Battery maths help please

[davep10000]

I was just about to go the Ritar lead carbon route (100ah from Alpha) but realised the ones they sell now are Gel rather then AGM (I think your Ritars are AGM Wildebus?).
I think the Gels have a lower cycle life at 1500 than the AGM,s.
I will probably now go for the same Leoch,s as the OP, as I think Gels are a bit fussier to charge.
Thanks for all the advice on here, it really helps.

 

[wildebus]

I was just about to go the Ritar lead carbon route (100ah from Alpha) but realised the ones they sell now are Gel rather then AGM (I think your Ritars are AGM Wildebus?).
I think the Gels have a lower cycle life at 1500 than the AGM,s.
I will probably now go for the same Leoch,s as the OP, as I think Gels are a bit fussier to charge.
Thanks for all the advice on here, it really helps.

Yup, mine are the AGM versions. The GEL Ritars are still very good I think but the Leochs are essentially the replacement for the Ritar AGMs in the range Alpha do (I think I bought mine in a short window of availability from Alpha. They are still made, just Alpha don't list them anymore).
To me, if you don't want to go down the Lithium route (and while Lithium have some big advantages, there are also perfectly valid reasons not to) then going Lead-Carbon is much better than regular Lead Acid if you can fit them (they always seem to be taller than 'normal' Lead Acid, which is a pain for some installs )

 

[davep10000]

Yup, mine are the AGM versions. The GEL Ritars are still very good I think but the Leochs are essentially the replacement for the Ritar AGMs in the range Alpha do (I think I bought mine in a short window of availability from Alpha. They are still made, just Alpha don't list them anymore).
To me, if you don't want to go down the Lithium route (and while Lithium have some big advantages, there are also perfectly valid reasons not to) then going Lead-Carbon is much better than regular Lead Acid if you can fit them (they always seem to be taller than 'normal' Lead Acid, which is a pain for some installs )

Thanks, Been through the lithium scenario - but would need the low temp versions, and my oldish Sterling B2B would need replacing as well, and cant really justify the £1600 cost (with B2B)! Maybe in a few years time...

The Leoch 115's seem good value, and I will put them in the (strengthened) side locker so the weight isnt all at the back.
Like Guy's, its a substantial proper 4WD chassis so plenty strong enough and I have plenty of weight capacity.
Thanks again for your advice.

 

[Okta]

Battery mathematics is very complicated and the case for a battery monitor has already been well made. However basic measuring of Amps in and Amps out is only the start of it. A battery monitor also needs to take account of battery efficiency and Peukerts Exponent. Peukerts law recognises that if you demand a lot from a battery e.g. a big inverter you will get a lot less Amp hours out of the battery than if it is running just a couple of Amps for lighting. If buying a battery monitor I suggest getting one which has settings for these factors, particularly if you are a heavy user.