Do I need a new 12 volt battery ? Which one ?

[Tommyscaravan]

Hi any help / advice offered did appreciated.

we brought a 20 year old van and love it , been out 3 times now and learning but every time … one thing though is out battery .. I think I may need a new one.

it Doesn’t seem to hold its charge or “last very long” but I don’t know what to compare this too… after a couple of days of little use .. it seems to ru. Out of power to fully power the water pump and the lights start to dim ??
On out last trip we had it hooked up to the charger whilst we were on site and no problem for the whole 3 days … 3 weeks later back to van today abs the battery seems to struggle to power the pump , lights aren’t as bright etc ?

question is, is there anywhere I can take it to be tested to see if it’s beyond hope eg. Halfords ? So they can just say “yeah it’s 10 years old” not been charged for 8 years you need to buy a new one … or can I test / check this myself … which out buy loads of stuff? The light which is supposed to be green goes to yellow / red very quickly?

we are going away this weekend for the first time without power …. So maybe best to just suck it up and buy a new 110 AmpH battery ?? Any advice etc is appreciated….

finally .. what’s the deal / truck with battery’s when you are on site .. do you leave them on trickle charge (“plugged in” all the time or pop the charger back on the every day or so for 12 hrs ???

Thanks all

 

[Hutch]

Welcome to the forum, I think personally, your lucky to have a battery last 4/5 years. Our 110 amphere battery will power lights, water pump, fridge electrics, heating electrics, for a couple of days and then its down to 11 volts, time to recharge or go home.
On EHU, ( powered sites) the charger is always connected , but our system is different to yours. .,
Do you have gas mantels in the lights. 😀

 

[Tommyscaravan]

Welcome to the forum, I think personally, your lucky to have a battery last 4/5 years. Our 110 amphere battery will power lights, water pump, fridge electrics, heating electrics, for a couple of days and then its down to 11 volts, time to recharge or go home.
On EHU, ( powered sites) the charger is always connected , but our system is different to yours. .,
Do you have gas mantels in the lights. 😀

Thank you for looking - I’m not sure what u mean by gas mantles , relating your the van unless it’s a friendly poke at the age of our van 😂😂 2001 . Ok I’m guessing the battery we got with the van is over. 10 years old so time to get a new on maybe. Do you leave your “hooked up “ / charging constantly when you are at a powered site ? I’m thinking about getting led bulbs for the lights 5’to save a small amount of power , luckily our heater and boiler can both run off the gas

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Tommy,
I think it's highly likely the battery has had its day, but unfortunately there is no way we can tell you . You need to arrange a test of some sort to see if it is holding a charge, and what its capacity is. By the time you've gone to hassle of setting all that up, you might feels its worth biting the bullet and changing it anyway.

But there are other things to consider. Could it be your charger is not working properly, Again age is not always kind to electronics that are used infrequently and left outside. However given the age of the caravan there is a strong possibility the charger may not be the best sort for the job. Modern systems are more comprehensive and will automatically adjust the charge to the battery so they can be left permanently on charge without damage. I don't know if yours is that capable.

The other important factor is economy of usage. If you do the simple maths you can work out how much charge ( Ah) each appliance will consume when its turned on. If you have not done i before you might be quite surprised at what drains the battery most. Here's a spoiler, you infer you have fill ament and fluorescent bulbs . Each of those will typically consumer 1A, and they tend to be used for longish periods. Say you have 3 lamps on in the evening for 3 hours that's 9 Ah of battery charge. By comparison your water pump may be rated at 6A but when you add up the length of time it actually runs for it might total 10Min in a day that only uses 0.5Ah or less of battery capacity.

The upshot is just make sure you all turn off appliances ( Especially lights) you are not actually using. Changing to LEDS, will certainly help extend the batteries useful output.

 

[Tommyscaravan]

Thank you for this - all really useful.. I have a very “lay mans” knowledge of power usage / consumption so thought changing the bulbs etc would help .. but had no idea it would be this much … I suppose the fact they give off heat should have been a give away!

I will look into where I can get the battery tested / chargwr Looked at , but to your point I laughter as well bite the bullet buy a new one and just enjoy 😉….. and recommendations for battery’s ? We plan on being on plug in pitches .. but on our 4th trip are now on a powerless pitch so maybe the biggest AMP battery I can afford / fit in the van ?

yes out can is a little … old 😁 2001 , but I kid of alike that ATM .. it means I can tinker and fix / improved / add etc as time. Goes on… I wouldn’t know where to start with a new / computerised van .. I am imagine it’s like modern cars… not designed to be fixed / or tinkered with . Thanks again !

