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There’s no ifs and buts about it – you need a good quality, reliable battery when you’re off vanning. Words and photography by John Rooth When it comes to batteries, the hardest thing for most people to do is sort out the reality from the marketing. With this in mind I spent a day out at the Century Yuasa Battery Factory in Carole Park on the outskirts of Brisbane, sniffing around like a good newshound should! Century has two factories in Queensland and there’s also one in Exide in South Australia. As far as local goes, that’s about it. I’ve used Century batteries for many years now, mostly because of the popularity of their Severe Service products in the bush. That popularity was earned under the toughest conditions on earth – powering the farms and mining plant scattered throughout the outback. I’m saying that right now because there’s no way I can write an article like this without running the risk of it sounding like a Century commercial. So apply your own filters right now if you want too, but if you’ve ever had a bad run out of a battery, the reason might well be here. Let’s start at the end. Just as I was leaving the factory I saw the shelves where they store the labels and cases. Guess what? Names don’t mean a lot when it comes to batteries, there are plenty of ‘brand name’ products sold all over the place that were built at this factory including those tucked under the bonnets of new Toyotas. And there’s some built to a budget here too, branded under a variety of household names. That should give a few big clues to the battery maze straight away. Toyota gets their ‘genuine’ batteries built here in Australia for a lot of good reasons and it’s these reasons that any prospective battery buyer needs to understand. First, the minute a battery is ‘wetted’ it starts to deteriorate and it’ll deteriorate faster sitting on a shelf than it will being used. So just like Toyota, you want the freshest battery you can buy straight up. That means a local product has to be best, but it also means you need to look very closely at where you buy your batteries from. Obviously the highest turnover with the least amount of risk will be from a battery specialist. If you don’t believe me, blow some of the dust off the batteries sitting at your corner garage. “Ah,” says Thrifty McGoldstein, “but I saved $15 by getting mine from Foolies Clothing and Electrical and it’s exactly the same thing!” OK, first of all, it’s unlikely it’s the same thing even if it came in the same case. That’s one of the things I saw at the factory – the true strength of a battery is in the number of plates in that case and how they’re fixed in place. It takes more time to put an extra strip of glue across the plates and more plates costs more money. With batteries, more than almost any automotive product, you get what you pay for. And with batteries you need to be sure that the ‘guarantee’ will be honoured in case you get a dud – that’ll be a lot easier with an expert retailer who’s got volume and factory backing! Toyota could easily import the calcium style batteries (sealed type) from overseas but they don’t because Australia’s conditions are among the toughest in the world. They need – and you probably do to – a battery designed for these conditions. The hybrid design lead acid batteries designed and built locally have greater fluid coverage over the plates and can be topped up easily which means they’re much better able to cope with high under bonnet and ambient temperatures and being severely shaken up a corrugated road. Under Aussie conditions a well maintained hybrid battery will outlast a sealed battery all day long. Or should that be ‘all four years or more long’. Hybrid (non-sealed) batteries are also much better at accepting a charge, something the sealed units can have trouble with especially if they’re subjected to a complete discharge. The calcium alloy plates they utilise are prone to irreversible sulphation when completely discharged and that’s a death sentence for a battery. So despite all the high tech offerings these days, for most applications the local hybrid product is not only the best and the freshest, it’ll be the best value for money too. Most of the heated discussions heard in caravan parks around the country centre on whether or not deep cycle, marine or automotive styles are best suited to either a vehicle’s dual battery system or house power for a caravan. It’s a minefield on a good day because of the host of variations available but here’s some food for thought. Yes, there are big differences in construction between deep cycle and automotive batteries especially and many marine batteries sit somewhere in between because they need to fulfil both the quick discharge function required to start a motor and the slow discharge consistent with keeping the running lights on at night. Deep cycle batteries have different plate material and construction and are designed to be slowly discharged down to 30 percent or less of their capacity. That makes them better for powering fridges and lights but travellers need to be aware that once discharged, a deep cycle battery needs a big belt with the electricity stick to fully recover. If emptied enough you’ll need a 20 amp or more charger to kick the battery back to life. Quite often solar won’t be enough to do it, especially if you’ve flattened those batteries over a few rainy days with no input. That’s why many people now opt for a truck and farm or marine battery as a secondary battery in their vehicle’s dual system. Deep cycle is best but once flattened it can take forever for a vehicle alternator – which is already powering the car and recharging the starting battery – to build up a decent charge again. An automotive battery will ‘pick up’ charge a lot more easily and can be used for emergency starting, without being hurt in the process. The risk is of course that if you drain it slowly for too long you’ll cause damage too. For those reasons a few manufacturers use marine batteries on their off-road caravans because the bigger models – and be careful here, there’s plenty of variety – are built to fulfil both starting and slow discharge. Obviously they’re a compromise construction but that’s got a lot going for them. Like the Severe Service batteries, marine batteries – the better ones – are built to withstand vibration, the constant hammering of waves in this case, and that makes them last longer no matter what the environment. In the end the decision will be yours and hopefully made to suit your specific powering demands. Unless you’re an expert I suggest that you should research your needs and put some time into finding the right advice and the right products. That’s the only way to get real value for money out of batteries. That, and looking after them properly! How Old Is My Battery? Capacity – how much battery do I need? If the batteries are new deep cycles we can expect them to be good for about 75 percent of their rating. So an 84Ah battery might just be enough to power this system but it’s got nothing in reserve. By the time it’s half way through it’s life it’ll only be good for 50 percent of it’s new rating which means you’ll be killing it. With batteries, the more capacity the merrier! |
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