Apologies for kicking off yet another leisure battery thread, but been reading around and still none the wiser which battery to get. I just installed a 100-watt solar panel, and need a low height battery to fit under the wheel arch, with positive on the left ideally. And obviously the highest Ah possible. Looks like Lead Acid ones are the way forward. Need it to power a Dometic CRX50 fridge. The most appropriate I've found is this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-135A...240&pg=2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851 Any good? Any recommendations? Thanks all.
Dont do what I did recently.. whip out the leisure battery and jump start something else matching the post positions. Cost me a set of new alternator diodes., I couldnt source replacement smoke kits on eBay.
Go for a battery which the manufactures have the confidence to offer the longest guarantee. 3 years isn't long.
The higher capacity in the smaller battery the shorter the lifespan and warranty. A battery with 3 years warranty will have plates thick enough to withstand 3 years use and an empty space under each cell for debris to collect for 3 years. It will not have as good a capacity rating as the highest you can get in that size. But it will last . The ebay cheapies are OK for a while - I have just managed to trash a couple on my boat trickle charging them off solar for 3 years and they have just got lower and lower capacity. In the end I raided a leisure battery off my bus that cost £80 for 85AH from a motor home dealer (Platinum brand) instead of £35 for a 50AH eBay cheapie. The expensive battery still shows good after 3 years, the cheapie is off to recycling.
That looks similar to mine, had no problems for a few years. I've heard about issues with Probat, but I expect a lot depends on each person's usage.
@Ged Richardson , That probat battery is a compromise. I'd rather have lower amp hours in the same case size and sacrifice alleged performance for decent construction. I think the max amp hours in a case that will fit in an unmodified lb space is about 110 Maybe less. Its not about how many beans you have to start with, its about how easy it is to but back the beans you use. You've got a Dometic fridge but how are you planning to use the bus? That info is way more important than what you've got...
I personally find the waeco fridge so efficient that the solar panels do great job of keeping my 110 lb topped up. You may not need the 135 ah, really does depend on how much stuff you running from the lb.
We only have a 65AH leisure battery ... this is fine for continually running a Waeco CFX 35 toolbox ... I don't know how power hungry the CRX50 fridge is so cant say how big a battery you will need but as others have said more a case of how you use the set up. For a fridge don't forget to run a large cable to avoid any issue of voltage drop.
