I need to replace my Trooper"Leisure" battery

I'm hoping someone out there can advise me; my T4 Trooper 2001 needs a new "Leisure" battery as it has a voltage of 10V now. The Battery lives next to the Starter Battery under the bonnet, but I have no idea what the inbuilt charger model is as there's no mention in the vans manual. The current battery is a normal starter battery (Banner 57405 74Ah) over 4 years old. Last year, due to difficulty starting, I "solved" the problem by fitting a new Starter battery (Bosch 70Ah low maintenance). At some point in the future I'd like to add a fixed solar panel on the roof as we do lots of Festivals and like Wild Camping. 

Here's my question; do I get an identical "starter" battery to act as the "Leisure" battery, or do I go for a more advanced specific "leisure" battery that MAY suit solar panel charging better? Ones that allow more power to be drained slowly to a greater %use before it suffers (deep cycle?).

 I have read so many opinions I am now confused! 

Thanks in advance for enlightenment! Who out there has a Trooper of this model and year?

Skunky

I understand your problem

Firstly I'd say you do not want an identical starter battery for your leisure battery needs, the construction of both is different and here's why....

The starter battery is optimised to give a huge amount of current (400 amps +) to the starter motor to turn the engine
A leisure battery is optimised to give a small amount of current (10 amps or so for a long time. You should work on an 80Ah battery ( you shouldn't discharge it below 50% for longevity) to give you 40Ah between charges, clearly the bigger the battery, the more you can have. But, also the bigger capacity, also means a bigger (size) and weight battery.

In your case where both live together then I'd have a starter battery, which you have also addressed and a proper leisure battery for the habitation needs

As to solar, then I'd say that is near essential

If you have an 80Ah LB (leisure battery) then I'd go for a minimum of an 80W solar panel, if your roof is big enough, then fit as big as you have space for and cash for!

Then you also need a dual battery solar charger, this will charge both batteries and you select which one gets the power, mine is set to 70/30% which means that the LB gets 70% of the solar output, and the starter battery gets 30%, enough to meet its standing loads such as your alarm/immobiliser etc

I think MOJO on this site has a similar truck to yours, I'm sure he'll be along soon to help

Go to (google) Photonic universe for semi flexible panels you can glue to your roof and dual battery solar chargers

Here's a pic of my 150w solar panel glued to my roof

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Good luck, you are now surrounded by many friends who will help!

Ours is T5 based - so the battery layout is rather different, even though internally it's very similar.

There seem to be two main approaches to leisure batteries. One is to go for expensive leisure-specific types that can tolerate repeated deep discharge, and the other is to use cheaper batteries that are not much different from a starter battery, and simply make sure that you never discharge them deeply! I tend to go with the latter, but each has its merits and I wouldn't say that either is right or wrong.

A Trooper can easily take a 150W solar panel - which is what we have. The installation is made a little more complicated by the lifting roof, but it's not too bad. Given that you no doubt have a 3-way fridge which will run off gas, you ~probably~ don't need more than that, though 300W of panels would not be a problem space-wise.

Thanks very much for your speedy answers! One of the issues I was concerned about was using two very different batteries as some comments suggested it would cause issues with the onboard charger (wherever that is?) but I like Ian's suggestion of a 70/30 Solar charger solution. I guess Autosleeper used two similar batteries as maybe Leisure Batteries weren't as advanced in 2001? Certainly there weren't as many options of Solar Charging! 

Mojo, can I ask if your Trooper has the Lab Craft KL 81624 2 X 6watt  light over the cooker/sink? Have you replaced the tubes with LED ones? Was there a ballast in there you had to disable? I was told the LED ones were "plug & play" but I am bottling trying due to watching more videos on YouTube about swapping to LEDs!!!

I don't know about T4s specifically, but I know that with other base vehicles (e.g. the Transit) A/S preferred to get the base vehicle with a second battery already fitted by the manufacturer - and that often meant that you just got two vehicle batteries! That was certainly true of my Mk.5 Transit based Flair.

No, the T5 based Trooper has two Labcraft DS415 single-tube 13W fluorescent fittings. I've only recently converted those to LEDs (as described in another thread) and it was pretty easy.

I don't recognise the model reference KL81624, but I suspect what you mean is a KL16 - the 2-tube version of the lamp that's better known as the Trilite. These are even easier to convert to LEDs - either by installing cheap Chinese generic LED strips or panels, or by buying replacement tubes which are the same size as the fluoro ones but have LEDs inside the tube.

If you mean the KL16 - yes, it has a inverter/ballast on a circuit board behind the switch.

There are lots of posts on converting these - though sadly PhotoPhukit has screwed up a lot of them by barring access to the photos that used to be embedded. Here's an example:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks again Mojo.

It's probably also worth looking at this thread:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Cost-wise, I would guess that Pilchard's solution is cheapest, with mine a bit more expensive and JandJ's a bit more expensive again. The plug-in replacement tubes are the most expensive to use, but obviously they are the easiest of the lot to implement!

You may find that a leasure battery will not fit as most are to tall to fit in the space provided in Tridents and Troopers
Mac

try "TANYA" batteries,  they do a low height battery, I bought one for my Trophy
mike
vwt4

Thanks Mac and Mike

Beware ordering batteries online if height of the battery is critical, such as under a seat. Some companies list the battery dimensions, LxWxH, but don't take into account the extra height of the terminals, which can easily be another 20mm.
How do I know this....?
Al

Hey Chaps, I just found the paperwork for the LED tubes I purchased at Kent Motorhome a couple of years ago.... It mentions a website of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] but I can't seem to get on there (slightly worrying!)

Anyway, they are called T5F8 12" long and cost quite a bit (£32) but very clearly state " No rewiring, no modifications, simply remove your existing tube and replace with our supa bright LED tube"

"Uses less than 3.8W compared with over 11W for a conventional fluorescent tube. Not for use in Hymer Group vans ... due to higher output ballast unit in these"

Shall I be bold and try them without removing what must be a very tiny ballast behind the switch of my unit?

Sorry; purchased at Kent Motorhome SHOW for clarification!

Skunky wrote:Hey Chaps, I just found the paperwork for the LED tubes I purchased at Kent Motorhome a couple of years ago.... It mentions a website of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] but I can't seem to get on there (slightly worrying!)

Anyway, they are called T5F8 12" long and cost quite a bit (£32) but very clearly state " No rewiring, no modifications, simply remove your existing tube and replace with our supa bright LED tube"

probably this [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
£17

It states "NO MODIFICATION REQUIRED…WORKS WITH EXISTING BALLAST UNIT"
Capitalisation from website, not me.

also "if you have any questions you can email us at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] 0r even speak with a “human” on telephone +44 (0)1283 763666." (https://www.ledbulbs4u.co.uk/us/)

Thanks, I still can't open website, even from your link, but that could be my internet at fault! As you can gather, I'm not confident when it comes to electrics! 

I'll heed those CAPITALS and give it a go! Fingers crossed.

For some reason I can't see that site either! But it certainly looks like it should go with no mods and no problems at all. Yes - the ballast/inverter circuit is very compact. Here's an example of the circuit board, in the foreground, with all the ballast components removed and a 12V regulator instead:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The capitals were to be believed; the LEDs work fine. Sorry for being such a wuss! Thanks for all the advice and support and when I get back from Scotland it will be a trip to Photonic Universe for Solar Panel etc. Skunky