leisure battery questions

[hixsy]

i know i should trowel thru a million pages on wiki about leisure batteries and ive no doubt ill find the answers eventually but i just need to clear a few things before i choose the right battery. As i have a double passenger seat setup in the front im gonna put the 2nd battery under the double seats which looks the same size as the compartment under the drivers seat, setup a fusebox there and run me stereo/amps/lighting and everything i will install from it.

my questions are . .

are AH (amps hour) important, would it be better to pay more for a big name battery with less AH or would you recommend more AH on a cheaper battery, how important is it? do bigger batteries mean bigger capacity i.e. longer power time? also wats the cheapest i will get for me money ?

wats the deal with dischargin leisures too, as ive read a little about that, are there two types suited to that function or can i use any ?

Ive looked at the diagrams and pretty sure i can setup the split charge, i have done the LCD voltmeter mod mentioned on here and will set it up to monitor both.

any suggestions before i dive in are gratefully recieved, can i set it up with a cheapo/used battery for now ? as im kinda skint lol

thx guys, bit of a mouthfull but i kinda wanna get it right first time

[kevtherev]

I'd be asking what you going to use it for?
lights
TV
propex

all three?

leisures that fit under the seat are few but available, as are the chargers that recharge them properly
I use a starter battery for an aux it recharges quickly and supplies all the power I need for lights, tv, dvd, propex.

I chose a 75 A/h (UK code 096) it lasts a two night winter weekend no problem.
for longer times between charges I use a second aux wired in parallel, which gives 150 A/h

more amps mean the battery lasts longer

[hixsy]

well im interested in runnin the interior lights, tv/stereo/amps so would a starter battery suffice ? and would a 75ah starter battery do for them ?

[kevtherev]

yep

and so would a leisure

both at 75ah

[hixsy]

excellent ill see wat battery i can get this weekend !

[Cafnod]

Hi
I fitted one of these;
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0472838615" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It fills the battery box under the drivers seat on our 1985 1.6TD it is the biggest possible battery that will go in and still put the lid on.
The company were brilliant, even rang me to check I had received it OK as they knew I was going away.
You can use a battery from the local breakers, our old sailing cruiser gets them cos they are cheap and the batteries just dont get looked after, We pay a fiveer a time from the scrappy.
Answers to your general questions
The more amps you have the more running time.
The battery has a capacity of @half the rated ampage; 110 amps = 55 amps MAXIMUM use, @.
Do a energy audit; work out the maximum wattage you will need, eg 3 lights at 8 watts, occasional w/pump @4 amps etc, add up the wattage per hour, say 60 watts divided by 12 volts = @5amps ph X 5 hours is 25 amps usage.
Split charge systems is straightforward, any probs lots of help on here.