When you’re in the market for the right camping battery there are several things you need to think about. Of course the most important consideration is the size or capacity – that’s because you don’t want a battery that’s too small as you’ll likely damage it and cause it to have a much shorter life. As well as that you also need to be mindful of the chemistry, the price and the expected location for where it will be mounted – as this affects your choices! Adventure Kings batteries are available in a range of sizes and are an AGM Batterymeaning they’re the perfect choice for 4WDing and camping.

BATTERY BASICS

It’s important when you are looking for a 12V camping battery to power your camping fridge and accessories that you choose a deep cycle battery – this is because they are much more suited to long and slow power draw, unlike a starter battery that delivers a large amount of power quickly, like when starting a vehicle. Starter batteries have thinner plates inside but more of them, which results in greater surface area for higher instantaneous power delivery, but a battery that cannot deal with as many charging and discharging cycles. They are designed to be used then quickly recharged to full. A deep cycle battery on the other hand has thicker plates that can take much more punishment over a much longer time – the constant charging and discharging cycles still cause a small amount of damage to the plates, but they hold up to it much better and last a lot longer. If you don’t want to be replacing your battery year after year make sure you choose a deep cycle camping battery like those from the range of Adventure Kings AGM Deep Cycle Batteries.

WHAT BATTERY CHEMISTRY SHOULD I CHOOSE?

The main choices for battery types are flooded lead acid, AGM, GEL or Lithium – though Lithium batteries are still quite cost prohibitive for many people. The flooded lead acid is most often used for starter batteries and the main benefit is that if they get too hot under the bonnet and boil off any of the acid as gas, you can top them up with new acid or electrolyte. These days though, you can get AGM deep cycle batteries that recombine most of the gas back into the acid during normal charging – plus you get the huge benefit of a sealed deep cycle battery  that means that in normal use and charging they don’t leak or vent, even if they tip over! This is achieved by suspending the acid by absorbing it into a fibreglass matting – hence the name Absorbed Glass Mat Battery. The acid or electrolyte is kept in position and wont slosh around, meaning more constant coverage of the lead material for more reliable and consistent power output and it also means they’re safe to use inside your vehicle! There are plenty of other benefits of an AGM camping battery too such as faster charging, higher vibration resistant and the option of mounting on their sides (but check with the manufacturer’s recommendations before you do).

WHAT SIZE DO YOU NEED?

When it comes to camping batteries, bigger is often better – the more capacity you have the more power you have day after day. Adventure Kings Deep Cycle Batteries are available three sizes – 98Ah, 115Ah and 138Ah. Ah stands for Amp hours and is a measure of how much power the battery can output over time. Most Amp hour ratings are given for a 20 hour period. We recommend a minimum of about a 95Ah battery which will allow you to run a smaller camping fridge (65L or less) up to about 48 hours without charging the battery and a larger camping fridge (90L or less) for up to about 24 hours. It’s important to note here that most lead acid batteries including AGM deep cycle batteries should ideally not be discharged to below 50% of their capacity to ensure they have a long lifetime! So a 100Ah Deep Cycle battery has around 50 usable amp hours. This is why choosing the correct capacity is so important – some people unfortunately get sucked into buying 30 or 40Ah batteries and they’re simply not big enough for camping as your fridge will likely draw the battery down too far overnight.

RECHARGING

Keeping your battery charged up has never been easier – and it means your deep cycle battery will have a long, healthy life. This is because AGM deep cycle batteries prefer to be kept fully charged, or constantly charged. A great, cost effective way to keep your battery charged up is to use a portable solar panel kit – throughout the day the solar keeps your camping battery charged and provides enough power to keep your 12V fridge running without really using any of your battery power at all. Overnight, while your fridge will pull some power out of the deep cycle battery, you can set up your solar first thing the next day and get it charging back up. Another excellent option is a DC DC charger which will use your alternator to charge your deep cycle battery while your vehicle is running – you can even get DC/DC chargers with built in solar regulators to have an all in one system. Finally, if you just want to use your battery for an overnight trip every now and then you could also just use a battery charger at home that plugs in to your powerpoint. On charging too, it’s important you know roughly the state of charge of your battery so you don’t accidentally discharge it too far – an AGM deep cycle battery for example is fully charged when it’s resting at around 12.9 to 13 volts. 50% is at around 12.3V! Keep your battery resting at voltages between 12.3 and 13V and you’ll give it a long, healthy life!