is this a plan? (batteries) (1 Viewer)

Jazzbow

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As you may have gathered we are not the brightest, thankfully we have you lot!

We're going to the Hebrides next week WOO HOO, BUTwe're going to be off hook up. We have a 75ah battery which is fully charged at the minute. My plan is to buy another battery 95ah (?) swap it for the one that is there, use that one til its done and then put the original back in. When we come home I was gonna put one on a solar trickle charger in the shed. Does this sound ok? We haven't got enough room in the locker for two batteries. I have read bits and pieces about voltmeters and not letting your battery get below 11(????) It's not for the lay man is it :Eeek:
Thanks, and if anyone wants to know about mental health issues feel free to ask us!
Dawn
 
Feb 16, 2013
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If you haven't got room for two, how are you going to take it with you. If you run your engine a bit one should be ok but if you are having another I'd go for a 110
 
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Jazzbow

Jazzbow

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If you haven't got room for two, how are you going to take it with you. If you run your engine a bit one should be ok but if you are having another I'd go for a 110
we were going to put the one we're not using is the space under the seats. Is that not ok?
can someone recommend a brand of 110 battery?

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pappajohn

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the second battery doesnt have to go in the same locker......

my original was under the passenger seat and the two extra 110ah batteries were under the dinette seat behind the drivers seat.

as long as you can run wires between the batteries to connect them together you can put them where you want within reason.
 
Feb 9, 2008
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I think you may be heading for a problem. This of course depends on how much electricity you need to draw from your battery bank over a period of a week! If you have LED lighting and low wattage TV's that you only use for a couple of hours each night you should be OK.
Ideally, you should never let a battery discharge more than 20%. If you intend to run the battery until it's completely flat and change it, don't bother bringing it back, it will be worthless.
My advice would be to fit two leisure batteries of the same AH (2x110 AH) would be great and keep an eye on your usage via the control panel.

Make sure you do not draw any power from your cab battery other than to start the engine otherwise you could find yourself without enough power to start your engine.
Consider fitting a Solar Panel if you are going to do this often or a quiet generator.

If you with other camper vans you will probably get some good advice and help if you come unstuck. Other than that, do some more research and get to know what you really need to ensure you have a trouble free outing.

Enjoy yourself.

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Aug 30, 2012
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You want the battery with largest storage capacity 110 or more that will fit
Can't you borrow a little genny as back up Easier than swapping battery's
 

Geo

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As you may have gathered we are not the brightest, thankfully we have you lot!

We're going to the Hebrides next week WOO HOO, BUTwe're going to be off hook up. We have a 75ah battery which is fully charged at the minute. My plan is to buy another battery 95ah (?) swap it for the one that is there, use that one til its done and then put the original back in. When we come home I was gonna put one on a solar trickle charger in the shed. Does this sound ok? We haven't got enough room in the locker for two batteries. I have read bits and pieces about voltmeters and not letting your battery get below 11(????) It's not for the lay man is it :Eeek:
Thanks, and if anyone wants to know about mental health issues feel free to ask us!
Dawn

Is there any hope for this lot on ere:RollEyes:

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Feb 16, 2013
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we were going to put the one we're not using is the space under the seats. Is that not ok?
can someone recommend a brand of 110 battery?

Most on here recommend banner but I have a Bosch on mine 5 year old and still going strong
Fingers crossed
 
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Jazzbow

Jazzbow

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Is there any hope for this lot on ere:RollEyes:

Aye- keep taking the tablets! :ROFLMAO:

If you intend to run the battery until it's completely flat and change it, don't bother bringing it back, it will be worthless.
See- this is the worrying bit :Sad: what is the point in having a battery if you can't use it!?

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Ivory55

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hi we wanted extra capacity in batteries so got dave newel to put 2 new batteries on the 2nd he put under the passenger seat all connected together works a treat. cheers ivory55
 

pappajohn

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Aye- keep taking the tablets! :ROFLMAO:

If you intend to run the battery until it's completely flat and change it, don't bother bringing it back, it will be worthless.
See- this is the worrying bit :Sad: what is the point in having a battery if you can't use it!?
the advice given is sound but i dispute the 20% figure.

the accepted figure is a maximum 50% discharge for a standard lead/acid battery.

battery chemistry is a strange animal.

if a battery is discharged too low, or completely flattened, it begins to develop a coating on the internal plates...a little like limescale in a kettle.
its proper name is lead sulfate.

this coating is an insulator and eventually stops the battery being charged and the more often this happens the worse it gets until its only good for the bin....this could be a little as a few months if regularly flattened.
 
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the advice given is sound but i dispute the 20% figure.



I was hoping to add an attachment that would support my statement but the document is bigger than the measaly 19KB allowed so have copied the actual wording from the document and below that the link to the web page if you want to download the complete document. (worth doing IMO)

Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page for the link.

Never totally
discharge a battery. It
is unlikely that you will
be able to recharge it
again.
In practice it is
better to never let your
battery discharge to
less than 80 per cent
of its capacity.
If you allow the
battery to discharge
beyond half its
capacity it is unlikely
that you will fully
recharge it again.

Link Removed

All the best.

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pappajohn

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I was hoping to add an attachment that would support my statement but the document is bigger than the measaly 19KB allowed so have copied the actual wording from the document and below that the link to the web page if you want to download the complete document. (worth doing IMO)

Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page for the link.

