New leisure battery showing 12.4 volts, is this OK?

quickweh

quickweh

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I've just unpacked a pair of new Varta 70 Ah lead acid leisure batteries (Not AGM or Gel) and checked the voltage at 12.4 volts. I'm not sure if this is OK for a new battery assuming that it was shipped at 12.8/12.7 volts. I have phoned the supplier who was not willing to provide a date of manufacture ("you must go back to Varta") and after a couple of phone calls admitted that they had been delivered in March this year. My question is, does this voltage drop matter and is to be expected? Is there an expected rate of voltage decay over a period of time? They could have been in a Varta warehouse for a while also.
Thanks, Mike
 
Mike.. I have a chart of varta battery dates. It will look for it. It may even be here in the resources.

found it.
www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Varta leisure battery date codes

Varta battery codes... As far as i can find this seems correct.. Varta leisure batteries have a code etched into the case of the body. You ignore the first three letters. The following 3 numbers then relate to the chart and give its month and...
www.motorhomefun.co.uk www.motorhomefun.co.uk
 
I wouldn't worry about it for the sake of just 0.2v. 12.6v is fully charged. It's highly unlikely that they will have put yours on charge before sending them to you.
All 'new' batteries will be at least a month (or two) old due to the distribution time and will lose a bit of voltage when in stock - few if any are kept on charge. They may be several months old but will charge up and work fine, the same as if only a week or two old.
 
tonka said:
Mike.. I have a chart of varta battery dates. It will look for it. It may even be here in the resources.

found it.
www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Varta leisure battery date codes

Varta battery codes... As far as i can find this seems correct.. Varta leisure batteries have a code etched into the case of the body. You ignore the first three letters. The following 3 numbers then relate to the chart and give its month and...
www.motorhomefun.co.uk www.motorhomefun.co.uk
Click to expand...
Can you decode this Steve?
E5E173132 0986 55/885
 
Personally if I had time I would send back as not fully charged.
Or am I being over critical?
I take multimeter with me when buying batteries at Halfords etc .

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If they were made in March and have been sitting in a warehouse without a charge for 6 months I would reject them.
 
Mike ,check the negative post top ,should be a week and year stamp. on them to show production date WW- YY, week and year

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thought all batteries had a manufactuer / charge date stamped on ?
 
Jev88 said:
Personally if I had time I would send back as not fully charged.
Or am I being over critical?
I take multimeter with me when buying batteries at Halfords etc .
Click to expand...
I’ll bet they love you in Halfords. I just keep the 5 yr guarantee receipt.
Phil
 
Gaston aires said:
I’ll bet they love you in Halfords. I just keep the 5 yr guarantee receipt.
Phil
Click to expand...
Never had any complaints from Halfords but have told them to stick a battery back in the shelf and get me a fully charged one. Why would anyone settle for an older or depleted battery ?

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Just an update, no date stamp on the negative post only the code etched into the case -: E5e17313 20986 554/885. I have had a formal reply from the supplier apologising for the dirty state of the batteries and offering a small compensation but claiming that the batteries are perfectly OK. He will give a refund on the batteries but will not pay the shipping cost. Just found the Varta code for 173 = May 2021
Not what I would call new.
 
quickweh said:
Just an update, no date stamp on the negative post only the code etched into the case -: E5e17313 20986 554/885. I have had a formal reply from the supplier apologising for the dirty state of the batteries and offering a small compensation but claiming that the batteries are perfectly OK. He will give a refund on the batteries but will not pay the shipping cost. Just found the Varta code for 173 = May 2021
Not what I would call new.
Click to expand...
That's far too old. Were they at a relatively cheap price compared with the general retail price from elsewhere?
For all you know they have been in use or left to go dead flat before being recharged.
I had assumed that you had bought from one of the mainstream distributors but from your new info (e.g. 'dirty') it would seem not.
 
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Lead acid batteries really need a charge after 6-8 months shelf life? or permanent loss can result.

the problem you have is trusting them if they have charged them
or B
do you want a battery that has been recharged after x amount of time.
either way if it can be proved the item is faulty then they have to refund you the item cost and the cost of return, after you have returned it or arranged a collection with them.

I suppose the question is, are they allowed to sell a 18 month old battery ??? esp if not charged

either way, if you have infromed him within 10 work days that you dont want them he has to refund, but in this case you have to pay the return fee, if not faulty.
 
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quickweh said:
I've just unpacked a pair of new Varta 70 Ah lead acid leisure batteries (Not AGM or Gel) and checked the voltage at 12.4 volts. I'm not sure if this is OK for a new battery assuming that it was shipped at 12.8/12.7 volts. I have phoned the supplier who was not willing to provide a date of manufacture ("you must go back to Varta") and after a couple of phone calls admitted that they had been delivered in March this year. My question is, does this voltage drop matter and is to be expected? Is there an expected rate of voltage decay over a period of time? They could have been in a Varta warehouse for a while also.
Thanks, Mike
Click to expand...
I had this problem as the supplier never maintained them when held in stock. I insisted on and got a refund.
 
quickweh said:
Just an update, no date stamp on the negative post only the code etched into the case -: E5e17313 20986 554/885. I have had a formal reply from the supplier apologising for the dirty state of the batteries and offering a small compensation but claiming that the batteries are perfectly OK. He will give a refund on the batteries but will not pay the shipping cost. Just found the Varta code for 173 = May 2021
Not what I would call new.
Click to expand...
That is too old, send it back, when we sold Yuasa batteries, we always had to keep an eye on the dates, but we used to move about 20 a week so no problem for us, during manufacture when they were filled with acid, the acid would bring it to full charge within the hour, but when the contacts were connected (say for testing) it would be the start of depleting power, so we never needed to test a new battery, because we knew it was full, but a year old battery, that's another matter, because there is depleting of power over time.

