Leisure Battery advice. (1 Viewer)

[Terry]

The secret is, pay as much as you can afford for standard lead/acid from a decent manufacturer, the more you pay the heavier the battery.
The heavier the battery the more lead there is in it, the more lead there is the longer the battery will last.
Do not drop the batteries below 50% state of charge (12.2v).
As long as you have a proper 3 stage(maybe 4 stage) battery charger you will be able to keep your batteries for a long time.

While agreeing with you to a point I would say get a good one as cheap as possible.Keep an eye on the electrolyte level every 3 mths or so :thumb: never allowing it to fall below the plate tops Mine is kept on charge 24/7 except when away, along with the starter battery and I look at anything above 4 or 5 yrs as a bonus :thumb:
Terry

 

[coldstreamer]

coldstreamer

Totally agree with Jaws, I have just changed my Starter Battery it was 10yrs old so very lucky. I have always used sealed carbon fibre for leisure batteries and find they last much longer and better output, I thnk you get what you pay for and speaking to those in the trade, they swear by 'Banner' batteries.
I would also query the thinking on cycles, my solar panel is always on-line and the batteries seems to be happy with their input. Its an old saying you get what you pay for..
Best Regards Mac

 

[hdvrod]

buy traction batteries - do not buy leuisre batteries

Traction Batteries ???

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[hdvrod]

Wow! thanks for all the advice,lot to take in.I think my defunct battery came w ith a warranty,trouble is it was off the internet so how do you get it back to them? think next one will buy locally then if there is a problem I can do something about it.

 

[Jaws]

Wow! thanks for all the advice,lot to take in.I think my defunct battery came w ith a warranty,trouble is it was off the internet so how do you get it back to them? think next one will buy locally then if there is a problem I can do something about it.

If you used PayPal you can search back for yonks ( over a year ) to find out who you paid..
An email address will also be on the record ... so nice and easy to sort out

Mind you, the chances are very high that you will be expected to pay returns postage costs ( ok, less than £20 but still a lump of lolly ) and you have got to ask your self if you actually WANT another cheap and ( as its turned out ) nasty battery !

Many moons ago when I was still a grass hopper I was told a trade secret ( wellllllllllllllllllllll............. Its a bit obvious but what the hey ! )

A lightweight battery will delivery a lightweight performance.. The heavier the battery the better the quality

To this day I reckon that is top advice.. But of course you do have to have something to compare to start with !!
The last batteries I bought ( as mentioned, about 4 years ago ) I bought at a show..
I wanted 110aH ones and literally went round all that were on offer and went for the heaviest I could find.. Seems to have worked !! ( and sorry, no idea what the hell make they are as I have to remove a cab seat to see one of em )

 

[jb0371old]

Traction Batteries

Talk to jonandshell, as he is a fort truck engineer.

But in my limited experiance

A traction battery is designed to be used for a longer time and a deeper discharge rate, they are generally a lot heavier and they generally power golf carts, fork trucks and things like that. I cant find the website that I bought mine from but as I say pm jonandshell. Or I am sure he will be on in a minute to give you the correct info.

http://www.justcarbatteries.co.uk/i...-batteries/dyno-30xhs-industrial-battery.html

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[hdvrod]

If you used PayPal you can search back for yonks ( over a year ) to find out who you paid..
An email address will also be on the record ... so nice and easy to sort out

Mind you, the chances are very high that you will be expected to pay returns postage costs ( ok, less than £20 but still a lump of lolly ) and you have got to ask your self if you actually WANT another cheap and ( as its turned out ) nasty battery !

Many moons ago when I was still a grass hopper I was told a trade secret ( wellllllllllllllllllllll............. Its a bit obvious but what the hey ! )

A lightweight battery will delivery a lightweight performance.. The heavier the battery the better the quality

To this day I reckon that is top advice.. But of course you do have to have something to compare to start with !!
The last batteries I bought ( as mentioned, about 4 years ago ) I bought at a show..
I wanted 110aH ones and literally went round all that were on offer and went for the heaviest I could find.. Seems to have worked !! ( and sorry, no idea what the hell make they are as I have to remove a cab seat to see one of em )

Thanks for the advice,if weight is anything to go by the duff battery should have been okay,it took me and my wife to carry it from the motorhome to the house

 

[rainbow chasers]

Cripes - a hornets nest indeed! I was talking of optimising a battaery life, and as I said, in a perfect world - which it isn't.

