On board caravan battery system - Page 2

CaptLimey · 02-01-2009, 21:58

Hi Plank. I'm not sure whether there is any weight difference as I doubt whether gel is any heavier/lighter than liquid acid. What is probably more relevant to weight is the amp/hr capacity. I used only lead acid, both sealed and unsealed, on my boat and, as they did have a hard life, I expected to renew the battery bank after roughly three years. Fellow live aboards generally claimed their gel cells gave longer and more reliable service but, like you, I didn't consider that twice the cost justified the claimed benefits. Regards CL.

(RIP) PLANK · 03-01-2009, 12:35

So Captain, am i right in assuming you use a bank of batteries to provide 240v power? if so how many do you use to make it feasible for normal daily use? How do you charge them, just from the engine or solar/wind power? last question, should this be in a different thread?

Paul · 03-01-2009, 14:40

Bit of topic here, but whats the differance in a leisure battery charger & a car battery charger??

(RIP) PLANK · 03-01-2009, 19:05

Generaly leisure batteries need a longer slower charge, I have a good car battery charger with a charge amps meter and an led to indicate when the battery is fully charged. When trickle charging from flat, a leisure battery will carry on drawing a couple of amps for a day or so after the charge complete light is on!

I am not sure of the difference other than this, but i beleive some leisure battery chargers have a variabel charge rate that lowers the current available over the length of charge, and some swithc to a very low trickle 'maintanence' charge wehn done and then cut in and out to keep the battery topped up so you can leave them connected.

Having said all that i am sure someone has a much better answer and probably more concise with it

Paul · 03-01-2009, 19:08

Thanks, was looking at leisure battery chargers yesterday, not cheap to buy are they..

(RIP) PLANK · 03-01-2009, 19:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul332

Thanks, was looking at leisure battery chargers yesterday, not cheap to buy are they..

have a look on towsure they have some from around £26 i think, i did put a link earleir in the thread

tezzer · 03-01-2009, 20:03

i've been caravanning for over 25 yrs and i always charge my leisure battery with a car charger, and never had any problems, i think leisure battery chargers are regulated for a smoother charge and wont boil the battery, as will a car charger.

this link might help -- www.windsun.com

tezzer

(RIP) PLANK · 03-01-2009, 20:16

I have 2 car chargers and charge my leisure batteries every day with them, and have not problems, just as i sadi they need leaving on charge after the charger says they are completely charged! I try to get as much juice as possible in them as i have to cary them over muddy fields to change them and an extra day or two out of each one adds up to a whole lot less humping them about each month.

CaptLimey · 03-01-2009, 20:40

Hi Plank and others.

To respond to your 12 volt to mains power question Plank; I have to say that the subject of batteries amongst live aboard boaters consumed much time over many social (boozy) evenings!
Essentially, unless you want a quick 'squirt' of mains power, to get a reasonable and sustainable amount of mains energy from a battery bank it has to be big, i.e. in the hundreds of amp hours level, and you need a pretty hefty inverter to convert the 12 volts to whatever mains power your systems needed. I my case it was 110 volts and I had a battery bank of around 800 amp hours. I used a bank of eight Trojan 6 volt batteries in series to give 12 volts, supplemented by two big 12 volt engine starting batteries. Trojans are designed for deep cycle and slow charging as in golf carts and industrial lifting gear. For charging I used a bank of six of the biggest solar panels I could get, I think they were Siemens 110 watt, supplemented by a wind generator. I also charged when running my engines on passage (I had a catamaran with two Yanmar diesels) and I had a 2kw Honda suitcase generator as back up. Having said that, we rarely used mains power as most sail-boat systems are 12 or 24 volt but even moderately sized refrigeration/freezer systems consume a huge amount of energy in hot climates. If we needed substantial mains power we used the Honda, it even ran our small air conditioning unit.

Hope that answers your question but I'll be happy to respond to any other boating/battery questions you or anyone else might have.

I have one for you - it's on the totally different subject of VAT on caravans so perhaps I should start another thread or should I PM you, what's your view?

Regards CL.

rustic · 04-01-2009, 00:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul332

Thanks, was looking at leisure battery chargers yesterday, not cheap to buy are they..

