12V system upgrades
Clive Mott…
...MMM’s electrical guru spent his working life engineering forklift truck battery technology and has a gadget-laden A-class that makes the USS Enterprise seem basic
Every motorhome today has both mains 230V AC installation and a 12V battery-powered system.
Alongside the starter battery for the engine, a separate leisure battery powers the leisure equipment. It is worth noting that even items working on gas or diesel still require a 12V supply to operate them.
The leisure battery is charged when the motorhome is connected to a hook-up on a campsite and it is also charged when the vehicle engine is running. It can be charged by other means, too, such as solar panels, wind generators, fuel cells, etc.
A basic motorhome with a three-way gas fridge and gas heating will not need a lot of battery energy as the gas provides all the heating, and powers the fridge when away from a hook-up. A campervan with a diesel heater and compressor fridge will need considerably more 12V power if a long weekend without hook-up is planned.
One 100Ah battery can be sufficient in a gas-powered motorhome but at least two 100Ah batteries, if not more, will be required in a campervan with a compressor fridge and diesel heating.
LEAD ACID BATTERIES
All batteries have a finite cycle life and this is expressed in the
