80ah battery for camping???

[joebee]

Hi
if you are buying a new leisure battery make sure it fits if you are installing behind the passenger seat. This is a good page to read:

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Ca ... s_that_fit

Joe

[DUMBODOGGY]

Cheers Joe, I was going to put it under the rear seat/bed against the bulkhead? I just need to check I can get access into the engine bay from there??????

Yes 1664, we are just near the airport! we are off to Cov later to Go Outdoors to get some camping bits!

[1664]

Yes 1664, we are just near the airport! we are off to Cov later to Go Outdoors to get some camping bits!

That's three minutes from my front door! Fancy meeting up?

[DUMBODOGGY]

I would love that. Dont know any other T25 owners! I have the Mrs and the little one with me later and will be in the car, are you a member of any clubs or anything?

[1664]

Not 'physical' clubs as such. Just here and The Brick-yard really.

What time you figure on getting to Go Outdoors?

[belgianbill]

Before you get too excited remeber that your van probably has the standard 65amp alternator which is not going to cope with charging your starter battery and a deep cycle leisure battery. You could change to a 90amp alternator but these are pricey - around £140 and I believe require new bracketry.

On our 1.6TD we pre charge the leisure battery from the mains before a trip and it seems to run the lights, tele and other low voltage draw items ocmfortably for about a week. We usually take a battery charger and recharge it form the mains when hooked up

Bill

[DUMBODOGGY]

Bill, your mint! that makes sense! a technician at worked warned me about that and I did wonder!! I have bought the ebay kit but I'll just relist it! Thaks Bill, thats great....

[DUMBODOGGY]

Before you get too excited remeber that your van probably has the standard 65amp alternator which is not going to cope with charging your starter battery and a deep cycle leisure battery. You could change to a 90amp alternator but these are pricey - around £140 and I believe require new bracketry.

On our 1.6TD we pre charge the leisure battery from the mains before a trip and it seems to run the lights, tele and other low voltage draw items ocmfortably for about a week. We usually take a battery charger and recharge it form the mains when hooked up

Bill

Bill, what ah leisure battery did you buy and what brand is it??

[belgianbill]

Dunno about the brand but it is a 70ah battery picked up off fleabay. Any deep cycle 70ah and above battery will suit providing it fits in the space available. Many are too tall so measure first buy once to paraphrase the carpenters rule!

Bill

[DUMBODOGGY]

Nice one! cheers again! Where did you put your leisure battery? is under the bench seat/bed a good place?

[kevtherev]

Before you get too excited remeber that your van probably has the standard 65amp alternator which is not going to cope with charging your starter battery and a deep cycle leisure battery. You could change to a 90amp alternator

Bill

I'm sorry but thats just plain wrong....
I have three batteries and my 45 amp alternator copes with ease

[Red Westie]

A couple of things sprung to mind reading this post:

The split charge kit in an earlier post is inadequate because: it has scotch locks rated at 16Amps and fuses rated at 20amps, all very border line and in the case of Scotch Locks, it is not considered best practice to use them generally but especially in circuits likely to carry this sort of amperage (30amps plus)
When adding any additional wiring there are several general rules.
1) Rate wiring/relays/connectors etc at least 50% more than their intended load.
So that there is minimal volt drop in the circuit and components and wiring are not overloaded.
2) Rate the fuse above intended load but below the rating of the components.
So the fuse blows before any damage occurs to components and wiring, more important still, to prevent electrical fires caused by overheated/melted/shorted wiring.

In my opinion: you should be looking at buying a smart relay (self switching) 45 amps or higher, with wiring and terminals rated similarly (45 amps or higher) with fuse holders rated the same but with 30 amp fuses fitted (see how you go with this rating, should be OK but might need the next fuse size up)
This is all minimum safe spec...for a new split charge system...in my opinion.
You certainly can get away with less (30 amp stuff) but as I pointed out, some of the weak links with that kit (16 amp scotch locks/20 amp fuses) don't even support 30 amps.

Kev is right, your 65amp/hour alternator will be fine. Fitting a leisure battery just means the alternator will have to work harder for longer in order to charge both.

Martin

[DUMBODOGGY]

Thanks Martin, thats a great help, I wont be fitting that then!

[1664]

Dunno why I bother sometimes

Would something like this be anygood???

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MOTORHOME-SPLIT-C ... 129wt_1062

Yeah that's the sort of thing - although a few members (including me) have installed a larger rated split charge circuit as your battery can take a fair hammering these days what with all the 12v kit you could potentially drain it with.
The flatter your leisure battery is when you start charging it again, the higher the initial charging current from the alternator will be which can be above 30amps if the battery's run right down. But that would be fine in most circumstances I would have thought, and the worse case senario is it'll melt the fuse.

I didn't examine it closer than a quick read, but it says it has a 'smart' relay and 30amp fuses (not 20amp) and doesn't mention scotch lock connectors at all. I've seen plenty of campers with this type of split charge fitted that have had no problems in general use at all. Yes, you can fit a larger system if you tend to drain your battery quite low (I have) but then I said that didn't I??



As South Park's Cartman would say, "Screw you guys; I'm going home................"

[Mocki]

frankly i wouldnt give "smart" split charger relays house(van) room..... they are more trouble than they are worth, and over expensive. There is nothing wrong with a bog standard 40amp relay and a couple of good old fuses.The standard of the wiring and connectors is the most important factor....

The op only needs a basic system by the description given.....

one thing i did note on this thread is the incorrect information offered.
1. Fridges should NOT be connected to the leisure battery - only the main battery
2. the notion that a 45amp alternator wont "do the job" - it will, as will a 60amp .Obviously a 90amp will do a better job of keeping the batterys charged.