Motor Mover and Battery Size

[whitetop]

Hi all.

Just purchased an E-go mover after one too many close shaves with my driveway gateposts.

Manual says 110 amp battery is recommended, but I currently have an 85 amp one in the van.

Would it be OK to use the 85 amp one or am I just asking for problems.

Mover

Average current Consumption = 20amps

Maximum Current Consumption = 120amps

Thanks..........David

 

[Guest]

Most motor movers are happiest with a large battery size, so 110 amps is preferred. 85 amp will work but will run short pretty quickly. I can only suggest try it and see and if it fails use the back up system. What is that?

You and the missus pushing, plus bribing the neighbours with free beers.

 

[trucker]

David R, id try the 85 amp. We used an 85 amp battery with a powrtouch mover for 3 years with no problems at all getting it up a slope for about 40 feet from the road to its storage place along side the house. We now have a 100 amp as we were given it nearly new with no apparent difference in operation. If we hadnt been given this we would still be using the 85

Kevin

 

[Terry_5112949]

I bought a new 85ah battery, then three months later bought a new Powrtouch mover, that was three years ago and the battery is still working OK. When this battery begins to fail I will no doubt replace it with a 110ah

 

[mistermac]

Hi David

I did the same thing - bought a mover, got the larger battery because 'You'll need it' etc.

However - I understand that most caravans are fitted with chargers that won't fully charge a 110 amp battery as they are fitted from standard with an 85 amp battery.

I'm not particularly technical, so I could be wrong on this.

However - everyone that I've spoken to who has an 85 amp battery seems to have no problems with their motor mover.

Could just be another sales pitch?

Mac

 

[whitetop]

Thanks to all.

I'll give the current ( sorry ) battery a go for a while and see how I get on.

Cheers.......David

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi David,

The battery rating 110/85Ah primarily referees to the size or capacity of the battery. In simple terms a fully charged 110A battery can supply 1Amp for 110 Hours or 110A for 1 hour. and the same process applies for the 85Ah battery. in practice it is a bit more complex than that but its good enough for this explanation.

All batteries will have a maximum current output rate. What it is depends on the individual battery design. Car batteries are often designed to provide 400 to 600 A peak current to start the car, Leisure batteries are designed for a less demanding output, but most should cope with the peak demand of your mover without distress.

The two figures for the current the mover uses relate as follows.

The 120A is effectively the stall current. The mover uses this amount of current for a small fraction of a second whilst it actually begins to turn the motor. as soon as the motor is turning the current very rapidly drops to some thing close to the lower value of 20A All this happens within less than a second, unless the wheel is jammed and it cant move.

Most movers are only normally needed for a few minutes just to position the caravan, most times it is less than 6 min. in total. 6 mins is one tenth of an hour, so if it was using 20A for 6min. that equates to only 2Ah power usage plus a bit for the starting current which should be negligible compared to the power used whilst actually moving, because of its very short duration.

By comparison, if you run your 12V reading spot lamp for 1 hour you will use a similar amount of power! so an 85ah battery should work quite effectively for you.

 

[whitetop]

Thanks John....

I only have to turn van 90 degrees and reverse back about 30 feet. Level driveway, apart from small kerb (1/2 inch or so).

Just really narrow street and getting the angle is really tight.

That said, got her in today in about 1 min......rare.

Cheers again.........David.