Leisure battery's.. How big ?

[Charlie123]

Been reading a bit about leisure battery's. Not that our one is knackered its just fine..

But I'm wondering how big in amps these things go ? The jury is still out as to whether we will fit a solar set up. I think we will but having a really big LB might mean we don't need solar. As I say the jury is still out .

 

[funflair]

You can just keep wiring them together to make as big as you like but it can all get very heavy and bulky and in my opinion 200ah should be enough for most people, it all depends what you use and how you use it, do you drive regularly or stay parked for days on end, the langer you stay parked the more requirement for solar panel.

Martin

 

[Stealaway]

You must make sure they fastened down securely and venting to the out side.
I have 2 x 95a Varta Silver Dynamic AGM. They will run the 240v 24" TV for 3 hours without any problem.

 

[stcyr]

In our old Merc 608 we had an 80w solar panel & 2 110a batteries. These served us perfectly for 2 years fulltiming in West Wales - 2 winters included.
Now we have a 50w & an 80w panel with one 110 battery - been fine over last 4 years ....

 

[TheBig1]

the new calcium leisure batteries will get you 130ah in the same size as an old 110ah and not much more expensive. plus they have double the rated charging cycle life too

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[Charlie123]

the new calcium leisure batteries will get you 130ah in the same size as an old 110ah and not much more expensive. plus they have double the rated charging cycle life too

Looking at these Calcium battery's tells me its possible to get a 225 amp one !

 

[funflair]

Looking at these Calcium battery's tells me its possible to get a 225 amp one !

But can you fit it in anywhere?.

 

[Shrimp]

We have 2 x 110 batts and a solar panel on roof. All the internal lights are now LEDs and the TV doesn't take much.
We have managed 6 weeks with no EHU in this country in August! And that's charging iPads, phones & watching TV every night!
At least with a solar panel you know your batts are getting recharged and you don't have to go for a drive to do same.

 

[Terry]

Hi I have never needed solar until this year.Managed with my old van fine for 4/5 days but usually went for a drive to shops or wherever -Now I have fitted a 100 w panel to the new van simply because they are so cheap now £110 for 100w panel and fitting kit onto 2 x 110 amp hr batts -Started to struggle for power after 3 nights parked up without moving etc because I fell asleep with 12v tv on all night and hammered batts with a microwave all the things you should not do You can get 2 x 110 amp hr batts for less than £130 which will be sufficient for most cases/ people
terry

 

[Don Quixote]

You must make sure they fastened down securely and venting to the out side.
I have 2 x 95a Varta Silver Dynamic AGM. They will run the 240v 24" TV for 3 hours without any problem.

Why would you vent AGM batteries? - OP advise by @funflair is stop on.

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[Jaws]

Such a difficult question to answer !
It depends on such things as:

How long at any one time you think you might be off grid
How much tv you watch
If you have LED type lights fitted

For us, we are rigged to be off grid for up to 10 days at a time..

To that end we have a pair of 145Ah Duracell batteries ( big buggers they are too ) , and three hundred watts of solar panel

There is also the issue of payload.. If you are tight on payload that would limit what kit you can fit

 

[Jaws]

WARNING !!!!
I note folk suggest all sorts of new tech batteries..
DO NOT FIT THEM UNLESS YOUR CHARGING SYSTEM CAN BE SWITCHED TO THE TYPE YOU WANT TO USE.
AGM batteries charge in the same way as flooded cells but units like gels, Li-On require very specific charging systems


I regularly see gel batteries fitted to standard systems that die within 18 months..
The way gel and flooded calls are charged is completely different..
Same goes for the various other types too
Do not be fooled by what a salesman tells you.. he is after as much of your money he can get and will not have a bloody clue about the techy side of things

 

[Lenny HB]

Why would you vent AGM batteries? - OP advise by @funflair is stop on.

Banner AGM's have a vent & mine are vented to the outside, they are a sealed battery but for extreme conditions they have an emergency vent valve, Gel's also have emergency venting.

 

[Stealaway]

It all depends on your life style.
If you like to park for weeks off line then you could use bigger battery's and maybe solar panels.
If you move on every couple of days you will be OK with two 85a.
I still maintain that running your engine on tick over a couple of hours a day is never going to more expensive than installing solar.
I have also read recently that a supplier of solar panel controls will no longer supply panels because of their short life when installed on flexible (moving) motor home roofs.
Also - Why replace all your lights for LED. I have 8 halogen lights around the van, two of which are used intermittently.
We have one light on in the evenings , albeit a short strip of LED's. Going to the expense of changing all the bulbs to LED when there are never used seems to me to a waste of time and money.

