Yet another leisure battery question

[JimD1]

Hi All,

Sorry to ask what appears to be yet another leisure battery question, but as newbies, we need some advice......

This year we plan several 7 day trips away when we will be without EHU. The caravan we bought at the end of last year didn't come with a battery, so what ever happens we need to buy something. To get 7 days worth of power, my simple mind is saying that the cheapest option is probably 2 x 85AH batteries.

We don't have a motor mover, & we aren't bothered about watching TV, so we would be looking at the water pump, lighting, & the fan for the heater.

Are we tinking along the right lines? Am I missing something?

Thanks for your patience,

Jim

 

[jacky3]

hi,

a lot of people have 2 batteries,usually the biggest that will fit in the battery locker.some go down the root of generators or solar power panels.would advise not to use fan as this could eat away at your battery.some sites even recharge batteries for you,would ask on arrival.just be prudent with your utilities and you should be ok.

 

[JimD1]

Thanks for the reply. We decided that we didn't want to go down the generator route, & solar panels do seem to be expensive. I'm surprised about you comment about the fan....I didn't realised that it would eat that much power. Getting the battery recharged on-site won't be an option, as the weeks that we will be without EHU will be at dog agility shows in the middle of a big field....

Cheers,

Jim

 

[jacky3]

hi,

the fan is just my assunption,there will be more qualified people on here that can tell you the technical details etc

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi Jim,

It strikes me that you will only want to use power when you are resident in the caravan. And then not a great deal, so you might like to consider a solar panel, which will try to replenish your battery during the day. A 60w panel will go along way to keeping your battery with enough power for the evening. Some what lighter than a second battery.

Alternatively and this will involve a more complex wiring job, but basically arrange to have the caravan battery fitted in the car. This would need a properly constructed box to secure it and to ventilate any gas to the outside. Arrange to pick up the split charge relay feed to keep it charged when motoring, and have a socket on the car that allows the caravan to be connected.

But as a not very scientific guide, back in the summer of 1980 we spent a whole week in a caravan with no charging facilities at all. We survived on an 85Ah battery by just being frugal and going to bed early.

 

[JimD1]

Hi John,

Thanks for the reply. The Engineer in my likes the idea of a solar panel - however my Chief Finance Officer (SWMBO) has ruled it too expensive....

To be honest, the additional weight of a 2nd battery doesn't worry me too much - we will be towing with a Vauxhall Vivaro van, & I'm going to be nowhere near the max loading - I've got a max van payload of 1,100Kg to play with, & this still leaves me a theoretical 2,000Kg for the trailer/caravan. The caravan max gross weight is 1,300Kg, so as I say, weight doesn't worry me unduly.

I'm rerally just worried about 7/8 days on 2 x 85AH - I guess that if I look for a couple of slightly larger batteris (maybe 95AH) that I should be good.

Thanks again,

Jim

 

[jacky3]

hi,

if this is going to be a regular occurrance,would suggest john l's idea of a battery charging in the boot while you are on the move visiting the area etc.

http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/Documents/Looking after your leisure battery.pdf
http://www.marcleleisure.co.uk/Sund001/SplitCharge01.htm

 

[Mikey1]

I would get 110 amp batteries for a start,if you are not using big battery drain items ie tv then a smaller wattage solar panel would do the trick,for the price of the battery you could pick up a 20 watt one

 

[TD42]

I would seriously consider replacing some if not all your 12v lighting with LED bulbs these use just a fraction of the power consumption of normal bulbs,& particularly the halogen type of bulb.You will find this is one of the cheaper methods of conserving the battery, you can get some ideas from this site

http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/caravanmotorhome-leds-c-100.html?osCsid=6455023b4ab15ef3767125576e0bb616

 

[Sproket]

Jim

If you are thinking of going down the LED route to save on the juice ???

Have a look here at the Caktanks catalogue page 66

Caktanks price list

They are both PDF files....

 

[Guest]

Jim,

You need to carefully think about what you plan to do. I assume the battery locker in your van will only accommodate 1 battery at a time so the 2nd one will have to go in the tow vehicle and needs to be secured correctly, not just jammed in somewhere. If however, you are planning on carrying both batteries in the caravan then I suggest you look carefully at your payload as a 1300 kg van will probably only have about 200+ kg to play with and each battery is 20 kg.

John's idea of a solar charger is a good one but I would suggest trying to connect it directly to the battery in the van so it is charging continously. Either put the panel outside on the A Frame, or inside against the front window.

If you decide to buy another battery then it may be a good idea to ensure they are leisure type batteries, not car ones.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I would seriously consider replacing some if not all your 12v lighting with LED bulbs these use just a fraction of the power consumption of normal bulbs,& particularly the halogen type of bulb.You will find this is one of the cheaper methods of conserving the battery, you can get some ideas from this site

]http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/caravanmotorhome-leds-c-100.html?osCsid=6455023b4ab15ef3767125576e0bb616

http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/caravanm...sCsid=6455023b4ab15ef3767125576e0bb616[/quote
Excelent thinking. particularly as lighting is often one of the biggest drains on the power system as they are on for longer than most other appliances.

 

[JimD1]

Hi Guys,

Many thanks for all of the suggestions. I'm definitely looking closely at replacing the lighting with LEDs, & I'm leaning very strongly towards a solar charger connected to the caravan battery. Whatevber happens I need to by one battery, so I'll probably be looking at whatever the biggest leisure battery is that I can fit in the box.

Thanks again,

Jim

 

[SteveG1]

Hi Jim

Our pattern of caravanning is roughly (due to work) Easter, two May bank holidays and a fortnight late June early July. We have a hook up on these trips.

After this we use the C&CC temporary holiday sites which do not have a hook up. The battery is fully charged when we start, we have 3 or 4 weekends away including August bank holiday and we've never had a flat battery.

The battery is used for lighting and the water pump only. I and swmbo do use the shower so the pump gets a good work out and I suppose the water heater must use some power. We don't use the telly nor do we have two batteries - just the bog standard one we got with the van.

Your fan heater may draw power our van has just a simple gas fire. i would advise that you check your fridge works on gas - getting it started can be a problem, dust etc.

See how things go after one or two trips - it would appear that at a pinch you could charge your battery between trips.

Hope the above is of some use.

Steve G

 

[JimD1]

Hi Steve,

Thaks for your comments. I had thought that we could survive a long weekend, even possibly a 4 day weekend on one battery as we only plan to use it for the water pump, lighting & only use the fan assisted heater if absolutely necessary. However we do plan 2 trips away which will be for a full week, & both which will be without EHU which was the reason for the original question. These 2 trips won't be until later in the year, so we've got time to look at the other options. I guess the best thing is as always to try it 1st over long weekends & see how we go.

Cheers,

Jim