Caravan Battery

[Nicholasjahicks]

Good evening, I hope everyone is keeping safe.

I need to buy a new caravan battery. At present I don’t have a caravan mover but am planning to get one fitted. The van is a Sprite Quattro FB 6 berth twin axle.

what would the best battery to get? I don’t tend to go to sites where there is no electric hook up but may well plan to do so soon.

what do people tend to do with the battery when the van is not in use? Store it home, keep it on a trickle charger? Any help and suggestions please.

many thanks

nic

 

[otherclive]

Good evening, I hope everyone is keeping safe.

I need to buy a new caravan battery. At present I don’t have a caravan mover but am planning to get one fitted. The van is a Sprite Quattro FB 6 berth twin axle.

what would the best battery to get? I don’t tend to go to sites where there is no electric hook up but may well plan to do so soon.

what do people tend to do with the battery when the van is not in use? Store it home, keep it on a trickle charger? Any help and suggestions please.

many thanks

nic

I remove my battery when in store and bring it home. I then use a CTEK smart charger to keep it charged. There are other smart chargers around and a few members report favourably on the Aldi one.

If you plan to spend time off grid then a Grade A or B leisure battery would be best but much depends on how, when and duration of your off grid stays. Also if the van has solar power that will help keep it charged while off grid. My own preference would be a 100-110 am hr battery.

PS edit I have a Banner Energy Bull. Not maintenance free but in 18 months hasn’t required any top up and is NCC cat B.

 

[Woodentop]

Despite what others may say on here, personally I would always buy a good branded battery as you will know it has been built to the proper spec and is not just a badged car battery. Makes to consider are Bosch, Varta, and Yuasa.
As someone said above I would also go for the biggest the container will accommodate. If the battery is under floor then it will need to be low profile, otherwise just measure up.
Aside from my earlier comment, the Halfords own brand HLB681 is actually a relabelled 115Ah Yuasa. I had one on our last caravan which never hiccuped in six years and is still in full working order in my garage. I cannot use it on our current van as the mount is under floor so needs to be a low profile - I have a Varta 90Ah and the van has a mover.

 

[Beachball]

We also got a Halfords Battery (HLB681) is actually a relabelled 115Ah Yuasa as (Woodentop mention) in the caravan it only 15 months old so far . it gets regularly check to see if ok we also have a mover ..

 

[littlebasher]

I went cheap and bought an inexpensive 110ah battery off eBay (£60 delivered)

2 things;

Firstly i doubt it's really 110ah (suspect more like 90ah).
Secondly, my caravan charger only ever shows it as being partially charged, i suspect as a result of the Sargent controller being calibrated to the slow discharge rates of a real leisure battery.

I doubt it'll be long before i have to buy a decent one!

 

[Raywood]

Caravan batteries are graded A,B and C. A is for very heavy use essentially, off grid use, and you would not need that. B is for heavy use including motor movers and C is for light use on grid only. Technically you need a B, although many of us get away with a C, if the mover is used only for short moves.
With batteries and everything else you tend to get what you pay for, and frankly even a 110 v C battery is far too cheap to be true at £50. I suspect you have got a starter motor battery but cannot be sure. We paid £115 for for a good make and I hope that will be a far better investment.

 

[RogerL]

The Yuasa L36-EFB is highly regarded https://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/12v-yuasa-100ah-efb-leisure-battery-l36-efb/

I used old car batteries for 3 decades - perfectly good with a mover as long as not going off-grid for more than one night - I always got 10+ years use out of them - only bought the above as I ran out of car batteries!

 

[audiorob]

If you visit motor mover sites like this one

Caravan Motor Movers For Sale | Motor Movers Direct

Caravan Motor Movers | Nationwide Fitting Service ✔ Single & Twin Axle Caravans ✔ Self Fit Options Available ✔ Free Delivery ✔ Prices from £599 ✔ Order Online ➔

www.motormoverdirect.co.uk

and click onto the mover description it lists the max current consumption of different models for either single or t/a models.

 

[audiorob]

or try this list...

Caravan Movers Online - Find the best caravan motor movers

Compare caravan movers. Choose the best mover for you and your caravan, single or twin axle, manual or auto engage. All major brands available, find the best caravan mover for you

www.caravanmoversonline.co.uk

which recommends battery capacity

 

[ProfJohnL]

You have indicated that you might be wanting to use the caravan without mains hook up which means you will be relying on the battery to provide power for things like lights, water pump and control circuits for heaters and fridge. That being the case you should be looking for at least a 110 - 115Ah leisure battery.

Most built in caravan power supplies/chargers are not ideal to maintain a leisure battery in tip top condition over long periods of storage. If you have mains power available at you storage location then consider using a multistage charger (Like a Ctek or similar unit) to look after the battery in situ, or bring the battery home and use a Ctek. These multistage chargers can be left connected long term.

Many caravans now need to have a constant 12V supply even during storage to run alarm systems, in which case you might need a second battery (can be a much low quality one) to swap with the caravan one to maintain the 12V whilst you charge the other battery. You may need to swap these every 4 to 6 weeks.

 

[Raywood]

Sorry I seem to have misread the use and if so a category A battery is needed, even so I would check the power in it if off grid before you use it on the mover. As the Prof says a 115 AH battery would be needed.

 

[waffler]

We are off grid all summer and have to mover in to storage, single axle. First is to measure the hole. Allow for the wires as they can be difficult to fit in. Off grid and a mover you need a cat A battery. Expect to pay £150 and get a 3 year guarantee. If you're leaving the battery unattended for weeks think about a small, 20 watts say, solar panel that would keep it topped up. If you take it home you need a charger that will deal with AGM. A smart charger should do that and expect to pay a minimum of £40.