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.

Easter coming up Time- To Check Out Your Caravan Battery

Its Time To Check Out Your Caravan Battery

As people know who are regular caravaner’s will know most up to date modern caravans are equipped with three sources of power, these are gas, the 12volt battery and the mains electricity that can be found on either at home or on the touring caravan sites.

If the caravan owner runs out of gas or the mains electricity are not available, then they have will have their 12volt battery to fall back on. This will power the caravan lights, and water pump along with your other 12volt appliances, obviously providing that your leisure battery is in tip top condition  and has been looked

This caravan will be fitted with the larger 110 amp leisure battery

after and charged over the winter dormant period.

Caravan owners will realise that they have actually got at least two 12volt batteries, they have a car battery and the one that they use on the caravan (some have more than one). The car battery is different to the leisure battery that you will have fitted in the caravan, as it is primarily used to start the car using CCA (cold cranking amps) and because of this the car battery has different plates inside the battery. These plates are perforated to give a larger surface area, which gives the battery more power when starting your car.

The caravan battery is supplied with thicker plates for more power storage;

 this storage can be used at a later time, say in the evening to power the 12volt electrical items, such as the TV or radio. Although it is generally recommended not to use the leisure battery for starting your car, we know of late that people with 4x4 vehicles have started to us the 110 amp leisure battery as a starter battery and a winch operator and they say that they work fine. You learn every day as they say.

In the past five or six years a new breed of leisure battery has come onto the market and has been heavily publicised at the large caravan and touring vehicle shows, up and down the UK. These batteries come in the trade names of Numax and Lucas are developed by the giant battery company Johnson Controls of America. These batteries have now stood the length of time that to me proves there worth and in my opinion I think that they are an excellent product and should be considered if you require a new leisure battery for you caravan. These batteries come in different sizes to suite your caravan’s capacity requirements, and have replaced the more expensive AGM batteries.

The AGM batteries though are coming back in fashion because of the increasing use of caravan owners using solar panels to re-charge their batteries and this enables them to go to more places that may not require the electric mains to charge up their batteries. The AGM battery has a far larger capacity to charge and dis-charge and is indeed known as a Deep Cycle battery and is more suitable for the use with solar power panels. These batteries are old technology and are made by many different battery companies, a popular one is the 70amp battery, and anything above this is a very heavy battery to move around. The weight of the battery should be taken into consideration, when buying your new battery as some are as much as 30 kg in weight.

The size and weight of the caravan battery are very important

This is due to the fact that most modern caravans have integral lockers and this may restrict the size of the battery that you can fit. The size of the locker would also depend of the size and make of your caravan, but it is still worth checking your size restrictions before you buy your new battery. The older caravans would put

Smaller rigs like this vintage VW will usean 85 amp caravan battery

the battery in any old place, even beside the gas bottle, but the new safety conscious caravans have a separate locker where the battery fits and this could also restrict the size of the battery so it is well worth the effort of measuring the old battery, or buying one with the same measurements as the old battery, do not be tempted to buy a bigger battery just for the sake of it.

You will usually find that most caravans come with an 85 amp leisure battery. In my opinion this battery is adequate for the regular caravaner that goes away for long weekends and a couple of weeks holiday a year and the weight of this battery is easy manageable, if you have an awkward place for the battery to fit. If you have one of the larger caravans and have more electrical gadgets then you should go for the 100 amp leisure battery or the 110 amp leisure battery, bearing in mind that these batteries are heavy to lift.

Here are some examples of the power that some of the common equipment will use.

An average fluorescent light tube    0.75 amps current for 5 hours  uses 3.75 amps per hour                                         

An  average colour TV                         3.00 amps  current for 2 hours uses 3.00 amps per hour

Two reading lamps (his and hers)     2.00 amps current for 2 hours uses 3.00 amps per hour

Water pump                                          7.00 amps current  for 0.25 hours uses 1.75 amps per hour

These figures are just a guide and may slightly differ from one caravan to another. For more information …http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/helpandadvice/technicalhelp/power/your-leisure-battery/

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. I have worked in the Garage and tyre and I am MD for online battery companywww.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.