New Leisure battery (1 Viewer)

flashkim

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Well sunny today so went in search of a new battery for the Van.....Plenty of choice in the 2 year guarantee group, but most no name brands...Went to Europarts and managed to discount down a Bosch 105ah to £80 from £107 fits a treat...now perhaps the diesel heater will stay on longer, still a bit chilly last weekend :Smile:
 
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We have webasto diesel heating and found that normal leisure batteries didn't cut it for our kind of touring . We tend to rally or we stay on site we never have hook up.
Ralph was told about deep cell Trojan batteries by an old trucker friend of his . We now have 2 and have never looked back. We can go days on end at - temps with the heating on , without worrying about having flat batteries , without hook up .
 
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flashkim

flashkim

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We have webasto diesel heating and found that normal leisure batteries didn't cut it for our kind of touring . We tend to rally or we stay on site we never have hook up.
Ralph was told about deep cell Trojan batteries by an old trucker friend of his . We now have 2 and have never looked back. We can go days on end at - temps with the heating on , without worrying about having flat batteries , without hook up .
Well I will see how this Bosch works out...I could really do with 2 in the back linked AND a trauma blow heater or something as running Diesel heating is getting expensive ..I saw £1.59 on the M25 today returning from Canterbury. I must look into a gas heater,although the gas cupboard on my Chausson only holds one 12.5kg ? bottle. Still learning ,all being stored away for the next van :thumb:

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jonandshell

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Well I will see how this Bosch works out...I could really do with 2 in the back linked AND a trauma blow heater or something as running Diesel heating is getting expensive ..I saw £1.59 on the M25 today returning from Canterbury. I must look into a gas heater,although the gas cupboard on my Chausson only holds one 12.5kg ? bottle. Still learning ,all being stored away for the next van :thumb:

Believe you me, diesel heating is cheaper then gas!

We did 12 days in the Alps during January on about 3/4 of a tank. That is £75 in our money! Our gas consumption for cooking and the fridge over the 16 days we spent away was £11. Ours is a Gaslow system.
The heating was on 24/7, doing both blown air and hot water. The thermostat was set at a constant 20 degrees C, outside was persistently -5 to -20 C.

Other Funsters present were swapping 13 Kg Calor bottles every other day. At £25.49 a bottle, do the maths!

Factor in the installation of your new gas heater and the space you lose insids the van and I don't think it's worth worrying about.:Smile:
 
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flashkim

flashkim

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Oct 28, 2012
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We have webasto diesel heating and found that normal leisure batteries didn't cut it for our kind of touring . We tend to rally or we stay on site we never have hook up.
Ralph was told about deep cell Trojan batteries by an old trucker friend of his . We now have 2 and have never looked back. We can go days on end at - temps with the heating on , without worrying about having flat batteries , without hook up .
Blooming heck they are serious priced battery's ,thanks for the up though Kim
 

pappajohn

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Well I will see how this Bosch works out...I could really do with 2 in the back linked AND a trauma blow heater or something as running Diesel heating is getting expensive ..I saw £1.59 on the M25 today returning from Canterbury. I must look into a gas heater,although the gas cupboard on my Chausson only holds one 12.5kg ? bottle. Still learning ,all being stored away for the next van :thumb:
shouldnt be that expensive !!!

Webasto should run for approx 10hrs on 1ltr of diesel at 1kw aetting or 2ltrs at 2kw etc

thats just 15p/30p per hour


answer 11 in the link

http://motorhome.webasto.co.uk/service/faq-knowledge-database.html#c1837

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flashkim

flashkim

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Believe you me, diesel heating is cheaper then gas!

We did 12 days in the Alps during January on about 3/4 of a tank. That is £75 in our money! Our gas consumption for cooking and the fridge over the 16 days we spent away was £11. Ours is a Gaslow system.

Other Funsters present were swapping 23 Kg Calor bottles every other day. At £27 a bottle, do the maths!

Factor in the installation of your new gas heater and the space you lose insids the van and I don't think it's worth worrying about.:Smile:

I know your probably right ..but when I got to the fuel pay till at Asda today, and it was £96 .........:cry:
 

jonandshell

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I know your probably right ..but when I got to the fuel pay till at Asda today, and it was £96 .........:cry:

Ha ha! A good reason to head abroad for hols!

