New leisure battery showing 12.4 volts, is this OK?

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.
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Varta leisure batteries have a date code embossed into the case, May 2021 in my case so it is not a new battery. Lead acid batteries can sulphate when stored without load for a long period of time, this and the age make the batteries not of merchantable quality. Recharging them may work but I'm not sure if they would still be 70 AH batteries.
 
Where/who is a reputable outlet to honestly report on used battery help?
I am finding my one leisure battery discharging quite quickly despite solar panel and with the master control turned off all night for testing.
 
BillWeb said:
Where/who is a reputable outlet to honestly report on used battery help?
Click to expand...
Not sure what you mean by that.
BillWeb said:
I am finding my one leisure battery discharging quite quickly despite solar panel and with the master control turned off all night for testing.
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More info needed.

Is the vehicle new to you?
What are you running on 12V?
How old is the battery?
Are you checking the voltage with a meter directly at the battery?
Have you checked the solar panel output voltage?
Is this a new problem or has it previously been maintaining its charge o.k?

So many variables and possibilities...........
 
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Spriddler said:
Not sure what you mean by that.

More info needed.

Is the vehicle new to you?
What are you running on 12V?
How old is the battery?
Are you checking the voltage with a meter directly at the battery?
Have you checked the solar panel output voltage?
Is this a new problem or has it previously been maintaining its charge o.k?

So many variables and possibilities...........
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Used MH purchased 5 months ago.
My question was who to get such things checked by, free from sales pressure?
 
BillWeb said:
Used MH purchased 5 months ago.
My question was who to get such things checked by, free from sales pressure?
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It may be simply that the battery is past its useful life.

Almost everywhere offering 'free' battery checks will have a sales motive. In any case the usual 'rapid discharge' test for starter batteries won't be much use for a hab battery.

Since you don't know the age of the battery (although it will be indicated on it somewhere) I would suggest checking that the solar is actually working. If it is, then buy a new battery.

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Last edited:
Ordering batteries that are not in stock and not made in UK it’s best batteries you can buy. If you place the order directly with the importer, it will take 7-8 weeks to arrive, but you will have fresh batteries made to your order.
When I ordered mine took 8 weeks precisely arriving from Nova Scotia Canada. They had the date that left the factory, tested and filled with acid by the importer and shipped to me next day. Lead batteries have a big self discharge. If they stay more than 3months on the shelf without charge, there will be some capacity loss. On fresh batteries the capacity increases with first 40-50 cycles as they not fully formatted. The once that sit on the shelf filled with acid are already discharging. Long battery storage is done with the cells vacuumed and not filled. They get filled they are active, and it’s life starts then.
 
When I ordered the new scooter battery in Benidorm it came from a seller in Granada and I had to fill it. Why don't they all do that? 🤔
 
PhilandMena said:
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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Thanks for your info on this subject. Can I pick your brains on a stop start car battery, mine is now 8 year old therefore should I purchase say a Topdon BT200 battery load tester that will give me a true insight into the health of my battery they are on Amazon for £55.99. I wait your comments.
 
Graham Mew said:
Thanks for your info on this subject. Can I pick your brains on a stop start car battery, mine is now 8 year old therefore should I purchase say a Topdon BT200 battery load tester that will give me a true insight into the health of my battery they are on Amazon for £55.99. I wait your comments.
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With a battery of that age put the money towards a new battery.
My car battery is 10 years old the stop/start stopped working after two year. It still starts the car when I've been away for 6 weeks. I'll just replace it when it doesn't start the car.

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PhilandMena said:
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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No battery distributor should top up a battery, if they do, then it becomes second hand and can't offer a manufacturer warranty, but the store could offer their own warranty, when I worked in car parts shop before I retired, we sold Banner & Yuasa batteries, Yuasa always took aged (not used) batteries back, we was not allowed to sale anything but fresh batteries, also the manufacturer warranty started from day of manufacturer not the day of sale, only the shop warranty started from day of sale, but if the store was trusted, we had a good reputation with the manufacturer, so we were allowed to give five year warranty with no fuss, even if it were six months old.
 
