Battery advice (Nooo not the normal thread!) (1 Viewer)

[wingman]

I thought I had a maintainance-free leisure battery. WRONG!
Pulled it out today and found an unfamiliar (to me) battery.

I'm used to either a 'leave it alone till it dies' one (like on my car) OR one with screw caps where you top up above the plates. The one on the van is odd; well, certainly to me it is! It just has ONE 'hole' and a colour code next to it (See pic).

Having unscrewed the 'bung' it has a stem attached to it. Am I right in assuming that this is some sort of dipstick (just like me ). The stem is white. Do I further assume that I need to add distilled water - pronto!

 

[Allanm]

It says on the label, white- add distiller water, I assume this refers to the dipstick unless there is a little window somewhere.
Allan

 

[andy63]

hi wingman I had two ussa batteries with a similar set up for a while.
the removable plug allows you to add distilled water and also serves as a state of charge indicator..
if I remember correctly mine had a small green ball that floated in a tube.. looking down on the plug from directly above you would hope to see a green colour... anything else would indicate you need to add water or the battery is flat.
ta andy

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[wingman]

Thanks Guys.
Battery isn't flat Andy. Should be thirsty though .
When I didn't see a line of screw-tops, I just assumed it was a gel type and maintainance free. Every day a discovery eh?

 

[DavidG58]

I suspect you will need to pull the battery out of the housing to check the colour coding, you will probably need to be directly above it see, not the best of designs for most MH battery locations

Thank goodness I have gel batteries

 

[andy63]

just check that it is green after topping up... suspect it will need a good charge...
ta andy

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[PJGWiltshire]

Not far if you need a jump start!!!

 

[DavidG58]

Just re-read your OP, I now think the stem could be the vent, which should have a pipe attached to it going out of MH

 

[DBK]

My guess is you have an AGM battery which was shipped dry. The "vent" was used to fill it after installation. It should not require any maintenance.

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[scotjimland]

Details of your battery here
http://www.yuasa.co.uk/batteries/leisure-marine-garden-view-all/l36-100-l36-100.html

Features

• Caravan/leisure use
• Long storage life
• Deep cycle
• State of Charge Indicator (SOCI)
• Enhanced safety venting
• Integrated flame arrestor

It is a flooded lead acid.. the vent on the end is used if the battery is housed inside the van to vent gasses via a tube to the outside world.. If housed in a vented dedicated outside locker it is not required ..

There are downloadable Battery Care and testing guides here from Yuasa

http://www.yuasa.co.uk/info/downloads/battery-care-testing/

 

[wingman]

Thanks for all the replies lads. Apologies ....... I've been off-line. @PJGWiltshire I've sent you a PM.

I have had a problem with my internet (my land line has been down, then up, then down again!) Am currently using a 3mobile Mi-Fi gizmo as a stop-gap that I normally use in the van whilst Open Reach decide whether to repair it, or make me wait!

Have topped it up, put it on charge, all appears ok.

Regards
James

 

[Linda and Steph]

I have a different set of indicators on my battery.

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[wingman]

Yes, @steelysteph. I've got those too, but they are the standard warning icons. I was talking about the green/ white and '0' indicator key by the side of the filler plug