Hi,
We have only been vanning for a year and have always had EHU. We have been thinking about trying out some smaller sites without EHU, but the question is - how long will our battery last? I appreciate that the more electrical appliances we use the shorter time we will get, but how many days would it drive a few lights and the hot water? Do you take a charged spare? How do you recharge if you only have single electric on the car?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Regards
Most small sites are geared up to charge batts up if needed I assume hot water is heated by gas & electrics only to keep it controled if so a good 85 amp should last a good three to four days with couple of lights etc 110 amp 7 to 8 but these are very rough figures
We have been away a few times in the past for more than a week in summer using an 85aph battery for lights and water pump and it hasn't flattened it. But we didn't leave any lights on all night and in the evenings after the kids were in bed we used a Coleman unleaded in the awning.
------------- Caz
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Thanks Caz and Romany for the advice. I would expect that with care we would get a weekend out of our battery, assuming it is good nick. that is good news.
regards
Hi Geoff and Jen, First trip away with 'van, July this year, leisure battery failed on second day, even though the week previous I'd charged it up on a home charger.It was dated "2000", how old is yours?. Bought a new one onsite,110 Amp for £55.00, now at home I regularly use the lighting system, peace and quiet in the driveway!! Zig unit still showing Green for battery condition, the temperature is now dropping, time to take out of the 'van and into the garage for a weekly charge, place on insulation,not on a concrete floor, batteries do not like the cold!.
Makro and B&Q are selling a 750 watt generator for around £45/50, I've bought one, well worth the investment.Used it when in Kent to recharge digital camcorder and camera batteries and giving the new battery a boost.
Hope this helps, Regards, Norman.
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Hello, we use a 110 amp battery for rallies and it lasts for 3 days fine, Our kids watch DVD'S and go to sleep with the light on. We allways take a spare in the car though in case we spend extra time in the van due to bad weather.We rotate them after each outing, we also take them off for winter and charge them every 3 months if they are left standing, and we never fully discharge them.
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you will get between 7 or 8 days from a fully charged and good condition 85amps battery if you only use it for lighting, i can confirm this because we have just come back from hols with no EHU , being a sad git that i am i measure the power drain on the battery with the lights on ! (2.5 amps) give a margin of 20% and running the lighting for 4 hours per day you should get a full week, in fact we came home the battery was still showing 1/2 charged so i guess we could have got 2 or 3 days more .
we've just got back from 10 days with no ehu using a 110 ah battery for lights and water pump to give it a little boost on day 9 we put it on jump leads on the car for about 20 mins who needs a ehu when you have got a good battery
We have a 110 w solar panel mounted on the roof of our van for rallys where there is no EHU.
As we have two v young children we tend to use a bit of electric so our battery always ran flat, we did use a generator at most meets to top up the battery but now use the solar panel and feel almost guilt free when we switch anything on as we are using our own power so reducing carbon foot print a bit!
Thank you all for the advice, it certainly will enable us to feel confident about being EHU'less, for a few days. Probably won't try it for much longer.
What a great site this is - full of useful information.
If you use your car when you are away in the van it’s possible to charge the leisure battery in the cars boot when you are driving around. To do this you will need a 12S plug (the white one) and length of cable with some battery connectors on the end suitable for your battery terminals. The positive terminal should be connected to 12S pin6 and the negative to 12S pin 7.
To keep the battery topped up, put it in the boot (make sure its secure) connect your charging cable lead to the battery and plug in the 12S plug. Close the boot avoiding chopping the cable with the boot lid. When you start the car the leisure battery should charge provided the engine is running.
This should work on vans made since 1999
Regards
John
The panel is fixed to the roof by a specific fixing kits which is basically aluminium brackets screwed to the panel & fixed to the roof by Sikaflex equivelent. The cable goes into the roof with a watertight gromet then sealed & runs down inside the van to a solar regulator to prevent overcharging of the battery then down into the leisure battery.
If you are competant you could do it yourself if not get a qualified dealer to do it for you. As you are local to us if you are interested we could give you details for fitting.
ive got 3 polycrystalline 50w panels , iam looking at buying a fancy regulator , one that tells you what power you are using / whats coming in / whats there , but on our van has a onboard charger / powerpack and didnt want them to clash / blow up , ok how do we get in contact
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Topic: Leisure Battery - How Long Will It Last?
