check out the new remote control Jockey Wheel SmartBar Canegrowers rearview170 Cobb Grill Skid Row Recovery Gear Caravan Industry Association of Australia
Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
Post Info TOPIC: New caravan battery required


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 402
Date:
New caravan battery required


The battery in our wan has had better days and has to be replaced,

is there any difference between makes and country of origin,

where is the best place to buy, (in Tassie)and size, the last one was 115AH non sealed

All lights come off battery even when we are in camp grounds with power, when we free camp i use gas to run my fridge and every thing is battery powered even my cpap machine

 

 



__________________


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 419
Date:

I suggest you check the internet.There are myriads of sellers at various prices. Depending on your vehicles electrical capability the best unit for your van would be an AGM fully sealed unit of about 100AH.I use a 120ah Full River brand but there are many good ones out there.Some even have free delivery.Most of the batteries these days come out of China,Korea and Malaysia and most users have very little or no trouble with them.I would certainly steer clear of calcium batteries and go for an AGM. Under the bonnet of my vehicle I run a 55ah deep cycle to run the fridge in the back and the alternator copes with the start battery the van battery too.

__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 784
Date:

Cowboy, try Island batteries. they give great service.

 



__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 3066
Date:

Hi.

Firstly. What are you charging it with. Alternator. Panels ??.

Price "Giant" AGM's. I got mine from net 85a x 2. Never missed a beat so far.
They fitted in my front boot position neater than 1 x 110\120a I had.

With 2 x 130w Panels to feed them. (Have spare 85w on Ute roof).
Will install another panel later if req'd.
Have a Hybrid AGM "Spiral Wound Cell" Battery too, under my bonnet.
Aussie Dealer. Aussie Warranty.
With further (older)85 x 90 CCA Wet cells in tray too for veh.
Charged through elecronic, Dual batt controller with the 80w panel to float.

I tried 2 x Full River AGM.s yrs ago (Different times).
Neither lasted as long as my Exide Exremes. on same panel
eg system.
NOT very impressed for the price (exxy in those days). Primarily kept on float.
Van parked. with Compressor fridge permanently on along with a coupla lights.
Both only gave around 4 yrs. (345w panels)
Sold van, Sans, Battery's. Buy your own.
New.

PS. Full River are Chinese MFG. Or were.

__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 879
Date:

I have Century AGM batteries both in the van (120) and in the back of the ute (75). Both are available from Supercheap. www.centurybatteries.com.au/products/deep-cycle/deep-cycle-agm-batteries.

__________________

Centrelink - Living the Dream.



Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 21
Date:

IF you are game and have $ then try the LiFePO4 120AH from accessantennas in Perth And Brisbane. I have only done 10days with a mix of free camps and parks around vic and nsw. It is a direct replacement for a single AGM battery no series or parallel and charged only by a 220Watt cheap mppt panel. At this stage looking okay but too early to recommend but it does have a 2 year warranty and most normal battery chargers work . The BMS battery management system is internal so treat like a AGM. I did watch the 240 batt charger start to hit 16 volts and called the guys, said no problems.

__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 902
Date:

Make sure to check out different brands same A/hr and see if there is a difference in weight the heavier batteries are probably correctly rated with the lighter ( by 3-4 kg) are probably over rated, all Giant Batteries are lighter then named brand batteries, just saying, so don't bother Macka.

__________________

Kebbin



Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 5378
Date:

When I was looking for batteries a while ago, I was under the impression that batteries were no longer made in Australia

I purchased 2 x Bosch 120 AH, AGM batteries, as they were heavier than other brands of the same AH
I also brought local because, if they failed, the cost of sending them back through the post, would have been expensive

__________________

Tony

It cost nothing to be polite



Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 5378
Date:

RoamerAllWaze wrote:

IF you are game and have $ then try the LiFePO4 120AH from accessantennas in Perth And Brisbane. I have only done 10days with a mix of free camps and parks around vic and nsw. It is a direct replacement for a single AGM battery no series or parallel and charged only by a 220Watt cheap mppt panel. At this stage looking okay but too early to recommend but it does have a 2 year warranty and most normal battery chargers work . The BMS battery management system is internal so treat like a AGM. I did watch the 240 batt charger start to hit 16 volts and called the guys, said no problems.


 May I be one of the first to welcome you to the forum, RoamerAllWaze

Is there any chance of giving some periodical updates on your LiFePO4 120AH battery



__________________

Tony

It cost nothing to be polite



Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 21
Date:

Tony Bev wrote:
RoamerAllWaze wrote:

IF you are game and have $ then try the LiFePO4 120AH from accessantennas in Perth And Brisbane. I have only done 10days with a mix of free camps and parks around vic and nsw. It is a direct replacement for a single AGM battery no series or parallel and charged only by a 220Watt cheap mppt panel. At this stage looking okay but too early to recommend but it does have a 2 year warranty and most normal battery chargers work . The BMS battery management system is internal so treat like a AGM. I did watch the 240 batt charger start to hit 16 volts and called the guys, said no problems.


