I have seen one or 2 posts stating if you only use ehu you dont need a battery.I thought the battery was needed as the charger is not a 12 volt supply to the van.I never go in fields or camp with no ehu so do i need a battery or not.Im about tobuy a new one so any thoughts on this would be nice.
------------- i dont sell cheap tat.I sell tat cheap
If you have a battery already but not holding charge you can continue to use it with EHU.
I don't think 12v appliances like radio, 12 v lights, 12v socket etc will operate without a battery connected.
You should only need a new battery to operate these appliances off sites.
If you don't have a battery at all, the cheapest car battery will do the job if you are always on EHU sites. The leisure battery is only necessary for slow discharge but you will need a good leisure battery if you have a mover fitted.
Quote from the Caravan and Camping Club "In some instances an inexpensive battery might meet the needs of some caravan or motorhome owners, especially if you spend most of your overnight stops at sites equipped with 230V mains hook-ups. When connected to a mains supply, a caravan’s battery is then only acting as a device that ‘smoothes out’ the 12V output from the ‘van’s built-in charger. Since the battery is seldom operating as a provider of power, an inexpensive battery might
be a suitable purchase."
Caravan sites are notorious for power failures and without a battery or having a battery that is not charging properly will leave you stranded if you are dependant on a failed EHU.
Not all power failures are instantly sorted by the camp staff and we have been on sites where power was not restored until the following day.
Depending on the age of your van will depend on how much equipment runs on 12v.
On ours that is lighting, water pump and the fan of the blown air heating.
If the EHU fails, then, with the gas, we will still be very comfortable with just the 12v.
I certainly would not consider having anything but a 120Ah battery in good condition.
I have considered the same thing in an effort to reduce weight in our van. During a trip to the Lake District between Christmas and New Year we had 4 power cuts on consecutive days that lasted up to 3 hours, without a good 12 volt supply we would have had no power, no fan for the heating etc. The battery also powers the motor mover when we arrive on site and in and out of storage also battery dependent.
A motormover will not work unless a good 12volt battery is fitted, and a 110amph is recomended, a car battery for this purpose is lightly to leave you stranded half way through a manouver, which could be a costly and dangerous mistake if an accident were to happen due to this if you were to be manouvering onto/off a tight driveway on a busy road.
You may also find that their was insufficient power in a lower amp battery to tackle inclines with your mover, hence the manufacturers recomendation to install the 110amph.
Julia
------------- Just love to be out amoungst Nature and Wildlife
Celebrating 37 years of Caravanning in 2019, Recently Considered Retiring, but Totally Addicted for Life!
It depends on the motor mover you have fitted.
Powertouch recommend an 85Ah battery for the normal one, which is designed to cope with vans up to 1500KG.
My son used EHU all the time, he only had a 50Ah battery fitted and it performed OK with the mover and his van had an MTPLM of 1640KG.
If you don't discharge it too deeply and recharge it immediately after using it for the motor mover a car battery will cope quite well.
saxo1
We also have a motor mover and I need a back up 12v supply for essential medical equipment,
BUT,
this question is not about MMs and Med Equip, it is only about standard caravan equipment and whether, on EHU, does one also need a proper 12v battery.
Like I said, YES you do because a power supply on a caravan site is not guaranteed.
a motor mover draws around 20 amps while on the (flat) move.. 20 amps from a good 100 amp hour battery equates with several hours actual moving.. the longest move i ever make is around ten minutes.. we are talking plenty to spare for normal use.. an average car battery would do the job..
my view is the bigger the battery the better but if always on site hook up life could go on without one..
for what a battery costs i cant see much point in not having one and a car one is better than no one.. he he
trog
ps.. the thing with a battery is its only new when its new.. they wear out with use so the bigger the battery you start off with the longer it will last and the more spare capacity you will always have..
Quote"Like I said, YES you do because a power supply on a caravan site is not guaranteed."
The question as I read it is whether or not a battery is required to operate the 12V equipment when on hookup
The answer depends on the type of charger fitted,some need a battery to smooth out the 12V supply others have a 12V transformer which doesn't require a battery.
If the OP has the latter then if they are prepared to accept the loss of power due to a power cut then they don't necessarily need one.
saxo1
I agree with Saxo,you do need a battery to smooth things out for,your charger can only handle a certain amount of amps being drawn of it.If you go above this your charger will cut off unless its a charger which is built to run without a battery.
Modern caravan charger units use switch mode power supplies. To suggest that a battery is needed to "smooth out" the supply is incorrect. Switch mode power supplies by their very design are well regulated and do not need "smoothing out".
Not knowing the age of the OP's caravan, or the equipment that his/her 12v supply powers, it is very difficult to make any judgements as to whether he/she needs a battery or not.
However, if the EHU fails for several hours, if you can get by without running water, lights, toilet (if it has an electric flush) and heating, then by all means do without a battery.
But, for the price of a new battery, having all these components working, whether the EHU is working or not, is part of the enjoyment of having a caravan IMO.
Depending upon the age not all caravans have SMPS,if you read what I posted I stated that it depended upon the battery charger fitted.
Not all caravans fitted with an SMPS will operate without a battery fitted my Burstner won't.
saxo1
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Topic: is a battery really needed