Although the price difference isn't as good as it once was! Unless you want to holiday in Luxembourg!::bigsmile:
 
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flashkim

flashkim

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Oct 28, 2012
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shouldnt be that expensive !!!

Webasto should run for approx 10hrs on 1ltr of diesel at 1kw aetting or 2ltrs at 2kw etc

thats just 15p/30p per hour

answer 11 in the link

http://motorhome.webasto.co.uk/service/faq-knowledge-database.html#c1837
Well thanks for this bit of detail, I will print and save . I never thought it used as little as that ...I will not be so scared of using it now :thumb:

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pappajohn

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I know your probably right ..but when I got to the fuel pay till at Asda today, and it was £96 .........:cry:

is that all. :roflmto:

costs me that just to fill the lpg road gas tank and will only get me 240 miles
stil...cheaper than filling the petrol tank at £400plus. :cry:
 
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flashkim

flashkim

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Oct 28, 2012
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is that all. :roflmto:

costs me that just to fill the lpg road gas tank and will only get me 240 miles
stil...cheaper than filling the petrol tank at £400plus. :cry:

Well I should be grateful for small Mercy's then ..as my trip computer said ...Range 475miles after filling up...me heart goes out to you ,mind you you have got more room to swing that cat than me, gwe Kim

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Chockswahay

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Believe you me, diesel heating is cheaper then gas!

We did 12 days in the Alps during January on about 3/4 of a tank. That is £75 in our money! Our gas consumption for cooking and the fridge over the 16 days we spent away was £11.

I'm confused :Confused: Do you mean £75 for 16 days or £11 for 16 days?
 

normanandsue

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We have webasto diesel heating and found that normal leisure batteries didn't cut it for our kind of touring . We tend to rally or we stay on site we never have hook up.
Ralph was told about deep cell Trojan batteries by an old trucker friend of his . We now have 2 and have never looked back. We can go days on end at - temps with the heating on , without worrying about having flat batteries , without hook up .

I have a Webasto heater and only had it on for about 4 hours a day and it robbed all the power from my 3 leisure batteries in 4 days.(Without EHU; worked fine when connected to EHU) I have yet to test the leisure batteries for a dead cell but I wondered what model of Trojan battery you used and would having solar panels affect what type of leisure battery ought to be bought.

Norman
 

jonandshell

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I'm confused :Confused: Do you mean £75 for 16 days or £11 for 16 days?

The heating is diesel powered. The total length of the trip was 16 days. Total gas useage for the 16 days was £11. The gas runs the oven, hob and fridge.

It is hard tojudge diesel useage by the Webasto when you are travelling daily, however we were stationary for 12 days at Val Thorens. Diesel useage during this time was 3/4 of a tank.

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Believe you me, diesel heating is cheaper then gas!

We did 12 days in the Alps during January on about 3/4 of a tank. That is £75 in our money! Our gas consumption for cooking and the fridge over the 16 days we spent away was £11. Ours is a Gaslow system.
The heating was on 24/7, doing both blown air and hot water. The thermostat was set at a constant 20 degrees C, outside was persistently -5 to -20 C.

Other Funsters present were swapping 13 Kg Calor bottles[HI] every other day[/HI]. At £25.49 a bottle, do the maths!

Factor in the installation of your new gas heater and the space you lose insids the van and I don't think it's worth worrying about.:Smile:

What were they doing drinking it? Even in the depths of winter I only use a full 11KG gaslow cylinder a week for heating, cooking and hot water. 13K every other day sounds pretty extreme?
 

jonandshell

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A bottle every 2-3 days appeared to be the normal useage for those extreme conditions.

If I am wrong, hopefully another skiing Funster will correct me.
 

jonandshell

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How did this change from a battery thread to gas versus diesel heating?!:Doh:

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Feb 27, 2011
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A bottle every 2-3 days appeared to be the normal useage for those extreme conditions.

If I am wrong, hopefully another skiing Funster will correct me.

