- Apr 9, 2015
- 392
- 238
- Funster No
- 35,784
- MH
- Pilote Aventura G730
- Exp
- since 2014!
Hi, I'm confused, despite reading everything I can find on this site, regarding this situation, and hope some of the wiser and more experienced Funsters can advise me.
We started motor homing with Nigel, a Pilote, based on a Talbot Express chassis. Quite simple, one vehicle battery under the bonnet, one (large) leisure battery under the passenger seat. plus 80w of solar power on the roof. Never had an issue with electrics, even when camping in the New Forest, without hook-up.
We decided to invest more, and address the daily bed construction issue, and bought Mo, a Rapido 746f. We are well pleased with the vehicle overall, and all the 'bells and whistles' it comes with.
Now we are planning a wild camping holiday around Scotland, and I am worried about the electrics.
The vehicle battery (under the passenger's feet) seems to die rather quickly when not used - five weeks of neglect, and it's dead. That's with no alarm set, just whatever Fiat choose to run when you are not using the vehicle. My assumption is that this is the original battery (vintage 2007), so needs replacement. However, after a full mains charge, and 24 hours off charge, just running Mr Fiat's oddities, it still shows 12.61v, which indicates it may not be as defunct as I thought!!!
Does anyone have any experience in such a situation? Am I right in my assumption and replacement?
Next is the leisure battery - just one fitted under a habitation module seat and, again, I assumed an original fit, there being many receipts in the documentation we received, none referring to new batteries. On taking it out to see how old it is, assuming it would have a date of manufacture, it turns out to be a gel battery, only 65Ah, with no date!
I had assumed, based on reading postings on this site, that I would probably be best advised to have a couple of leisure batteries (Hankooks seem to be well thought of) with a decent capacity (120+Ah), and a solar capability of around 200w. Now I don't know which way to go!!
I don't know if this battery is original, so 8-9 years old, or a new addition. I also don't know if the split charger has been set up for gel (I assume it has, as the battery seems to be in good condition), so would need adjustment if I were to change to wet batteries - the documentation for the motor home says nothing about gel vs wet batteries!
The gel battery is showing a voltage of 12.68, which seems quite good so, maybe, it's quite recent. Should I get another, similar gel battery, and a solar array to charge them, or still replace it, with a pair of gel batteries, and a solar installation adjusted to suit, if that's possible, bearing in mind that the vehicle battery will still be a lead acid one. Or should I go for a pair of wet batteries, and change the charger, somehow?
Or am I worrying unnecessarily, and should just trust in the existing set-up?
Does anyone have any sage thoughts? Any input gratefully received.
We started motor homing with Nigel, a Pilote, based on a Talbot Express chassis. Quite simple, one vehicle battery under the bonnet, one (large) leisure battery under the passenger seat. plus 80w of solar power on the roof. Never had an issue with electrics, even when camping in the New Forest, without hook-up.
We decided to invest more, and address the daily bed construction issue, and bought Mo, a Rapido 746f. We are well pleased with the vehicle overall, and all the 'bells and whistles' it comes with.
Now we are planning a wild camping holiday around Scotland, and I am worried about the electrics.
The vehicle battery (under the passenger's feet) seems to die rather quickly when not used - five weeks of neglect, and it's dead. That's with no alarm set, just whatever Fiat choose to run when you are not using the vehicle. My assumption is that this is the original battery (vintage 2007), so needs replacement. However, after a full mains charge, and 24 hours off charge, just running Mr Fiat's oddities, it still shows 12.61v, which indicates it may not be as defunct as I thought!!!
Does anyone have any experience in such a situation? Am I right in my assumption and replacement?
Next is the leisure battery - just one fitted under a habitation module seat and, again, I assumed an original fit, there being many receipts in the documentation we received, none referring to new batteries. On taking it out to see how old it is, assuming it would have a date of manufacture, it turns out to be a gel battery, only 65Ah, with no date!
I had assumed, based on reading postings on this site, that I would probably be best advised to have a couple of leisure batteries (Hankooks seem to be well thought of) with a decent capacity (120+Ah), and a solar capability of around 200w. Now I don't know which way to go!!
I don't know if this battery is original, so 8-9 years old, or a new addition. I also don't know if the split charger has been set up for gel (I assume it has, as the battery seems to be in good condition), so would need adjustment if I were to change to wet batteries - the documentation for the motor home says nothing about gel vs wet batteries!
The gel battery is showing a voltage of 12.68, which seems quite good so, maybe, it's quite recent. Should I get another, similar gel battery, and a solar array to charge them, or still replace it, with a pair of gel batteries, and a solar installation adjusted to suit, if that's possible, bearing in mind that the vehicle battery will still be a lead acid one. Or should I go for a pair of wet batteries, and change the charger, somehow?
Or am I worrying unnecessarily, and should just trust in the existing set-up?
Does anyone have any sage thoughts? Any input gratefully received.