Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: omega3000 on 19 August 2014, 16:58:00
-
Looking to buy a leisure battery for the tin tent but would a heavy duty car battery do the same job .. I only need it for the lighting :-\
-
http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/helpandadvice/technicalhelp/power/your-leisure-battery/
:y
-
My belief is that a car battery is designed for high output/load for a short time (for cranking starter) and a leisure battery is designed for low output/load over a longer period (lighting etc). :)
-
Have a look here...
http://www.sterling-power.com/
On the boat I had a split charger, two 110 Amp leisure batteries and a Sterling 1000W invertor for the mains power, lighting was 12V, cooker, fridge and telly. Batteries fully charged, the invertor would run the fridge for two days without running the engine.
Fridge was an A rated Bosch 55litre? slimline one fwiw :y only a smidgen wider than the Electrolux gas/electric box of carbonmonoxide leaking crap that it was. Barely enough room for two days food in it. The replacement was almost three times larger inside, and more importantly, actually worked ::)
-
If it's only for occasional lighting I tend to use an old car battery. An old Omega battery with say half it's original capacity does a fine job for a weekend of lighting only. If it isn't enough then buy a battery.
Only a few makes are true leisure batteries (with thicker plates) more suited to heavy discharge. From memory you're looking for YUASA or VARTA leisure batteries as a safe bet.
-
Halfords do leesure batterys.
-
Halfords do leesure batterys.
Oddly enough, that's where I got mine ::)
-
Power is only needed for 4 lights and 1 water pump that wont be used that much , i dont intend using the caravan on the battery alone . It will be straight to the site and hook up to the power supply :-\
-
Halfords do leesure batterys.
So do ECP and ebay who are probably cheaper than Halfrauds! :y
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Leisure-Battery-12V-100AH-SuperBatt-LM100-Battery-Caravan-Motorhome-Marine-Boat-/321342007200?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_BoatEquipment_Accessories_SM&hash=item4ad179e7a0
Sorry Emd couldn't find one for 99p ;) ;D
-
Halfords do leesure batterys.
Oddly enough, that's where I got mine ::)
And about 1/2 price if you use a trade card, or was when i bought a 110ah a few years ago :y
-
Halfords do leesure batterys.
So do ECP and ebay who are probably cheaper than Halfrauds! :y
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Leisure-Battery-12V-100AH-SuperBatt-LM100-Battery-Caravan-Motorhome-Marine-Boat-/321342007200?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_BoatEquipment_Accessories_SM&hash=item4ad179e7a0
Sorry Emd couldn't find one for 99p ;) ;D
Hmm thanks mr tig , i could not find one as cheap as that ::) seems like a good buy and loads sold .. wonder if the Bay do a discount card ;D
Halfords do leesure batterys.
Oddly enough, that's where I got mine ::)
And about 1/2 price if you use a trade card, or was when i bought a 110ah a few years ago :y
Now who's got a trade card to borrow :-\
Oh and i dont quite get how the Inverter thingie works ? Is it necessary ???
-
.....
Oh and i dont quite get how the Inverter thingie works ? Is it necessary ???
an inverter is a box of electrickery that makes 240 volt mains from 12 volts DC ........ it uses black magic ::) It depends what you want to plug in when you're away on if one is necessary ;)
-
.....
Oh and i dont quite get how the Inverter thingie works ? Is it necessary ???
an inverter is a box of electrickery that makes 240 volt mains from 12 volts DC ........ it uses black magic ::) It depends what you want to plug in when you're away on if one is necessary ;)
So the blue power lead that i already use to power up the van will be no good when hooking up at the camp site :(
Am totally lost now as what ill need and not need , all i have is the blue power cable and thought this was all i needed to power everything ???
-
I presume you still have the charger that came with the van?
Do not use an ordinary battery charger as it will burn out the 12v system in the van.
If you are not going to use the van if it's not hooked up to the mains, and you're not going to fit a mover, then a good (branded) 75 amp leisure battery will suffice.
-
Sorry to confuddle you Emd :-[ the inverter is, as Andy says, a reliable way of producing 240v from 12v. You would only need one if you weren't planning on plugging the 'van in. Even with an inverter you would need some way of recharging the battery. You would use either the car or mains hook up. The arrangement on the boat relied on the engine for hot water and electrickery, with no mains hook up.
