Hi. In my Sprite Scout, I only have a a central roof light, a strip door light and a outside light that runs off the battery. I need to replace the existing lead acid battery (bad news). What battery should I get? The caravan can stand unused for 2 to 3 months. Please advise. Thanks and GBU all. Martin

Martin welcome to the forum. What ever battery you get you are going to have to ensure that it is on a trickle charge for the periods that the van is not in use. Either by intelligent charger if you can plug it into 220 or solar panel and charge controller.

Think about getting a small battery, a 7.2amp one as there is very little to power. In the past you also had to power the fridge  ttherefore a large battery was needed, but with the few lights you mention, combined with a small intelligent charger as Brian proposes, this one is quite adequate. I did this in oir former Sprite.Think abou gettin a more expensive lithium one that will last much  longer.

Be careful for a lithuim battery, if you dont have a charger for a lithuim battery, then you can damage the battery.

Hi guys. Many thanks for feedback. That is helpful. Now, recommendation on what charger to buy. Many thanks & GBU all. 

Martin, I have been using the 7,2 amp batteries for many years. I charge them with a normal National Luna Battery Charger that can be set for a big motor battery or for a lighter motor bike battery. I use these batteries when 4x4 camping where there is no electricity available. They have lasted THREE weeks at times, and I charge them as soon as we arrive at facilitated camps.

I have (as reported before) installed additional lights in the caravan for when we have EKSDOM power breakage.

With a lead acid battery, make sure you charge regularly as these batteries(same as a car battery) quickly looses  capacily when discharding too deeply  ie over 50%. The advantage with lithium batteries are that they can be discharged much more, up to 80%  without deteriorating. They can also last much longer than lead acid ones properly used, probably 4 to 5 times as long. But they are 3 to 4 times the price.  And they are about a third the weight of a lead acid unit. This is not really important with such a small battery off course.

Sien jy kry goeie raad hier bo

Ja, ek kry baie goeie raad. Dankie almal. Geniet u dag en GBU. 

Talking of selecting caravan batteries - in other words, deep cycle batteries, remind me of grandpa's warning. He said one should never use the word best because it invites challenges, arguments and can spoil relationships. Thus, in my experience, a very nice caravan battery is the only one made in Germany, namely Varta.

We bought our 60 AH Varta Marine and Caravan battery more than 10 years ago, and during this time, we have been powering an inverter for a 220-volt fridge, a DSTV setup, and charging devices during off-grid camping stints.

It now drops down to 12.5 volts after a few days of standing idle, with the result that it has now been demoted to doing house alarm duty where it mostly stays fully charged. I guess it still has a few years of service in that capacity left.

Unfortunately, I have no intention of getting another one since our camping hourglass is running out at the speed of white light! 😒