Maintenance

Leisure battery replacement advice

Unless hooked-up to a mains supply, the electrical equipment in your motorhome relies on the power from a 12-volt leisure battery, which differs from a standard car battery, because it must provide a steady flow of current over a prolonged period between relatively infrequent charging, rather than a big draw of current on engine turnover and constant charging. However, if the battery is left in a discharged state for a long time or is left connected to a load that forces it into an over discharged state, it will not be able to regain its former level of power storage capacity, so will ultimately have to be replaced.

Choosing the correct leisure battery for your needs, starts with understanding your power usage, combined with the size of the space available to house it and the extent to which it is hooked up to a mains supply. So, if your need is primarily for less demanding lighting functions, or you tend to spend almost all the time hooked up to a supply, you’ll probably consider a less durable battery in comparison to an owner who spends most of their time off grid, using high power consuming equipment.

Leisure battery performance is measured in cycles, which refer to the number of discharge/ recharge cycles the battery is capable of when discharged by up to 50% between recharging. Whilst a NCC (National Caravan Council) rating can be a useful guide as to the performance of a battery, it can mask the real value of a higher performing/greater cycling battery, which is why, once its key attributes have been determined, battery cycles can also be a great means of establishing the long-term value of a battery.

For example, rather than simply comparing the prices of two NCC ‘C’ rated, 75AH leisure batteries from different suppliers, consider the number of cycles each battery can offer. So, if one battery is £72 and provides 70 cycles, but the other is £82 and provides 230 cycles, the respective cost per cycle is £1.03 for the first battery and just £0.36 for the second, which makes a big difference when it comes to the return on your investment.

For further details, please visit Ecobat Battery at: www.ecobatbattery.co.uk