Caravan tyres and leisure battery question
 

Hi,

Couple of questions for you knowledgeable people on here. I want to get some new tyres for the caravan as I don't know when they were last changed but they've certainly been on there a few years. The numbers on the tyre are not what I was expecting so I can't work out the age (doesn't really matter, just curious) or what profile the tyres should be. Can anyone advise me looking at the attached what tyres I need? I'm thinking maybe the profile doesn't matter as it's not like it has to be the correct height for a Speedo etc. Just confusing as looking for caravan tyres online they do have a profile in the description as well like a car tyre. Caravan is single axle weighing around 1250kg fully loaded

Also, the leisure battery seems to have reached the end of its life as it's not holding a charge. I can still run the caravan lights by having the charger switched on when connected to electric hook up. We never use the caravan without electric hook up so I don't really need a leisure battery but will I damage the charger if it's on all the time to power the lights?

Thanks,

Mike

The tyres are 175/13 Commercial. When there's no aspect ratio noted on the tyre size then it's an 80. If you search for 175/80 13 commercial tyres you should find what you need. You're looking for a load rating of 85 to 87 (based on what's fitted)

I've not googled the date code, have seen non standard date markings before if I remember correctly, I think it was on some Yokohama's.

I don't think the charger will come to any harm, but why not just get a replacement leisure battery?

Sounds good, thank you.

The only reason I don't want to change the battery is because it's an extra expense and we don't really need it as never use the caravan off grid. I've spent over £1000 on the car in the last 3 weeks and got to pay out for the caravan tyres as well so just hoping it's an expense that we don't have to pay for at the moment.

Hi
I would be tempted to leave a battery connected to the charger wheather the battery is old or new. The battery will help to stabilise the voltage. A charger on its own can sometimes have quite a high voltage and could be too high a voltage when there is little load. Also some chargers won't work without a battery connected anyway. Either way I would leave a battery connected. It will stabilise the voltage.

Iain

Thanks Iain. Just to clarify, I'm not suggesting removing the old battery, that would stay in place, I'm just not sure if it is ok to leave the charger on permanently while on site to provide power to the lights, I'm not sure if it's designed to work like that. In the past I would run the lights on battery power alone and then when the battery got low flick the charger on to charge it back up for a bit and then turn the charger off again to go back to battery power.

The charger (on every caravan I've seen /heard of)is also your 12v system. So, yes, safe to run your 12v system by itself. But, the battery does act as a stabiliser, so I'd leave it on, for the time being. Time will come, though, when the battery might drag the charger down, so I'd replace it as soon as you are able....but no panic.

Thanks Father Ted. I've done a bit more research and apparently modern chargers output 13.8v which is enough to keep the battery charged but not enough to over charge it and they are, as you say, designed to stay on all the time if necessary. I'm not sure if the charger in a 1995 caravan would be 'modern or not but I'll take my multi meter down to it at the weekend and test the voltage.

It’s been said but you do need to leave the battery connected.... however with a caravan battery I guess the latest time you should renew it is when you start to get problems. I.e. low power or things not working.

FYI the unloaded output voltage of the charger is irrelevant, some might be as high as 20v, the battery will absorb the power from the charger and reduce its output voltage to match its own.

FYI some friends of mine have replaced the 240v bulbs in their van with LED type and now use an 12v inverter - so long as you remember not to put the kettle on it works really well.

My first caravan was a 1989 Swift and that charger was capable of running all 12v services.

I used light commercial 8 ply tyres when I replaced my van tyres.

Battery, OK I can see why you would want to postpone buying new at this time, however when Ibaught my van the battery was well past its best to the extent it got red hot when on pprominent charge. Alpha batteries did me a good deal on my first and a local supplier on my second. I use hybrid batteries as I have motor movers and pure leasure batteries are more suited to constant small drain rather than the currents the movers can draw.

Paul.