Battery power/requirements ?

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headlight

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Swift Suntor 590RL
I have a 2006 Swift 590 Suntor with the Ducato 2.3JTD engine.
Hab battery is single Yuasa 110AH, no solar.
Would this suffice for the very odd night off grid just using lights, water pump and an hour or 2 of TV ?
I previously had a PVC that I did this with but that had 2 X 125AH batteries.
 
Forgot to say TV would be off an inverter.
 
One not get should be ok but for the sake of another battery ,I would add another ,then at least you have no worries of available power. (y)
 
Before solar was common, we would rally for 5 nights on a single battery. Careful use of lights and heating and it can be done. The big issue is the tv via inverter as they are not efficient

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Jimbohorlicks said:
One not get should be ok but for the sake of another battery ,I would add another ,then at least you have no worries of available power. (y)
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Unfortunately the battery box is only big enough for a single battery.
 
I had a 590 years ago and added a second battery in a box under the seats
 
Do what you can to lower the load. E. G. Change bulbs for led and get a low current 12v tv. Often the 240v tv's use a step-down transformer to 12v and can be used without the mains lead.
 
headlight said:
I have a 2006 Swift 590 Suntor with the Ducato 2.3JTD engine.
Hab battery is single Yuasa 110AH, no solar.
Would this suffice for the very odd night off grid just using lights, water pump and an hour or 2 of TV ?
I previously had a PVC that I did this with but that had 2 X 125AH batteries.
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It'll be fine, provided it has somewhere near its design capacity. If you need more, then replace with Lithium as you have no spare for more batteries and they're a fraction of the size, especially when considering usable capacity.

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Most small TV are 12v through a wall wart. You may be able to simply change the lead. Running through an inverter to raise 12v to 230v and then transform it back to 12v is not very efficient.
 
My TV is 24 inch mains power.
I'm normally on EHU so using it is not an issue.
I have a 1000 watt inverter which has not been used yet.
My HAB battery is in a box in the HAB floor.
I think I'll see if I can locate a second battery and connect them in parallel to double my amperage.
 
Measured up and I can fit a second battery in the locker under the drivers side sofa.
It's only a 2 foot odd cable run from there to the other battery.
I know that I connect negative to negative and positive to positive thereby doubling my amperage but still being 12v.
My Sargent charger info sheet says to upgrade the blade fuse from 20 to 40 amps if using a second battery.
My question is do I leave the charge wires where they are ie both on one battery or do I put them on one terminal on one battery and the opposite terminal on the other battery ?
 
In theory it would be best to have +ve off one battery and -ve off the other, but with only two batteries, it is probably not worth the the bother.
 
well, I would say it is absolutely worth the bother.
How old is the battery you currently have installed?

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Hoovie said:
well, I would say it is absolutely worth the bother.
How old is the battery you currently have installed?
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I connected my two batteries +ve on one & -ve on the other, but have since read numerous posts on the forum saying not much advantage with only two batteries. :giggle:
 
What can I say? They were not correct. And it is not theory, but reality.

Obviously it will still work, but it is optimum?
I took my pair of 110Ah batteries and did a test running in both ways, seeing how long the batteries would run a compressor fridge before hitting 12.0V (which is approx 50% for a 12V Lead Acid battery) and I got notably more when the batteries were connected in the correct manner.
There is all kind of information explaining why balancing the batteries by using the right connections will provide more energy if people want to look.
 
Hoovie said:
well, I would say it is absolutely worth the bother.
How old is the battery you currently have installed?
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The old battery is less than 1 year old.
I tested it yesterday with a good quality DMM and after 2 weeks of the MH being parked up unused it was showing 12.97 volts so it is in pretty good condition.
 
If you want to get rid of the inverter for the TV check carefully as when I last looked most small TVs no longer run at 12v it's more like 17. Have you thought about just putting the lights and TV on for a few hrs at home and checking what happens to the battery?. We only had one 90 ah battery for years and did fine off grid but we hardly watch any TV. When we do we have an Aldi 12 v TV it's pretty good for the price a lot easier to swap the TV than fit an extra battery.
 
headlight said:
The old battery is less than 1 year old.
I tested it yesterday with a good quality DMM and after 2 weeks of the MH being parked up unused it was showing 12.97 volts so it is in pretty good condition.
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The general recommodation is the batteries should be the same age, type (AGM vs GEL vs SLA, etc) and ideally make, model and size, but 1 year with minimal use should be doable.
Do a full charge on both batteries individually before pairing them and DO connect them so the only +ve connection to the outside world is on Battery A, and the only -ve connection out is on Battery B (which is A and which is B matters not - choose by whatever is easiest to cable).

