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Re: Leisure Battery

Posted: 18 Nov 2013, 20:19
by sarran1955
Hello John,

Thank you for that very interesting and enlightening post.. :ok

You know my van.. and how important it is to me to keep the weight down.. :roll:

To be able to wild camp the night at the ski slopes , I have an Eberspacher project..

A diesel heater.. that I propose to run off a garden tractor 35 AH battery..

I'm looking at 2 amps for 8 hours....

Bearing in mind your post..

and..

I would like to fit (semi) permanently one of the 100 watt flexi solar panels now available..

I prefer to ski in sunny weather.... :)

Your advice would be appreciated..

Best,

Cordialement,

:ok

Re: Leisure Battery

Posted: 19 Nov 2013, 09:23
by ghost123uk
ghost123uk wrote:you will need a solar panel regulator which prevents overcharging on hot clear days, not at all expensive on Ebay. A couple of folk on here have found some of these units that also have a low voltage disconnect built in. Even that version is suspiciously cheap. I have not had my hands on one yet but iirc they have a fixed low voltage cut off which (again iirc) is too low.

Here is one = Ebay link It says the cut off voltage = 10.8V which I think is too low. You could fool it by sticking a 10A diode in series with the load feed, that would up it to 11.4V and the loads won't notice the .6V drop.

Re: Leisure Battery

Posted: 04 Dec 2013, 18:47
by Negativegravity
Any idea if this little gadget is suitable as an alternative?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Solid-State-L ... 565eb3f562" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Avoids hang to wire it up myself then!

Cheers

Re: Leisure Battery

Posted: 05 Dec 2013, 09:06
by ghost123uk
Negativegravity wrote:Any idea if this little gadget is suitable as an alternative?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Solid-State-L ... 565eb3f562" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Avoids hang to wire it up myself then!

Cheers

Looks just fine and the audible alarm to warn it is going to disconnect is something the "other one" is missing :)

E D I T = So good I might get one and flog my REUK one ;)
EDIT2 = But the power in / out "studs" are not enclosed and being "live" would need careful "covering" to make them safe ;)

Re: Leisure Battery

Posted: 05 Dec 2013, 09:13
by discipleofsketch
I was looking into a new leisure battery last night, as mine is knackered - checked out the info on the wiki page (https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Ca ... s_that_fit" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) and eventually found myself looking at this:-

http://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/brands ... e-battery/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But i'm also pondering a low voltage disconnect, and also some kind of fuse/ terminal block, as the positive terminal on mine is like a spaghetti junction with stuff forked off it.

Re: Leisure Battery

Posted: 05 Dec 2013, 09:33
by ghost123uk
Yes, I have a fuse box / distribution unit very similar to THIS ONE. A good idea and not expensive ;)

Get yourself an LVD - you know you won't regret it (it pays for itself the very first time it operates ;))

Re: Leisure Battery

Posted: 05 Jan 2014, 15:11
by Negativegravity
ghost123uk wrote:
Negativegravity wrote:Any idea if this little gadget is suitable as an alternative?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Solid-State-L ... 565eb3f562" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Avoids hang to wire it up myself then!

Cheers

Looks just fine and the audible alarm to warn it is going to disconnect is something the "other one" is missing :)

E D I T = So good I might get one and flog my REUK one ;)
EDIT2 = But the power in / out "studs" are not enclosed and being "live" would need careful "covering" to make them safe ;)


Can confirm that this works really well! Easy enough to wire in and the buzzer is pretty handy!