# Can I use a car battery as a leisure battery?



## duppie

Hi there. 
Just a quick question...or two? We have an old Hymer coachbuild motorhome and it needs a new leisure battery - the old one's water is leaking... This was just a normal car battery. I know there is a difference in a car battery and leisure battery and that you cannot use a leisure battery for the car due to the fact that it cannot start the car, but... can you use a car battery as a leisure battery? 
Secondly, would you advise installing a second leisure battery as opposed to a solar panel? I have no idea of the cost, but what would be the best to do? We only use the electricity for lights, camera's, and laptops. No TV's/music/etc.
Thank you for listening! 
Nicole


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## joedenise

you can start a mh on a car battery and you can also use a car battery as a hab battery. In theory a car battery won't last as long as a proper hab battery.

Joe


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## duppie

Thanks Joe. 
When you say that a car battery won't last as long, do you mean lifetime or do you refer to the usage - ie how long you can go without a charge?


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## ched999uk

You 'can' use a 'car' battery as a leisure battery but that will give you 2 problems. First is that if you regularly discharge it towards 50% it will fail quicker than a leisure battery. Plus they will normally have a smaller capacity and I doubt you will have any manufacturers guarantee as you are not using it for it's intended use.
As for adding a solar panel or extra battery it all depends on how long you don't have electric hookup and how much power you use. At a guess an 80 watt solar panel will set you back £150+. This should give you about 20amps back into your battery a day in UK summer. A second battery would probably cost about £130 including box and small amount of additional cable and fuses.

A solar or extra battery really depends on how you use your motorhome. If you move about every few days an extra battery may be great as engine will top them back up on your route. If staying in one place a solar may be enough to top the battery back up.

Hope that helps?


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## duppie

Thanks! Yes this helps!
We are more the mover-type so we will drive at least 2-4hrs a day, thus there would be time to charge. We bought the MH with a car battery set up as a leisure battery, so maybe that was why we did not have enough power.
I think we shall try out using a leisure battery and see how it goes, maybe we can get away with one - seeing that we travel every day. We really do not use a huge amount of electric, so maybe it has just been the battery that was not 'big' enough.
Or would you suggest that we just go out an buy 2 new leisure batteries, because you need to replace them at the same time don't you?
Thank you for your help!!
Nicole


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## joedenise

Hi Nicole
In lifetime probably. I used our 110 Amp car battery as a 2nd hab battery for about 3 years with no solar panel charging it and that was mainly lights and heating, which is the fan on the blown air system and didn't have a problem once.

A hab battery will start a MH but they are not designed for it; they are designed for long slow discharge and not a short, heavy discharge but they will both do the job of the other.

Joe


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## duppie

Thanks Joe.

I think we will do the leisure battery x 2 and see how it goes!


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## ched999uk

One thing you could do to minimise your power requirements is to change your internal lights to LED type ones. They are cheap on ebay if you can wait for delivery from the Far East. For example a 20 watt spot light would pull about 1.6 amps per hour from your battery and an 'equivalent' LED would pull about 1 watt = 0.08amps per hour!!!!


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## duppie

Wow that is a big difference. I will put hubby on the case and see what he can do. Can you use the same power connections? (sorry I am an accountant and miserable with electronics!!) :lol:


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## ched999uk

You can normally get direct replacements but there are a few different types. They do come in various wattages, normally 2 different colours (Warm white(yellowish) or cool white(more of a blueish white)), plus different fittings .
You might have to reverse the positive and negative as normal light bulbs don't care about which side is connected to positive and which is negative but LED lights have to be connected correct way round. It's normally fairly easy to change the electrical polarity on the light connectors.


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## boringfrog

*Acid*

Your battery is not leaking water, it's leaking diluted acid, be very careful.


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## ttcharlie

Some Westfalia Conversions used to be supplied with a car starter battery instead of a leasure battery, from the factory.

This was due to leasure batteries being slightly larger at the time.


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## Mrplodd

2-4 hrs driving probably wont fully recharge a partially drained battery !!! It WILL put some charge back in though

Some one will be along shortly to explain the maths !! 

Best bet, as has been said, is to change to LED lights :idea:


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## DTPCHEMICALS

I used a car battery for over 5 years in my caravan.
Dave p


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## Pudsey_Bear

Some say you can use a cheaper car battery if you're constantly charging it with solar or EHU.

some good ebay deals on batteries at the moment, 2 x 115ah for good money.


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## jhelm

I wonder if anyone has ever really proven that leisure batteries are really worth the money. The auto electric mechanic we take our cars and camper to insists that they aren't worth the extra cost. According to him a starter battery will last about 75% as long and costs less than half. We have 2 100 amp sealed starter batteries and a 230 watt solar panel. I don't really know if the slow discharge is harmful to the starter batteries. So far we don't see a problem.


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## carrgang

Hi Nicole, reading your replies I am amazed no one has come up with the fact car batteries are wet ie contain acid mixed with distilled water, which can give off fumes while being charged, can explode exposed to naked flame or even a spark, as well as being dangerous in enclosed space in living area eg fumes explosive risk, leisure are gel filled and are sealed which give off no fumes and are quite safe in living area. only ever use the right battery for the right job the risks involved do not justify the cost cutting. INVEST IN A LEISURE BATTERY. best regards bill :?