With a 2 foot run between the two batteries, you must add fuse protection at BOTH ends of the +ve Cable, as both ends are at a power source.
And to cable correctly, you need to run both +ve and -ve cables between the batteries. A lot of people in that situation will run just a +ve and connect the -ve of the new battery to a handy chassis/earth point. Yes, if you do that it will work, but it will not give you the best results. If you are going to the trouble to buy a new battery and cables, might as well do it right.

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My TV is a 24' mains TV hence the inverter.
 
headlight said:
My TV is a 24' mains TV hence the inverter.
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I think most assumed that. But a lot have a separate power transformer outside the TV hence people saying about wiring it differently and the 22 v Aldi TV we got was I think about£120 hence me saying it would be easier to swap the TV than add a battery. What's the power consumption of the TV at the moment?
 
Hoovie said:
The general recommodation is the batteries should be the same age, type (AGM vs GEL vs SLA, etc) and ideally make, model and size, but 1 year with minimal use should be doable.
Do a full charge on both batteries individually before pairing them and DO connect them so the only +ve connection to the outside world is on Battery A, and the only -ve connection out is on Battery B (which is A and which is B matters not - choose by whatever is easiest to cable).

With a 2 foot run between the two batteries, you must add fuse protection at BOTH ends of the +ve Cable, as both ends are at a power source.
And to cable correctly, you need to run both +ve and -ve cables between the batteries. A lot of people in that situation will run just a +ve and connect the -ve of the new battery to a handy chassis/earth point. Yes, if you do that it will work, but it will not give you the best results. If you are going to the trouble to buy a new battery and cables, might as well do it right.
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That's why I tested the battery yesterday.
Given its age and resting voltage I don't see the point of replacing it.
If it had been older or the resting voltage had been lower I would have changed it.
My thoughts are 170amp cable + to + and - to - the positive cable with a 20 amp fuse.
The charge wires one to the + of one battery and the other to the - of the other battery with the 20amp fuse swapped for a 40 amp fuse as recommended by Sargent.
Then the + out from one battery and - from the other battery.
I'm sure this is how the dual battery set up is on my boat.
To me it makes sense as that way you do actually have one big battery as opposed to one battery with another jumped on to it which isn't the same in terms of power delivery and charging.
 
Hoovie said:
What can I say? They were not correct. And it is not theory, but reality.

Obviously it will still work, but it is optimum?
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Thank you, duly noted - I stand corrected. I wouldn't want to get a reputation for giving bad advice on the forum. :giggle:
 
I would use a bigger fuse and NOT a blade fuse. Use Midi Fuse Holders with either a Midi, MIni-ANL, or Strip Fuse. (remember need protection BOTH ends!)

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Hoovie said:
I would use a bigger fuse and NOT a blade fuse. Use Midi Fuse Holders with either a Midi, MIni-ANL, or Strip Fuse. (remember need protection BOTH ends!)
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In the charge lead or the positive lead joining the batteries together ?
 
There should be a fuse protection on every positive cable leaving a power source.
So on the cable joining the two batteries together, you need a fuse on each end with a length of 2 foot. If the batteries were adjacent to each other and so very short, a fuse is not critical (recommended still actually, but rarely fitted).
When I fit a pair of batteries into VW Transporter Cabs, one battery under each seat base, the +ve cable beween the batteries gets a fuse each end even though the cable run is pretty well protected and not that long.
On the charge lead, again, both are power sources and it depends on cable runs and positioning. If you are talking about a B2B or Split Charge Relay, then again, a fuse at the Starter Battery end, and a Fuse at the Leisure Battery end. If the cable run is long and you have a VSR, for example when the Starter Battery is in the engine bay, then it can be a good idea to fit a fuse at either end of the long cable.
Visualize a cable getting damaged and think to yourself is there any protection from the power source to the damaged end shorting to ground? if not, it needs it.
 
Would a 20 amp fuse either end of the cable joining the 2 positives together be sufficient rating or would 40 amp be better ?
My Sargent battery charger booklet says if running 2 batteries from it then to replace the 20 amp fuse with a 40amp fuse.
 
Another question which I've not been able to find the answer to.
With the engine running and the starter battery charged roughly how many amps will the split charge deliver to my leisure batteries, to give me an idea of how long I would need to drive for to top the leisure batteries back up ?
 

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