TECH TIPS................................ Power from your Battery Choosing a battery:
Choosing a starter battery is a simple matter of going by the vehicle manufacturer's recommendation. Selecting a leisure battery is complicated by the fact that the size and type that you need will vary according to what you
and maintain it. To be on the safe side we reckon that, whichever type or
want to run from it, how you expect to use it and even - a factor that’s often ignored - how you plan to look after Heavy is good:
When planning your battery requirements, the first and most important thing that you can do is to work out what you will be asking your battery to do for you. You’ll need to work out how much current you’re likely to use between opportunities to connect up to mains power. The best approach is to calculate your average daily requirement and, from that, work out the total amount of Amp/hours you'll need before you can recharge the battery. To do this, add together the watts used by all the
appliances which you'll have switched on and using the conversion formula Amps = watts/volts, calculate the power consumption of each item. Then work out the
model of battery you choose, they should ideally have at least twice the Ah capacity of your estimated demand, especially if winter or hot-weather operation is anticipated. Additionally, we strongly recommend getting an “intelligent” charging system that will treat your batteries well and ensure a longer life.
Different types of battery are constructed using different techniques and materials to achieve best performance. Starter batteries have thinner plates which release energy more quickly while “leisure” / “domestic” / “auxiliary” batteries have thicker plates which are more resistant to deep discharging. If you use a starter battery for running appliances, as the battery discharges, the thinner plates will soon suffer damage and, eventually, cause the cells to stop working correctly.
length of time each appliance will be on for to complete be hard to believe, tests carried out on some the calculation.
capacity is really just a convenient description and doesn’t really tell you what you’ll realistically get out of it or how long it will last. As explained above, a battery’s performance will start to diminish as soon as it’s not
being charged and, once it’s reached 50% of its nominal capacity, it won’t really be working properly at all.
If you’ll be away from hook-up for days or weeks at a time, you’ll obviously need a lot more capacity than if you only go away for day trips or are always in a marina or on a campsite. Do you have solar panels or a generator? If you do, you may be able to get away with less battery capacity than if you do not. If you regularly
Always bear in mind the fact that a battery’s nominal Ah from a standard starter battery - apart from the higher price of course! Even some of the best known (and most expensive) “leisure” batteries are simply a triumph of clever marketing over reality.
rely on your batteries for days on end, you really should consider either a bigger battery bank or more resilient A 115Ah battery from Banner weighs 27.6 Kg. batteries such as AGM models.
your battery fit and healthy, in other words, how you’re going to keep it charged. Whatever type of battery you use and whatever its Ah capacity, you’ll need to keep it in good condition by charging it on a regular basis. Relying on the vehicle or boat’s alternator when the engine’s running will not charge the battery as efficiently
as a battery to battery system - see pages 14-16. And, when mains hook-up is available, the standard on- board charger will probably not have anywhere near the performance of a charger such as those from CTEK and Sterling on pages 8 - 13.
Just because a battery is being sold as a 110Ah or 85Ah model, until stricter legislation is introduced, there’s no simple way to test that these figures are genuine. The simplest way to judge whether a battery is likely to perform as described is to consider the weight and physical size in relation to the claimed Ah capacity.
Finally, you’ll need to consider how you’re going to keep and labelled as being 110Ah weighs 24.8Kg. The almost 10% difference in weight is only a result of the different amounts of lead in the batteries: more weight means more lead which equals bigger plates. This, in turn, means better performance and longer life, especially when the battery is constantly subjected to deep discharging. If you’re concerned about saving weight, consider a lower rated battery from a genuine manufacturer: you’re almost certain to
get better performance and save money in the long run.
More than any other of the products sold by RoadPro (with the possible exception of satellite TV equipment) batteries, chargers, inverters and solar power products are subject to exaggerated claims and just plain wrong information by the people trying to sell them.
In almost every situation, the answer to your questions about 12V power should be: ”It all depends”. In most cases, if a salesman tells you that he knows what you need without taking the time to find out exactly what you want, we strongly suggest that you walk away immediately.
Prices and models can change. For up to date prices, to find a dealer near you or for further information on any of our products, please phone us on 01327 312233 or visit our website:
www.roadpro.co.uk 6
A popular “leisure battery” of identical size but with a picture of a caravan or motorhome on it
There’s a problem here though: it’s not possible to tell from the outside how a battery is constructed on the inside and, although it may
batteries labelled as “leisure” batteries have shown that they are actually no different at all
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