Traction battery instead of Leisure

jezport

jezport

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There are quite a few people who say they are using traction batteries instead of Leisure batteries.

Has anyone here used traction batteries instead of leisure batteries for a long time and have they lasted?

I am asking as I have the chance of fitting a large truck battery in my van to use for a leisure battery and wonder if it will last.
 
by 'truck' battery do you mean a goods vehicle battery ?

if so, it will be a regular lead acid jobby and wont be suitable for deep discharge....no different to a car battery, only much bigger capacity.
 
Hi
as John said---a truck would not have a traction battery fitted----------------an electric fork truck would however.--------- A traction battery would be ideal--but usually large and expensive
Nigel
 
There are some traction batteries available that are quite small.. usually fitted on motorised pallet trucks and the like, but hellish expensive if you do not happen to work in the fork truck game and know someone who is scraping a truck !

For the small advantage over a good quality leisure battery I would not bother
 
Sorry, what I meant was a good quality standard lorry battery. The type that are OK to operate tail lifts as well as being starter batteries.

I have read that the Varta SHD range are very good construction and can cope OK as a leisure battery. We never deep discharge the battery and always recharge within a few hours either by solar or generator if we have no EHU

The battery I am considering using is the 225AH SHD http://www.varta-automotive.com/index.php?id=238

I have acquired a nearly new one at a good price.

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In that case I would suggest you rethink..
They are not designed to be deep discharged and a couple of good 'drain downs' and a normal battery will not be at its best, probably with warped plates :Sad:
 
Not for the first time but I am going to disagree with most of the battery advice given on this thread..

There is no such thing as a deep cycle leisure battery .. nor is there such a thing as a marine battery,.. you may as well stick Micky Mouse on it for all it means. Put a rope through it or stick a pretty picture of a boat and it becomes a Marine battery .. ohh and if it has a caravan picture it becomes a leisure battery :RollEyes:

The bottom line is that lead acid batteries have been around since the 1st World War and the basic principles have changed very little since.

There are two basic types of batteries.

Starter and Traction ...

For general leisure use: use low cost Lead Acid which can be topped up with water... so called leisure .. el cheapos

one last thought , why can you buy a so called 120ah leisure battery for about fifty quid, yet a 45ah starter battery will cost closer to seventy quid ?

Don't be conned..

and to answer the OP .. your big starter battery will outlast and outperform any so called leisure battery .. go for it.

If you don't agree then try Googling ..' the truth about lead acid batteries' .

or read here Link Removed
 
jezport said:
There are quite a few people who say they are using traction batteries instead of Leisure batteries.

Has anyone here used traction batteries instead of leisure batteries for a long time and have they lasted?

I am asking as I have the chance of fitting a large truck battery in my van to use for a leisure battery and wonder if it will last.
Click to expand...

We've got a couple of 6 v Trojan batteries. http://www.tayna.co.uk/T-105-Trojan-Battery-Deep-Cycle-T105-P7253.html
We think they are great. Weve got the 85 w solar panel on the roof and very rarely ever have hook up.
Even this time of year , the batteries are always topped up whilst the motorhome is in storage.
 
i have to disagree with Jim, for once.

an engine starter battery is designed for short bursts of high current drain......engine cranking.....then its only there as a storage box for excess alternator current.
it doesn't do anything as the alternator powers all electrics using the battery as a 'smoothing' device.
it will have a lighter plate construction than a proper leisure battery

a leisure battery is designed for slow, light-ish discharge and will have thicker plates to prevent buckling.

a traction battery is designed for prolonged discharge at a higher rate than a leisure.

i do agree however, that any old battery can have a pretty label attached and sell as a leisure battery by some unscrupulous manufacturers.

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ScotJimland said:
Trojan are traction batteries ..

can't beat them provided you have the space to accommodate and the finances to buy them..
Click to expand...

We were very lucky , we had ours given. Favour for a favour .
They were off a new forklift . Hardly used . :thumb:
Our diesel heating is a b*gger on the batteries , and totally flattened normal leisure batteries last winter. Trojans are able to cope a lot better.
 
pappajohn said:
i have to disagree with Jim, for once.
Click to expand...

fair enough John.. I've said what I believe and have practiced , so no point in repeating ..

all I will say is read the link and do your own research .. I have emailed a reputable battery manufacturer .. will post when or if they reply ..
 
Very proper too Ralph n Bev ! Nice one !!! :thumb:
 
ScotJimland said:
fair enough John.. I've said what I believe and have practiced , so no point in repeating ..

all I will say is read the link and do your own research .. I have emailed a reputable battery manufacturer .. will post when or if they reply ..
Click to expand...

if we all agreed on everything it would be a boring world :Sad:
 
Well I agree with errr.. wit....... ah sod the lot of yer !
 
ideal long term usage - golf cart(buggy) batteries, they are heavy though and a pretty price new
 
The Trojan 6v range don't look too bad price wise, could 2 of these be temed up with 2 12v leisure batteries by wiring the 2 trojans together and then linking to the 12v's already in place?????
 
OK then. What voltage does the battery need to get to, to be considered deeply discharged?
 
