New Leisure battery with Solar system

Brilliant load of info here.. Thank you everyone.

What I have got from this so far:

My solar controller has pin 1 and 2 connected to panels. Has pin 3 and 4 running off the battery (is the presumption - but makes perfect sense). Pin 5 and 6 are unconnected.

My PMS3 rocker switch is supposed to run off Van/Leisure or Car. The fridge and lights only work when switched to Van.. so that makes sense. When I switch to Car... I do not seem to get anything so that is wrong from what was explained. Unless I am being impatient.

There is a nagares 12v split relay installed and a 100A fuse under the drivers seat. I wonder if that 66AH is actually NOT a leisure battery and an auxilary as mentioned... hmmmm.

Sounds like I need to check if the b2b is on the alternator. I suspect not as is just the split relay.

Fridge does not run on gas AFAIK. Only seen demoed on electric.

No sockets work unless EHU I am told. Will plug in to prove/disprove this.

No heating unless plugged in... have seen this.

Happy to kit out with 12v appliances only. Bought a mini screen that is 12v for example.. arriving at the weekend. And also bought long cables and DC barrel inputs so can make up some long wires at the moment.

Diesel heaters. Sounds like I need to carry fuel or in a Tranny is the main tank enough if I keep topped up?

Happy to buy new battery and upgrade solar as it was done about 8 years ago from what the previous owner was told.. if all accurate. It is a big panel with big chunky silver frame etc...

So my conclusion and a few questions - thanks for being so helpful so far.. really feel green on this:

a) Need new battery. I am checking out the sites suggested. But with being so green I really do not know what I am looking for as I have seen lots of comments on Google. Can I get a £120 ish 110AH leisure battery and that is ok?
i.e. https://www.tayna.co.uk/leisure-batteries/motorhome/
or
a higher AH deep cycle (understanding I want deep cycle I think for wild)
<Broken link removed>

b) Can my existing 100A split relay and 100A fuse take this? Do they correlate or are we talking just load here on the van as opposed to charging?

c) Sounds like my 66AH battery is TOTALLY NOT a leisure battery as the dimensions alone are car battery size and NON of the leisure batteries I have seen are anywhere near these tiny 27cm L, 17cm W and 12cm H. Looks like I need to rewire to under the sofa and secure to get a real leisure battery in!!! That is fine. I am handy.

d) Why does my van not run on Car mode on the PMS. Wiring issue maybe?

e) Heating.... hmmmm..... I am handy but assuming I need someone to get this sorted for tapping into diesel tank and installing a diesel heater. Please advise.

As I say I am very handy. However, this is a new area so I do need direction.. but with direction I can do most things where I can do it and understand I might need someone to get involved here.

f) For wiring... please can someone points me to diagrams. I have original 2 page wiring diagram for PMS... so can investigate how it is wired up by pulling up stuff.. Any initial comments though? Thanks for 6x way fuse box. Again.. point me to where to install within the system (what you would expect).

g) Diesel heater.... Again need some direction this.. I am on the Wirral. Anyone near that does this? I want to have a great first experience and happy to spend some money to get this right so we know over next couple of years do we want to really do this and even change up van. (We suspect we do already :)).

You have all been really helpful as I am truly green. But VERY VERY willing to learn.

Please let me know on the battery as I want to get one on order today.. and looks like I might need to rewire.

MANY THANKS in advance.

R
 
Feel bad asking so much and questions being listed.. but feels better than over 20 more posts... so apologies that it is a bit to read through.. I am getting a lot from the replies so thank you everyone.
 
Big one right now is .. which battery as per a) Question.. would like to order today but unsure if I am wasting money or choosing the right one...
for the wild that I want with my existing kit. Thanks
 
Romolo said:
b) Can my existing 100A split relay and 100A fuse take this? Do they correlate or are we talking just load here on the van as opposed to charging?
Click to expand...
Be careful to distinguish between amps (= rate of flow of electric charge) and amp-hours.

If a battery can supply 5 amps for 20 hours, its capacity is 5 x 20 = 100 amp-hours. In theory it can supply 2 amps for 50 hours, or 50 amps for 2 hours, but at the higher amps you never get the hours that the theory says.

A 100Ah leisure battery will probably never have much more than 20 amps in or out, so a 100A relay is perfectly capable of handling that.

Amp-hours relates to how much energy is stored in the battery. A 12 volt 100 amp-hour battery has 12 x 100 = 1200 watt-hours of energy stored in it (= 1.2kWh). Because most batteries are 12 volts, motorhomers and caravanners compare amp-hours rather than watt-hours or kilowatt-hours, but it's easy to convert.
 
Is your fridge a compressor fridge? If so you can probably run it on 12v

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There is a huge range of battery types, and each one with its pros and cons has its niche.

Traditional lead-acid batteries have screw plugs to top up with water, and are about the cheapest option. In normal use they produces gases that need to be vented. They should not be used inside a habitation area, but can be located in vented lockers.

Sealed lead-acid (SLA) don't produce gases in normal use, but have a pressure release valve for gases if overcharged or faulty. They have normal liquid electrolyte, so are also called flooded (FLA) or maintenance-free.

