Replacement Gel Battery

[MaidinDevon]

Hi
Following on from my other thread about cpap machine etc. I have decided to opt for a replacement Gel battery initially.
I googled snd searched but I am not confident which ro buy.
I have found an Expedition Carbon Gel, which will do 1500 cycles, and 5 year guarantee. Apparently they are the latest technology and will manage more cycles than standard Gel.

110ah is £190
160 is £244
200 is £369
and 250 is £389.

Plus delivery.
The supplier is Alpha Batteries, and they will offer 5% discount.

Is this a good battery at a good price?

Are there other alternatives out there you would recommend.

There is plenty of room in the battery locker.

Confused but determined to get this sorted out.

Karen

 

[Pausim]

I hadn’t spotted your earlier thread about CPAP use until now. I have heard that Carbon Gel are the bees knees of the lead acid batteries but no experience of them myself. I would get as many Ah as you can fit and afford, I have used Alpha batteries and found them to be an excellent firm.

I have a Resmed CPAP with humidifier and heated tube. In a typical evening and overnight I use about 40Ah running it as I would at home, alongside charging other devices and lighting etc. The humidifier takes a few Amps at first but once it is up to temperature it doesn’t seem to use much to keep it there. I would stick with using it as you normally do, better for your health and comfort.

 

[autorouter]

Carbon gel lead-acid batteries are the latest technology, and they are less susceptible to sulfation. Sulfation is a problem if the battery is left in a state of partial or full discharge for a long time (more than a month or so). Lead-acid batteries need to be charged to the 100% level at least every month to get rid of any residual sulfation, and some people find that difficult. If the MH is in storage, with no hookup, and solar is in shadow during the winter for example. If you can use a hookup or have good solar panels and controller then that will avoid the sulfation problem.

Alpha Batteries are a good supplier and have a good reputation on here.

One thing to watch out for is the battery weight. A 110Ah battery is not lightweight by any means (29kg), and is about the limit for most people heaving it in and out of a difficult to access place. A 250Ah is a very heavy item (63kg), and if you are OK with that then fine. Otherwise you might be better with two 110Ah batteries.

 

[MaidinDevon]

autorouter I thought it best to get the 160, as anything bigger would be difficult to charge with one solar panel anyway. Is that correct?
Luckily the battery locker is outside, and close to the ground, so will probably be OK to manoeuvre a new battery in.

 

[ChrisL]

I have three of the 110ah expedition lead carbon gels (they are 100ah at the C20 rate which is what most manufacturers quote) they've been in for two years so far with no issues, I have 250 watts of solar and as long as it's fairly bright they are full again by lunch time, I also run a resmed cpap at night but don't use the humidifier in the van.

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[autorouter]

I thought it best to get the 160, as anything bigger would be difficult to charge with one solar panel anyway. Is that correct?

It's true that a 120W panel won't fill a flat 160Ah battery in one day, or even two days, of good sunshine. However I don't think that's the best way to look at it.

A big 160Ah battery is insurance. If you are using 40Ah to 50Ah in 24 hours, and solar is putting in 35Ah to 45Ah, then the battery is unlikely to be refilled. But if you know that, and you know it will be dropping by 10Ah or 15Ah every day, then you can calculate how long you can stay in one place before you have to move and recharge it. For example, maybe you could stay on a site or aire with hookup for one day every week, and that would be enough to last for six days. That's a lot better than needing a hookup site every night.

And don't forget you'll have about 20Ah from the alternator for each hour of driving too. More if you fit a B2B.

If the MH is on the drive not being used, the solar will refill the battery in a few days, and keep it topped up.

 

[Pausim]

I think the first calculation needs to be your daily usage and whether you can replace what you take out of the battery. A large battery bank gives you a longer buffer but it still has to be recharged. My first priority was a B2B with sufficient output to replace my daily use of 40/50Ah with 1 or 2 hours of driving. We don’t always want to move on every day so I then had to think about static charging. I tried solar and it was good on sunny days and away from shaded pitches but our UK weather is not reliable and we also like to go away in spring and autumn.

I rely on my CPAP and because of the uncertainty of solar charging in this country we decided to invest in an Efoy fuel cell. Not the cheapest option but not that disproportionate against the cost of a new motorhome. I know it can produce 140Ah a day and it reliably recharges my use in about 8 hours. The fuel cost is less than the £5+ cost of an EHU but clearly more than free sunshine if you can get it.

 

[autorouter]

A fuel cell is a device that produces electricity directly from a fuel, almost silently. It doesn't make a lot of noise like a generator. Because of that they can be used during the night, if the solar has not produced as much as you wanted. An Efoy fuel cell uses a special fuel, methanol. About the only downside of a fuel cell is the initial cost, and the ongoing cost of the special fuel. And you have to find a place to store the fuel to carry it with you, similar to the way you already store LPG. Remember you don't have to use the fuel cell unless all the other recharge options have run out, and then it is always there as a backup.

 

[Pausim]

A fuel cell is a device that produces electricity directly from a fuel, almost silently. It doesn't make a lot of noise like a generator. Because of that they can be used during the night, if the solar has not produced as much as you wanted. An Efoy fuel cell uses a special fuel, methanol. About the only downside of a fuel cell is the initial cost, and the ongoing cost of the special fuel. And you have to find a place to store the fuel to carry it with you, similar to the way you already store LPG. Remember you don't have to use the fuel cell unless all the other recharge options have run out, and then it is always there as a backup.

I only use it when I have to but when I do knowing that the cost of an EHU would have been more means I am happy with the arrangement. Having a reliable power source means I only need one 100Ah battery which saves storage space of about the same as the fuel containers. Not that I store the fuel in the battery locker. A 10 litre fuel cartridge weighing 8.5kg will provide 920Ah of recharging, imagine the weight and size of a battery bank to equal that.