Roof angle

Its worth remembering that an AGM leisure battery will be damaged if the voltage drops below 10.6V..
 
Amarillo said:
Only once has it discharged to zero bars, and even then there was sufficient charge for LED lights and the charger display. Hookup works fine.

We are now writing a shopping list for tomorrow:
Hookup cable
240v kettle
Vacuum cleaner
Deep fat fryer
Teas maid
Coffee machine
Microwave oven
Trouser press
...


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Click to expand...
Sorry, but I thought this meant two times :
Twice in over 130 almost consecutive nights without hookup we have drained the leisure battery. Once when we parked under a tree for several nights, and once when we parked facing south in winter with the roof up for four nights. I think that's a pretty good record for a family of four.

Our 12 volt kettle has a very specific use. It's for mornings when we have pre packed our gas and cooker because we are moving on that day. It drains much of the battery, but that doesn't matter as we will be driving for some 2 to 5 hours that same day and that will recharge the battery if poor weather stops the panels from doing it.
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Not to split hairs, but I am quite sure that using the battery that much and finishing up with a nice brew with a 12V kettle and "only" drive for 2-5 hours is not enough to make the battery nearly fully charged. It will cause stress on the battery and icrease it's internal resistance due to damage and drop its performance.
 
Something doesn’t sound quit right and unfortunately I don’t know what. I have 1 x100w Panel but 2 Leisure Batteries. If Off grid overnight, when travelling in the morning, on a dull day, my voltmeter on the Leisure Battery, might be showing 13v when I start travelling with Solar Panel current of 0.5amps or so. But after 10 - 15 minutes I see the Voltage rise to 14.4 v and the current flow going upto 5 - 10 amps gradually falling over time as I travel. This is from the Alternator. After a few hours travel the Leisure Batteries are showing 100% with Engine Off and just Solar which maybe showing 14.4v now and just a float charge
 
kave said:
Sorry, but I thought this meant two times :
Not to split hairs, but I am quite sure that using the battery that much and finishing up with a nice brew with a 12V kettle and "only" drive for 2-5 hours is not enough to make the battery nearly fully charged. It will cause stress on the battery and icrease it's internal resistance due to damage and drop its performance.
Click to expand...
I understand the confusion - it is because my understanding of the charging system and how our appliances work has developed over time. When we "drained" the leisure battery parked under a tree, we hadn't actually drained it - the charger was still showing 1 or 2 bars. The reason I said I had drained it was that the compressor fridge stopped working - but I later learnt that is cuts out when battery voltage drops below ~12.7 volts depending on setting.

On another occasion we "drained" the battery to 1 bar, parking the van for three days facing south so that the panels were in shadow until about 10:15 and after about 3pm.

More recently we "drained" the battery even further to zero bars, but still with sufficient charge to power the charger display and LED lights.

We may well have knackered the battery. It has been the sole source of electric power for a family of four for close to six months. It has been through a great many charge and partial discharge cycles.


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WelshGas said:
Something doesn’t sound quit right and unfortunately I don’t know what. I have 1 x100w Panel but 2 Leisure Batteries. If Off grid overnight, when travelling in the morning, on a dull day, my voltmeter on the Leisure Battery, might be showing 13v when I start travelling with Solar Panel current of 0.5amps or so. But after 10 - 15 minutes I see the Voltage rise to 14.4 v and the current flow going upto 5 - 10 amps gradually falling over time as I travel. This is from the Alternator. After a few hours travel the Leisure Batteries are showing 100% with Engine Off and just Solar which maybe showing 14.4v now and just a float charge
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The obvious explanation is that we've knackered the leisure battery. Car batteries simply aren't designed for the type of use we have put it through.

Today we took the van off hookup showing 4 bars, drove 45 minutes, mostly on the autostrada, into Florence, parked for 3 hours, then drove back on the same route to our campsite. Before going back onto hookup the battery was showing 3 bars.

50kWh might just be 2 days electricity for the average household, but is probably quite a lot for a car battery, if that is what we have used.


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Amarillo said:
The obvious explanation is that we've knackered the leisure battery. Car batteries simply aren't designed for the type of use we have put it through.

