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.

What Can Cause Your CAR BATTERY to go Flat-Advice for New Drivers

There are a few things to write about here that some drivers will know about and others, perhaps newer drivers will not know about. Some of this information is basic stuff, but you would be surprised at the number of customers that we get calling into our garage for their battery testing, who know nothing at all about their battery and how to look after it.

Car battery may not be used enough.

This is one of the commonest problems especially with the older drivers. These are the drivers that do not drive their cars very often, especially over the winter months. What they don’t realise is that modern cars are fitted with electrical devices that use small amounts of electricity 24 hours a day and slowly but surely discharge the battery over a period of time. When the driver tries to start the car then the battery will be flat and will not start the car.  

The vehicle is fitted with the wrong Car Battery

This is a problem that we can get on two different occasions. The first is when a customer comes to collect a battery without his car and gives us the wrong information about the car. The most common piece of wrong information is whether the car battery is for petrol or a diesel car. They always want a cheap battery for some reason and not the best one for their car. They always say that they think it is a petrol car or they “don’t know” it’s the “wife’s car”. The diesel battery is much stronger than the one for the petrol engine car, but is more expensive. The second one is the customers who buy a smaller battery on the internet, because the battery is a cheap battery. They always go for the 063 battery, because it is usually the best priced battery on all the websites, but is only suitable for small petrol driven cars. 

Short Journeys can flatten your Car Battery 

This really comes into the category of the battery not being used enough. There is enough power to start the car but on short journeys the car alternator does not have enough time to recharge the battery. If this continues the battery will be flattened beyond recovery and the battery will have to be replaced.

Leaving the Lights on will flatten your Car Battery

This is another common problem, drivers leave headlights on, either after a journey or perhaps when they go to the theatre in winter, if the side lights are left on then the battery will probably cope with that for a few hours, but on long winter nights the battery will be flattened.

Cold Winter weather will kill your Car Battery

This is the battery problem that most drivers will know about, and is the biggest killer of batteries fitted to anything and not just car batteries. What happens is that a cold spell will affect the chemical action of the

batteries, which results in a lack of power to start up the car. This affects the cars with older batteries, but the result is usually a new battery. The other thing is that in winter time you will be using all your electrics at once, and this will put strain on a week or old battery, which will have to be changed. This winter has been a very mild winter here in the UK and it has led to very weak car battery sales.

Very Hot weather can also kill off your Car Battery  

This is a problem that not many drivers will know about. Here in the UK he very seldom get very hot weather, but when we do then battery sales can rocket. What the heat does is to BOIL the acid in the battery. The engine heat is always very high and this combined with the heat of the outside weather can boil the battery and all the acid evaporates and leaves the battery without acid and kills the battery.

Mechanical failure can kill your Car Battery

This is what a typical car alternator looks like

This is the final thing that I think is important. You will buy a new battery for your car because your old battery is dead. Then a couple of weeks later, your new battery lets you down. This is a sure sign that you

Freezing nights like this will kill the older car battery

have a problem with your car’s alternator. The good thing is that most garages can carry out a simple test that will show whether or not the alternator has failed you. Other than the alternator there is really nothing much else can cause you battery problems, that are of the mechanical nature.

I hope this post is of use to you.

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.