Never totally
discharge a battery. It
is unlikely that you will
be able to recharge it
again.
In practice it is
better to never let your
battery discharge to
less than 80 per cent
of its capacity.
If you allow the
battery to discharge
beyond half its
capacity it is unlikely
that you will fully
recharge it again.

Link Removed

All the best.
I'll see your document wording and raise you with this one.

Maintainance
Charge Discharge Cycling
Although it is possible to discharge the battery to around 20% of its capacity, it is recommended that it should be discharged to no less than 50% of its capacity before being recharged. This will maximize life, and around 100- 200 charging cycles can be expected, depending on manufacturer.

The existing state of charge can be measured by using a Voltmeter across the terminals, with no load connected (open circuit):

Fully Charged = 12.7V
Three Quarters Charged= 12.5V
Half Charged = 12.4V
Quarter Charged = 12.2V
Fully Discharged = 11.7V
When fully discharged, and with load connected a terminal voltage of around would be expected 10.5V

Leisure batteries should never be allowed to become fully discharged; permanent damage can result. If left in a discharged state for any length of time Sulphation can occur. This is as a result of an internal chemical reaction and displays as a whitish gray coating (lead sulphate) on the battery plates preventing normal battery operation. Excessive Sulphation is almost always irreversible and requires the battery to be replaced.


Broken Link Removed

this is one of those subjects where there is no definitive answer so the argument can go on and on....

i would rather discharge to 50% so the battery has to 'work' rather than doing next to nothing.

batteries prefer being fully charged if stored but cycled in service..
 

Deckard

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I'll see your document wording and raise you with this one.

Maintainance
Charge Discharge Cycling
Although it is possible to discharge the battery to around 20% of its capacity, it is recommended that it should be discharged to no less than 50% of its capacity before being recharged. This will maximize life, and around 100- 200 charging cycles can be expected, depending on manufacturer.

The existing state of charge can be measured by using a Voltmeter across the terminals, with no load connected (open circuit):

Fully Charged = 12.7V
Three Quarters Charged= 12.5V
Half Charged = 12.4V
Quarter Charged = 12.2V
Fully Discharged = 11.7V
When fully discharged, and with load connected a terminal voltage of around would be expected 10.5V

Leisure batteries should never be allowed to become fully discharged; permanent damage can result. If left in a discharged state for any length of time Sulphation can occur. This is as a result of an internal chemical reaction and displays as a whitish gray coating (lead sulphate) on the battery plates preventing normal battery operation. Excessive Sulphation is almost always irreversible and requires the battery to be replaced.


Broken Link Removed

this is one of those subjects where there is no definitive answer so the argument can go on and on....

i would rather discharge to 50% so the battery has to 'work' rather than doing next to nothing.

batteries prefer being fully charged if stored but cycled in service..


I am with papa on this - 50% max discharge or the aforementioned chemical breakdown occurs, effectively trashing the battery.

Its probably not practical to be suggesting solar at this point- but do so for the future - maybe hire or buy a small genny for now?

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lorger

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Cant help you with the battery question just thought id let you know we did 2 week in the outer hebrides with one battery 110ah only charging it when on the move and we had no problems what so ever. it is light there just about all day so you wont be using much in the way of lights and with the views you will have the TV wont be on much either.
 
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Jazzbow

Jazzbow

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Cant help you with the battery question just thought id let you know we did 2 week in the outer hebrides with one battery 110ah only charging it when on the move and we had no problems what so ever. it is light there just about all day so you wont be using much in the way of lights and with the views you will have the TV wont be on much either.

Thanks, I read your blog :thumb: We just wanted the TV for a couple of hours in the evening.
It just seems completely daft that you have a battery but you can only use half of it. Our control panel isn't too specific so if we do go over the 50% then we won't know. Grrrr
Thanks to all of you for your replies
Dawn
 
Feb 16, 2013
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Thanks, I read your blog :thumb: We just wanted the TV for a couple of hours in the evening.
It just seems completely daft that you have a battery but you can only use half of it. Our control panel isn't too specific so if we do go over the 50% then we won't know. Grrrr
Thanks to all of you for your replies
Dawn
If you move about a bit you should be fine with one battery for that if its a good one
 
Feb 9, 2008
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I'll see your document wording and raise you with this one.

it is recommended that it should be discharged to no less than 50% of its capacity before being recharged[/COLOR][/B]. This will maximize life, and around 100- 200 charging cycles can be expected, depending on manufacturer.

I find your comment interesting, in particular the statement about 100-200 charging cycles.
My leisure batteries specification states the following:
Specifications:
Deep cycle and engine start.
Dimensions (LxWxH): 353 x 175 x 190 mm.
Weight: 25.2kg.
Cycle life: 1000 cycles to 80%dod.
Guarantee: full 5 year, maintenence free.

My take on this spec is If I only discharge my batteries to 80% I will get 1000 charging cycles.
Your expert states 100-200 cycles and I believe this is because the batteries are being discharged by 50% and as a result reducing their life significantly. It would be helpful if we had the battery spec for the batteries your comment refers to so we could see how many cycles the manufacturer states would be obtained with only a 20% discharge.

Two nil to me, I think.

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