# Newbie, battery advice.



## 103495 (Mar 20, 2007)

Hi, we are wanting to fit a solar panel to our van, we have a 80ah gel battery and i think we need another one as we are planning to start doing a lot of wild camping, i have seen on here that you shouldn,t mix batteries of a different age/condition. Does that mean we have to get rid of our existing battery and get 2 more? Also is it better to get 2 lead acid batteries instead of the gel type as thay are cheaper and some say better for motorhoming as gels were designed for marine use.

Paul&Caz.


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## 97984 (Mar 5, 2006)

I think the advice about batteries being the same age/size etc is related to them being wired together for charging. You could always carry a second battery to run an inverter for your 12v appliances such as tv/laptop/phone charging etc. You can still charge both from solar panel just reconnect the panel to the battery you wish to charge.


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## 103495 (Mar 20, 2007)

*Thanks*

Thanks for that cneate.

I see, we can just carry a separate battery not connected to our existing one and use it for a tv etc, that would mean we can keep the existing battery.Cheers.

Paul&Caz.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Batts*

Hello there,

Batteries should be of the same Size IE 2 x 80ah
Batteries if connected together Should both be of the same type Gel or acid and not mixed
Battery Chargers should be set to the type of battery they are charging (some have a wet/gel selecter switch)
Gel Batteries are better though, more expensive
Remember if you fit a wet battery (lead acid) anywhere, you must vent the cells out under the van!

If you can afford it get 2 new gel batteries and join them together and connect your solar panel to them.

Hope this helps? if you need further help, please ask away

Trev


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## 103495 (Mar 20, 2007)

*batt*

So what if we wanted to add another battery to our existing one then, does it matter about them being the same age? or from the same batch?

Paul&Caz


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## linal (Mar 14, 2006)

Hi Bud i think if you add an extra battery on your Hymer you have to alter the control panel. There is a previos post on how to do this.

Alex.


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

Without wishing to complicate matters, as to the battery charger setting matching the batteries, I think an attractive combination, if you are not desperate for every Ah possible from your batteries, is to have cheap flooded lead acid leisure batteries but the charger set to gel.

The advantage is cheap maintenance-free; you can almost forget about checking the electrolyte level. Mine are 2.5 years old, are driven hard, and I have yet to top them up.

Paul/Caz - your call as to whether you get two new batteries or keep the one you have separate.

Dave


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## boringfrog (Sep 22, 2006)

Yeah gotta be the same age, (and condition) I just got a solar panel fitted and bought two 85ah batteries @ £32 each, with a two year warranty.


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## 103495 (Mar 20, 2007)

*batt*

Hi Trev,

Thanks for that, yes , i suspected that we may have to get 2 new gel batteries to get a good working system. We are going to get the solar panel fitted by Peter Hambilton so i think i,ll try and source 2 gel batteries myself and get him to fit them.

Paul&Caz.


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## 97984 (Mar 5, 2006)

*Re: Thanks*



BUDD said:


> Thanks for that cneate.
> 
> I see, we can just carry a separate battery not connected to our existing one and use it for a tv etc, that would mean we can keep the existing battery.Cheers.
> 
> Paul&Caz.


Yep that's what we do. We have an elecsol125 a/h running to the zig panel & a separate 85 a/h with inverter off it to run tv laptop & other devices. We do this so that if we flatten the 85a/h we won't be sat in the dark with no water pump 8O


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## 103495 (Mar 20, 2007)

*Batt*

Thanks everyone.
So we may just keep the battery we are taking off when the panel is fitted spare for using 12v stuff with, although it will certainly add a lot to payload, especially with the fact that we will have 3 batteries then. I think with 2 new batteries and a solar we may only need to carry the spare in winter(hopefully).

Paul&Caz.


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