Sorry what extreme conditions? Did I miss something :Doh:
 

ukbill

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just changed my battery on my van a cariosa 694 what a frigging nightmare the housing for the battery is on the outside of the van and needs to be lowered by a pully system then when the housing tray is down you remove the battery another nightmare as the gap for the battery is less that the size of the bloody battery and you have to tilt the battery to get it in which is not easy as the batteries are really not that light in weight i think the best thing is to look at having the battery moved to another position unless there is something i am missing or doing wrong ?:Doh:
 

jonandshell

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just changed my battery on my van a cariosa 694 what a frigging nightmare the housing for the battery is on the outside of the van and needs to be lowered by a pully system then when the housing tray is down you remove the battery another nightmare as the gap for the battery is less that the size of the bloody battery and you have to tilt the battery to get it in which is not easy as the batteries are really not that light in weight i think the best thing is to look at having the battery moved to another position unless there is something i am missing or doing wrong ?:Doh:

Sounds like the battery needs moving!

Dangling under the van in the cold isn't the best place for a battery, they like to be in the warm!

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ukbill

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yep i agree with ya but why on earth did they put the bloody thing there in the 1st place and my van is not normally more than around 4 weeks in storage so its in constant use need to get it done proper cause they have to have ventilation :Cool:
 
Nov 30, 2009
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I have a Webasto heater and only had it on for about 4 hours a day and it robbed all the power from my 3 leisure batteries in 4 days.(Without EHU; worked fine when connected to EHU) I have yet to test the leisure batteries for a dead cell but I wondered what model of Trojan battery you used and would having solar panels affect what type of leisure battery ought to be bought.

Norman

Hi, we use Trojan T-105 battery's http://www.tayna.co.uk/T-105-Trojan-Battery-Deep-Cycle-T105-P7253.html. :thumb:

We also have solar on board and have no issues with the trojans. The solar panel keeps them topped up and in great condition when in storage. I believe if they are fully charged they shouldn't freeze up....

One thing to consider when choosing the traction type battery is that they need to be in a sealed battery box and vented to the outside of the van. They will give off gases during charging at high voltage. Mine are kept in a sealed container with vent tubes ducted through the floor.

You wont be disappointed with the performance of traction battery's....They just keep going :Smile:

Ralph
 

normanandsue

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Hi, we use Trojan T-105 battery's http://www.tayna.co.uk/T-105-Trojan-Battery-Deep-Cycle-T105-P7253.html. :thumb:

We also have solar on board and have no issues with the trojans. The solar panel keeps them topped up and in great condition when in storage. I believe if they are fully charged they shouldn't freeze up....

One thing to consider when choosing the traction type battery is that[HI] they need to be in a sealed battery box and vented to the outside of the van. They will give off gases during charging at high voltage. [/HI]Mine are kept in a sealed container with vent tubes ducted through the floor.

You wont be disappointed with the performance of traction battery's....They just keep going :Smile:

Ralph

Thanks for the information Ralph however the highlighted comment about a sealed & vented battery box worries me as my battery box is inside, under the floor of my "A Class" but from memory I think there is a 2cm drain hole in the floor of the battery box. Would this be enough ventilation?

Norman

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pappajohn

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What were they doing drinking it? Even in the depths of winter I only use a full 11KG gaslow cylinder a week for heating, cooking and hot water. 13K every other day sounds pretty extreme?

A bottle every 2-3 days appeared to be the normal useage for those extreme conditions.

If I am wrong, hopefully another skiing Funster will correct me.
I was told, many years ago, that a calor gas cabinet heater (superser) set on one burner (approx 1kw from memory) will run continuously for 72hrs (3 days) on a 13kg bottle.
and they were, near as damn it, right. :thumb:
 
Nov 30, 2009
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Since 2009 with motorhomes several caravans then tents before that.
Thanks for the information Ralph however the highlighted comment about a sealed & vented battery box worries me as my battery box is inside, under the floor of my "A Class" but from memory I think there is a 2cm drain hole in the floor of the battery box. Would this be enough ventilation?

Norman

I am no expert on this but my battery box is inside under a seat locker.
The box is totally sealed to the inside of the van and vented from the top of the box using two flexible tubes with an internal diameter of around 40mm.

I can briefly remember reading that the venting needs to be at the top of the battery box as the gas will rise and collect here. I have heard of people installing computer fans to help circulate the airflow and push out the gasses.

I would search around some of the boating forums as they all seem to use traction battery's and happily use them in internal locations.

Sorry i cant be more technical on the subject.

Ralph :Smile:
 

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