 May I be one of the first to welcome you to the forum, RoamerAllWaze

Is there any chance of giving some periodical updates on your LiFePO4 120AH battery


Hi Tony,

thanks for the welcome

Unfortunately my roaming status is in the heart and we still have a home base.

We will be heading Off for another two weeks free camp/parks late November, will let you know how it goes. From my perspective it is the discharge capacity and low weight I am paying for. 

We are not on the road full time but the batt is lighter and can be drained to near empty according to the specs.

So prepared to risk it given that an AGM cannot discharge so low.

By the way, My 5 + year old  100AH FullRiver is now in the Triton cab feeding the Evakool compressor and still purring along.

So I have the highest regard for the AGMs.

 



__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 3066
Date:

Wasn't going to bother Kebbin.

Look at "reviews".
On ALL items you going to buy. of any type.
I always do.

PS. For others....

Mine's a coupla yrs old. ticking over nicely. along with the Spiral Wound Chinese?.

under bonnet.



-- Edited by macka17 on Wednesday 18th of October 2017 11:52:24 AM

__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1545
Date:

Hello Cowboy7307
You have Battery World in Hobart, there are also 6 Jaycar stores in Tasmania, also Island Batteries
I notice Island Batteries are agents for Full River batteries which would be my choice
Cheers
JeffRae



__________________

Jeff & Rae travelling in a motorhome



Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 402
Date:

Thanks for replies all helpful



__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 4601
Date:

Kebbin wrote:

Make sure to check out different brands same A/hr and see if there is a difference in weight the heavier batteries are probably correctly rated with the lighter ( by 3-4 kg) are probably over rated, all Giant Batteries are lighter then named brand batteries, just saying, so don't bother Macka.


 Kebbin ... You had me a bit worried with your comment about weight ...  My new Giant 130aH has just arrived at my front door freight free.  I had looked at weight as well as price along with reviews before choosing Giant.

A quick check/comparison of weights showed the only direct comparison in the 100ish  aH range was

115aH Giant 28.5kg    v  115 aH FullRiver 32kg.

So it seems you are right, but there's buggar all in it ....  not like the price.

 

I think that I made an OK decision.

 

 

Oh yes ... This is a  supplier of FullRiver and others in Tassie.

Every Battery ...

 

ps .. The Warranty might be another story  ..  But THE PRICE !!!! makes my decision.



__________________

See Ya ... Cupie




Newbie

Status: Offline
Posts: 1
Date:

Regarding batteries checkout this website ... Peter is really pretty clued up about batteries

www.batteryvalue.com.au/



__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 3066
Date:

Out of interest.
Who's factory do his Battery's come out of..
China.Japan. Europe. Malaysia?.

IE. The actual MFG's label. Giant. Full River. etc.etc.

__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 637
Date:

Tony Bev wrote:

When I was looking for batteries a while ago, I was under the impression that batteries were no longer made in Australia

 


Century (owned by Yuasa) still manufacture here using a mix of local and imported components 



-- Edited by Hylife on Friday 27th of October 2017 01:05:24 PM

__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 4444
Date:

They spent a few million last year on a new Australian factory

__________________

Cheers Craig



Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 637
Date:

I guess we probably all know this, but what makes a 'lead-acid' battery a deep cycle Vs not a deep cycle, is the size and quantity of the lead plates.
Regardless of type (wet, gel, glass mat, etc), they are all still just variations of lead-acid and the rest of the design doesn't really change, just how the electrolyte is managed.
The amounts of additional materials that are added to the lead, to make various lead alloys, such as antimony, silver, calcium, etc, are really quite small and represent just a few grams of the total overall weight of a battery
Go visit a battery outlet and ask to see a disassembled battery and you discover that the plastic housing weighs only approx. 1.5kg .
So, those batteries that weigh 4-5kg more, are, (all things being equal with regard to case design), manufactured with more lead and therefore are better able to handle either a deeper discharge/cycle or a greater number of recharge cycles.

__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 5378
Date:

Hylife wrote:
Tony Bev wrote:

When I was looking for batteries a while ago, I was under the impression that batteries were no longer made in Australia

 


Century (owned by Yuasa) still manufacture here using a mix of local and imported components 



-- Edited by Hylife on Friday 27th of October 2017 01:05:24 PM


 I was unaware that Century batteries are made in Australia, Hylife

So thanks for that information

I shall look at Century Batteries, when I need replacements, somewhere down the track

 



__________________

Tony

It cost nothing to be polite

Page 1 of 1  sorted by
 
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.

Tweet this page Post to Digg Post to Del.icio.us
Purchase Grey Nomad bumper stickers Read our daily column, the Nomad News The Grey Nomad's Guidebook