Leisure battery connection

[Howard B]

Hi All,

my recent Habitation check identified that the original Adria marked battery was operating at well below capacity and the fitter recommended it was changed.

The Varta AGM 95A battery a lot newer and appears to be fine. I plan to replace the Adria battery for a Varta LA80 AGM 80A battery in the next few weeks. The 80A is the largest that will fit in the space the Adria currently occupies.

At present everything seems to feeds into and off the Adria battery; Internal charging , Solar etc. There is also a 350w invertor connected to the Adria battery. The Varta is connected in parallel.

When I replace the Adria battery, is the current set up the most effective way to reconnect everything?

Thanks for looking.

 

[Lenny HB]

If the second battery is more than a year old you really need to replace both batteries.
Depending on what your charger is capable of I would be inclined to replace the AGM's with standard flooded batteries or Gels., AGM are really not very good as leisure batteries.

 

[Scotsblood]

As Lenny says AGM maybe aren't the best option unless your charging setup is perfectly matched to the regime needed by AGM's.
I think this probably explains it quite well;-AGM explained

 

[Phill D]

the Adria's mostly have the hab batteries located under seating inside the hab area with no venting, so a 80ah Gel was fitted to ours not AGM. i found that the Exide ES1300 Gel 120ah 1300WH is the same footprint as the 80Ah original except it is slightly taller .

 

[autorouter]

There's an easy thing you can do that will make a slight improvement by equalising the voltage drops along the cables and interconnections. Swap the two negative connections over, so that the main negative goes to the near battery, and the link wire goes to the far battery. This works best when the two batteries are identical, but is of some benefit whatever batteries you have.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Howard B]

the Adria's mostly have the hab batteries located under seating inside the hab area with no venting, so a 80ah Gel was fitted to ours not AGM. i found that the Exide ES1300 Gel 120ah 1300WH is the same footprint as the 80Ah original except it is slightly taller .

THe Exide is too long to fit under my seat.

 

[Howard B]

OK having measured & measured again the only way I can get over 100A Gel without cutting the floor to try and relocate the mains cables are either installing this 60A https://www.tayna.co.uk/leisure-batteries/exide/es650/ and this 85A https://www.tayna.co.uk/leisure-batteries/exide/es950/ if this configuration would work
or installing a single 120A https://www.tayna.co.uk/leisure-batteries/exide/es1300/

 

[Lenny HB]

Can you not get two of the ES 900's in? much cheaper option.

 

[cmcardle75]

Do you do much off-grid? What chargers do you have? If you like going off-grid and have modern chargers, a Lithium upgrade will let you get way more storage into the small space.

 

[Howard B]

Can you not get two of the ES 900's in? much cheaper option.

Infortunatley the space for thevsecond battery is only 327mm long which excludes most of the 80A+ batteries

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Howard B]

Do you do much off-grid? What chargers do you have? If you like going off-grid and have modern chargers, a Lithium upgrade will let you get way more storage into the small space.

Not done much off grid at the moment, but want the option for at least a few days in future. I have 100w solar / Bluesolar 75/15 MPPT and an Electroblock EBL208 with Lead acid/ Lead Gel options

 

[cmcardle75]

Infortunatley the space for thevsecond battery is only 327mm long which excludes most of the 80A+ batteries

Roamer 230SMART4 - 12V 230Ah LiFePO4 Lithium Leisure Battery

The Roamer 230SMART4 is a slimline 12V 230Ah LiFePO4 battery that includes 300A continuous discharge, active balancing, Bluetooth and plug and play integration with Victron. Free delivery, Roamercare, 10 year warranty and 5 star support from the UKs leading LiFePO4 manufacturer.

roamerbatteries.com

330 x 290 x 220.

200Ah Lithium including Bluetooth BMS. Equivalent to about 350Ah flooded lead acid.

Depends if you have £855 cash to splash and suitable chargers (or even more cash to replace them). Probably not worth it if you normally stay on campsites with EHU and just want the occasional day here or there off grid.

