Megsm Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 In the process of purchasing a motorhome to use for shows over long weekends and am concerned that the leisure battery will not last. A couple of vehicle that I like only have 1 leisure battery and no space for a second so will a 120W solar panel put sufficient power back in the battery during the day. Will be using gas for cooking, heating and fridge to minimise drain on the battery. I did have an Auto Trail a couple of years ago which had 2 leisure batteries and solar panel but I still had issues with a flat battery after a couple of nights. After reading a lot of article I am thinking 1) I did not know how old the batteries were. 2) the smart charge setting was incorrect or just not working correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 will all depend on what you are expecting to run from battery 90ah battery does us easily for 2 days with 100w solar all water pump use + heater/water if req and 3 + hrs TV a nite Unless you know battery is good I'd start off with a new one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 Nothing to stop you using a second battery from a different location to the original - it just means longer cabling and as long as the cables are more than sufficent to carry the load and well routed and fuse protected it will work perfectly. However if you add a battery it might be better to buy two identical new ones rather than risk an unknown. Cheaper than a solar panel and not weather dependent as all too often you need more power when it is less sunny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megsm Posted April 14, 2021 Author Share Posted April 14, 2021 Many thanks for your replies and comments. As the vehicle will be new and fitting an additional battery would require modification I don’t know how that would affect the warranty. I do have a generator which I’am very reluctant to use if there is any other campers about. Is it feasible to carry a spare battery in the garage and connect with heavy duty jump leads if required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 14, 2021 Share Posted April 14, 2021 It might help if you identified the motorhome(s) that you might purchase. I’m unsure from reading your initial enquiry whether the 120W solar panel would have been factory-installed in the new motorhome and, consequently, be covered by the conversion warranty, or would be retro-fitted (or even be a portable panel). Retro-fitting a solar panel would potentially affect the conversion warranty in the same way that retro-fitting a 2nd leisure-battery would. Plainly you COULD transport a 2nd leisure-battery in a storage-locker/garage and use jump leads to parallel connect it to the standard leisure-battery, but it would be an ugly unsophisticated approach and easy to imagine a situation where a heavily discharged battery could be connected to a fully charged battery. The presence of a ‘garage’ suggests a coachbuilt design and - even when a motorhome’s manufacturer has not allowed a dedicated space to house a 2nd leisure battery - as Tracker has touched on, there’s usually somewhere inside the vehicle where a 2nd battery can be installed (eg. beneath a cab seat). If you believe you are going to need the extra capacity, it would be much better to have a pair of leisure-batteries that are permanently (and competently) connected together, rather than be jury-rigging a supplementary battery to the original on an as-and-when basis using jump leads A recent forum thread that may be useful: https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Adding-a-extra-leisure-battery/57935/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted April 14, 2021 Share Posted April 14, 2021 Megsm - 2021-04-14 10:45 AM Is it feasible to carry a spare battery in the garage and connect with heavy duty jump leads if required. Better to connect it from the start so they both discharge together not once first one gets low Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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