Which Leisure Battery To Buy?

[Shandyman]

Hi looking for 2 No Leisure Batteries as I have found out it's a mine field with so much choice but what is best I have found the following by various recommendations.

Yuasa 100 Amp x 2 = £134 3 Year Warranty
Yuasa 115 Amp x 2 = £160 3 Year Warranty
ABS LXD 110 Amp x 2 = £183 5 Year Warranty
Varta LFD90 x 2 = £195 2 Year Warranty

Has any one bought any of the above or have any other recommendation for batteries and the suppliers Megastore, Tanya, Advanced Battery Supplies.

Any recommendations or advice welcomed.

Thanks

Richard

 

[Blue Knight]

Hi Richard,

I almost went for the LFD90's but instead I chose 2 x Varta L36 EFB 100Ah which have proved to be fantastic for off grid camping.

They're also well matched to a standard 14.4v Fiat alternator so ideal for charging on the run.

Note, the L36 EFB is marketed as the Halfords HLB 700; it's the exact same battery.

All the best,

Andrew

P.S. Here's the charging regimes:

 

[Stealaway]

Only buy known makers batteries. To many fancy stickers. I chose a pair of Hankook 130ah sealed wet batteries. Great prices at Battery Mega Store.

 

[Abacist]

I have bought both Varta and Hankook from Battery Megastore and been delighted with both!

 

[cmcardle75]

Hi looking for 2 No Leisure Batteries as I have found out it's a mine field with so much choice but what is best I have found the following by various recommendations.

Yuasa 100 Amp x 2 = £134 3 Year Warranty
Yuasa 115 Amp x 2 = £160 3 Year Warranty
ABS LXD 110 Amp x 2 = £183 5 Year Warranty
Varta LFD90 x 2 = £195 2 Year Warranty

Has any one bought any of the above or have any other recommendation for batteries and the suppliers Megastore, Tanya, Advanced Battery Supplies.

Any recommendations or advice welcomed.

Thanks

Richard

I only buy lead acid batteries from Tayna. Preferably Endurolines. Just always keep them topped up and they last decades.

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[Minxy]

Tayna do Sonnenschein gels which are the same as Exide, the benefit of gels is that they have a good reputation for longevity and can be discharged down to 20% of their capacity which is much better than the equivalent AGM or wet lead acid ones, they don't require any maintenance either.

A couple of these might just fit under one of your cab seats, they did when we had our Globecar campers!

GF12065Y Sonnenschein Battery (GF1265Y / GF 12 65 Y)

GF 12 65 Y Sonnenschein GEL/VRLA Battery Sonnenschein is owned by the battery manufacturing giant Exide. With over 130 years in the battery business, Exide are known for their quality in the industry. Sonnenschein were one of the first companies to develop VRLA GEL batteries and to this day they...

www.tayna.co.uk

 

[Stealaway]

Tayna do Sonnenschein gels which are the same as Exide, the benefit of gels is that they have a good reputation for longevity and can be discharged down to 20% of their capacity which is much better than the equivalent AGM or wet lead acid ones, they don't require any maintenance either.

A couple of these might just fit under one of your cab seats, they did when we had our Globecar campers!

GF12065Y Sonnenschein Battery (GF1265Y / GF 12 65 Y)

GF 12 65 Y Sonnenschein GEL/VRLA Battery Sonnenschein is owned by the battery manufacturing giant Exide. With over 130 years in the battery business, Exide are known for their quality in the industry. Sonnenschein were one of the first companies to develop VRLA GEL batteries and to this day they...

www.tayna.co.uk

75 Ah!! are they really that good? What voltage are you happy to let them drop to. Our two 130Ah wet batteries will let us watch TV for 3-4 hours of an evening before they get to 50% discharge. How would the Gels do?

 

[Campervan_man]

Tanya Batteries is a very good supplier.
Well packed, fast delivery.
130A batteries for circa £84
Buy on ebay and pay with paypal.

 

[wigster]

I bought 2 120 amp bats from Halfords . 160 quid for 2 on an offer at the time .
I haven't mistreated them four years later still going strong . I use a small inverter to charge laptop as well .

 

[Minxy]

75 Ah!! are they really that good? What voltage are you happy to let them drop to. Our two 130Ah wet batteries will let us watch TV for 3-4 hours of an evening before they get to 50% discharge. How would the Gels do?

The Sonnenschein ones are more like 78ah rather than 75ah (I haven't a clue why they have '65' in their description) which equates to 156ah which dropped to 20% means around 125ah of usable power, compared to 130ah for your wet batteries, this is only 5ah less. The size/weigh saving is one thing to consider as well as where they are going to be put as the gels will go under the cab seats whereas I doubt your 130ah ones will.

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[suavecarve]

75 Ah!! are they really that good? What voltage are you happy to let them drop to. Our two 130Ah wet batteries will let us watch TV for 3-4 hours of an evening before they get to 50% discharge. How would the Gels do?

You need a 12 volt telly !
I havent got a clue what mine (110 x2) are but i didnt half notice the difference with a 12 volt telly and we are yet to go under 85% according to the on board reader thing. In the old van with 240 volt telly I could just get 2 DVDs out of it.