Aldi do one for £11-£13 Around October time, they are nearly identical to the Towsure ones. I use one all the time, at home to keep the Mav battery topped up on these cold days. It drops to a holding current of less than 1/2 amp and limits the voltage to approx 13.5-13.9 when fully charged. This avoids gassing the battery (over charging).
On a flat battery they are capable of charging at 3.5 Amps, but they have 3 charge settings for different sizes of 12 Volt batteries.
Hope this helps.
Best regards, Rustic

(RIP) PLANK · 04-01-2009, 13:30

I have bought a lot of tool from ALDI and never been dissapointed, I recently bought a 2.8kva frame generator, from them for around £150, it is a power craft but on the label in small letters it says 'omega wolf' so I checked wolf tools web site and called the customer help lkine and guess what? it is a wolf generator just a different colour and the price difference was ostading plus it came with a 3 year warranty!

I will look out for one of their chargers myself!

daveg · 04-01-2009, 14:47

hi guys

when i had a caravan, we went with solar power to charge the batteries, yes it can be dear to have it installed but well worth it in my book.you need to decid what you prefer and can afford.we thought about long term use, with a regulater fitted i didn,t need to do a thing. just let the sun get on with it.

dave g

Paul · 04-01-2009, 15:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by PLANK

I have bought a lot of tool from ALDI and never been dissapointed, I recently bought a 2.8kva frame generator, from them for around £150, it is a power craft but on the label in small letters it says 'omega wolf' so I checked wolf tools web site and called the customer help lkine and guess what? it is a wolf generator just a different colour and the price difference was ostading plus it came with a 3 year warranty!

I will look out for one of their chargers myself!

Keep looking at those, are they noisey??

(RIP) PLANK · 04-01-2009, 18:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul332

Keep looking at those, are they noisey??

for the size of it suprisingly quiet! They also seell a small 650 watt suitcase generator and in comparison to that it is mybe sligtly louder (I think the official Dba level is 5 higher) but in reality it is a lower pitched noise and tends not to carry so far so feels quieter!

The only issue I had with it was a leaking fuel tap, some 'skilled-employee' had overtightened the lock nut and split the rubber seal against the tank so I had to strip it and fit a new one. But apart from that no problems, it is also suprisingly economical try these links for the latest models at pretty good prices:

http://www.wolf-online.co.uk/product.asp?id=003423

http://www.wolf-online.co.uk/product.asp?id=001622

CaptLimey · 05-01-2009, 21:14

Hi Plank

Just seen and ordered the smaller of the two generators you recommended - fantastic value! Can't buy anything like that as cheap here, many thanks for the link.

Kind regards CL

03-01-2009, 14:40	#18
Paul Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: North West Vehicle: 2002 Terrano 3.0 Di LWB Posts: 1,961	Bit of topic here, but whats the differance in a leisure battery charger & a car battery charger?? __________________ 2002 Terrano 3.0 Di LWB..

03-01-2009, 19:08	#20
Paul Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: North West Vehicle: 2002 Terrano 3.0 Di LWB Posts: 1,961	Thanks, was looking at leisure battery chargers yesterday, not cheap to buy are they.. __________________ 2002 Terrano 3.0 Di LWB..

03-01-2009, 20:40	#24
CaptLimey Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: South of France Vehicle: '03 LWB MK.4 3Ltr T2 Posts: 421	Re mains power from a battery bank Hi Plank and others. To respond to your 12 volt to mains power question Plank; I have to say that the subject of batteries amongst live aboard boaters consumed much time over many social (boozy) evenings! Essentially, unless you want a quick 'squirt' of mains power, to get a reasonable and sustainable amount of mains energy from a battery bank it has to be big, i.e. in the hundreds of amp hours level, and you need a pretty hefty inverter to convert the 12 volts to whatever mains power your systems needed. I my case it was 110 volts and I had a battery bank of around 800 amp hours. I used a bank of eight Trojan 6 volt batteries in series to give 12 volts, supplemented by two big 12 volt engine starting batteries. Trojans are designed for deep cycle and slow charging as in golf carts and industrial lifting gear. For charging I used a bank of six of the biggest solar panels I could get, I think they were Siemens 110 watt, supplemented by a wind generator. I also charged when running my engines on passage (I had a catamaran with two Yanmar diesels) and I had a 2kw Honda suitcase generator as back up. Having said that, we rarely used mains power as most sail-boat systems are 12 or 24 volt but even moderately sized refrigeration/freezer systems consume a huge amount of energy in hot climates. If we needed substantial mains power we used the Honda, it even ran our small air conditioning unit. Hope that answers your question but I'll be happy to respond to any other boating/battery questions you or anyone else might have. I have one for you - it's on the totally different subject of VAT on caravans so perhaps I should start another thread or should I PM you, what's your view? Regards CL.