Too bloody long ago for me to rely on memory, so had to dig out my old papers.

Open-circuit at full discharge: 11.5 V to 12.0 V
Loaded ( any load over .8 amp) at full discharge: 10.4 V

Figures from Exide ( but a while ago ! )

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jezport said:
OK then. What voltage does the battery need to get to, to be considered deeply discharged?
Click to expand...


Battery at rest ..

At 11.8 - 12v you have only 20% of charge left (Cells die soon at this point. Bye-bye battery.)

there is a chart on this link and all you need to know about batteries .. well worth reading.

http://www.phrannie.org/battery.html
 
Thinking of buying two 6 volt Trojan 105 batteries in conjunction with a solar panel etc.
2 Trojans from Tayna are £227 via Ebay.
Considering how much better & longer lasting people in the know say they are, I don't think that's too bad. Banner are'nt much cheaper.
The motorhome/leisure industry as a whole seem to think that we should pay 2 or 3 times the cost of mainstream domestic or automobile equipment so this sounds like reasonable value if you put it into perspective:thumb:.
 
batteries

So all this said should I wire my 2000w inverter to my starter battery which will draw about 160 amps as the battery is capable of 700 amps (cranking) or do I connect to my two 110ah batteries as these are more for long continuous small currant draw.

I thought I had all this worked out till I read this post:Doh:
Steve
 
Rule of thumb .. The more lead the better the battery
6v batteries have more lead and the over all plate surface area is greater :thumb:

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Agree with Jaws about more lead = better battery (generally).

Its one of the things I look at when choosing batteries. How much does it weigh. Mine are almost 80KG each...
 
SteveandDenise said:
So all this said should I wire my 2000w inverter to my starter battery which will draw about 160 amps as the battery is capable of 700 amps (cranking) or do I connect to my two 110ah batteries as these are more for long continuous small currant draw.

I thought I had all this worked out till I read this post:Doh:
Steve
Click to expand...

The leisure batteries will be fine. Most are rebadged starter batteries anyway.

Even proper traction type cells can discharge at 100% of their quoted Ah capacity with no problems.:Smile:
 
Well, we've just put in a new 'hab' battery - a 110a we got off Ebay for about £50/60 ... can't remember the make offhand... but not Varta/Exide whatever - possibly Banner, can't be a**** to lift the lid and check :Wink:
It's got a 4 year warranty for what it's worth ...
Not sure why we replaced the old one really - it's still going strong, used for lighting in one of the houses, although it is of unknown date other than it was on the MH already before she was imported from Germany in 2008...

Anyway, with 2 solar panels, 1 x 80w and 1 x 50w this cheapie does everything we ask of it (heater-blower occasionally, taps, led lights,tv etc.)

Previous MH had a pair of these same batteries with just 1 x 80w panel. Fulltiming. With Propex heating, water,lights,tv etc. Never ran short. Now, these were fitted new in 2008 and are still ok now, according to the 'new' owner who also lives in her fulltime.

These batteries are described as 'leisure batteries also suitable as starter batteries'

:thumb:
 
stcyr said:
Well, we've just put in a new 'hab' battery - a 110a we got off Ebay for about £50/60 ... can't remember the make offhand... but not Varta/Exide whatever - possibly Banner, can't be a**** to lift the lid and check :Wink:
It's got a 4 year warranty for what it's worth ...
Not sure why we replaced the old one really - it's still going strong, used for lighting in one of the houses, although it is of unknown date other than it was on the MH already before she was imported from Germany in 2008...

Anyway, with 2 solar panels, 1 x 80w and 1 x 50w this cheapie does everything we ask of it (heater-blower occasionally, taps, led lights,tv etc.)

Previous MH had a pair of these same batteries with just 1 x 80w panel. Fulltiming. With Propex heating, water,lights,tv etc. Never ran short. Now, these were fitted new in 2008 and are still ok now, according to the 'new' owner who also lives in her fulltime.

These batteries are described as 'leisure batteries also suitable as starter batteries'

:thumb:
Click to expand...


most fulltimers will be on hookup indefinately so their batteries will last forever.....until they do go off grid.

on hookup your batteries are just there as a reserve supply if you exceed your chargers output....then you draw any excess power requirements from the batteries....ie: 15 amp charger....20 amp current draw....5 amps from battery and 15 amps from charger until excess load is removed then charger recharges batteries as well as providing power.
 
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pappajohn said:
[HI]most fulltimers [/HI]will be on hookup indefinately so their batteries will last forever.....until they do go off grid.

on hookup your batteries are just there as a reserve supply if you exceed your chargers output....then you draw any excess power requirements from the batteries....ie: 15 amp charger....20 amp current draw....5 amps from battery and 15 amps from charger until excess load is removed then charger recharges batteries as well as providing power.
Click to expand...

I know 3 other fulltimers well enough to know their habits. Out of the 4 of us only 1 is on permanent hookup. The rest of us spend more time off hookup than on. I did 9 months+ this year off hookup. Been on hookup now for 3 weeks now.

I wonder if Maz will read this thread. I am not sure if she is still doing off hookup sites as well anymore?

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