 

[CazPaul]

Tayna do Sonnenschein gels which are the same as Exide, the benefit of gels is that they have a good reputation for longevity and can be discharged down to 20% of their capacity which is much better than the equivalent AGM or wet lead acid ones, they don't require any maintenance either.

A couple of these might just fit under one of your cab seats, they did when we had our Globecar campers!

GF12065Y Sonnenschein Battery (GF1265Y / GF 12 65 Y)

GF 12 65 Y Sonnenschein GEL/VRLA Battery Sonnenschein is owned by the battery manufacturing giant Exide. With over 130 years in the battery business, Exide are known for their quality in the industry. Sonnenschein were one of the first companies to develop VRLA GEL batteries and to this day they...

www.tayna.co.uk

And just to highlight your point our Gels are original fit now in their 16th year, March 2005 registered van. Marked Deta gel.

 

[bigtwin]

And just to highlight your point our Gels are original fit now in their 16th year, March 2005 registered van. Marked Deta gel.

Yes, there’s no comparison in my view, I replaced a gel at 13 years old and, even then, that still had half its original capacity.

Ian

 

[cmcardle75]

75 Ah!! are they really that good? What voltage are you happy to let them drop to. Our two 130Ah wet batteries will let us watch TV for 3-4 hours of an evening before they get to 50% discharge. How would the Gels do?

Wow! What sort of TV? That equates to around 400W! A 12V 24" LCD should take well under 100W. I'd buy a new TV before the batteries!

 

[Richard n Ann]

Pleased with our new 80ah Exide gel. 64ah useable, we've had the roof fans on all night 230v TV and UV insect killer on for about 4 hours and it copes easily with about 70% capacity left when the sun rises and takes over

The inverter only adds 0.2 amps to the drain, we like the TV so we pay the price

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[Richard n Ann]

Wow! What sort of TV? That equates to around 400W! A 12V 24" LCD should take well under 100W. I'd buy a new TV before the batteries!

Ours is 30w but you can get that even lower by using energy saving mode which lowers the back light etc

 

[BusyBuilder]

I couldn't buy Sonnshiem so went for EXIDE Marine GEL 85amp. Expensive but they are really good especially with 240w solar.

 

[Deneb]

Only buy known makers batteries. To many fancy stickers. I chose a pair of Hankook 130ah sealed wet batteries.

So you know who the makers of Hankook batteries are then?

 

[Stealaway]

Wow! What sort of TV? That equates to around 400W! A 12V 24" LCD should take well under 100W. I'd buy a new TV before the batteries!

I don't flatten the batteries but only allow them to drop to 12.5v before turning the telly of. It is a 230v 32" smart Samsung and soundbar.
Mostly with the solar and Sterling B2B the batteries are fully loaded every day.
I'm liking the sound of Gel but I need to know how I can monitor them.

How would I know when to turn the telly off?

 

[fat haggis]

I don't flatten the batteries but only allow them to drop to 12.5v before turning the telly of. It is a 230v 32" smart Samsung and soundbar.
Mostly with the solar and Sterling B2B the batteries are fully loaded every day.
I'm liking the sound of Gel but I need to know how I can monitor them.

How would I know when to turn the telly off?

You can’t run a 230v on 12 volt so you must be running an inverter witch is power hungry

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[Stealaway]

So you know who the makers of Hankook batteries are then?

I know Hankook make the batteries for Numax

 

[Lenny HB]

75 Ah!! are they really that good? What voltage are you happy to let them drop to. Our two 130Ah wet batteries will let us watch TV for 3-4 hours of an evening before they get to 50% discharge. How would the Gels do?

They are actually 78ah Tayna info is wrong,
2 x 78 a/h Gels taken to 80% DOD = 125 a/h of useable power.
2 x 130 a/h Wet cells taken to 50% DOD = 130 a/h of useable power.

The Gel's will still be performing like new at 6 years old and will probably still have a good useable capacity at 10 years old.

If your batteries are getting down to 50% with 3 or 4 hours TV watching I would say they have had it, time for new ones.

 

[Stealaway]

10 years?? I should live that long. Maybe I could sell them eventually on eBay and help pay for mi funeral

 

[Lenny HB]

10 years?? I should live that long. Maybe I could sell them eventually on eBay and help pay for mi funeral

I just edited my post look at the last line.

 

[g3cwi]

Wow! What sort of TV?

It will be the valve sort I suspect.

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[Deneb]

I know Hankook make the batteries for Numax

Hankook as such don't make batteries. They are manufactured by AtlasBX battery corporation in South Korea, which is part owned by Hankook. The same battery is also supplied to resellers with a multitude of labels such as Lucas, Enduroline, etc. or pretty much what any bulk buyer wants to have stuck on them.

 

[Stealaway]

I just edited my post look at the last line.

I don't let the batteries drop to 50% only 12.5v which is the gauge I've always stuck to.

 

[Stealaway]

You can’t run a 230v on 12 volt so you must be running an inverter witch is power hungry

That's a common misconception. Inverter use only 10% more power than any given 12v load. The problems come when people want to use them for microwaves or hairdryers

 

[fat haggis]

That's a common misconception. Inverter use only 10% more power than any given 12v load. The problems come when people want to use them for microwaves or hairdryers

So you are using an inverter then. You didn’t state you used an inverter you just said tv.

 

[Stealaway]

I did say it was a 230v 32" Samsung

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