Leisure batteries

[Hiraeth]

Hi all,

I’m getting my leisure battery changed and considering having a second one fitted the same time. Anyone else done this and and found it warranted the extra cost?

Thanks
Hiraeth

 

[barryd]

Oh your opening a right old can of worms now Hiraeth! To answer your question though I did this earlier this year. We changed vans in early summer 2024 and the new one we got had one 130ah solar panel and one 110ah battery. It wasn't enough. So we changed the single 110ah battery for a new 120ah mid trip. Still wasn't quite enough so this year we put in a second identical 120ah battery and an extra solar panel and its been spot on. Lead acid though. We have not gone Lithium. Not yet anyway.

The cost just to wire in a second battery should be minimal really. I was lucky and got some help. It all comes down to your usage I guess.

 

[Nabsim]

lol, grab the popcorn

It completely depends on how you use your van

 

[r4dent]

It completely depends on how you use your van

@Nabsim is 100% correct (despite being an hippie!)

If you spend all your time on sites with EHU, stick with one battery,
If you never stay in one place for more than a single night, stick with one battery,
Anything else is a grey area,

Only you can decide. The only downside to upgrading to two batteries is the cost.
Just make sure that whoever fits the batteries knows what they are doing.

 

[trevskoda]

2 lead acids here and 200w solar, i never have stayed more than one night, but it runs my mains electric fridge usb charging and all led lights no problem.

 

[rugbyken]

as others have said depends on current set up and intended usage also is the van for life or a stepping stone, at the moment eco worthy 100A lithium batteries are only £50 dearer than lead acid a drop in replacement that will give almost double the output , to live in the camper as you do at home you would probably need the fogstar beast 608A for £950 (though i think you still get a 10% forum discount )

 

[Boris7]

I’d talk to Wildbus (he’s on here) and fully explain your usage and needs and he’ll point you in the right direction.

I’m a heavy user, right now I’m at a race circuit not moving till Monday, no sun expected, microwave, electric kettle, lights will be on from about 16:30 till 23:00 then again from 06:00 to 09:00 I also run an office from the van, my set up works great but it would be a waste of money if you only stop for a night or two in Summer or have EHU.

 

[Wooie1958]

Yes.

 

[merl]

C'mon you lot, I'm disappointed frankly with everyone being really sensible.
Hiraeth, if you can give some details of how you use your van , where you camp EHU or wild camp, how regularly and how far you drive and more importantly how you'd like to use the van in the future then the fun can really start and we can confuse the hell out of ya.

 

[molly 2]

A second battery would be a good idea in winter , ideally it should be the same as original battery

 

[Hiraeth]

I now ‘live’ in it the majority of the time. I use a Bluetti ac180 for my laptop, air fryer, etc., (I don’t have a microwave) but I have a drop down bed and table that run off the battery/electric. When I travelled around Scotland recently I only went to campsites every 5 days or so (hook up) and I drove nearly every day bar 2 days out of 7 weeks! I’m off to southern Europe in Jan and will try not to drive every day but I just want peace of mind that I have adequate power needs especially if I want to spend a few days somewhere. I have a 120w pv solar panel for topping up. I think I’ve answered your questions….thanks for all your responses I appreciate it

 

[merl]

Your Jan jaunt is going to pose your biggest challenge because, you want to be able to stay put for a few days without EHU AND you'll not get a lot of solar at that time of the year. Having said that if you only really use the leisure battery for the bed and lighting you should be OK without adding a second battery, the problem is if the weather gets bad and you use a lot of power using the TV/laptop because you want to stay in, if you're getting no solar either then you'll be in trouble and having twice the battery capacity would be a huge benefit BUT if your van has a standard charging system with a split charge relay the amount of charge current is limited somewhat by the system wiring etc.
Picture your battery as a tank of water that you're using during the days you're parked up, because you're using water at a faster rate than you're putting in (charging) eventually the tank runs dry ( you go flat) . Simple enough
Now picture the charge current from your alternator when you're driving as your filler (charge) pipe, the alternator has the ability to pump water really quickly into your tank BUT the van wiring is acting like the pipe has a restrictor valve and the water delivery is restricted to a trickle. If driving for say 3 hours isn't enough to fill 1 tank back up to full then adding a second tank will give you no benefit because instead of having say 1 tank at 90% full you now have 2 tanks at 45% full.
Having man-splaned all of the above I'll back track and say the above is not completely accurate because electricity doesn't work like water and adding a second battery WILL increase charge rate BUT nowhere near double it. You'll only get double the storage capacity if you can get both batteries charged.
A final complication to consider is that lead acid batteries DON'T like being part charged and the longer they remain and the deeper they are discharged the quicker you kill them. For the reasons above adding a second battery may lead to a shorter battery life too.
Personally 1 lithium battery and a battery to battery charger which increases charge current would probably be the route id recommend providing your solar charger is suitable which it probably is.

 

[molly 2]

I have bluetti 180p, 200 w folding solar panel works great in summer

 

[Boris7]

I now ‘live’ in it the majority of the time.

If you doing that then Lithium/solar/solar generator will be the way to go.

 

[rugbyken]

even right down in the algarve jan/feb etc the sun is so low that your solar harvest won’t be massive a couple more solar panels and a medium solar wouldn’t hurt and would make life much less hand to mouth , though there are a lot of camperstop type aires that only charge 12/13€ with ehu your blueti can smooth out your journey but if your drop down bed is electric the van is pretty modern and you don’t want to be unable to retract that through lack of power

 

[Nabsim]

If you are in it a lot and battery needs changing I wouldn’t consider anything apart from a lifepo4 battery. It can recharge a lot more quickly than lead acid battery’s can and 100ah is equivalent of 2 x 100ah lead acid

 

[merl]

If you are in it a lot and battery needs changing I wouldn’t consider anything apart from a lifepo4 battery. It can recharge a lot more quickly than lead acid battery’s can and 100ah is equivalent of 2 x 100ah lead acid

That's absolutely true Neil but I think there should be an emphasis on CAN charge quicker.
Lifepo4 stays in bulk mode for longer than lead acid and although this typically gives a significant increase in charge times it's not massive, if anyone wants to capitalise on Lithium's increased ability to accept much higher charge currents then a charger upgrade will almost certainly be needed. If you've only got a few amps of solar then Lithium's not going to give much of an increase in charge time because the limiting factor is the charge source.

 

[Geek]

Think of your 12v power as being like water.

Your leisure battery is like a bucket storing this water.

The alternator, solar panels and hook-up charger are like various taps filling the bucket at different times.

Using any 12v power is running water out of the drain hole in the bucket (yes, it's a special analogy bucket with a drain).

If the bucket is big enough, and not leaking too much, adding a second bucket is extra weight, expense and complexity.
However, if the bucket gets alarmingly empty at times, having a second bucket might help.

You need to be aware that if you are taking more out of the bucket than you are putting in, you will run out of water eventually.
A second bucket means it will take longer to run out, but it will also take longer to fill up again.

So a second battery can help in some situations, but not in others.

 

[Boris7]

All I'd add to what's been said is

"I’m getting my leisure battery changed and considering having a second one fitted the same time"

Don't change the existing battery just now. Assuming the change costs £X then you look at options and decide the go another route (what ever that other route may turn out to be) you may well have spent that £X and not be able to use that battery and therefore that £X will have been a waste of money.

If the existing battery needs changing because you've been leaning on it too much then you'll need another plan

 

[trevskoda]

Thats a big bucket list, im sure she can handle it.