to replace them with 110ah if they buy a mover.
Ian,
Sorry, but you've misinterpreted the situation with your 85AH batteries - from your description of how they handled a reasonable load, they were both defective and needed replacement.
Cell voltage is an indication of charge state, not cell capacity (AH) or the ability to supply current (Amps).
The fact that a good 110AH battery worked doesn't mean that you can't use 85AH batteries with motor-movers, only that the two you tried were defective.
Robert
Sorry, but you've misinterpreted the situation with your 85AH batteries - from your description of how they handled a reasonable load, they were both defective and needed replacement.
Cell voltage is an indication of charge state, not cell capacity (AH) or the ability to supply current (Amps).
The fact that a good 110AH battery worked doesn't mean that you can't use 85AH batteries with motor-movers, only that the two you tried were defective.
Robert
Ian,
To confirm what rob-jax states, I have a Pageant Moselle with a Powermover running quite happily on an 85AH battery for more than a year now. This includes it being used up hills and on very sandy pitches in France.
Regards
Firkle
To confirm what rob-jax states, I have a Pageant Moselle with a Powermover running quite happily on an 85AH battery for more than a year now. This includes it being used up hills and on very sandy pitches in France.
Regards
Firkle
Hi,
You may find the biggest problem is the cr@p chargers fitted by dealers / manafacturers. I have a 85ah battery fitted in my Eriba and was really struggling to get a nights lighting & TV out of it. Did a bit of research, bought a decent 4 stage charger - can get a full weekend out of a battery now. It has literally trebled the use I get from it !!!!
Do not go to the expense of buying a new expensive 110ah battery, just to reconnect it to your cr@p charger - your battery will be knackered within a couple of months. Invest in a proper deep cycle 4 stage charger.
I bought from www.caravantechnology.com
I went for the 20amp leisure battery charger #2033 @
You may find the biggest problem is the cr@p chargers fitted by dealers / manafacturers. I have a 85ah battery fitted in my Eriba and was really struggling to get a nights lighting & TV out of it. Did a bit of research, bought a decent 4 stage charger - can get a full weekend out of a battery now. It has literally trebled the use I get from it !!!!
Do not go to the expense of buying a new expensive 110ah battery, just to reconnect it to your cr@p charger - your battery will be knackered within a couple of months. Invest in a proper deep cycle 4 stage charger.
I bought from www.caravantechnology.com
I went for the 20amp leisure battery charger #2033 @
Hi Stuart,
As you may know I have an Eriba Triton with the BIP power pack and the factory fit Schaudt 1214 booster which lifts the car 12V to 14.4V for the correct charging of the battery.
Our 85AH battery is three years old, the battery is still in good condition, driving our Reich Comfort motor-mover for extended periods.
Robert
As you may know I have an Eriba Triton with the BIP power pack and the factory fit Schaudt 1214 booster which lifts the car 12V to 14.4V for the correct charging of the battery.
Our 85AH battery is three years old, the battery is still in good condition, driving our Reich Comfort motor-mover for extended periods.
Robert
Hello Ian,
I made the point several times that an 85Ah battery must be in good condition, and your comments reinforce my suspicion that both your batteries were either incompletely charged, or in poor condition.
There is of course nothing wrong in fitting a 110Ah battery, its just that it might not be necessary to go to that expense, or in some cases it is not possible to fit a 110 battery in the space provided.
Several other contributors have suggested getting a charge monitoring charger which should keep you batteries in tip top condition.
Thanks for all your comments on 85ah batteries.
How do you tell that your battery is cream crackered. My batteries get charged in the caravan and with a charger at home, which was sold to me by the caravan shop where i bought my caravan. I have an Elddis avante 556 2006 model. Do you know if this has a good or bad charger fitted.
Thanks
Ian
PS which is a good charger.
How do you tell that your battery is cream crackered. My batteries get charged in the caravan and with a charger at home, which was sold to me by the caravan shop where i bought my caravan. I have an Elddis avante 556 2006 model. Do you know if this has a good or bad charger fitted.
Thanks
Ian
PS which is a good charger.
Hi Ian,
Who can you tell if your battery is cream crackered? That's a good question, and a difficult one to answer.
The only simple test that a caravanner can apply is to monitor cell voltage which will indicate charged state. This will also reveal gross faults like a failed cell where 2 volts will be immediately chopped from the battery output (there are six 2 volt cells in a 12 volt battery).
But the voltmeter will not indicate cell capacity - a fully charged 1AH battery and a 110AH battery will both show the same cell voltage.
The only way to measure cell capacity is to monitor discharge current and time - there are a few micro-computer controlled "power meters" that will do this and report on capacity - but they are really outside what most caravanners would consider cost-effective.
If you have some DIY electrical skills, then monitoring the cell voltage whilst the battery drives a fixed load (say a car head lamp bulb which will take a constant 5 amps out of the battery) and then see how long it takes to go flat. This will give a reasonable indication of the actual AH rating.
The manufacturer AH rating is usually calculated at a discharge rate of C/20 amps - for a 100AH battery that is 100/20 or 5 amps. And will take 20 hours - which is a long time to sit and watch a voltmeter - so start the test on a Saturday night and check it next morning.
Robert
Who can you tell if your battery is cream crackered? That's a good question, and a difficult one to answer.
The only simple test that a caravanner can apply is to monitor cell voltage which will indicate charged state. This will also reveal gross faults like a failed cell where 2 volts will be immediately chopped from the battery output (there are six 2 volt cells in a 12 volt battery).
But the voltmeter will not indicate cell capacity - a fully charged 1AH battery and a 110AH battery will both show the same cell voltage.
The only way to measure cell capacity is to monitor discharge current and time - there are a few micro-computer controlled "power meters" that will do this and report on capacity - but they are really outside what most caravanners would consider cost-effective.
If you have some DIY electrical skills, then monitoring the cell voltage whilst the battery drives a fixed load (say a car head lamp bulb which will take a constant 5 amps out of the battery) and then see how long it takes to go flat. This will give a reasonable indication of the actual AH rating.
The manufacturer AH rating is usually calculated at a discharge rate of C/20 amps - for a 100AH battery that is 100/20 or 5 amps. And will take 20 hours - which is a long time to sit and watch a voltmeter - so start the test on a Saturday night and check it next morning.
Robert
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