AGM and Gel have electrolyte absorbed in a glass fibre mat, or made into a gel, so they don't leak if damaged or overturned. They also have a pressure release valve in case of overcharging/faults. They can be located within habitation areas, with a thin vent pipe to the exterior.

Sealed and non-sealed flooded batteries are normally recommended to be discharged only to the 50% level to ensure a long life, but Gel and some AGMs can go down to the 20% level regularly without affecting the life very much.

Lithium batteries, particularly the LiFePO4 variants, are very safe and have advantages in just about every aspect of use - can be discharged to 10%, can be left partly charged without degrading, can charge and discharge at very high rates. They are half the size and weight for the same energy storage. The only downside is the price. And some of the chargers are not very suitable so if changing from lead-acid you might need to upgrade them.
 
Last edited:
OK brill... I have got the Amps and Amp Hours bit... Thank you. I figured so.. just being cautious as I am as green as Lou Ferrigno!

Fridge currently runs on the 12V. As in it operates when the Van is on.. and I have been advised when on EHU.

Is there any easy to way to decipher what I can use on my van?

There are two batteries under the driver seat.
Front one I am told is the new starter battery.
Back one is the leisure battery. Never changed. It says TDC100VP. Voltage 12V. CCA EN 550Amps. AH 66 Amps.

But when you turn the van on it says High (100% 5 leds) and drops to 3 (60%) after 2 LED lights turning on and the fridge and then just starts dropping again.

Hence the new battery. Worried about changing from I have (unknown... cannot find much on it) but would like to get one on order for this weekend.

Many thanks

R
 
As in want to make sure it still charges. What I am led to believe is leisure battery has discs on top with cross .. so I am guessing Lead?!?
 
And are we ok in thinking I can go further up with what I have advised is in my van?

As in could fork out for 130AH instead of 110AH or higher...?

Thanks
 
Romolo said:
As in could fork out for 130AH instead of 110AH or higher...?
Click to expand...
For lead-acid-based batteries (Flooded, sealed, AGM, Gel) the size and weight increases as the capacity increases. 100Ah is about the limit of a weight that an average non-gorilla can persuade into a limited access space. Bigger batteries exist, if your situation is OK. People tend to get batteries of about 100Ah and connect them in parallel to make a bigger bank.

If your intention is to get more battery capacity so you can run the same devices, but for a longer time, then no modifications are necessary. Your existing devices will run just the same off a big battery bank as a small battery. If you intend to take more power from the batteries all the time, then wiring additional circuits with good wire thicknesses and fuse values is the way to go, I think.

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Interestingly the batteries are the other way round.. Inspected more.
Leisure is front and 72AH.. however negative that runs to the PMS seems to be touching and not secure..
Sooooo... battery probably duff.. but going to reseat all terminals.
Any comments on doing this... Was just going to disconnect negative, positive... therefore the relays so the unit is stand alone not touching anything. Disconnect any other feed from relay from starter battery to be 200% sure.. and then reseat all terminals. Then see what happens...
 
OK Now I can go maximum 33cm... ish length, height 22cm ish.. and width 17-18cm... flipping heck.. I wish I knew more.. I would save so much time :).

Thanks peeps
 
Romolo said:
Voltage 12V. CCA EN 550Amps. AH 66 Amps
Click to expand...
CCA is Cold Cranking Amps - the amps it will give out when turning a starter motor when very cold. It's the most important number for a starter battery, but of not much importance for a leisure battery. In fact some would say if it has a CCA rating, it's not a proper leisure battery at all, just a rebadged starter battery. Not always true, there are some 'Dual purpose' batteries, but there's a lot of truth in it.
 
Ok.... Bought a battery. Took all of your great advice and discussed also with the guy on the phone from alpha batteries (et650)Your info made it much easier.
Bit limited on height so went for 100ha NCC A rated battered with 350 cycles.
Wet lead with 650 watts of power. Semi traction. Let's see how it goes.
Thanks again everyone.
 
I'll take my other questions on to another thread about heater and full time electric as I will try with new battery first and see how we can go..

Summary. Looks like wait for full time electric. See how I go now with new battery.

Also prob diesel heater.

Thanks so much everyone.

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Re the Diesel heater, loads of helpful instal videos on YouTube, there’s also a Facebook page for Chinese Diesel Heaters. Good luck!
 
Yes Chris CM... I have watched a few. I am confident I can fit one. I am pretty handy. Just going to take it slow.. New battery arrived today.. will fit tomorrow along with some other bits and pieces and will take it from there.
But I do foresee I will fit one within 4-6 weeks as the price point is insane. I am hoping I have an additional fuel access on my tank as I would rather have this running off the main tank.. but secondary tank will do if not.
Thanks
 
Battery in... On our first outing.
Fridge did not work off car ignition.
Car mode does not provide power to the van which it should as an emergency.

Any last comments? Figure I should check the split relay fuse... But wiring for car mode might be wrong?
 
Just to finish off this post.
New battery in. Checked all wiring whilst I was under the seat and in the battery area. All fuses work. Tested Split Relay. Worked fine.
Can see a cable trailing off into the engine bay so assuming connection to alternator. Possibly just for starter but all wiring wired in so should benefit leisure.
Not reason to see why the Car is not providing power to the PMS 3V. Guess I will troubleshoot when taking the PMS off to look.
Thanks everyone

R
 

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