Whether you need an inverter or not depends entirely on how you intend to use the van (ie your reliance on campsites), and whether you have a domestic fridge fitted instead of a 12v one :y
-
Lets start again :D ;D
I need a leisure battery .. yes
The car is wired up to charge the leisure battery .. yes
So all i need is a leisure battery ? :-\
Sorry for not understanding ;)
-
Yes.
Assuming the mains hook up provides 240v and charges your leisure battery when it's not connected to the car :y
-
Yes.
Assuming the mains hook up provides 240v and charges your leisure battery when it's not connected to the car :y
Why does the mains have to charge the battery if using the mains ???
-
Lets start again :D ;D
I need a leisure battery .. yes
The car is wired up to charge the leisure battery .. yes
So all i need is a leisure battery ? :-\
Sorry for not understanding ;)
Yes to all of the above.
You don't need a caravan to have need for an inverter. They are a nice to have item if you want to watch a mains telly in the back seat of your car or power a laptop etc http://www.maplin.co.uk/search?text=inverter&x=0&y=0 The bigger the inverter the bigger the draw on your leisure battery ;)
-
Yes.
Assuming the mains hook up provides 240v and charges your leisure battery when it's not connected to the car :y
Why does the mains have to charge the battery if using the mains ???
because there are things in the caravan that are powered by 12 volts eg the water pump & most/all of your lighting
-
In that case you would only need an inverter if you want to camp at random in the sticks. If you get an inverter you would need a second leisure battery and if camping at random alot, then you would need to do a few miles between stops to keep the batteries topped up from the car.
Sounds like you only intend to camp on sites though, so an inverter is probably an extravagance :y
-
Yes.
Assuming the mains hook up provides 240v and charges your leisure battery when it's not connected to the car :y
Why does the mains have to charge the battery if using the mains ???
because there are things in the caravan that are powered by 12 volts eg the water pump & most/all of your lighting
So when i plug in the blue lead from the van to the house its converting 240v to 12v .
And the 240v to 12v also charges the battery :y
In that case you would only need an inverter if you want to camp at random in the sticks. If you get an inverter you would need a second leisure battery and if camping at random alot, then you would need to do a few miles between stops to keep the batteries topped up from the car.
Sounds like you only intend to camp on sites though, so an inverter is probably an extravagance :y
;) :y
-
.....
So when i plug in the blue lead from the van to the house its converting 240v to 12v .
Ah! You confused me there, the mains hook up lead is normally orange ........ but if yours is blue, then yes
And the 240v to 12v also charges the battery :y ...
Yes. :y
-
.....
So when i plug in the blue lead from the van to the house its converting 240v to 12v .
Ah! You confused me there, the mains hook up lead is normally orange ........ but if yours is blue, then yes
And the 240v to 12v also charges the battery :y ...
Yes. :y
Im confused now , i'll have to go and check ;D ;D ;D ;)
You were right andy , its orange :-[
Ill get the 12V 100AH battery ;)
-
....
You were right andy , its orange :-[
.....
No wonder you're having problems with electrickery if you can't tell orange from blue! ;D ;D
Blue IIRC is the colour of the cable in the 12S plug/socket for caravan battery charging :y
-
....
You were right andy , its orange :-[
.....
No wonder you're having problems with electrickery if you can't tell orange from blue! ;D ;D
Blue IIRC is the colour of the cable in the 12S plug/socket for caravan battery charging :y
I opened the front storage box and found the battery terminals , ah thats where they are kept ::) :-[ Because there will be no gas bottles it leaves quite a nice storage area .
-
....
I opened the front storage box and ..... it leaves quite a nice storage area .
Don't put too much in there, remember your caravan's nose weight should be nor more than the max weight for the Omega's tow ball ie 75 kg
I had my arms calibrated ::) such that if I could lift the tow hitch, then I was about right :y but technically you should use a nose weight gauge or a set of bathroom scales ;)
-
....
I opened the front storage box and ..... it leaves quite a nice storage area .
Don't put too much in there, remember your caravan's nose weight should be nor more than the max weight for the Omega's tow ball ie 75 kg
I had my arms calibrated ::) such that if I could lift the tow hitch, then I was about right :y but technically you should use a nose weight gauge or a set of bathroom scales ;)
Aye but ive lost a fare bit of weight ditching 2 gas bottles ;)