I'm just getting the caravan up together that we have just purchased and we are novices. This might sound a bit daft but it's bothering me. I have placed everything in the van we need and made sure the items are distributed well on both sides. We purchased a 110 amp battery that is very heavy. Do we take it in car before placing in battery compartment on site, or would it be OK to tow with it in place?, I'm thinking that side will be heavy. Thanks
The battery compartment was specifically designed to accommodate a leisure battery as it's the only way it can be charged safely whilst in transit. It cannot slide about or tip over whilst on the move so it's common sense to strap it in and lock up the battery locker door.
If you are that concerened about the weight then get yourself a noseweight gauge and check the weight of the hitch and move equipment inside the caravan to acheive the correct noseweight.
Thanks for replies. I don't have much gear in the van and certainly nothing that weighs much. It just seems so heavy. I presume caravans are built to take the weight of a heavy leisure battery.
Every caravan has a 'payload' weight which is the the maximum laden weight (MTPLM) minus the unladen weight (Miro) when the caravan leaves the factory. A new caravan doesn't include a battery or gas cylinders etc. so is calculated as part of the 'payload' weight.
I presume you have a fridge in your van ,if so and you also have twin charging sockets I.e black and grey. ,then the only way to run your fridge en-route is to have the battery connected and the caravan and fridge switched to 12v or van .
Basically put your battery in its box ,connect it up and forget about it .
With it connected ,once you plug in your grey lead (unless you have a single 13 pin one) on your car ,this will also charge the battery fully
Quote: Originally posted by tango55 on 12/7/2017
A new caravan doesn't include a battery or gas cylinders etc. so is calculated as part of the 'payload' weight.
Not true of all new 'vans - Elddis (and Buccaneer etc) for example include a 10kg 'allowance' for each gas bottle in the MIRO.
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Topic: towing with leisure battery
