eddieandsue Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 We have just returned from a weekend rally with no hook-up and the leisure battery died a death, down to 10.3. Even the LED lights were dim! We are trying to decide which route to go down, either to get 2 new leisure batteries or 1 new leisure battery and a solar panel. All help will be much appreciated as we don't know much about these matters. :$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Solar panel is not going to do much for you this time of year in the UK with dull conditions so my choice would be a solar panel of at least 60 watts, and preferably 80 watts if you have the roof space, along with the appropriate regulator to prevent the batteries boiling dry and two new matching 120 ah batteries wired in parallel with heavy 30 amp cables and fuse and crimped and soldered terminals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickt Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 No question always go for leisure batteries first , as big as you can fit in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike 202 Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Agree with Tracker, good batteries and a solar panel. My panel is 80Watt plus a battery master and in 3 years has kept my batteries, engine and accomodation, fully topped up even though the motorhome is only taken for a run or used every 4 weeks in winter.The van is stored outdoors and away from my home, so no sneaky mains top ups for the batteries. If you cannot afford/justify the large layout for a solar panel then the extra battery is the only way ahead. regards Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Have to agree 2 batteries first then solar if you still think you need it. We have 2 x 80 a/h batteries & an 80 watt panel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 110 amp/hr leisure battery with 85W panel and battery master. Works very well. M/H is stored outdoors with no mains hook up. We don't bother with TV when off hook up, so 110 amp/hr battery is ample. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tugga Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 We have 2 x 110 aH batteries and a Honda Generator just in case. Only use the genny if we are on a THS for a week or more. We do have all LED lights and TV though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddieandsue Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 Sorry, forgot to say we have an Eberspacher heater and combitronic system, which apparently makes a big difference to battery power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Well I'll beg to differ, In my 12+ years of using solar on a van have only ever had one leisure battery. If the cheap panels on ebay are anygood then it makes even more sence, a weekend at this time of year should be no trouble for most with an 80w panel and week (or more) in summer if you want. Also the added benifit that if you don't use van for a while the batteries stay fully charged p.s. crossed posts- I have no experiance of Eberspacher power usage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 For week-ending, even with the equipment you have, leisure batts of around 200+ Ah should be OK, providing you look after them and keep them in as high a charge state as possible, as often as possible. That said, if you frequently use anything that draws a lot of current, like hair dryers through an inverter etc, you will probably still run into trouble with or without extra batteries and solar power. Solar panels are very popular but arguably not necessary in the majority of cases. When you need them most, ie when you are confined to the 'van because it's cold, dull, and the days are short, they are almost useless. When you don't need them, ie when it's warm and there's plenty of natural light, they just burn most of the energy they produce off as heat (or cook your batteries if fitted without a regulator). Lots of people fit them, few actually needed to bother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 The most sensible answer will arise from understanding your current and potential future use pattern, and what electricity consumers you use. Frankly, my first concern would be the capacity and condition of your existing leisure battery (or any charging circuit) if you already have LED lights and the battery didn't last out a weekend. It may be, of course, that you had blown air heating running all weekend, or that you sat for hours with a television on, or indeed you also have non-LED lights as well, and the 'van was a beacon for the whole weekend, ;-) this isn't obvious. With a decent condition (even 80 to 100ah) battery, and judicious use of power, I wouldn't have expected a weekend to be a problem, especially with LED lighting. Can you give us a little more background? My own practice has always been to arrange a second leisure battery as part of my purchase, giving me between 160ah and 200ah capacity, and I have never experienced a problem with that for long weekends, etc. (using lights, a bit of heating, a bit of television, etc.). I also carry a free-standing solar panel whenever there is the possibility of being off hook-up for extended periods, and use this to top up as appropriate (about 8 days stationary is the most I've tried, but the charge was pretty high when I moved on). So, give us a bit more info as above; then we can advise better (and particularly on the state of the current battery). Opinions will, of course, differ, but my own, FWIW, is that, for most patterns of usage, a decent installed battery capacity (either a large single, or two smaller units, dependoing on fitting position) would be the first step (and initially cheaper than the solar panel); if there is still an issue, then consider the solar panel later. (and a free-standing one suits me best, as it has seen me through several 'vans, and I have the space to store it.