New leisure battery Needed

[Adrianchandler]

Hi people I am after some advice and recommendations on which leisure battery to get for my caravan I think my one is dyingthat I have at the moment ,most of my holidays use electric hookup but I do have a motor mover
Thanks
Adrian chandler

 

[Kevin2306]

I would put the biggest Varta that i could fit in the locker.

Kevin

 

[otherclive]

Much depends on how you plan to use the caravan. Are you on hook ups at regular sites with hard stand-ins or CL/CS. Whats it like getting you caravan back to its "home berth"? Ive never felt the need for more than 100 amp.As although some subscribe to bigger is better the mover doesn't actually draw that much energy from the battery unless you use it a lot. Ive got my caravan off of muddy fields with the mover and its managed it. Look at how the battery delivers its current sometimes quoted as CCA, but of course a caravan isn't a car but some makes do quote CCA on leisure batteries.
Fitting the battery into the box can sometime prove tricky if the if its a large capacity and exacerbated by any mover cables to.
On a 1400kg caravan that I bought in 2005, Reich advised a minimum capacity of 75 amp hours, but qualified it by pointing out that if you were on a non electric site the energy draw down when staying in the van need to be considered if the mover was required to take the van off of the site.

Leisure batteries are now categorised in three levels again depending on how they will be used. The CMHC have a good tech sheet on their website which explains it.

I would probably be looking at somewhere between 95-115 amp hours which would give you some flexibly if you wanted a weekend stay on say a THS or Rally in summer.

 

[saint-spoon]

Comprehensive answer there OC.
Halfords aren't bad value. It depends on what you want from the battery. I have a 115w/o and 80w briefcase solar panel,that sees us right and we are off grid most weekends over the summer with EHU for main holidays...

We don't have a bunkum box in the caravan though

 

[Adrianchandler]

Thanks guys, yes use Electric hook up when on holiday,noticed that my motor mover was struggling with moving my caravan up a high drop kerb out side our house last week use a none branded battery 110amp at the mo not sure on which one is best for up too £150
Thanks
Adrian chandler

 

[ProfJohnL]

I have previously explained that despite a mover seeming to use high amperage's the actual current draw is not usually too big, and crucially, movers are rarely used for more than about 5Min, so when you actually work out the amount battery charge you will use its very rarely more than about 1Ah! It may surprise you to know that the typical caravan 12v florescent light will use more power over 1 hour than the mover is likely to do. In practice you do need a battery capable of delivering the motors highest current rating, so a couple of torch batteries wont do.

Virtually any car starter battery will do the job, because they are designed to deliver high currents for short times. What car batteries are not so good at is continually delivering a small current over longer periods as you would need if you were at a site with no mains.

If you are likely to use the caravan with no mains, then you may need the biggest leisure battery you can fit.

 

[Anseo]

Thanks guys, yes use Electric hook up when on holiday,noticed that my motor mover was struggling with moving my caravan up a high drop kerb out side our house last week use a none branded battery 110amp at the mo not sure on which one is best for up too £150
Thanks
Adrian chandler

Hi Adrian,

I'm not surprised that your motor mover struggled on the high drop kerb, pretty impressed that the mover overcame the additional load imposed on it it.

The motors do a job but they are not overly equipped for heavy loadings, I try to make things as easy as possible for the mover, no need to drop the kerb even lower , but a couple of boards or ramps strategically placed can lighten the burden on the movers.

 

[Dustydog]

How often do you buy a new caravan battery??
My view has always been big is beautiful. Not much difference in cost, in real terms. Go for 120amp h. It will give you an extra margin when the EHU fails.

 

[SirRogerFFS]

I know I am going to get shot down on this one but I would suggest a 110 amp battery.I bought mine through Tayna batteries. Measure your battery box and go to Tayna batteries on line where they give nyou the measurements of the batteries. There are also Gel batteries some of the Forum use which are much lighter .I only suggest Tayne as I had good service from them but I do know some on here that wasnt too pleased . The choice is yours .
Sir Roger

 

[Hutch]

I am with Sir Roger, I use Electric hook ups all the time cl /cs. So no need for the massive 115 amphere battery we have fitted , when this one goes Belly up I will go for the lightest battery I can find about 75 ampher Enough for the motor mover. Save another 5 kgs. On the payload.

 

[otherclive]

I know I am going to get shot down on this one but I would suggest a 110 amp battery.I bought mine through Tayna batteries. Measure your battery box and go to Tayna batteries on line where they give nyou the measurements of the batteries. There are also Gel batteries some of the Forum use which are much lighter .I only suggest Tayne as I had good service from them but I do know some on here that wasnt too pleased . The choice is yours .
Sir Roger

The purchase on line was no problem. Where I encountered a lot of difficulties was the fact that firstly it’s a devil of a job to get a remote supplier to accept that your battery has a problem. Secondly any used lead acid battery is classed as hazardous waste and only carriers licensed to carry hazardous waste will transport it. But they aren’t your normal carriers as they take stuff to recycling companies. It took a lot of unnecessary action on my part to get that battery back to the supplier. Still I finished up with a replacement battery and £14 out of pocket as by then I’d lost the willpower to continue the battle. So from there on I’ve bought batteries locally which weren’t much more expensive and could always be taken back in the event of problems.

 

[Craigyoung]

We've recently put a 12o amp in ours

 

[ProfJohnL]

Thanks guys, yes use Electric hook up when on holiday,noticed that my motor mover was struggling with moving my caravan up a high drop kerb out side our house last week use a none branded battery 110amp at the mo not sure on which one is best for up too £150
Thanks
Adrian chandler

This post was put on the forum whilst I was composing mine so I was not aware of the high kerb issue. I do know that the original Carver caravan movers only rated teh product for a 1:4 slope, not straight up a kerb, so i'm not surprised your mover struggled. A 1 in four slope effectively mean the mover is only lifting 25% of the caravan weight, where as the high kerb means it will be trying to lift virtually the whole caravan weight - a big difference. Get some form of ramp to make it less severe.