Lets get one thing straight - I was discussing the effects of leaving on charge over winter. People don't often check - their lives are too busy. It may all work well, with the following assumptions. Firstly, they know what type of charger is fitted to their vehicle, and know what stages are and do and regularly check - most people don't, they plug in it charges and that is that.

The second is that the charger is working - if you are leaving all winter, I would never recommend relying on one charger alone - especially one that has poor or no indication of charging state, or stage switching. These only fail due to heat, and failing solder joints - which is the reason most leisures fail is due to heat during charging which distorts the cells and builds up fur that shorts the cells - usually caused by a stage failing on their charger, or one that is not suitable. There is no real way an average person can sit and check if their charger is staging correctly, or has developed a fault - until that is, yet another post for 'charger not working' appears on here. They a quite common during the season. Some may only spend 6 weeks a year away - the rest of the time, that charger is working non stop. All your comments are valid - assuming the charger is faultless permanently. If it was - you would all be using original factory fit, and C-Tek would have no trade.

.

For this reason I always recommend a maintenece charger as £12 minimum is better than a new battery, and will show people that is is staging as it kicks in and out. At least they have an indication, and you can preserve the vehicle charger. The maintenance charger will also pulse charge and this prevents furring.

Our battery prices are very competitive. I do not sell cheap rubbish, never have, never do. I have 5 year warranty on all our products with a zero claim record. Our batteries are delivered next day, to your door all inclusive, fully charged and ready to go. This means my profit is under a fiver!

The cheapest I have found equivalent to ours is up at £113 5 day delivery, 2 year warranty.

By all means, I can find you a battery for under £40 - might last a season, and I would consider that a waste of £40 if they are only lasting a season.

As I said previously, in Hrod's case, the battery may have been on the shelf - for how long, who knows....we do not stock them, we get them striaght from the manufacturer to avoid this - yes, you may be able to get them down the road 'cheap' - but cheap isn't always the best.

As I said before, battery life depends on use, equipment and good maintenance. I replaced a womans starter battery recently, not one I fitted, but a brand I sell. She wanted to send it back to the manufacturer and claim on warranty as it was 3 years old- but she had left her van in storage all winter with the sidelights left on. Who foots the bill? The manufacturer wouldn't....and this is what manufacturers are up against really - they have no proof of what has happened to the battery to make it fail. In this case it was left totally dead for 6 months.

Just as with any manufacturer, you have to listen to their stipulations when you are having them warranty a product. You buy a car, you service it at the given intervals to maintain it's reliability and warranty.....I would like to see someone state they know better, and the manufacturer still honour the warranty! The would walk away - and that is why you have to go by what they stipulate as it protects the warranty. I have no doubt that their is a degree of sales promotiuon involved - but that is by the by when they stipulate these conditions in their warranty.

To avoid conflabs like this, don't assume you charger will work forever - if they did every battery charger would come with a lifetime warranty, not a year long one. Invest in a decent battery, and a maintenece charger to protect that investment that you can see is working visually. Albeit a rough guide, is better than faith alone.

 

[PhilandMena]

And here is more!

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[PhilandMena]

Whoops attachment to big for this website!

 

[Beachedbuoy]

Leisure Batteries

Have a read of www.aandncaravanservices.co.uk/battery-technology.php

 

[Jaws]

Some more info on the Bosch S5015

Methinks these MIGHT be my next pair of batteries !

No mention of how they handle deep discharge that I can find ??

Anyone else find that info anywhere ??

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[Jaws]

Rethink to my last post...............

As suspected... QUOTE:

Please note that unlike NiCad batteries, Lead Acid based batteries do not like to be run completely flat, doing so will reduce it's life significantly

Now ok, leisure batteries are of course lead acid but they are designed with a deep discharge cycle in mind

I suspect that, at the moment, the Bosch Silver range are not really an ideal replacement for a GOOD leisure battery.....