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A few years ago I bought four Trojan batteries for my boat. They cost about £600 at the time. I was naive enough then not to worry about the low voltages on arrival, but soon learned! I could not get them to fully charge or hold charge so informed the supplier they were rejected. To be fair, they took them back at no cost & refunded me. Top marks to Tayna for customer service, then, but a serious query about how they had looked after the batteries.
I found an alternative supplier, a dodgy looking setup on an industrial estate. Their main business was batteries for forklifts & such. They sold me the Trojans I wanted, at a similar price to Tayna's, and we are still using them today, about 6 years later. My guess is that the second supplier had a market for the Trojans that gave him a high turnover, whereas for Tayna they were an oddity that stayed on the shelves a while?
You live & learn!
 
Spriddler said:
That's far too old. Were they at a relatively cheap price compared with the general retail price from elsewhere?
For all you know they have been in use or left to go dead flat before being recharged.
I had assumed that you had bought from one of the mainstream distributors but from your new info (e.g. 'dirty') it would seem not.
Click to expand...
Purchased from Battery Megastore in Tewkesbury so a mainstream distributor. A bit of research last night showed that batteries stored for this length of time without recharging can suffer a degree of sulphation so I have asked for identical replacements with a manufacturing date less than 6 months old. Returning the batteries will cost so I have rejected them as not being of merchantable quality and available for collection.
 
Lenny HB said:
Far too long to leave them, best to give a top up charge once a month and never leave more than 3 months without a charge.
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agreed, but you wont see store owners doing this.
Plus if the store owner the op used has batteries for this long, you have question their business.
becaise they at least should give them a blast, and b, the inventory management it a shambles especialy as he apologised due to the "dusty" state.
some battery manufacturers handle the inventory for you, and replace when delivering new stock, similar to sale or return

sounds to me he found an old one and thought he'd blag you off OP
 
I know it is slightly different but my last company car was a Toyota Hybrid. Delivered on flat bed, left outside for 30 minutes and then I went out to take it for a short drive to check it out.... DEAD battery (engine battery). After a few phone calls it was taken to a local Toyota dealership and battery exchanged as they could not tell me how long the vehicle has sat at depot / docks / shipping and I argued it could be degraded now and my company was buying a NEW car. I did have to stress my point but got there in the end. I wonder if anyone ever checks a battery when collecting their gleaming new transport?

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Peregrinator said:
That is too old, send it back, when we sold Yuasa batteries, we always had to keep an eye on the dates, but we used to move about 20 a week so no problem for us, during manufacture when they were filled with acid, the acid would bring it to full charge within the hour, but when the contacts were connected (say for testing) it would be the start of depleting power, so we never needed to test a new battery, because we knew it was full, but a year old battery, that's another matter, because there is depleting of power over time.
Click to expand...
Some battery distributors are unwilling to check and give a top up charge on the batteries they hold in stock, as it's an additional cost they incur. I suspect they know the vast majority of customers just fit them on receipt and they will then get the top up charge. This was my experience with Tayna batteries. The batteries I received from them were down to 12.4V and I asked them how low should a battery be upon receipt. They said 12.5 V (Utter bo**ocks), so I asked for a refund as mine were at 12.4V. They were not happy but had to give me a refund. They refused to post my negative review and if you go onto their website you will see they do not have any negative reviews and I believe they are all filtered out.
Still far to many customers getting ripped off buying leisure batteries in the UK IMO.
 
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quickweh said:
I've just unpacked a pair of new Varta 70 Ah lead acid leisure batteries (Not AGM or Gel) and checked the voltage at 12.4 volts. I'm not sure if this is OK for a new battery assuming that it was shipped at 12.8/12.7 volts. I have phoned the supplier who was not willing to provide a date of manufacture ("you must go back to Varta") and after a couple of phone calls admitted that they had been delivered in March this year. My question is, does this voltage drop matter and is to be expected? Is there an expected rate of voltage decay over a period of time? They could have been in a Varta warehouse for a while also.
Thanks, Mike
Click to expand...
There should be a manufactured date stamped on top of the minus battery terminal.
Give the battery a good charge with a good charger which has the feature to balance the cells then check, should show about 13 or 14 v IH good.
 
Graham Mew said:
There should be a manufactured date stamped on top of the minus battery terminal.
Give the battery a good charge with a good charger which has the feature to balance the cells then check, should show about 13 or 14 v IH good.
Click to expand...
I think you need to be more specific for your post to be of any value. You do not say how long the batteries should be charged for or how long they should be rested before being measured. Also, what will this prove ? To test how good a leisure battery is a capacity test needs to be undertaken and this has been discussed before and a search should find the relevant thread. Measuring a leisure battery after fully charging it, is IMO not going to achieve much if anything at all.

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