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Leisure battery


zak2442

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Hi Guys.

My Caravan is in need of a new battery,as i have no intention of running anything off the battery as when away always use hook up's the only thing it will be running is the alarm when in storage,with this in mind would an ordinary heavy duty battery do the job or would i still need to fit a leisure battery.

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An ordinary battery will do the job but it is designed to provide the voltage in high bursts rather than long periods of discharging. Provided you keep it topped up then it will do fine. The main reason to have large batteries is to power motor movers etc. A leisure battery is designed not to start engines but to give a steady load.

 

Again, things are sometimes a bit hit and miss. Some will tell you they have had years of happy life from a battery, others will tell you it died within a couple of years.

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zak2442

 

You really need to establish how much amperage your alarm requires and decide on the maximum period you require the battery to power the alarm before being recharged.

 

There's advice on batteries here

 

http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/media/6552072/technical.pdf

 

http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/helpandadvice/technicalhelp/power/your-leisure-battery/

 

There are batteries specifically designed for starting engines or for 'deep cycling', but many 'leisure' batteries sold nowadays have a dual-purpose capability. For example

 

http://www.tayna.co.uk/Numax-CXV31MF-P3694.html

 

A battery will gradually self-discharge over time without powering anything and, although it's likely your alarm will not require much power, that requirement will be continuous. If you plan to leave your caravan in storage for several months and do not intend to recharge the battery during that period, you'd be as well to obtain a fairly large capacity battery to be on the safe side. And, as the cost (if you shop around) of a battery with a 'leisure' capability should not be much more than that of a similar capacity 'starting-only' battery, you might as well opt for the former type.

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I have no wish to decry any of the sound advice given by Derek. My own feelings are that the OP will have to decide himself what is his requirements are and of course, the depth of his wallet.

 

I would like to offer a couple of points.

 

Last year i decided to leave my car in Spain for an extended period of time but the maker does not advise disconnecting the battery. On asking about leaving it with the alarm on I was told that it would be fine for fairly long periods of time as the alarm has a very low drain. In fact after nearly 2 months, it started immediately and was fine.

 

The second comment was that a good few years ago my caravan leisure battery decided to fail halfway through a holiday in France. Looking at the local prices being asked, a leisure battery was pretty expensive and I mooched around the local Carrefour where I purchased a normal battery for a low price. My hope was that it would last until I got home and I could re-think a better solution. In fact as is the case with many things, that cheapie battery is still going strong 5 years later.

 

My point is that if the OP is merely looking to keep the alarm powered then a small’ish normal battery will do the job, and may be a cheap solution. If however he wishes to have full ‘bells and whistles’ supply then of course a full blown heavy duty leisure battery is the way to go.

 

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Dave225 - 2014-02-12 7:21 PM

 

...My point is that if the OP is merely looking to keep the alarm powered then a small’ish normal battery will do the job, and may be a cheap solution. If however he wishes to have full ‘bells and whistles’ supply then of course a full blown heavy duty leisure battery is the way to go.

 

This is indeed the case and, based on on-line information about the likely power-drain of a caravan alarm, the brief calculations ("guesstimates" would be a more accurate word) I made before posting suggested that a simple basic car-battery should, in principle, be adequate to power such an alarm for several months. On the other hand, there are complaints on on-line caravan forums about batteries being flattened quite rapidly by alarm systems.

 

Because the requirement is to power an electrical device over an extended period of time, it would be logical to choose a type of battery designed for slow-discharge duties rather than one intended for stating motors. Having said that, a leisure-battery certainly isn't NEEDED for this type of application: any battery will do that can provide sufficient power for whatever time zak2442's caravan is to be in storage.

 

I'm certainly not suggesting that he opts for, say, a £110 Banner 100Ah "Energy Bull" leisure battery rather than, say, a £40 Lucas 45Ah car battery. But, if the choice is between a £60 leisure-battery or a £55 car battery (with similar Ah capacities), it would make 'on paper' sense to choose the former.

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