One very large or two faiirly large - batteries

[GraemeM]

You can tell we are running out of time before our Europe Adventure starts so advice much appreciated.

 

Read lots on leisure batteries. I plan to do as much wild camping or at least off mains hook up as possible. Not heavy power users I would guess.

 

I was wondering what the was better one very large capacity or two decent size eg 2 X 110ah or 1 X 220ah?

 

There is of course a cost and/or weight consideration!

 

Thanks

Graeme

[RogerC]

The biggest you can fit in in terms of maximum ah.......you can never have too much elektrikery....and the same goes for solar panels if you're going 'off grid' a lot.

[George Collings]

If plenty of payload is available the bigger the better . Depends on the space available.

A pair of identical small ones need connecting in parallel but are easier to get in and out.

[GraemeM]

Thanks for the input. All good stuff.

 

What do we say about the relative merits of two batteries forming one cell by connecting in parallel (not forgetting the bit of cable!) vs. just one very large cell?

[hallii]

In terms of performance there will be no difference the amp hours will be the same whether it's in two batteries or one.

 

I would favour the one big battery if you have room, two batteries could age at different rates and when one fails both should be replaced. The same applies to a duff cell in a big battery though, the whole battery has to be replaced.

 

Get the best you can afford, and consider gel as opposed to flooded acid, gel doesn't leak or need topping up, and they last a long time. I like Varta or Bosch but other brands may be as good, maybe :-)

 

H

[Airstream]

I would go for 2 x 6volt Trojan semi traction batteries if you have the space and a sealed vented to outside battery box

 

I have 2 x TE35 245 a/h

 

https://www.tayna.co.uk/TE35-Trojan-Battery-Deep-Cycle-P7263.html

 

These are genuine deep cycle not rebadged lorry batteries

 

Ray

[Den]

With 2 of our 3 LeVoyagers were fitted with 2 x 100ah and the 3rd with 1 200ah battery all the same make.

We tend to only run of grid in France.

The difference was........ Zilch. None what so ever, using the same large inverter for the kettle ect made no fifference.

Previous post regarding aging would probably come into effect 2-3 years down the line.

I if cost of one large against 2 smaller is not dramatic, go for one large.

Less wires, less to go wrong

Den

[GraemeM]

Thanks, that's what I thought one very large it is then.

 

Cheers

Graeme

[pepe63xnotuse]

Slightly off topic..

 

At what point/levels would you need to start considering the capabilities of the charger and/or alternator ?... :-S

[George Collings]

As long as two batteries are side by side coupled coupled with starter sized cables reliability should be excellent.

 

Check the weight of a singleton.and hernia truss prices, Best of luck

[GraemeM]

Now hernia truss wasn't part of the installation kit or budget.

Thanks again.

[pepe63xnotuse]

George Collings - 2016-03-07 2:03 PM

 

..Check the weight of a singleton.and hernia truss prices, Best of luck

 

Blimey George!?..'sounds like you've been checking out some poor online dating 'sites!... (lol)

[Brock]

Pepe, I've just come across this point following a post on another forum. A fellow motorhomer was told he could not run two leisure batteries totalling 220 amp and the vehicle battery with an 18 amp charger based on the practice of ten times the charger i.e. 180amps of batteries. He was told that to exceed this would result in his Schaudt charger being damaged.

 

Given that I'd been running two 110amp leisure batteries, I was surprised to say the least so I asked Allan, of aandncaravansales which posts on this forum from time to time. He said that Hymer fit an auxiliary LAS1218 charger when providing a second battery but few dealers do. Allan has mentioned this charger in an earlier post.

 

Schaudt informed me that, "there will be no damage at the EBL.Maybe the battery pack will have a little less current to be charged in a good way. Just make sure you can stay at the mains once a month for minimum of 24 hours, then this should not create any trouble."

 

I'm pondering what to do next as we only rely on batteries on a few occasions for 4 days off hook up and by September that may fall to nil or become a lot more in which case I'll be off to see Allan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Brian Kirby]

Just remember that the flip side of battery capacity is the need to re-charge said battery. The more Ah you consume, the more you will need to put back, and batteries tend to charge best at a rate of about 10% of their capacity. Also, that to avoid damaging the battery you should not, as a general rule, take out more that 50% of the its nominal capacity. So, if you have 220Ah installed, you should only consume 110Ah.

 

Also remember that your vehicle alternator will have more to do than just charge the leisure battery when you are driving. If you are staying off grid, and only driving for an hour or so, you will progressively discharge the battery but, due to the chemical effect of charging, it may well appear to have a higher charge state than it has, actually, achieved. To fully replace 110Ah via the alternator would require many hours of driving. Use a site with hook up often enough to keep the battery healthy, and then leave it on charge interrupted for about 20 hours to get it up to a fully charged state.

[Derek Uzzell]

GraemeM - 2016-03-07 11:05 AM

 

Thanks, that's what I thought one very large it is then.

 

Cheers

Graeme

 

If you opted for a single-12V-battery system and that battery failed, you would have no workable system.

 

If you opted for a two-6V-battery system and one of those batteries failed, you would have no workable system.

 

If you opted for a two-12V-battery system and one of those batteries failed, you would still have a workable system once the failed battery had been isolated.

 

Overlooking the sheer size and weight of a 220Ah 12V ‘leisure’ battery, if you opted for that approach and the battery failed, you should expect to have more difficulty obtaining another 220Ah equivalent than obtaining a 110Ah 12V battery for a 2-battery system. That’s similarly the case for a 6V-battery-based system - it’s likely to be harder to obtain a 6V leisure-battery in an emergency than a 12V leisure-battery.

 

Me, I’d go for two Varta LFD90 batteries. These ought to be reasonably widely available (not just in the UK) and I can easily manhandle the 24kg weight. A Varta LFD180 weighs 45kg and an LFD230 weighs 56kg and, while I’m capable of lifting either, it’s not something I’d be keen on doing. A full Calor 13kg(propane) bottle weighs from 25kg to 35kg, which should give some idea just how heavy one of these big batteries is.