Oh before I forget … RE the water pump .. if I buy a new one ?? Can I get a “better” pressure / flow ? If you know … wife likes using the shower in our van , we have a 15 weeks old .. so prefers it to the communal ones , thanks

 

[ProfJohnL]

Your absolutely correct regarding the heat from incandescent lamps. LED's are far superior in this respect.

As far as testing the battery most towns used to have a battery specialist with a proper battery capacity tester, I'm not sure I fully trust the high street tyre fitters of this world they're out to sell batteries. But you have to take your chance.

If you do decide to purchase new, then yes do go the biggest Amp Hour ( not just Amp) capacity you can physically fit. Do check the sizes, and if you have short connection leads make sure the terminals are the correct way round. Also make sure its a Leisure battery. If you check the Caravan and motorhome Club site, I think they have some advice about battery specifications.

As for tinkering, I'm sure you are aware of the dangers of Mains 230Vac power, but also there are dangers with a big 12Vdc system, so competence with wiring and connections is also very important. Gas is a specialist area and is best contracted out to a fully qualified LPG fitter.

Water systems in caravans use fittings and appliances that are restricted to about 1.5Bar cold pressure. This can rise a little when the water is heated, but fitting a more powerful pump may cause fittings and especially the water heater to malfunction or be damaged. Unless you present pump is faulty , I doubt that a new pump will increase water flow dramatically.

As with 12V dc power you have a finite amount of water so it needs to be used sparingly.

Good luck

 

[Tommyscaravan]

All very much appreciated, my wife , 4.5 year old and 15 week old all use the Van with me so safety is always top of the priority list , any “proper works “‘will be by qualified persons… my tinkering will stretch to bulb changing and shower tray resealing etc . ….. having brought co2 detectors, smoke alarms, fire extinguisher, fire blanket , van inspection/ services , new tyres etc I think the van is probably safer than our house 😂

 

[Buckman]

All very much appreciated, my wife , 4.5 year old and 15 week old all use the Van with me so safety is always top of the priority list , any “proper works “‘will be by qualified persons… my tinkering will stretch to bulb changing and shower tray resealing etc . ….. having brought co2 detectors, smoke alarms, fire extinguisher, fire blanket , van inspection/ services , new tyres etc I think the van is probably safer than our house 😂

With the above in mind when last was the caravan serviced as the gas appliances may need checking. Alos what is the age of the tyres as it is recommended that they are replaced when they are maximum 7 years old even if they still look good.

 

[Tommyscaravan]

All over this , fully serviced when I brought it and everything that was “out of date” was changed , everything was tested , tyres all changed (including spare ….. because you never know) thanks for the heads up / highlighting these points … all been covered but again thanks for the heads up …. Safety / peace of mind … it’s definitely not cheap … but is great value 😉

 

[Hutch]

Well done Tommy, I think your on top of most things, Halfords will do a battery check for you, and of course sell you a new battery.
Led lights will save a lot of power, check your water tap ends, they normally unscrew and can get blocked up with "crud" restricting water flow, the same with the shower head.
The mantles was a jokey thing, just me.
Enjoy the caravan, remember ther are NO daft questions, just ask, someone will have an answer.

 

[Tommyscaravan]

I liked the joke 😂 thanks for the advice, it’s all appreciated!! So much to learn .. better to do when we aren’t actually “on holiday” thanks again

 

[Parksy]

Having read through this it's occured to me that you might not fully understand how the various caravan systems work Tommy.
If you're not on a pitch with ehu
(electric hook up) and running your lights, toilet flush and water pump from the leisure battery, without careful use the charge on a 12v leisure battery that's a couple of years old might only last for 2 or 3 days.
This doesn't mean that you need to rush out to buy a new leisure battery.
When you're on a pitch with ehu you must keep the ehu lead plugged in from the caravan to the ehu bollard all the time.
The onboard battery charger should be switched on and left on so that the battery charge is being replaced as it's being used.
Your caravan fridge and maybe a couple of lights, the water heater and the heating system can run on 230v or lpg.
On ehu use the 230v to power the fridge, water heater and space heater, don't unplug your ehu lead until you're leaving the site.
You won't be making any real demands from your leisure battery so you might not need to replace it for a while.
Edit:
If you prefer to use pitches without ehu you'll need a method to top up the charge on your leisure battery.
Most of us use solar energy via a solar panel, but even then you need sunshine to provide enough charge every day.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I note you say the caravan was "fully serviced" Unfortunately that does not usually include the gas appliance's other than does it work? yes or no basically.

