i will malc, you know yourself how mine struggled in wales the other week, stock is probably fine, knackered stock is probably what i have....a bit of cold and it's u/s i reckon.
will do, to be fair i'll not check mine now til the weekend, my van is all locked up and blocked in on the drive now, hopefully this weekend will be dry and i can do some work on it, i need to remove the chracoal filter and pipes to get my battery out anyway so i'll sort it then, i'll put your one on trickle and see how it is.
FAO T3 Westy drivers: http://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/buy-online/caravan-batteries-boat-batteries-leisure-batteries/12v-ultra-plus-low-height-80amp-cheap-leisure-battery/prod_31.html These fit in the Battery compartment under the driver's side (LHD) AND allow the top to close over. Make sure you ask for the T3 sized one. They are really good and if you pick up the battery yourself they give you 10% off. I have had mine in for past 6 months and with a solar panel trickle charging it's been fine. Modify the van's wiring so the radio, interior lights and cig lighter work of it and you're away.
My bus arrived with a dead battery so nipped down to my local car parts place to get a new one priced up. Mine is a little baby 1600 engine, tha standard battery was an 063 £36 or a high capacity one 075 was £52. I went for the 075 but got my mate to get me one through his business account with a battery supplier £37 for the high capacity 075... I'm interested in how others have added leisure batteries? carlot25 what solar trickle charger did you fit & where did you fit it? I was thinking of fitting a panel to my Westy roof rack as you wont see it from the ground and link it up to a nice big leisure battery to run a few gadgets from but not sure what to go for! I keep Molly on the front of the house so it should easily charge my battery inbetween trips out in her... Robo...
my leisure set up is done and in, i fitted a c-tek to charge it/use as a slave from 240v on site and it runs a split relay while driving to keep it topped up, that was easy, it seems to me that the actual Main Battery is down to personal preference here - as i don't run anything off the MB apart from van lights/wipers etc it's not got to be a massive thing, i'm still going with the initial thought that my MB is old or just too small for my engine, it does seem peoople fit anything that goes in the space.
I've got a Halfords Advanced HCB 096, 680 Amps, 74 aH. I know it is Halfords but I needed it then and the local store is about 1mile away. I can't tell you how good it is as my van doesn't want to work
i "think" madfrankie did a brilliant write up on leisure set ups but i can easily sort that for you if he didn't, i know he has posted on here so if he jumps in then that's fine by me, if not i'll sort it later...... it does depend on useage, to be fair if you aren't a heavy user there is no need for a split charge relay (this charges your leisure off the alternator while driving) or a c-tek (this charges the leisure off the site supply while you are camping) some people just charge the leisure at home before they go camping and it lasts all weekend easily, it all depends on how many things you run in the van to entertain you - more if you have kids, less if you like walking and just sleep in the van etc etc....i have gone overkill on mine, i don't need the split relay but you never know if you camp and have no hook up so you can charge the leisure off the van engine if it goes flat, some people even add solar panels to help keep it topped up.
spongebob that is deffo overkill but fair play, if it fits in the gap and does the job then it ain't gonna struggle to spin the engine over!
Spongebob, I want to be camping next to you if I ever need a jump start, that thing could do a whole TLB meet!
ok, so i've just taken my battery off to compare it to the one malc lent me, his was charged a few days ago and has sat in my shed since, the van one charged by the alternator last sunday and sat since, voltages differ by a bit, no idea if mine is a better quality battery as it looks like the yanks label differently, they are both the same size give or take, malcs first.
googled the american part number Super Start - Automotive Battery Part Number: 47-72J Line: SSB * 2 year free replacement; up to 72 months prorated warranty * UPC: 721112782379 * Premium * 12 Volt * Cold Cranking Amps: 575 * Cranking Amps: 715 * Reserve Capacity: 60AH so i guess the battery would have been decent in it's day but i don't know how old it is, in theory the one i lent off malc is under spec compared to a good version of the american one but the american one does seem to struggle on a cold day. the spec on my battery is better than the actual googled one as well so they vary in quality with the same part number in america too i guess?
12.6v or there abouts is a full battery with no load on it. Any higher that that is known as surface charge and should disappear quite quickly when there is a slight load for a short period.
