Caravan leisure batery life.

inaneredstripe

inaneredstripe

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Recently bought a caravan after years without one. All the old twin tube 8Watt lighting is now binned, and replaced with LED stuff.
New leisure battery is one the To Buy list. The van is somewhere comfier than a tent to stay at weekend dog events.
Just wondering what kind of life on a full charge any caravaners out there get?
Three or four days running the lighting ,water pump etc?
The sights we use are usual just fields,
 
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If you're using the standard capacity battery for a caravan then the led lighting alone will probably last more than a month continuously, have you checked the current draw on the lighting?
 
With a decent make of battery, we used to get a full weeks use without a charge. BUT, i was all for belt & braces approach and had a spare in the car boot, with a charger socket fixed in there! We had an ABI 12/2 for a long time!
 
We get a good week on a 100amp battery. Still enough left for the mover too when back home.
 
i mounted a solar panel on the roof of my old van ...ideal for charging whilst your away
 
it really depends what you are using .
Our fan on the cooker runs if we use the oven so that draws water pump, charging phones ,lights (all 12 volt ones are LED ) we get 3-4 days on a 110 battery we have a solar panel to charge it up
 
Done 8 weeks without sites in Norway in the motorhome, 120 battery, all LED lights, was fine.

Make sure the vehicle alt charges both properly.

Forget the egay split chargers they are crap, spend on a decent one.Ironman do good ones or ARB.
 
We always got a full week on a 75ah leisure battery, that was lights, water pump and the very occasional programme on a b/w 12in tv
 
Currently on a car battery as the van came without one. Gonna put the biggest leisure battery in we can afford. Looks like i shouldn't have any problems.
It lives outside the house, so its on the mains charger.
The next fun job is sorting out a fubared leg. Have the new nut for it, but dont know if ya can change it in situ, or if the leg has to come off.
Ive already had all the sills/spats off to sorten the crap plywood holding em on. Ready to treat the floor edges/seal, and replace em now.
Oh, its an 89 Swift Challenger 470/2SE.bought for a massive £375.
 
a battery will only last as long as the user maintained it

get a yuasa battery there a bit more expensive but best quality batteries on the market all japanese motorcycles come with them on as standard well almost all

if you maintain the battery correctly you can get unto 10 years out of one i see these a lot with yuasa batteries

if you leave it to stand charge it once in a blue moon then don't expect more then six months
 
i only use a standard car battery in our caravan as we use electric hook up sites ,but as others have said ,if you get a leisure battery or any caravan one for that matter ,it really needs to be put on trickle charge all winter or it won't take and hold a charge again .nature of the beast i'm afraid .see so many peeps complaining in the spring after they have left theres in the van over winter and they have gone flat
 
I have a Swift Challenger 480/2 SE, 2002 vintage. Bought it 10 years ago and first trip, without hook-up, the new battery lasted 4 days. That was using radio and without LED lighting. Finished the extended weekend by hooking car to van to have a shower.

After that I got a solar panel (only 30W) and can do over 3 weeks without hook-up and leave with a full battery.

Solar panel is the way to go but I would put in a more powerful one that 30W.

Ken
 
Smart battery chargers in Lidl this week, 16th I think
 
A small solar panel will provide a steady trickle charge. Don't go for the ebay cheapo ones. Spend a few quid and it will pay off in the long run.
 
wack61 said:
Smart battery chargers in Lidl this week, 16th I think
Click to expand...
That looks good. I recently acquired a campervan and have been wondering what to do with the leisure battery over winter. Should I bring it in the house and charge it with this every couple of weeks?
 
If the caravan is within a reasonable distance get a length of cable long enough to reach from the house to the caravan, fit crocodile clips to each end , attach one end to the battery, the other end to the connectors on the charger

That way all you have to do is connect the charger end when you want to charge it and it's only 12v going outside

Or you could do as you suggest,
 
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