HTF
Forum Member
The batteries I installed on my new van were removed from the one I sold. I had upgraded the ones that came with the van originally with 3 Lucas 95 Ah start/stop AGM batteries. One for the van and two for the camper side. The fridge was gas powered so for pump and lighting these were more than enough and the 200w solar panel was more than adequate. When I put the van up for sale, I replaced them with the originals since the new ones were quite expensive and only a few months old.
The new van built and I installed the 3 batteries in parallel to power the leisure side. So far I haven't had problems and the 285 Ah theoretical capacity has been more than adequate. Even now with this Autumn weather, this past weekend, the batteries were fully charged by late afternoon and the next morning, with the fridge running and 3 hours of air conditioning ventilation (not hot enough to switch on the compressor), the batteries were still at 72%. If it were Summer and I had used the air conditioning to cool the van and were running the 25 liter compressor freezer, I suspect that it would go below 50%. These AGM starter batteries are not made to be discharged that low and survive a long time so, I started thinking about replacement with some storage increase.
Looked at the lifepo4 batteries but I'm not prepared to sell some organs to afford them
. Looked into suppliers of individual parts to build myself a decent battery pack but still, too expensive and then there is the safety risk.
I finally found some deep cycle 125 Ah AGM batteries which are "guaranteed" to handle 400~600 cycle times @ 100% DOD at a reasonable price so, I ordered 3 units. 375 Ah is a big increase on the original "real" 150 Ah that I had and if I can count on 250 Ah I will be more than happy. Let's see how it turns out.
Exide has some Dual AGM batteries 115 Ah batteries that are only rated 550 Wh capacity which is less than half the theoretical capacity.
https://grovesbatteries.co.uk/product/exide-leisure-dual-er550
The new van built and I installed the 3 batteries in parallel to power the leisure side. So far I haven't had problems and the 285 Ah theoretical capacity has been more than adequate. Even now with this Autumn weather, this past weekend, the batteries were fully charged by late afternoon and the next morning, with the fridge running and 3 hours of air conditioning ventilation (not hot enough to switch on the compressor), the batteries were still at 72%. If it were Summer and I had used the air conditioning to cool the van and were running the 25 liter compressor freezer, I suspect that it would go below 50%. These AGM starter batteries are not made to be discharged that low and survive a long time so, I started thinking about replacement with some storage increase.
Looked at the lifepo4 batteries but I'm not prepared to sell some organs to afford them
. Looked into suppliers of individual parts to build myself a decent battery pack but still, too expensive and then there is the safety risk.I finally found some deep cycle 125 Ah AGM batteries which are "guaranteed" to handle 400~600 cycle times @ 100% DOD at a reasonable price so, I ordered 3 units. 375 Ah is a big increase on the original "real" 150 Ah that I had and if I can count on 250 Ah I will be more than happy. Let's see how it turns out.
Exide has some Dual AGM batteries 115 Ah batteries that are only rated 550 Wh capacity which is less than half the theoretical capacity.
https://grovesbatteries.co.uk/product/exide-leisure-dual-er550