 

[Dorwyn]

Banner AGM's have a vent & mine are vented to the outside, they are a sealed battery but for extreme conditions they have an emergency vent valve, Gel's also have emergency venting.

My local Halfords manager assures me there's no need to vent batteries. Absolutely none. I noticed that some of their starter batteries had red plastic right angled vent connectors clipped to the top. Obviously pointless exercise by the manufacturer then.

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[Lenny HB]

My local Halfords manager assures me there's no need to vent batteries. Absolutely none. I noticed that some of their starter batteries had red plastic right angled vent connectors clipped to the top. Obviously pointless exercise by the manufacturer then.

He is talking boll**ks & obviously doesn't understand the leisure industry.

 

[Jaws]

It all depends on your life style.
If you like to park for weeks off line then you could use bigger battery's and maybe solar panels.
If you move on every couple of days you will be OK with two 85a.
I still maintain that running your engine on tick over a couple of hours a day is never going to more expensive than installing solar.
I have also read recently that a supplier of solar panel controls will no longer supply panels because of their short life when installed on flexible (moving) motor home roofs.
Also - Why replace all your lights for LED. I have 8 halogen lights around the van, two of which are used intermittently.
We have one light on in the evenings , albeit a short strip of LED's. Going to the expense of changing all the bulbs to LED when there are never used seems to me to a waste of time and money.

In all fairness I do not think there is a single light in our van that does not get used very regularly.. But of course, the basic premiss is quite correct

I bought all by LED replacements ( about 12 x H4 type and TWELVE strip lights ) from Broken Link Removed in china.. The whole lot came to £19 plus some pence including postage !!
At that price it seemed rude not to change them all !

EDIT:
Just worked it out and there are 14 strip lights

 

[Dorwyn]

He is talking boll**ks & obviously doesn't understand the leisure industry.

Do you know, I thought that too!

 

[Stealaway]

I bought all by LED replacements ( about 12 x H4 type and TWELVE strip lights ) from Broken Link Removed in china.. The whole lot came to £19 plus some pence including postage !!
At that price it seemed rude not to change them all !

At that price even I would buy them. Must have look round, they seem to have become much cheaper

 

[Jaws]

Banggood.com is and alibaba.com is where 99% of all the stuff you see on eBay comes from.. It is where most of the dealers source their stuff from

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[DBK]

I still maintain that running your engine on tick over a couple of hours a day is never going to more expensive than installing solar.

You are probably burning something like one or two litres an hour on tickover. Engines will vary of course but it will be something around those figures. So you could be spending anything up to £5 a day. That adds up over time and solar is free after the installation cost.

 

[Lenny HB]

In all fairness I do not think there is a single light in our van that does not get used very regularly.. But of course, the basic premiss is quite correct

I bought all by LED replacements ( about 12 x H4 type and TWELVE strip lights ) from Broken Link Removed in china.. The whole lot came to £19 plus some pence including postage !!
At that price it seemed rude not to change them all !

EDIT:
Just worked it out and there are 14 strip lights

Mine cost 10's of thousands, but a Motorhome did come with them.

 

[Jaws]

You are probably burning something like one or two litres an hour on tickover. Engines will vary of course but it will be something around those figures. So you could be spending anything up to £5 a day. That adds up over time and solar is free after the installation cost.

And solar will not suffer from bore glaze either

 

[Don Quixote]

How to piss off ALL those around you by running your engine for a few hours! each day............ whilst sitting on site.

 

[Lenny HB]

How to piss off ALL those around you by running your engine for a few hours! each day............ whilst sitting on site.

Don't you just love em, had one a few years ago did it at 5 am, gave him a few choice words when I got up.

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[ianandkath]

run your genny at 5am,, now thats bad news,lol

 

[Don Quixote]

run your genny at 5am,, now thats bad news,lol

No no we were talking about running your engine.....................................

 

[Stealaway]

You are probably burning something like one or two litres an hour on tickover. Engines will vary of course but it will be something around those figures. So you could be spending anything up to £5 a day. That adds up over time and solar is free after the installation cost.

No nothing like - I had a narrow boat with a 2ltr diesel engine and that was measured at litre an hour running at 1800rpm - under load

 

[Stealaway]

How to piss off ALL those around you by running your engine for a few hours! each day............ whilst sitting on site.

We are never on sites. On site you mostly have the facility to plug in so no need.

 

[Stealaway]

And solar will not suffer from bore glaze either

Another old wife's tale common among narrow boaters with old 1940's diesel engines. It no longer happens with modern engines or modern oils.

I can almost understand the reasoning for solar panels if you park your van up for winter on a storage site, to maintain the battery's. The cheaper alternative would be to take the domestic battery's home and keep them charged there.

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