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 With 2 x 110 Ah batteries and a 90 watt solar panel, we never need a hookup for months at a time. Unless money is too tight, I would try for something similar. We never use big sites, very rarely use a CL/CS but use C & CC THS's a lot. The money saved will pay back the outlay costs quite quickly. We find a much more relaxed and friendly atmosphere at these sites. Not always so at Club sites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OxfordMorgan Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Hi EddieandSue... In a PM to me, you also added a query on if a separate heater would help as well....i guess the short answer is that it might, but there are some steps to go through in your current system to check everything is ok. So, firstly, the Eberspacher system....on EHU it is a great system for heating and hot water..i find it heats the van and maintains that heat far quicker than my Father In Laws gas system....however...once we step out of EHU and onto 12V we enter a whole new world of pain... This is an area I have done a lot of investigation on and seem to be getting to some ideas on how to best cope. 1 - Firstly check there is no voltage drop. You dont mention what Van this is in, but certainly most of the pre2008 Autuocruise Vans did not have the correct cable connecting the batteries to the Heating system. This will fool the heating system into thinking there is not enough power to start, when really there maybe enough. Simply take a multimeter reading at the battery, then at the power block where the cables plug into heating system. On my Autocruise this is under one of the dinette chairs. 2 - Solar panels are great, but only any use in late Spring/Summer/early autumn. This will top up the batteries enough for you to power the hot water system (which is all you need in the warmer months). In my humble experience, they are worth the expense, but only good for some of the time. 3 - Extra batteries - You mentioned the lights started to dim, therefore the battery was going to be pretty low. This happened to me in the Autumn on a 10month old battery and it completely killed it, so you may find your battery is shot and may need replacing. After some experimenting (see previous threads), i found that a 135Ah battery will discharge to a dangerous level (Danger in terms of killing it) in less than 24hours, really nearer 18hrs of acceptable discharge - this was with heating and water and very little other 12v draw. Therefore, if you intend to be away from EHU for longer than that, you really need to look at multiple batteries. There are some people who use 4, 5 or even 6 batteries in a bank, but to me that seems excessive...but it all depends on how you use them. 2 or 3 seems appropriate 4 - The other thing I am about to purchase is a Battery to Battery charger. This enables you to put a higher charge rate from your alternator into the leisure batteries. So after a day without EHU you can run the engine for an hour or so, and put back upto 45Ah into the battery/batteries..The charger is rated at 45Ah but unlikely you will get all of that, however standard charging from an alternator will put back between 10 and 14Amps in the same time period, so you are getting between 3 or 4 times the charge. Using this though, you do need to be careful to monitor your batteries and ensure they are topped up. So...a rather long winded way of saying Yes to the Solar Panel and Yes to the second battery (wired in parallel), which may be enough to help, without having to buy additional heaters etc. The Battery to battery charger is an interesting dilemma as it is very expensive at £300...however, if this means we can charge the batteries before they discharge too much, then could prevent them being fried when away from EHU for a while, and £300 is about the cost to replace a pair of batteries, so for us it makes sense. As with all things, it is a balance between cost and benefit. For us, we like to be away from EHU, and we like to use it as much as we can in Winter, so the expense can be justified. Hope this helps.. Morgan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddieandsue Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 Hi Morgan Thanks for your reply. We have an auto cruise starburst 2006. Not sure what you mean by batteries in parallel , do you mean this literally? In the battery compartment there is only room for a 105/110 battery. To put another battery alongside it would mean it standing in the outside locker compartment. Would a battery box be acceptable and if so does anybody know who can wire these up near to Hinckley Leicestershire as it is not something we would attempt as we know nothing