Hi Everyone, need some advice?
When I bougnt my Troll 542 from AL it already had a battery on board. After a year I noticed that Easydriver Pro 1.8 whilst working OK seemed to groan a bit on an incline. I decided to check the battery so went online and tried to find my battery to see what capacity it was. Couldn't find it but got the number for the manufacturer so called them. They said we don't make that battery anymore and I said it was for a caravan, to which they replied it's a car battery. Oh , I said well it seems to work ok and hold its charge. Now I know it's not deep cycle and we don't tend to go offgrid but we do live on slight incline and due to parked cars I have to use the mover to plant the van on the drive to clean and prepare it. I'm not blaming AL as the van was just only secondhand and the battery was on the van.
Here's my question, long time coming I know. I think it's about time I swapped the battery and I have looked at the EXV110 ENDUROLINE CALCIUM LEISURE BATTERY 12V (£99.95 inc VAT) which seems to have good reviews and have a 4yr warranty. It says that a calcium battery is a lead acid battery but some quarters have suggested it's better to have a charger that has calcium setting. My van is 2016 and I know that it has a switch for lead acid or gel but not calcium.
Will I be OK?
Regards

Hi Colin, I’ve thought about that yes. It’s just that the slope on the drive is so slight and it’s only a dropped kerb. Also m it’s the fact that it is a car battery and not a deep cycle leisure battery. I’m certain it wouldn’t go far before the battery died and I’d rather replace it now than get stuck on site, but thank you.

Double check your battery as I think most installers would put a leisure (aka deep-cycle) battery in a caravan. Another option is to recondition your battery. A C-TEC MXS 3.8 will cost just under £60 on Amazon. I’ve used one for years on my boat batteries ( 2x 110 and 1x 85 Ah ) and it has saved me a fortune. They are brilliant bits of kit.
I have an Easydriver pro driven by an 85 Ah battery and like Colin I find it does groan a bit on inclines. Maybe that’s par for the course!

The battery is not marked as leisure and the manufacturer was surprised it was in a caravan and told me it was a car battery so I have no reason to doubt them. I keep it well charged with a conditioning charger, it hasn’t let me down yet, maybe I’m just jumping the gun In replacing it at the moment, no point in binning a sound battery, I guess. Any thoughts on using/charging a calcium battery?

As I understand it (I’m not an expert) charging a calcium battery is the same as charging the old lead acid accumulator - google will know!. Calcium batteries are a more modern technology and would appear to be better for a caravan because they discharge more slowly when left over a long period. I think they are about 25% more expensive than a standard leisure battery so that seems to me to be a worthwhile investment. When I change mine I will be replacing with a calcium battery. VW recommend calcium batteries for my Tiguan so I’m guessing there are no issues with the alternator output.

Thank you for your replies, if anyone has a calcium battery I'd like any comments. I think I will hold off replacing for now as we're not going anywhere at present .Got the van on the drive so might have a night in it for a laugh, how sad is that, missing it already, how american???

Colin