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| Sorry, you need to be a My Downunder member to post a reply. | | robben
Posts:9
 | | 15 Mar 2008 9:21 a.m. |
 Alert | low cost set-up for camper van thinking of duel battery system not sure what battery.
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| andharris
Posts:3
| | 20 Mar 2008 3:47 p.m. |
Alert | Hi Robben,
To work out what sort of battery you need, there are a number factors to consider.
First, think of what sort of travel you're going to be doing. If you're going to be seeing a lot of bone-rattling corrugated roads, then you'll have to invest in cells that can handle the vibrations. There is anecdotal evidence to suggest gel cells aren't well-suited to off-road travel, even though they're pricey, long-lasting and very reliable. Batteries with a spiral-shaped plates, 'spiral cells' are great for bumpy roads.
Then you need to work out what you expect to achieve with your battery set-up. If you're going to be running an entertainment system, lights, and so on, in a free-camping situation, you'll have to get high-capacity cells.
Finally, you need to know what you can feasibly buy and drive with. Make sure you measure the storage space of your battery bay, check that heavy, high-capacity batteries are well covered by your vehicle's payload. Then take your budget along to the store and get the best cells for the job, that you can afford.
Happy travelling. | | | |
| robben
Posts:9
| | 21 Mar 2008 4:56 p.m. |
Alert | | thank you the only thing that we will be powering is a small tv lights a dvd player a laptop.and most of the time we will be on black top . | | | |
|
eeleyeagle
Posts:2
| | 05 Apr 2008 11:41 p.m. |
Alert | Hi Robben,
Although you might think that you are only running a few small items it doesn't take much for the "Amp Hours" to add up. If you add up the consumption of the items you are using all at once you will be amazed especially when you times it by approx 3 hours,figuring that you turn on the lights at 6pm and off at 9pm. Remember that your ordinary Wet Type lead acid battery usually only has a draw off capacity of 20% before they are considered flat compared to an AGM battery with a draw off of at least 50%. An AGM battery also only loses 3% of it charge per month doing nothing compared to std batteries that can lose up to 15%. Agm's are fully sealed so don't need to be in vented boxes or outside the van and can in fact be laid on their sides if necessary. Only down side to a AGM is their weight. Usually 33kg for a 120 amp battery.
My suggestion is save up your money and buy an Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) battery and you will have it for a long time. | | | |
| Bear
Posts:13
| | 09 Apr 2008 3:59 a.m. |
Alert | I second the AGM batteries. We've been using them on boats for years now to run things like electric motors. One that I use mostly are the Trojan 130ah:
http://www.trojan-battery.com/Index.aspx
If you hunt around you can pick them up for around $250, but they last and can take the punishment we dish out at them on the boat.
HTH. | | | |
| Markoz1234
Posts:1
| | 05 Sep 2009 5:01 p.m. |
Alert | I bought 2 optima blue tops, the marine grade D31M 6 months ago and have been out 5 times since and i find them great. Although they are rated 75 amp they have proved to be much higher in reality.
The guys at platinum marine on the gold coast had alot of batteries to choose from and they are alot cheaper than many of the big battery shops.
The optimas are good unless you need huge power, but for the camper trailer they are good.
cheers | | | |
| spandau
Posts:8
| | 01 Mar 2010 5:28 p.m. |
Alert | | i wouldnt bother with expensive battery setups, especially inverter/battery setups, just get a cheap deepcycle or a marine battery and a 1kv generator and charge the battery with that when needed, you will soon figure out when and where to charge and you can power everything when charging, gives you something to do when camping also | | | |
| maggie1942
Posts:5
| | 05 Mar 2010 11:33 p.m. |
Alert | Hi
does any one want to join me and buy 280 solar panels direct from the factory for $2 a watt.
I already import Polycore panels from China and I can bring in the solar panels.....
the only catch is I need some more people who want panels also,
the solar panel factory has min amounts per purchase.
so how about it do you want to save $600 or $700?
per solar panel?
If so can you contact me maggie@polycore.com.au
and we can form a network together.
Cheers maggie | | | |
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