Boards recommended leisure battery arrangement

MojoMaker

I know there are converts to battery-free living recently, and I'd love to get there in the future as it does look like the way to go.

For now I am considering replacing one or both of my AGM leisure batteries so that winter doesn't catch me out. In light of that I'm looking for the best Boards recommendations for a 12v setup that will see me right for a couple of years.

I have 2 x 95ah AGM batteries connected in series to each other. I'm wondering if this is common, and if yes, is this efficient? Versus a single higher-rated battery for example.

Is Lithium worth the extra expense?

Are Gel batteries worth considering in 2025?

How doo I know that EHU is actually charging the leisure battery? I'm not convinced my set up is.

Alkers

Renogy lithium gets my vote.

But you may need to change both your alternator and ehu chargers

Alkers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058384160/boards-recommended-leisure-battery-arrangement

To see if why is charging your batteries, connect it and then check battery voltage with a voltmeter off of the battery terminala

spaceHopper

Two batteries in series will give you 24 volts if they are both 12v batteries. In parallel will give you 12V @ 190 AH. I'm guessing that what you have.

Firstly can you full charge the batteries with a suitable charger and check that they are holding charge. AKA do you need to got to the expense for changing them.

Next do you have solar, what wattage panels and how often do you use your van. Is it all off grid?

The rule of thumb is that you have 2W for every AH of storage, so you should have 400W. But you can only do so much. I have a 70ah battery and a 50W panel, my van is small so limited space. I don't get to go away much so the panel really keeps my battery in a good state and also trickle charges the engine battery so it's perfect for me.

If you have solar, can your charge controller charge Lithium or will you need to replace it.

If you stick with the same type of batteries it's an simple swap.

If you go for Lithium, you need to have the correct battery to battery charger. Some also do solar and will maintain the engine battery too. But it's extra expense. I've a friend who swears by Li because it holds the output voltage down to 20% so everything just works better.

MojoMaker

Cheers both.

So after a bit more investigation I've found out that my charging system is working ok, and both leisure batteries are in good shape. The status panel in the m/h was giving me a low readout for what I thought was for 1 of the leisure batteries, but actually it was for the main starter battery - I didn't realise at the time what the I and II represented.

The batteries are in parallel and both appear to be topped up ok from the small solar panel, even in winter, plus the odd electrical hook up which I'm doing sporadically.

New main battery will be needed though - so any recommendations on that front would be welcome. 1997 Ducato 2.5tdi.

Alkers

Get a yuasa, they stock them in Halfords. 20% off if you know someone with a trade card.