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## Phil42

O.K. so why do manufacturers put car batteries under front seats if they're so dangerous (e.g. Ford Transit)?

Phil


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## carrgang

Hi Phil, probably because more vehicles are adopting more use of space in the engine compartment they are using sealed batteries, not necessarily leisure but sealed all the same. its just Nicole mentioned her battery was leaking, and in the living area very dangerous. like i said never use an ordinary battery in an enclosed environment. regards Bill


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## Phil42

As I understand it Bill, all recent Transits have the battery under the seat and mine, original equipment, is a lead acid battery that isn't sealed - needs topping-up.

Phil


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## carrgang

Phil42 said:


> As I understand it Bill, all recent Transits have the battery under the seat and mine, original equipment, is a lead acid battery that isn't sealed - needs topping-up.
> 
> Phil


 seems you learn something every day Phil, but this I do not understand, needs to be looked into more, preferably by the experts, will be interesting to find out the full facts and add a little bit more knowledge to the old grey matter, even this old guy is still learning & willing to add to the library. but still can't get away from the fact that wet batteries can be dangerous re fumes / explosive. cheers bill


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## Pudsey_Bear

carrgang said:


> Hi Nicole, reading your replies I am amazed no one has come up with the fact car batteries are wet ie contain acid mixed with distilled water, which can give off fumes while being charged, can explode exposed to naked flame or even a spark, as well as being dangerous in enclosed space in living area eg fumes explosive risk, leisure are gel filled and are sealed which give off no fumes and are quite safe in living area. only ever use the right battery for the right job the risks involved do not justify the cost cutting. INVEST IN A LEISURE BATTERY. best regards bill :?


What a load.

Leisure batteries are not gel at all, some are of course but by no means all, mine weren't.

Where are you getting your battery info from anyway as part of it is possible, but most is at best scare mongering, as you say "can" is the wrong verb, but really unless you're a half wit, won't is better and more likely.

My last ones were lead/acid and the next leisure batteries will also be "wet" and have you not heard of sealed lead/acid batteries, and they will be under the driver seat too.

A battery will only gas if it is overcharged, and that is very unlikely in most Motorhomes as the chargers are too weak, the more modern ones are incapable of overcharging.

If you give advice please either check first that you are correct.

These are most likely to be the ones I 'll get, excellent value and a 4 year warranty.

Hopefully I won't get blown up :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## carrgang

thanks for that Kev_n_Liz looks like I need updating re batteries I was going off my experience after a battery blew up in my wife's face and also a truck (wet battery) installed in a motor home malfunctioned giving off obnoxious fumes, I was led to believe to be always vigilant re batteries as I had witnessed one exploding better safe than sorry. but if I have given the wrong advice I apologize and will seek confirmation of the true facts before I give advice in the future. but if you look back Nichole had said her battery was leaking, is that not a danger which was my main concern, plus I would never again have a wet battery in our living area. regards Bill.


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## jhelm

We have two sealed starter batteries in our living area. So first sealed batteries do exist. Someone mentioned some time ago that they still have a vent to prevent explosions from pressure if over charged. When my Electrobloc failed a year ago I was using a regular charger to charge a previous unsealed battery and it turns out that it had gone bad and was continuously charging. And in that case I did notice a smell which could have been gas. However, I believe that the volume of air in a motor home and the natural ventilation even just from leaky windows would not be conducive to creating the environment for an explosion. Non the less I think it's wise to be cautious, if you notice that kind of acid oder coming from a battery open windows and check out the situation asap. Turn off the charger unit and be careful not to do anything that would cause an electrical spark right next to the battery.

Finally if there was any real danger of an exploding living area battery manufacturers would not put them in. One can only imagine the lawsuits that would fallow, if it just happened once.


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## Pudsey_Bear

carrgang said:


> thanks for that Kev_n_Liz looks like I need updating re batteries I was going off my experience after a battery blew up in my wife's face and also a truck (wet battery) installed in a motor home malfunctioned giving off obnoxious fumes, I was led to believe to be always vigilant re batteries as I had witnessed one exploding better safe than sorry. but if I have given the wrong advice I apologize and will seek confirmation of the true facts before I give advice in the future. but if you look back Nichole had said her battery was leaking, is that not a danger which was my main concern, plus I would never again have a wet battery in our living area. regards Bill.


The leaking battery is mainly a danger to the metal around it and it will give off some fumes, and it shouldn't be touched but fresh water poured on it will limit the hazard, and an alkali of some sort will neutralise it.

I'm sorry though to hear of your experiences with batteries, not good in any way, vigilance is good, but taken in moderation like most things, there is tons of info about battery care, in the old days you had to remove the caps to allow ventilation when charging at home, but those types of batteries are hopefully on their way out, some have a one way valve and a pipe to vent through the floor, some don't but all batteries should come with a safety leaflet as they can be dangerous in other ways if not handle with care.

I used to keep the liquid contents of old batteries in a glass jar for cleaning metal up, & old rusty tools, but it fell over and made a right mess on the garage carpet, I haven't bothered since, and of course it's not kind to your hands.


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