Which Caravan Battery

Which Caravan Battery is best for me ?

Over the years we have had many customers call in at our West Yorkshire depot here in Halifax, looking to replace their battery, for the caravan. We have all sorts of people and types of people who share in the outdoor life and enjoy caravaning, either for their holidays or just a weekend away. These days caravan

A VW Camper preparing for the holiday season

owners can choose a choice of power supplies, they can use gas, mains electric or the 12 volt battery.

We very often have customers attending with a car battery, and say that they have used it for four or five years without any problems. In this case I try to match the old battery as best that I can, because I know that they are happy with that car battery and it is no use confusing the issue. Others come to us with a leisure battery and want to upgrade to a larger size amps. We have no problem with that as long as the leisure battery fits into their battery compartment. The usual upgrade is from a 85 1mp battery to an 110 amp battery. I think this is because that the price has dropped to an acceptable level for people to afford, due to competition from the internet.

 12 volt Car Batteries

In general the two types of caravan batteries are of different construction internally. They certainly look the same, indeed not too long ago narrow boat owners used a bank of 644 truck batteries to power their boats, both as a starter battery and a storage battery for their electricity needs. But the main difference is inside the battery in the lead alloy plates. The car battery is used mainly for starting your car, and so the plates are perforated with small holes. This gives the battery a larger surface area to give the battery a high boost when starting a car. As I have said though some people do use car batteries and have done for years, so why change?  Car batteries give out a high current of around 200 amps over a short time period as you start the engine. This drains the battery to a low level of charge especially in cold winter weather, but this huge power loss is replaced immediately by the cars alternator and so the battery never becomes fully discharged. It is known as having a shallow cycle of discharge and charge and the car battery is so designed for that purpose.

12 volt flooded lead acid leisure batteries

When we start to talk about the leisure battery we have some sub categories to look at. The first one is the battery that we all know as a leisure battery because it tells us on the label? It is as simple as that. Over the past ten years the leisure industry has grown at a very fast rate. We can all see the large number of caravans and camper vans on their way to a holiday destination, whenever we are traveling. This means that the

A typical 12 volt car battery often used by some caravan owners

industries that serve these vehicles are also busy keeping up with the demand.

The battery industry is no different. Manufacturers such as Johnson Controls have come up with better storage cells inside the leisure battery as compared with the humble car batteries. The cells in the leisure battery are now much thicker and so will hold more storage charge. These batteries are now used in the majority of these vehicles used for holiday purposes. The 110 amp leisure battery is a prime example, although the 115 amp battery is now becoming more popular because of the electric caravan movers now in use.

The leisure battery does not have to do such a job as the car battery, (but just to confuse matters I know that some 4X4 owners are now fitting 110 amp leisure batteries to their vehicle, as a starter battery and to operate things like winches and they have proved to be very successful). The leisure battery is designed to supply a much lower current to power the light s and other electrical equipment, including the TV and water pumps. This type of battery has a larger and deeper cycle than the humble car battery. In simple terms the battery will drain more and then charge back up again using bigger cycles. If a car battery is discharged below 80% then the solution that covers the cells will break down and fall to the base of the battery, causing it to short out and then battery will have to be replaced, it will not recover.

12 volt AGM sealed lead acid batteries

These are the next step up to the flooded lead acid batteries. They are probably the best choice battery to use. The batteries are sealed and can even be used on their sides, it will make no difference. These batteries are also a true deep cycle battery. They will take a heavy discharge and totally recover when charged. These are the batteries that I would recommend. The only drawback is the price; they are much more expensive than a standard leisure battery. But will probably last five or six years, perhaps twice longer than the free flow lead acid leisure battery. The AGM battery is also more suitable to be used with solar panels, something that is becoming more popular amongst caravan enthusiasts all over the world.

A powerful deep cycle Trojan battery the battery of my choice.

I hope this information helps

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. I have worked in the Garage and tyre and I am MD for online battery company www.batteriesontheweb.co.uk. I have worked for a couple for national tyre companies in my younger days, before starting my first business. I now own a garage and MOT testing centre, here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre, and I am a keen blogger about anything to do with cars and their related products that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and Motor-Codes and are also a Unipart Car Care Centre and of course Tyre-safe.