Are all leisure-batteries born equal?

[Mr Meenah]

I can imagine there aren't many manufacturers of leisure-batteries but plenty of companies ready to slap a label on the side and sell it as theirs. The more you pay just gets you a longer warranty..
Am I right? (Almost I suspect).
Anyway I want to put a leisure-battery in my van and have been looking online a lot trying to get the best 'bang for the buck'.
I'm thinking of a sealed one, due to it being inside the cab,around 110ah..
Question is.. would you go for a 115ah Halfords @ £105 or get two 110ah 'cheapies' for £130?

 

[Silver-Fox]

I think the old saying rings true as in you get what you pay for.

Someone will be along with more technical data

 

[Theonlysue]

If you get Halfords get them to write the serial numbers of the batteries on the receipt so you have 2 year warranty.
I prefer exide gels but each to their own.

 

[pappajohn]

the most expensive battery you can buy will not last long if its misused and neglected.
a single 110ah battery discharged by 50% (55amps) may give 200 cycles whereas a pair of 110ah batteries discharged by 25% each (55amps combined) may give you 400 cycles but give you the same amps useage.
the less its discharged the more charge cycles it can accept before it deteriorates.

 

[TheBig1]

Not all batteries are created equal and some are pretty poor quality

if fitting lead acid wet batteries, I recommend alpha batteries which are reassuringly heavy. more weight = more lead = thicker plates. have had one pair in use 7 years now and still giving a healthy charge/discharge rate

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[Stealaway]

Question is.. would you go for a 115ah Halfords @ £105 or get two 110ah 'cheapies' for £130?

Yuasa L35-115 Leisure Battery on amazon £95 + post

Amazon product ASIN B00KNQSI4G
Have a look at these - they seem to the batteries Halfords have put their stickers on. They look a good buy from a reputable manufacturers.

 

[bigtwin]

Question is.. would you go for a 115ah Halfords @ £105 or get two 110ah 'cheapies' for £130?

Neither, buy a quality battery.

Something like this:

GF12094Y Sonnenschein Battery (GF1294Y / GF 12 94 Y)

Ours is currently 12 years old and still performing.

Ian

 

[Mr Meenah]

Wow Ian..it's probably a brilliant battery but I hadn't budgeted for that expense especially when I other things to buy for the van as well

 

[Mr Meenah]

the most expensive battery you can buy will not last long if its misused and neglected.
a single 110ah battery discharged by 50% (55amps) may give 200 cycles whereas a pair of 110ah batteries discharged by 25% each (55amps combined) may give you 400 cycles but give you the same amps useage.
the less its discharged the more charge cycles it can accept before it deteriorates.

Are you saying it's better to go for 2 rather than 1 battery?

 

[Mr Meenah]

If it makes a difference I have bought the T-max split charge system.

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[RowleyBirkinQC]

We have a couple of Varta LFD90 batteries from Tayna Batteries which seem pretty good for the coin.

 

[bigtwin]

Wow Ian..it's probably a brilliant battery but I hadn't budgeted for that expense especially when I other things to buy for the van as well

The cost per year will be lower than those you’ve suggested.
You won’t get twelve years out of those. Many on here talk about batteries lasting 3-4 years.

Ian

 

[Fletton]

We have a couple of Varta LFD90 batteries from Tayna Batteries which seem pretty good for the coin.

Ditto...

 

[Stealaway]

We have a couple of Varta LFD90 batteries from Tayna Batteries which seem pretty good for the coin.

Just not big enough for some people?

 

[Minxy]

Wow Ian..it's probably a brilliant battery but I hadn't budgeted for that expense especially when I other things to buy for the van as well

You don't necessarily need one that big if you go for a gel as they can be discharged down to 20%, we've just had a couple of these installed in our camper under the driver's seat:

https://www.tayna.co.uk/leisure-batteries/sonnenschein/gf12065y/

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[hilldweller]

>>> Are all leisure-batteries born equal?

Without doubt. After the big bang the energy clumping together created all the more dense atoms, lead being one of them. Therein lies the heart of all lead-acid batteries.

 

[Stealaway]

You don't necessarily need one that big if you go for a gel as they can be discharged down to 20%, we've just had a couple of these installed in our camper under the driver's seat:

You must be convinced that discharging them down to 20% is not going to harm them, I'm not sure I could be that brave.
What voltage is 20% charged?

 

[Minxy]

You must be convinced that discharging them down to 20% is not going to harm them, I'm not sure I could be that brave.
What voltage is 20% charged?

Not saying that I would discharge down to 20% a lot but that they can be unlike lead acid ones which you would likely kill off in a very short time.

 

[Lenny HB]

You must be convinced that discharging them down to 20% is not going to harm them, I'm not sure I could be that brave.
What voltage is 20% charged?

You must be convinced that discharging them down to 20% is not going to harm them, I'm not sure I could be that brave.
What voltage is 20% charged?