02-01-2009, 21:58	#16
CaptLimey Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: South of France Vehicle: '03 LWB MK.4 3Ltr T2 Posts: 421	Hi Plank. I'm not sure whether there is any weight difference as I doubt whether gel is any heavier/lighter than liquid acid. What is probably more relevant to weight is the amp/hr capacity. I used only lead acid, both sealed and unsealed, on my boat and, as they did have a hard life, I expected to renew the battery bank after roughly three years. Fellow live aboards generally claimed their gel cells gave longer and more reliable service but, like you, I didn't consider that twice the cost justified the claimed benefits. Regards CL.

03-01-2009, 12:35	#17
(RIP) PLANK Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Central England, in the Heart of the Black Country Vehicle: T2 2004 TDI SE LWB Posts: 7,740	So Captain, am i right in assuming you use a bank of batteries to provide 240v power? if so how many do you use to make it feasible for normal daily use? How do you charge them, just from the engine or solar/wind power? last question, should this be in a different thread?

03-01-2009, 19:05	#19
(RIP) PLANK Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Central England, in the Heart of the Black Country Vehicle: T2 2004 TDI SE LWB Posts: 7,740	Generaly leisure batteries need a longer slower charge, I have a good car battery charger with a charge amps meter and an led to indicate when the battery is fully charged. When trickle charging from flat, a leisure battery will carry on drawing a couple of amps for a day or so after the charge complete light is on! I am not sure of the difference other than this, but i beleive some leisure battery chargers have a variabel charge rate that lowers the current available over the length of charge, and some swithc to a very low trickle 'maintanence' charge wehn done and then cut in and out to keep the battery topped up so you can leave them connected. Having said all that i am sure someone has a much better answer and probably more concise with it

03-01-2009, 20:03	#22
tezzer Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: basildon essex Vehicle: transit camper van 1987 Posts: 2,829	i've been caravanning for over 25 yrs and i always charge my leisure battery with a car charger, and never had any problems, i think leisure battery chargers are regulated for a smoother charge and wont boil the battery, as will a car charger. this link might help -- www.windsun.com tezzer

03-01-2009, 20:16	#23
(RIP) PLANK Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Central England, in the Heart of the Black Country Vehicle: T2 2004 TDI SE LWB Posts: 7,740	I have 2 car chargers and charge my leisure batteries every day with them, and have not problems, just as i sadi they need leaving on charge after the charger says they are completely charged! I try to get as much juice as possible in them as i have to cary them over muddy fields to change them and an extra day or two out of each one adds up to a whole lot less humping them about each month.

04-01-2009, 13:30	#26
(RIP) PLANK Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Central England, in the Heart of the Black Country Vehicle: T2 2004 TDI SE LWB Posts: 7,740	I have bought a lot of tool from ALDI and never been dissapointed, I recently bought a 2.8kva frame generator, from them for around £150, it is a power craft but on the label in small letters it says 'omega wolf' so I checked wolf tools web site and called the customer help lkine and guess what? it is a wolf generator just a different colour and the price difference was ostading plus it came with a 3 year warranty! I will look out for one of their chargers myself!

04-01-2009, 14:47	#27
daveg Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: north west Vehicle: nissan terrano 2.7td lwb Posts: 119	hi guys when i had a caravan, we went with solar power to charge the batteries, yes it can be dear to have it installed but well worth it in my book.you need to decid what you prefer and can afford.we thought about long term use, with a regulater fitted i didn,t need to do a thing. just let the sun get on with it. dave g

05-01-2009, 21:14	#30
CaptLimey Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: South of France Vehicle: '03 LWB MK.4 3Ltr T2 Posts: 421	Hi Plank Just seen and ordered the smaller of the two generators you recommended - fantastic value! Can't buy anything like that as cheap here, many thanks for the link. Kind regards CL