3 Leisure Battery options

Sapper

Full Member

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10
Hello,
I currently have one LB wired up with split charger however I also have a further two LBs taken from my old Campervan. I know I can link two together (which I feel is a good idea) and even all three however I want 12v power at the far end of my camper (6m away) so wondered if I should either:

a. Place third LB at the rear and use it completely separately,
b. As a. Above but also link it with the other two LBs so it is charged by vehicle,
c. Locate all 3 LBs together at front, linked together so all receive charge and run a feed to the rear,
d. Or another idea???

NB. All LBs are same capacity and rate but different makes and age, not sure if that will make any difference?!

thanks,

chris
 
I know there will be others who know more than me, but i've always been advised to not mix batteries of different ages, and/or capacity, because one poor one wil drag the output of the others down.
 
I am no electrician..But from what you post
1 Yes link all 3 together
2 Run a suitable cable to the rear of the van..depending on the power needed !
AND see how it goes
Get a cheapo volt meter wire in so you can monitor the perceived collective voltage
 
You can connect all 3 PROVIDING they are the same AGE and AMPERAGE , otherwise you could be creating problems with power outage
 
Sapper said:
Hello,
I currently have one LB wired up with split charger however I also have a further two LBs taken from my old Campervan. I know I can link two together (which I feel is a good idea) and even all three however I want 12v power at the far end of my camper (6m away) so wondered if I should either:

a. Place third LB at the rear and use it completely separately,
b. As a. Above but also link it with the other two LBs so it is charged by vehicle,
c. Locate all 3 LBs together at front, linked together so all receive charge and run a feed to the rear,
d. Or another idea???

NB. All LBs are same capacity and rate but different makes and age, not sure if that will make any difference?!

thanks,

chris
Click to expand...
my observations are:
As they are different ages and no doubt had different usage and charge cycles, they are unlikely to be the same capacities any longer and have the same power delivery profiles.
What are the technologies of the batteries and the charging characteristics? They may not match up very well?
What are the ages of the single battery and the pair from the old van?

Best way to utilize and connect the batteries does depend on a few things.
 
Sapper said:
Hello,
I currently have one LB wired up with split charger however I also have a further two LBs taken from my old Campervan. I know I can link two together (which I feel is a good idea) and even all three however I want 12v power at the far end of my camper (6m away) so wondered if I should either:

a. Place third LB at the rear and use it completely separately,
b. As a. Above but also link it with the other two LBs so it is charged by vehicle,
c. Locate all 3 LBs together at front, linked together so all receive charge and run a feed to the rear,
d. Or another idea???

NB. All LBs are same capacity and rate but different makes and age, not sure if that will make any difference?!

thanks,

chris
Click to expand...
The primary concern is to avoid discharging the batteries more than necessary, so yes, all three should be wired together in parallel, provided that all three hold charge OK. If one does not, scrap it.
I would place them close together if possible, but it really doesn't matter as long as the cable isn't too thin. I'd use 16mm (for short runs) or 25mm (for longer runs) as a minimum cross-section.
What does matter is fitting the batteries securely, so they can't break free in an accident. That means something much more solid than a wooden locker side!
You really don't want 20KG, 40KG, 60KG of lead, acid, flammable gas and spark sources hitting you in a crash.
You might also want to think about where a vent pipe can run.
 
Best practice is same age, capacity and type but you can link almost any batterys together. If they are the same type then you will be okay but as previously said if any are dodgy get rid as one battery down will pull down the rest. If they are different types (AGM/GEL etc.) it and you charge via solar or mains then keep them separate for charging.
 
nabsim said:
If they are different types (AGM/GEL etc.) it and you charge via solar or mains then keep them separate for charging.
Click to expand...
That's certainly the best approach, but you can have gel and AGM wired together and charge them as gel.
You can have AGM and SLA wired together and charge them as AGM. Not ideal, but OK.
 
An unusual looking vehicle. Bet nice and roomy inside :)
 
Put the power source closest to where you'll need it.
But make sure your charge cables don't reduce voltage too much so at least 10mm² preferably 16mm² for two or more batteries.
Yes - get new batteries. Old batteries do each other and chargers in.
I second the reference to the firm in N Wales which we can't link to for common sense advice - or if nothing else a pointer to thinking about what you do.
 
Think of a battery as a tank full of water. If you have a 2 x 20 gallon and one 10 gallon tanks, the 10 will empty first as it offers the lowest internal resistance and when it begins to empty, the 20-gallon tanks will empty into it. When this happens there is a small volt drop because one battery is effectively charging the other but the loss is very small. Do not let anyone tell you you can't connect different batteries together in parallel, that's not true, but if you have the same age and capacity batteries, it will work better but not that you will notice. I've got 5 batteries on my van all 110 but different makes and never any issues. If you have the same age and ah ratings then connect them all in parallel but take the pos from the first battery and the neg from the last, this way they all empty at the same rate and you are effectively making one big battery. If you run a cable from the rear to the front, then make sure its big enough but that cable will also cause some volt drop as any time you enter resistance of any description into a circuit, it costs you.
 
You can run three batteries together,which increases the amount of usable power to you, the biggest problem by far is replacing that power, not impossible, but problematic.
 
The simple way we look at battery power is this. If we decide to go away with the grandkids for a week, the electricity e use goes up and we end up using over 100 amps per day. If the sun shines the batteries get some power back, but if its dull we still have sufficient power to draw on and when we come back home, our 5 batteries may be at half power, but we would have run out if we only had 2 on board. If your payload allows it, then go for extra batts.
 
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