Today we took the van off hookup showing 4 bars, drove 45 minutes, mostly on the autostrada, into Florence, parked for 3 hours, then drove back on the same route to our campsite. Before going back onto hookup the battery was showing 3 bars.

50kWh might just be 2 days electricity for the average household, but is probably quite a lot for a car battery, if that is what we have used.


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I’m afraid you might be correct in your assumption.
 
WelshGas said:
I’m afraid you might be correct in your assumption.
Click to expand...

Ok - not a disaster, but if correct, and to learn from this, is it knackered from use or from use and abuse?

In other words, do I treat the next battery as a consumable or do I treat the next battery differently?

Do I need a different type of battery?


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Amarillo said:
Ok - not a disaster, but if correct, and to learn from this, is it knackered from use or from use and abuse?

In other words, do I treat the next battery as a consumable or do I treat the next battery differently?

Do I need a different type of battery?


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Well VW do recommend putting on EHU for a minimum 12hrs on a monthly basis. That might have something to do with battery maintenance.. you might be able to fit a larger capacity battery as long as it will fit.
 

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Jay586 said:
I would hope a Beach comes with a fit for purpose leisure battery...
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I think you will find that the Beach does have a fit for use Leisure Battery, for general use, but @Amarillo has, by his own admission, been pushing the boundaries. I very much doubt if any Beach Owners have been off-grid for such a prolonged continuous number of nights as he has.
 
Yep, that's what I was thinking, just didn't find the words. Tom mentioned starter battery in his post prior to mine. It might well have just been consumed.
 
Batteries do not last forever. Maybe as WG points out the use of periodic hook up may be required now we have shorter days and less sunlight. Carrying a hook up cable takes up little room and the power would allow unlimited use of the equipment for the whole family.
Personally I think the family have done a brilliant job in this venture.
 
WelshGas said:
I think you will find that the Beach does have a fit for use Leisure Battery, for general use, but @Amarillo has, by his own admission, been pushing the boundaries. I very much doubt if any Beach Owners have been off-grid for such a prolonged continuous number of nights as he has.
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Off grid maybe but he still has 200w of solar panels. I have a leisure battery running an electric fence around my chickens it is still working after 5 years and I only charge it every two months.

It is a Numax Leisure XV31MF.
 
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wow. I always forget to take my chickens and electric fence with me.
 
The original leisure battery in my 2013 beach was a standard starting type. I had to replaced it 6 months ago, choosing a more appropriate AGM with a little more capacity by following the Alpha battery link mentioned on other threads and earlier on this one. It was 3 years old when first introduced to a 100w solar panel through a very similar charge controller to yours. Running it like that for a year, including a month camping off grid (your 6 months is very impressive), I believe was the main reason the original one gave up. This is different usage from what that style of battery is designed to cope with. What you're describing sounds very similar to the what I had; my little fridge freezer regularly gave me a red voltage warning light. No complaints with the new battery. Everything charges well, even on a cloudy day with the roof down - just at lower voltages. The main influence on choosing the battery was the space under the seat. Good luck.
 
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I never take my chickens camping, so cannot comment on the longevity of my leisure battery when used for protecting them.
 
bigmac77 said:
Off grid maybe but he still has 200w of solar panels. I have a leisure battery running an electric fence around my chickens it is still working after 5 years and I only charge it every two months.

It is a Numax Leisure XV31MF.
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But that is a different type of usage, a constant 24/7 current draw, and we don't know yet exactly what type of battery @Amarillo has in his vehicle.
 
Also I wouldn't base all my decisions on a 5 bar display as some battery monitors try to be clever and calculate the level by remembering what it has put in since it was last flat and it may not be taking into account other charging sources.
Before throwing out the battery have properly tested.

Re battery type, as a genuine VW fitting it will be an AGM as he has start/stop.
 
jonnyp said:
I never take my chickens camping, so cannot comment on the longevity of my leisure battery when used for protecting them.
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Cant beat fresh eggs and the cockerel goes down really well with everyone at the campsites.
 
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So tempting to put the pic up I have of my pet chickens in the dog cage of my van at a services when we moved house...
 
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