 

[Howard B]

Roamer 230SMART4 - 12V 230Ah LiFePO4 Lithium Leisure Battery

The Roamer 230SMART4 is a slimline 12V 230Ah LiFePO4 battery that includes 300A continuous discharge, active balancing, Bluetooth and plug and play integration with Victron. Free delivery, Roamercare, 10 year warranty and 5 star support from the UKs leading LiFePO4 manufacturer.

roamerbatteries.com

330 x 290 x 220.

200Ah Lithium including Bluetooth BMS. Equivalent to about 350Ah flooded lead acid.

Depends if you have £855 cash to splash and suitable chargers (or even more cash to replace them). Probably not worth it if you normally stay on campsites with EHU and just want the occasional day here or there off grid.

Dont really want to spend that much

 

[cmcardle75]

Not done much off grid at the moment, but want the option for at least a few days in future. I have 100w solar / Bluesolar 75/15 MPPT and an Electroblock EBL208 with Lead acid/ Lead Gel options

The Victron would be good to go. EBL208, I'm guessing isn't suitable for long term connection (you might get away with it if you religiously turned it off when fully charged).

 

[Howard B]

The Victron would be good to go. EBL208, I'm guessing isn't suitable for long term connection (you might get away with it if you religiously turned it off when fully charged).

Sounds like I have to remember to do something if the EBL wisnt ideal for Lithium. The LiFepo4 above wouldnt fit without major alterations to the battery bay.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[cmcardle75]

Sounds like I have to remember to do something if the EBL wisnt ideal for Lithium. The LiFepo4 above wouldnt fit without major alterations to the battery bay.

Ah, looked like it would slot in directly in place of the 2 lead acids. Not that it matters if your intended usage doesn't warrant the expenditure.

 

[AgeingAndrew]

Not done much off grid at the moment, but want the option for at least a few days in future. I have 100w solar / Bluesolar 75/15 MPPT and an Electroblock EBL208 with Lead acid/ Lead Gel options

Have you tried going off grid for a few days with your current set-up?.

I’d be tempted to make the changes suggested by Autorouter before you fall into the trap of spending a shed-load of cash to replace something that might be sufficient for your needs.

How old is the original AGM battery?
Don’t frighten yourself by reading the document ‘AGM explained’ tagged above, it’s nothing more than opinion and it completely lacks analysis and objectivity.

 

[SD j]

Have you tried going off grid for a few days with your current set-up?.

I’d be tempted to make the changes suggested by Autorouter before you fall into the trap of spending a shed-load of cash to replace something that might be sufficient for your needs.

How old is the original AGM battery?
Don’t frighten yourself by reading the document ‘AGM explained’ tagged above, it’s nothing more than opinion and it completely lacks analysis and objectivity.

Fitted one myself just yesterday , hardest thing was removing the heavy seat. Heres a pic mid install.

 

[Howard B]

There's an easy thing you can do that will make a slight improvement by equalising the voltage drops along the cables and interconnections. Swap the two negative connections over, so that the main negative goes to the near battery, and the link wire goes to the far battery. This works best when the two batteries are identical, but is of some benefit whatever batteries you have.

I take it I would have to do the same to the Solar connectors as well.

 

[autorouter]

I take it I would have to do the same to the Solar connectors as well.

Yes, if possible. Sometimes the wires are so short neither of them will reach to the second battery, but in your case it looks nice and easy.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[denisejoe]

Enduroline Ca+ Leisure Batteries - Leisure Batteries

Tayna Batteries supply all types of Leisure Batteries. Browse our full range of Enduroline Ca+ Leisure Batteries here. We aim to be the cheapest supplier of Enduroline Ca+ Leisure Batteries in the UK.

www.tayna.co.uk

 

[Howard B]

Enduroline Ca+ Leisure Batteries - Leisure Batteries

Tayna Batteries supply all types of Leisure Batteries. Browse our full range of Enduroline Ca+ Leisure Batteries here. We aim to be the cheapest supplier of Enduroline Ca+ Leisure Batteries in the UK.

www.tayna.co.uk

Thanks, but I dont want lead acid.

 

[Wack]

Have you tried connecting it to a ctec , the MXO 5.0 I've got has recovered a few dead batteries

 

[Howard B]

Have you tried connecting it to a ctec , the MXO 5.0 I've got has recovered a few dead batteries

Its 5 years+ old, so probably needed replacing.