25% is 12v.
Taking a Gel down to 20% you will still get a very long life can't find the exact figures at the moment but you will get 4-5 times the number of cycles out of a gel taking it down to 20% compared to a flooded cell discharged to 50% .
At least gels are proper leisure batteries doubt if you can say that about any of the flooded cells or AGM's sold as leisure batteries.
Typical life of a gel is 6 to 10 years.

 

[Stealaway]

I'm beginning to see the logic now but the Ah size is a bit disconcerting, knowing how much I ask from my batteries on a daily basis.

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[Mr Meenah]

The cost per year will be lower than those you’ve suggested.
You won’t get twelve years out of those. Many on here talk about batteries lasting 3-4 years.

Ian

I realise that.. it'll have to go on the bucket-list for now.

 

[The Wino]

Yuasa L35-115 Leisure Battery on amazon £95 + post

Amazon product ASIN B00KNQSI4G
Have a look at these - they seem to the batteries Halfords have put their stickers on. They look a good buy from a reputable manufacturers.

On offer at halfords at £105 only a couple of quid more taking into account delivery and probably easier to get any warranty issues sorted

 

[Lenny HB]

I'm beginning to see the logic now but the Ah size is a bit disconcerting, knowing how much I ask from my batteries on a daily basis.

A 125a/h flooded will give you 62.5a/h at 50% DOD, a 80a/h Gel will give you 64a/h at 20% DOD.

In practice you will rarely discharge to 20% so you will probably get well over a 1000 cycles out of them, where as flooded you will probably regularly discharge them to 50% and even a Varta LDF will only give you 200 cycles.

Gels are not too keen on high discharge currents recommend not to pull more than 20 amps out of them, however quite a few Funsters pull a lot more than that with their inverters and have not had any problems, I think 20 amps is a bit conservative. German manufacturers often fit a 1500/1800 watt inverters with only 2x 80a/h gel batteries.

I have 3 X 78a/h Sonnenschein gels, in 14 months with 300 watts of solar not taken them below 80%. Also with my Votronic regulator the fridge is running a few hours a day on 12v.

 

[Mr Meenah]

I have a 1000w inverter on its way to me which will be hooked up to the leisure-batterie(s) I've just seen this deal on-line and if what was said before 2 batteries will take less of a discharge as 1 thus prolonging battery life..
EBay item 111681836137
Thoughts ?
I'll try and provide a proper link.

 

[Lenny HB]

I have a 1000w inverter on its way to me which will be hooked up to the leisure-batterie(s) I've just seen this deal on-line and if what was said before 2 batteries will take less of a discharge as 1 thus prolonging battery life..
EBay item 111681836137
Thoughts ?
I'll try and provide a proper link.

Look like cheap crap to me. Not worth skimping on cheap batteries buy decent branded ones. You could buy a couple of decent gels for just £300

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[SpeedyDux]

Another vote for the Sonnenschein Gel. The one in my previous Westy California lasted almost 10 years. This came as a surprise to the owner of my VW T4 specialist garage. He expected to replace the hab battery in his VW camper with a new one every year. He goes to a lot of Bus rallies. No EHUs. He said he would go for the gel battery next time.

 

[DL42846]

When it comes to batteries I have always found you get what you pay for. I went for one of these which I am very happy with.: https://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/12v-110ah-leoch-powabloc-tubular-gel-battery/
A acid battery should only be discharged down to 50/60% A GEL battery can be discharged down to 20% without damaging it.
The above is guaranteed for 6 years and has a recycle life of 2000 compared to most acid batteries which are around 500.
For me there is no contest.

 

[autorouter]

a single 110ah battery discharged by 50% (55amps) may give 200 cycles whereas a pair of 110ah batteries discharged by 25% each (55amps combined) may give you 400 cycles but give you the same amps useage.
the less its discharged the more charge cycles it can accept before it deteriorates

Are you saying it's better to go for 2 rather than 1 battery?

According to those figures, it's exactly the same overall cost. For 400 cycles of 55 amp-hours, you can either use one battery, and get a new one after 200 cycles, or buy two up front to last 400 cycles.

Of course you may have other considerations. With two batteries you have a reserve if you ever need it, because you can discharge them to 50% if an unexpected bad weather pattern comes along. The point is, from the cost viewpoint, %DOD doesn't make as much difference as you might think.

 

[The Wino]

According to those figures, it's exactly the same overall cost. For 400 cycles of 55 amp-hours, you can either use one battery, and get a new one after 200 cycles, or buy two up front to last 400 cycles.

Of course you may have other considerations. With two batteries you have a reserve if you ever need it, because you can discharge them to 50% if an unexpected bad weather pattern comes along. The point is, from the cost viewpoint, %DOD doesn't make as much difference as you might think.

Yuo also will have to carry more weight and if you sell after a couple of years save buying the second

 

[funflair]

Robert Clark was selling some Varta LFD90's a few days ago, I think they were a decent price and hardly used.

Martin