• Car batteries are not designed for constant drain situations. In normal car use the battery is only subject to the large short drain of the starter motor as once the engine is running the alternator will provide all the power. A constant drain can cause the battery to fail. Leisure / traction batteries are designed for the constant drain situations such as a caravan where the battery is charged and then used for lights, tv etc., before recharging.

• To cover ourselves RoR Ltd have to recommend that you use leisure / traction batteries for this engine. That said they are roughly twice the price and we haven't had any problems to date. Be aware though any guarantee which comes with car batteries will be void as you will not be using then for there designed purpose.

• If you intend to do most of your running on a club layout where you will have long runs on shallow gradients (long constant power drain) traction batteries should be the preferred choice.

• To get the best deal find a battery supplier where you can take the Trojan body down and try batteries for size. The bigger the capacity the longer running time you will get.

At a push you can stretch the length taken by the batteries to be 480mm. beyond that they start to interfere with the dash board and wiring. Two fiesta/escort sized batteries are around 430mm long.

The suspension springs on the Trojan are slighly compressed in normal running state. If the batteries are pushed too far up one end the springs may be compressed to different levels.

We have chosen flat post terminals on our batteries. Connections can easily be made with a crimp on loop. Round post batteries offer the use of good bolt on connectors but these are around £7+ a pair (require two pairs).

CHARGING YOUR BATTERIES

One charger - charge each battery in turn. Two chargers - Link wire doesn't have to be removed. in fact the two chargers can share the same wire. Using a shielded plug and socket a charging lead can be constructed. This negates the need to remove the body, simply fish out the lead from the cab floor and plug in. The control board should be isolated before charging.

Battery Chargers

Do not waste your time with simple old fashioned chargers. You need one that will automatically charge the battery and when done drop on to trickle charge. They are not expensive and available from any reasonable car accessory shop. The use of this type of charge will extend the life of the battery and avoid the fatal error of over charging which will destroy a battery.