Leisure battery needs replacing? 12v or 2x 6V?

Total capacity being equal, one big 12V is the same as two 6V, and both are better than two 12V. So it is down to price, maximum weight of battery you can cope with, and dimensions to fit.

Dave

gazracer said:

My leisure battery has finally given up the ghost after 7 years, which I think is pretty good. Anyway..

We're off to france for 2 weeks wild camping at the end of the month, so, shoud I replace with 1 big 12v or switch to 2 x 6v ???

Cost is not a major issue, but certainly a consideration.

Your opinions are welcome and if you can point me in the direction of cheap suppliers all the better! :lol:

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12v deep cycle batteries with a good peukerts number will give you a good output in terms of A/h and are obtainable far and wide. Not so sure the equivelant is available in 6v. You might only be able to get motorcycle batteries which are designed for high current/ low time useage and will mean you will only get a fraction of the quoted A/h rate.

Bob

I was reading an article somewhere, maybe by a selfbuilder, who had sourced golf cart batteries as they are designed to do the same as leisure batteries?

gazracer said:

I was reading an article somewhere, maybe by a selfbuilder, who had sourced golf cart batteries as they are designed to do the same as leisure batteries?

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To compare you need the manufacturers quoted peukerts number to compare like with like. A 120 A/h battery with Pn = 1.08 will give you 101 min if drawing 50A but a 120A/h battery with a Pn = 1.5 will only give you 20 mins drawing 50A.

If you are replacing all your leisure battery capacity then it is best not to have cells connected in parallel if it can be avoided. So if you want lots of ampere hours then two 6 volt (3 cell) batteries connected in series is the better option. Golf cart batteries are deep cycle batteries and eminently suitable for leisure duty. Cells connected in series ensure current sharing.

However a pair of identical leisure duty 12 volt batteries connected in parallel will probably cost quite a bit less as there are more caravans and motorhomes than golf carts! Most people seem to achieve what they want this way.

If you Google 6 volt UK "golf cart batteries" there are lots of hits to look at.

C.