Unsure of what to believe anymore regarding leisure batteries I am going down the route of using a car battery for my 12 volt power, I never tour without hook up so I don't see a problem I was just asking for info regarding the amp hour to power my mover.
caravan battery
- Thread starter Burn
- Start date
Damian
Moderator
A car battery is actually better for operating a mover as it is more capable of heavy discharge for short periods of time.
A leisure battery is designed for slow long discharge times.
Whatever the Amp Hour capacity of the battery will determine how long it lasts, but if always on hook up, and you don't want to go caravan racing using the mover, you should be fine.
A leisure battery is designed for slow long discharge times.
Whatever the Amp Hour capacity of the battery will determine how long it lasts, but if always on hook up, and you don't want to go caravan racing using the mover, you should be fine.
If your only requirement is to use the battery for powering the mover then a starter battery as said is suitable, however you need to recharge it promptly after every time it has been used.
It will be more readily damage if after hauling the van into storage you simply walk away,than would be the case with an identically rated leisure battery.
To minimise the % drain a mover takes and hence in time the damage it causes, then logically the bigger the battery is, the better it endures it. So if the mover drains 5Ah, this represents 5% of a 100 Ah battery, but a more damaging 10% of a 50Ah battery.
This largely guides the battery size selection till it gets simply too big physically.
I would not go below an 80Ah if I could not get it fully recharged in 24hrs, so it is not being put to bed below 90% fully charged.
For years I powered my mover whilst at home with a second 60Ah battery, to avoid large current drains on the caravans high performance GEL battery. This 60Ah battery lasted over 10 years but it was back on a smart charger in minutes after powering the mover, it never got left anything but fully charged..
It will be more readily damage if after hauling the van into storage you simply walk away,than would be the case with an identically rated leisure battery.
To minimise the % drain a mover takes and hence in time the damage it causes, then logically the bigger the battery is, the better it endures it. So if the mover drains 5Ah, this represents 5% of a 100 Ah battery, but a more damaging 10% of a 50Ah battery.
This largely guides the battery size selection till it gets simply too big physically.
I would not go below an 80Ah if I could not get it fully recharged in 24hrs, so it is not being put to bed below 90% fully charged.
For years I powered my mover whilst at home with a second 60Ah battery, to avoid large current drains on the caravans high performance GEL battery. This 60Ah battery lasted over 10 years but it was back on a smart charger in minutes after powering the mover, it never got left anything but fully charged..
JTQ said:
Your posting has given me some food for thought, JTQ. When I return home from an outing, and use the motor mover to position the caravan as close to the house as possible, it has never occurred to me to recharge the battery again straight away; I always charge the battery for a few days just prior to my outing. So, I should charge it when I get home as well???
Damian
Moderator
I always charge my battery before and after using the mover, via the standard 13.8v caravan charger.
The battery is a cheap 9 year old leisure and marine battery.
Lately I have been giving the next battery replacement some thought, and as I'm permanently on mains hook up when away, I have also been considering both reducing AH rating down from my present 110AH one to a 85AH car battery, just because its cheaper, and lighter.
The battery is a cheap 9 year old leisure and marine battery.
Lately I have been giving the next battery replacement some thought, and as I'm permanently on mains hook up when away, I have also been considering both reducing AH rating down from my present 110AH one to a 85AH car battery, just because its cheaper, and lighter.
If you cant keep a car battery on charge when in storage it will lose its charge much quicker than a leisure battery, if you can keep it charged then a car battery is fine
AlanW said:
But since far too many "leisure" batteries are no more than a car battery with handles, then wet leisure batteries will self-discharge at the same rate as car batteries - around 1% per day - but if it's recharged every month it won't give issues.
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