which battery is best?

this is what im planing to gear up with in my 110 and i am aware that i need a dual battery system, here is the list for now
1-2 spots 100w-1 relay and 1 switch directly to ist battery connected to main beam
2-4 spots 50w 2 reay 1 switch to ist battery on roof lights
3-winch to 2nd battery
4- lap top and internal flourescent lighting
5- gps plug in charger
6- sat phone plug in charger
7- compressor +/- 40-50l/m
8- freezer +/- 100l
9 -car fridge-one from halfords but depends on money i might get an engel
10-rear working light 50w

that should be the list more or less for now and also plan to take a reasonably large solar system (still to decide on what can run off were)
as i plan to be stationary for 1 every 3/4 days depending on conditions of journey ill be tryung to rely on solar more than battery itsself.

I have 2 Optima red tops & they have never let me down & hopefully wont in Morocco next month!

Jonnie, you pretty much have a list of what I have. The deal Clincher will be the fridge. A cheap 3 way style fridge will consume to much power to allow you to run it for more than 24hrs with engine off. Whilst an Engel can go 3-5 days without turning the engine over (ambient temps considering along with other factors).

the winch/lights/compressor are not to much of a worry as even though they are high draw devices, they wont be used constantly and should not be used with the engine off. Try to use another lightsource around camp other than the worklight. a 55w bulb draws 5a so is quite a drain on a battery if left on for hours after the engine is turned off.

You have stated freezer. what kind? why a fridge and freezer? what ampage does it draw? There was a good article in the overland journal recently about calculating your usage to decide what size batteries you need, but i have leant it to a friend.

IF it makes you feel better, I have the standard starting battery and my 2nd battery is standard out of a TDI VW transporter (110ah) all my kit runs off this.

I to have a winch, engel (MT45), PIAA spots (120w), compressor, work light, map light, internal light, GPS, PDA, invertor, fuel transfer pump etc.

these worked fine for 4 weeks around Morocco and we left the fridge on for the 36hours on the ferry from Bilbao - Portsmouth as a test... started 1st turn of the key and the 2nd batt was only on ~50%.

I wouldnt spend the money on Optimas etc, maybe the Numax ones as they seem good value. Alternatively I would use the funds for a national luna twin battery monitor and a CTEK 3600 battery charger. That way, whe your travelling you can top up both batteries at a campsite when you get the chance. Both these units are compact. the monitor allows you to see your usage and change/adapt things.

enough talk from me.

Good luck

G

get a cheap caravan 3 way fridge and run it off a bottle of gas

nathan5346 said:

get a cheap caravan 3 way fridge and run it off a bottle of gas

Click to expand...

I dont think these will function very well on unsealed routes, they need to be kept level to work. If your using gas for cooking and keeping to well graded routes then it could work.

G

hi griff
thanks for the info, i guess its because ive 3 decent size cooler boxes in the shed to say that i only have to buy a freezer as a seperate unit for meats for at least 10 nights per stock up, i know it sounds silly to have soo many collers and this is definately going to be a question of how much space i have left.
my thinking is 1 for soft drinks,1 for beers, and 1 small fridge for opened items that need it. i was in halfords today and say a nice 35L for €95. and will proberly buy that and run it between the front seats or something similar.
this is still early days for me but i would like to get all the major issues ready,buget for now tells me what i can do,unfortunately.so ill be looking at a transporter battery.
cheers for that.
john

I have a pair of Lumax Caravan/Boat batteries and I can deffo vouch for them. I was told there is no way I could use them as a cranking battery by people but they don't struggle at all.

Another vote for Numax;

try these for prices;

86Ah Sealed Leisure Battery

Go Outdoors have good prices on Numax batteries. Worth a look. heard alot of good things about them

You need your secondary battery to be a deep cycle sometimes called leisure battery and your primary to be high cycle - it's high something but I can't remember. I have terrible insomnia from lack of drink!

Neither of them like doing what the other does. Your high jobby if run down below about 80% starts messing with the plates and it falls to pieces. It just likes short sharp shocks and then being topped up.

Your deep cycle can be regularly run down to 10% and topped up but likes a nice steady draw - no short sharp shocks 'cause that knackers it. It is solar compatible too.

So you must have one of each or like a mate of mine three deep cycle, one of the other and enough solar to power a house all in one little Isuzu bakkie

we had numax on our 5 month trip with about the same sort of gear you have and they both worked fine.

wouldn't bother with optima have seen them in service winching and used with a fridge not so good. best to buy the biggest battery capacity/alternator that you can afford/justify and have twin battery hook up