Leisure Battery

Hi Cellis & welcome to the CC Forum. Enjoy caravanning and use the forum to find your way about.  We don't bite!

In answer to your direct question, yes you do really. Whilst the electrical hook up may power some of your accessories, many others & some of the most important ones will run off the 12 volt system which in turn is supported by the mains hook up.

Your battery is key to having everything running properly.  As long as you are not going to fit a caravan mover to manoever the caravan off the car, you only really need a 75 AH battery. My experience has always been that it is a false ecomomy in the long run to buy too cheap a battery, but neither do you need a gold plated one.  They retail at about £70-£80 for a good Leisure battery.  BUT  do ensure that you buy a proper Leisure battery, they are quite different from an ordinary car battery!

TF

Hi Cellis & welcome to the CC Forum. Enjoy caravanning and use the forum to find your way about.  We don't bite!

In answer to your direct question, yes you do really. Whilst the electrical hook up may power some of your accessories, many others & some of the most important ones will run off the 12 volt system which in turn is supported by the mains hook up.

Your battery is key to having everything running properly.  As long as you are not going to fit a caravan mover to manoever the caravan off the car, you only really need a 75 AH battery. My experience has always been that it is a false ecomomy in the long run to buy too cheap a battery, but neither do you need a gold plated one.  They retail at about £70-£80 for a good Leisure battery.  BUT  do ensure that you buy a proper Leisure battery, they are quite different from an ordinary car battery!

TF

Many thanks for the reply, I can see these discussion boards will be invaluable

The batteries are in three cataegories A, B and C. If all you want is to even out the power on site than A will do. If you have a motor mover then you need a C. Hope this helps.

Years and years ago we ran our 'van off a car battery, even leaving it plugged into the car overnight but now there can be lots of drain on 12v and wouldn't advise. Get a leisure battery. If I'm right;

- car batteries designed to release huge amount of power over a short time to start the engine

- leisure battery designed to give low power drain for a long periods

I'm sure someone will give more data. Enjoy caravanning.

If you have a motor mover of some kind you will need 110 Amp battery, the mover doesn’t use that much power when the van is moving but has a high start up current to get it moving initially and if that dips below a set voltage the mover will cut out.

Other considerations will be if you think you will go off grid in the future, your first trip for 2 nights to try out is something we have all done, in the future you may find you want to use some sites that are off grid.

If you think that likely go for a bigger battery now as it won’t be much more than 80Amps of so but to replace in a year’s time will make the cost of 80amps today a waste.

As has been said make sure a leisure battery and should last a good time my last one lasted 8 years 2 vans and went with old van when changing to a motor home and it was still doing everything I needed it to including driving a motor mover

Enjoy your new hobby and always ask here and if on site and need help with something ask someone will help you we are generally a friendly helpful bunch

You need a battery as part of most caravan charger circuits as they 'smooth' and regulate the 12v supply which might otherwise cause interference on your TV/ radio. It's good practice to fit one. If you can cope with the weight I'd buy a 110AH one as an aid to camping off EHU which you may want to do in the future.

Thanks everyone.We have checked and it has an 80AH leisure battery. Do we need to charge it before we go or will it charge from the EHU. Thanks again for your replies

It rather depends on whether the battery is in good condition - was it a private buy or a dealer one?  I keep my caravan plugged in while at home with the charger switched on so battery is always topped up and ready.  (Not everyone agrees this is good practise but lots of us do it!  And I am in and out of my caravan a lot - in fact I haven't slept in the house since March)  My caravan's control panel gives me the state of the battery. You need the battery for all sorts of things including the Loo flush (unless you are lucky enough to have a manual one), gas ignitor and the water pump - plus quite a few of the lights etc etc. I hope you have a great time on your trip - just keep asking here and someone will tell you. 

Make sure your car has all the wiring to match your caravan, specifically battery charging and fridge supply on 13-pin sockets. Most European wiring does not include these connections unless they are clearly stated as a requirement at the time of ordering.

Make sure your car has all the wiring to match your caravan, specifically battery charging and fridge supply on 13-pin sockets. Most European wiring does not include these connections unless they are clearly stated as a requirement at the time of ordering.

Write your comments here...If its an older van - it might still have 2 seven pin plugs so it is essential to have matching wiring - car to caravan!  I have only swapped mine to 13 pin recently - but had to help someone in trouble with a trailer recently - so the electrics were at odds with my car being 13 pin and the trailer only 7 pins.  Adaptors are readily available. The extra wires are so the caravan fridge works off the car when you are moving - bog standard trailer electrics won't do this.  However I guess if you picked up the caravan you have got that aspect covered?