You might do well to consider getting a mobile caravan service to do a detailed check/service on the gas and electrical appliance's

 

[Buckman]

BTW if you give us the details of your caravan i.e. year, make and model we may be able to point you in the right direction to get a copy of the owner's manual for that caravan.

 

[Tommyscaravan]

Having read through this it's occured to me that you might not fully understand how the various caravan systems work Tommy.
If you're not on a pitch with ehu
(electric hook up) and running your lights, toilet flush and water pump from the leisure battery, without careful use the charge on a 12v leisure battery that's a couple of years old might only last for 2 or 3 days.
This doesn't mean that you need to rush out to buy a new leisure battery.
When you're on a pitch with ehu you must keep the ehu lead plugged in from the caravan to the ehu bollard all the time.
The onboard battery charger should be switched on and left on so that the battery charge is being replaced as it's being used.
Your caravan fridge and maybe a couple of lights, the water heater and the heating system can run on 230v or lpg.
On ehu use the 230v to power the fridge, water heater and space heater, don't unplug your ehu lead until you're leaving the site.
You won't be making any real demands from your leisure battery so you might not need to replace it for a while.
Edit:
If you prefer to use pitches without ehu you'll need a method to top up the charge on your leisure battery.
Most of us use solar energy via a solar panel, but even then you need sunshine to provide enough charge every day.

Ok thank you for the clarification, I was 90% aware of this stuff … when we are on EHU everything is fine , because I keep the trickle charger connected to the battery .. it’s an old van so it’s a separate Draper battery’s charger / tester .. the problem seems to be that if I take this off , the battery dies very quickly .. within a day a simple water pump and a little light use (maybe I’m expecting to much of a 50 and he battery) * the flush on our van in manuals .. think old but nice 😂

if we didn’t have a 15 week old baby we would just “test” the battery when we go away this weekend for a “non hook up”bank holiday weekend worse casewould just be a few bottle of water and torches , but with a baby … my wife (and I tk be fair) would like running water 😂 it appears that the water pump only runs off the 12volt battery.. that’s why we think it my be on its way out . On our last trip I I’m hooked it from he charger for maybe 5 hours abs then the battery’s lost enough power that the pump was running (you could just about heat it ) but not pumping water - 6 hours later after a charge it was working again!
Thank for you advice all really appreciated

 

[Tommyscaravan]

I note you say the caravan was "fully serviced" Unfortunately that does not usually include the gas appliance's other than does it work? yes or no basically.

You might do well to consider getting a mobile caravan service to do a detailed check/service on the gas and electrical appliance's

I see what you are saying … so I would nee ld a qualified sparky / gas engineer to look at it .. who works on caravans?

 

[Tommyscaravan]

BTW if you give us the details of your caravan i.e. year, make and model we may be able to point you in the right direction to get a copy of the owner's manual for that caravan.

Thank you . Baileys 2001 discovery 516. , I believe

 

[Buckman]

Thank you . Baileys 2001 discovery 516. , I believe

Try https://www.baileyownersclub.org/ I have been told that they have owner's manuals for many old models.

 

[Tommyscaravan]

Try https://www.baileyownersclub.org/ I have been told that they have owner's manuals for many old models.

Thank you !

 

[Kevin M]

From a quick google on your existing battery, it seems to be a normal vehicle 12v battery and not a leisure battery.
Probably worth looking at leisure batteries as a starting point?

Kev

 

[Tommyscaravan]

From a quick google on your existing battery, it seems to be a normal vehicle 12v battery and not a leisure battery.
Probably worth looking at leisure batteries as a starting point?

Kev

Thank you - I did this today and realised it also… looks like a new battery is in order 😃

 

[Buckman]

If you were near Worcester you could take a Numax 110ah battery off my hands. Hardly used in the past 2 - 3 years and charged regularly.

 

[Bluetonic]

Thank you - I did this today and realised it also… looks like a new battery is in order 😃

I can recommend Tayna batteries , last Enduroline one I bought from them lasted 10 years

 

[Thingy]

Can I just add, check the age and type of your gas pigtail/s. If they are of the orange rubber variety, check the date and change if more than 5 years old. For what they cost, I recommend the stainless steel ones, as they dont plasticise and that is something that could potentially block jets.

 

[Buckman]

I can recommend Tayna batteries , last Enduroline one I bought from them lasted 10 years

We have bought from Tanya previously who offer excellent service however the only hassle is if you need to return a faulty battery.