about electrics! Also to check the voltage on the heater do you mean where the cables go into the hot water tank or the heater box? Sorry to be so useless. Sue and Eddie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OxfordMorgan Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 eddieandsue - 2012-03-08 10:31 AM Hi Morgan Thanks for your reply. We have an auto cruise starburst 2006. Not sure what you mean by batteries in parallel , do you mean this literally? In the battery compartment there is only room for a 105/110 battery. To put another battery alongside it would mean it standing in the outside locker compartment. Would a battery box be acceptable and if so does anybody know who can wire these up near to Hinckley Leicestershire as it is not something we would attempt as we know nothing about electrics! Also to check the voltage on the heater do you mean where the cables go into the hot water tank or the heater box? Sorry to be so useless. Sue and Eddie Hi Eddie, No worries..I couldn't even spell battery when I first started looking at this! Ok, so Batteries in parallel basically means connecting two batteries together so they appear to be one, so 2 x 100Ah batteries appear to be 1 x 200Ah battery. It also means if you use them heavily, the combined voltage should help protect you from frying them. Very rough example being..if you use 50A of power using lights, heater etc. and had it connected to just one 100Ah battery, you would use 50% of its capacity. Doing this often will hurt it and reduce its life dramatically. If you had 2 x 100Ah batteries together and used 50Amps, you only use 25% of the combined capacity so wont hurt them. If your van is anything like ours, there is a locker near the habitation door which is accesible internally and externally. The battery sits in a hole in this with a plastic cover on top. SarasotaTim from this forum has a great setup which puts a wooden shelf above the existing hole, so has one battery in the hole and a second on top, linked in parallel. Then there is an internal divider so the internal cupboard can still be used and the external section is just batteries. Also, i found that the Enduroline 135Ah battery fits perfectly in the hole and this is the greatest capacity battery i can find to fit. Regarding the voltage drop, there are 2 thick cables (brown & black if memory serves me), going into the Eberspacher control unit (blue plastic box) under the dinette seat. There are a lot of cables down there, but the ones you need are the thickest ones so should be obvious. Any competent auto electrician should be able to do this quite easily for you. Also..another tip for any Eberspacher users... my friend is a Marine engineer and has a lot of experience of these units and strongly suggests starting the engine before firing the unit up for the first time due to the huge draw of power on startup when the unit is cold. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happycamper60 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 when we bought our autoquest 145 nearly 2 years ago I had 2 x 85ah batteries fit plus I refit my 85w solar pannel from my last MH. we go camping all year round inc. wild camping and have had no issues with flat batteries. GO FOR IT... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Eddie and Sue, unfortuately it is in the winter mainly when you need your diesel heating and lots of battery power to go with it and supply the ignition heater plug and fan to blow the air round. A solar panel is not going to do much for you when you need it most, as Tracker says. So, I would go for two batteries and see how it goes. Then later you can add a solar panel if you think it is needed to help a bit. Unless you are heavy users of power in the summer for other things like TV etc, then really I cannot see the benefit of a solar panel unless you want to extend your number of nights wild camping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommacino Posted September 11, 2016 Share Posted September 11, 2016 "we never need a hookup for months at a time" - impressive but how do you keep the fridge cool and what about emptying the loo? Please explain your abbreviations? CL/CS C & CC THS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted September 11, 2016 Share Posted September 11, 2016 tommacino - 2016-09-11 1:41 PM "we never need a hookup for months at a time" - impressive but how do you keep the fridge cool and what about emptying the loo? Please explain your abbrerviations? CL/CS C & CC THS CL Certified Location - Camping Club CS Certified Site - Camping and Caravan Club C&CC Camping and Caravan Club THS Temporary Holiday Site Fridge needs very little power when on gas Emptying loo does not mean you require to go on a site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted September 11, 2016 Share Posted September 11, 2016 We motorhome in the UK only at present and went down the two battery route. Less sure we would if we spent time on the sunny side of the Channel. Our previous van's 85amp battery was easily enough for 3 nights away in the summer. As had been said, it depends on what you need to power and when. Bear in mind an extra battery will eat into your loading margin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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