hi we need new battery after 3 yrs of vanning, think weve had our monies wirth out of this battery we got with van, whats best battery to buy, 75, 85, or 110, whats difference??
Like many things in life the bigger the better. The numbers are the ratings in Ampere/hours. The difference this makes is considerable.
If you are on a site without a hookup and want the radio on, some lights on and the blower for the heating its probably going to draw about 10 amps say (for ease of maths)
A 75AH battery will run that for 7.5hrs
An 85 AH battery will run that for 8.5 hours
A 110AH battery will run that for 11 hours.
In practice your average current usage will be more like a couple or 3 amps so the batteries would run a 3 amp load for 25, 28 and nearly 37 hours respectively.
thats great thanks for reply, il be buying the bigger battery for our van as we do use none EHU sites, oh whats best way to look after the new battery????? and keep her goin as long as old one, well i hope thats thats the a good life for a battery??
no mover just use site without EHU so like to use invertor for tv at night for kids, so need best battery for them, but need to know best way to look after it too, thanks
no mover just use site without EHU so like to use invertor for tv at night for kids, so need best battery for them, but need to know best way to look after it too, thanks
I have had the same 2nd hand battery for 5 years now and still going strong. I don't take any special care of it other than check the electrolyte level twice a year and leave the EHU on when at home and on site occupied.
hi ive had it plugged in at home all winter (van in drive its great) and it still only shows bit full when unplugged so think battery has had it??, plus as i said bought van with battery so dont know how old it s ??
Quote: Originally posted by GAYNOR68 on 15/3/2010
hi ive had it plugged in at home all winter (van in drive its great) and it still only shows bit full when unplugged so think battery has had it??, plus as i said bought van with battery so dont know how old it s ??
Hi GAYNOR68, same here,mine on timer every 4hours for 4hours,drops down to 12v when unhooked, I check battery leavels and discharge battery approx every 3months or so, as read somewhere that dischargeing battery to flat, then rechargeing it builds up to it's full capacity and prolongs it's life, there will be more experienced guys in that fieldto give you the facts, hope this helps
------------- If everything runs smoothly then I must have done something wrong
If in Doubt Check it Out.
Whoever you buy the battery from should be able to tell you the physical dimensions. I've got a very small battery compartment but managed to find a 110 amp battery that fitted.
Quote: Originally posted by GAYNOR68 on 15/3/2010
hi ive had it plugged in at home all winter (van in drive its great) and it still only shows bit full when unplugged so think battery has had it??, plus as i said bought van with battery so dont know how old it s ??
Hi GAYNOR68, same here,mine on timer every 4hours for 4hours,drops down to 12v when unhooked, I check battery leavels and discharge battery approx every 3months or so, as read somewhere that dischargeing battery to flat, then rechargeing it builds up to it's full capacity and prolongs it's life, there will be more experienced guys in that fieldto give you the facts, hope this helps
I think that the advice is normally to never let the battery totally discharge as it is unlikely to be able to recharge it back to it's original state. In practice it is best not to let the battery discharge to less than 85% of it's capacity. Using a direct current voltmeter check the state of charge. 12.7 volts or above indicates a fully charged 12v battery, 12.3 volts means it is approximately half charged and anything less than 11.8 volts means it is very flat and may not recover. As LobeyDosser said, get down to a reading of 10.7 and thats it. It is an ex Battery
The life of the battery depends on a number of factors such as age, as suggested by Gaynor68. Prolonging its life can be assisted by regularly inspecting for electrolyte levels if it is not a sealed battery (top up with distilled water if not a maintenance free type) and checking the state of charge. Voltmeters can be bought for this purpose for as little as £6 or £7. On charge it will probably read at 13.5 but after taking it off charge let it settle (terminals still carry a charge and so you get an artificial reading) and then read it and it should settle back to 12.5. It is also worth cleaning the battery around the terminals and ensuring that the area is grease free, clean any white deposits from the terminals with warm water and coat the terminals with a petroleum jelly/vaseline. Like most things caravanning batteries need plenty of TLC to keep going
Phil
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Topic: battery????
