One of the good things about the Earthroamer is that it does not need an auxiliary generator making a lot of noise. It operates from a very large double battery bank (weighing nearly 150 kg) which gives a colossal 440 ampere hours – i.e. it will run the air conditioning almost all night.
Unfortunately when we were in Scotland, where we left the vehicle for 6 months, the batteries somehow got discharged and apparently some type of coating appeared on the plates. From then on, the batteries would not take a full charge.
By the time we left Moscow the batteries would only go for about 3 minutes operating the inverter, before the voltage dropped to 10 volts and the inverter dropped out.
When we left Scotland we realised there was a problem. We managed to talk to the US Lifeline Battery dealer in Sweden who said that he could ship batteries to Moscow. We sent over the $2,830 (AUD) to the man but said that he had to guarantee the batteries would have to be in Moscow a few days before we left. He was honest enough to get back in touch with us and say that he could not guarantee this, so he refunded the money.
We then found through Earthroamer that these special Lifeline Batteries (model number GPL-8DL) were available in Dubai, so we sent off $2,516.66 (AUD) to the Dubai dealer for the batteries to be sent to Moscow by air – imagine that for batteries weighing over 160kg when packed!
Unfortunately when the Lifeline Battery dealer in Dubai sent the batteries to Moscow, they incorrectly spelled Dmitry Tashkin’s name as “Dmitry Rashkin”. This was enough to completely stuff up Russian customs, and even when we got to Moscow we were not able to get the batteries released.
We knew that we had a long way to get to Almaty and had no idea how long it would really take for the Russians to release the batteries to us, so we left without them. Two really good Lifeline batteries are now sitting at Moscow Airport. If anyone wants them I’m sure they would be available at a good price, or they could be used as snapper sinkers worth $2830!!
Fortunately on our trip through Russia and into Kazakhstan, on most nights when we needed power we were able to plug into 220 volts, which operated a charger to keep the dud batteries “floating” – in effect, the batteries act as giant capacitors. This allowed our air conditioning to work. Even when we couldn’t plug in, we could turn on the diesel engine to operate the toaster and the hot kettle. Most of our cooking was done with the diesel glass cook top with no problems.
When we got to Almaty, Alex (who works in association with the Australian Consulate) went with me to look for batteries. We spent over two hours driving round Almaty to various battery dealers but could not find any Lifeline Batteries. However I had measured the battery compartment of the Earthroamer and eventually we found two Kazakh made batteries, manufactured in the town of Taldygorghan, which fitted exactly in the correct space. They only cost $175AUS each.
We were parked in the car park of the prestigious Australian Consul office building on a Sunday afternoon and the brick paving made a good surface to work on.
Alex stayed and helped me lift the Lifeline batteries out of the Earthroamer (imagine – they were 75 kilograms, that’s over 150 lbs each) and we were very excited when we then lifted the new batteries into the compartment and found that they fitted exactly.
We then got to work to try and connect the fittings. Fortunately I realized that if I changed over a couple of the leads I could make them fit.
Alex then disappeared up into his office and came back carrying a few sheets of high density foam from the offices’ air conditioning. We then managed to pack the batteries firmly so they wouldn’t move on the rough roads we’re sure to encounter travelling all the way to Vladivostok via Mongolia.
I then tested the new batteries by turning on the Earthroamer’s air conditioning – it worked well. I was covered in dirt from lying on the ground under the Earthroamer. We both had filthy hands but we had very happy smiles on our faces.
We now have two Kazakh batteries installed, of 190 ampere-hours each. The only problem is that the very honest dealer who sold them to us said they were no good and would probably only last for 2 months! That should at least get us to Mongolia I thought! Actually, I have a feeling that the batteries will probably last for a long time. They look like pretty good batteries to me and I am really proud to have Kazakhstan products in the Earthroamer.
Now you probably wonder what I did with the 150 kilograms of Lifeline batteries – no problem, I gave them to Alex and three passers by helped us load them into his Grand Caravan car. His car dropped to the bottom of the springs and hopefully they will power his dacha for many years to come….as long as 10 volts is OK.
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