 

[Techno]

To me deep discharge is to be avoided if you want batteries to last much longer than expected.
You can either make less demand on them or install more capacity or have extra means to supplement their charge.
I have 3x125ah Alphaline £85 ebay at the back fed by 300watt of solar

230 ah of elecsols at the front supported by Sterling BtoB and overlflow charge from solars after rear bank is full.

My battery bank selector switch allows use of Bank 1 Bank 2 or both combined which makes charging combinations flexible too.
It's not quite finished due to weather so just have a temporary solar input just now.
Here is the whole caboodle with 1800watt inverter and auto changeover to power the van interior sockets. 300watt mppt solar regulator and battery selector switch

 

[ludo]

Hope this helps.

It's the best report that I have read about the differences between the various forms of battery and its written by someone who really knows about the subject. Indeed, I suspect he is the best informed in the business.

This will fully describe what the differences are.

Link Removed

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[aba]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Vehicle-Parts-Accessories-/131090/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=12v+us+battery

i have had 2 of these for about 2 years now and before i put the solar panel on was able to manage around 2 weeks static without hookup if we had been moving around would have probably been indefinitely may have managed to push it to 3 weeks without the engine running with the solar now fitted.

 

[aba]

To me deep discharge is to be avoided if you want batteries to last much longer than expected.
You can either make less demand on them or install more capacity or have extra means to supplement their charge.
I have 3x125ah Alphaline £85 ebay at the back fed by 300watt of solar

230 ah of elecsols at the front supported by Sterling BtoB and overlflow charge from solars after rear bank is full.

My battery bank selector switch allows use of Bank 1 Bank 2 or both combined which makes charging combinations flexible too.
It's not quite finished due to weather so just have a temporary solar input just now.
Here is the whole caboodle with 1800watt inverter and auto changeover to power the van interior sockets. 300watt mppt solar regulator and battery selector switch

wow nice install :thumb:
now how much payload have you got left

 

[Techno]

520kg left :thumb:
4250kg

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[Jaws]

To me deep discharge is to be avoided if you want batteries to last much longer than expected.
You can either make less demand on them or install more capacity or have extra means to supplement their charge.
I have 3x125ah Alphaline £85 ebay at the back fed by 300watt of solar

230 ah of elecsols at the front supported by Sterling BtoB and overlflow charge from solars after rear bank is full.

My battery bank selector switch allows use of Bank 1 Bank 2 or both combined which makes charging combinations flexible too.
It's not quite finished due to weather so just have a temporary solar input just now.
Here is the whole caboodle with 1800watt inverter and auto changeover to power the van interior sockets. 300watt mppt solar regulator and battery selector switch

Extremely nice install
Great if you have the payload..
If like me you have about 4 oz to spare you have to do what you can... and if that means the occasional deep discharge that's what it means.. And I know full well I am FAR from being alone in the 'no spare payload' camp !!

 

[magicsurfbus]

So, 5 years ago I bought a 110Ah Carbon Fibre leisure battery, and a year later I had an 85W solar panel fitted, which has been live ever since. The leisure battery has discharged completely maybe twice over winter since then (once due to the blown air heating fan being left running), and it's rarely if ever connected to an EHU from one year to the next. It's only been on a car battery charger once that I can recall. For the last year it's not even been charged from the engine because of a fuse board fault. I have a meter that tells me it's still holding 12.7 volts when the solar panel's not working at night, and around 13.6 volts when the panel's doing its stuff.

What am I doing wrong/right here?

 

[Techno]

The Force is strong with you my son

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[Jaws]

Hope this helps.

It's the best report that I have read about the differences between the various forms of battery and its written by someone who really knows about the subject. Indeed, I suspect he is the best informed in the business.

This will fully describe what the differences are.

Link Removed

Well it certainly seems to be one of the most biased sites based entirely on personal opinion and no actual facts, thats for sure !!!


You really have to know a lot more about batteries to pick the wheat from the chaff !!

This from the t and c page

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