BillWeb said:
Used MH purchased 5 months ago.
My question was who to get such things checked by, free from sales pressure?
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Fully charge battery, wait two hours for it to rest, test with meter. should be 12.6V volts or above, if not change battery, also when nearly fully charged, feel the sides, if its hot get rid.
 
BillWeb said:
Graham Mew said:
Thanks for your info on this subject. Can I pick your brains on a stop start car battery, mine is now 8 year old therefore should I purchase say a Topdon BT200 battery load tester that will give me a true insight into the health of my battery they are on Amazon for £55.99. I wait your comments.
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g.
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Are we talking about the battery in your car ??? If so take it to Halfords who I believe will do a free battery test for you. The knowledge I have gained over the many years on here and as a Motorhome user is about 12 Volt leisure batteries. A different beast to car batteries.
 
Peregrinator said:
Fully charge battery, wait two hours for it to rest, test with meter. should be 12.6V volts or above, if not change battery, also when nearly fully charged, feel the sides, if its hot get rid.
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This test result will be no indication of the remaining capacity left in the battery however.

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Peregrinator said:
Fully charge battery, wait two hours for it to rest, test with meter. should be 12.6V volts or above, if not change battery, also when nearly fully charged, feel the sides, if its hot get rid.
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If it was at 12.6v I would be worried, an hour or two after charging with no load on it I would expect at least 13v and after 24 hours 12.8v.
But without testing its only a very rough indication.
 
Lenny HB said:
If it was at 12.6v I would be worried, an hour or two after charging with no load on it I would expect at least 13v and after 24 hours 12.8v.
But without testing its only a very rough indication.
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Bang on Lenny. You may recall I did a drop test on my leisure batteries last year and as you can see from post#84 of the following thread. https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/agm-or-lead-battery.247952/page-3#post-4707342
They were first fully charged and after disconnection were found to be 13.66V at 14.00hrs and the following morning at 09.00 were at 12.96 V and these are 3 year old batteries.
 
Customer service Battery Megastore style. I will respond later but he also fails to say in their warranty that sulphation can occur in batteries that have been stored for a long time.



Good Morning Mr Coleman

Thank you for your email.

Thank you for quoting the wording you have quoted from our website that sulfation occurs at or below 12.06v - as your battery in question is by your own reading at 12.4v this is not an issue.

I am unable to offer you Varta batteries within 6months of manufacture as you can clearly see from your own investigation Varta batteries are potentially older than that when they arrive to us from Varta - as you can appreciate this is outside of our control as to how quickly Varta dispatch their batteries to us. You are more than welcome to raise their dispatch times with Varta directly.

I refer you to my previous email advising the batteries are approximately 80% charged and good to be used straight away. They are not faulty. I am still happy to offer you a good will gesture due to the batteries being dirty upon delivery to yourself.

If you are unhappy with your purchase then you are within your rights to return them to ourselves within the first 30 days from date of purchase for a full refund (providing they are returned unused and undamaged) They are to be returned at your own cost.

Regards

Russell.

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quickweh said:
Customer service Battery Megastore style. I will respond later but he also fails to say in their warranty that sulphation can occur in batteries that have been stored for a long time.



Good Morning Mr Coleman

Thank you for your email.

Thank you for quoting the wording you have quoted from our website that sulfation occurs at or below 12.06v - as your battery in question is by your own reading at 12.4v this is not an issue.

I am unable to offer you Varta batteries within 6months of manufacture as you can clearly see from your own investigation Varta batteries are potentially older than that when they arrive to us from Varta - as you can appreciate this is outside of our control as to how quickly Varta dispatch their batteries to us. You are more than welcome to raise their dispatch times with Varta directly.

I refer you to my previous email advising the batteries are approximately 80% charged and good to be used straight away. They are not faulty. I am still happy to offer you a good will gesture due to the batteries being dirty upon delivery to yourself.

If you are unhappy with your purchase then you are within your rights to return them to ourselves within the first 30 days from date of purchase for a full refund (providing they are returned unused and undamaged) They are to be returned at your own cost.

Regards

Russell.
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Drop them back when you go to the halloween rally... (y)
When i replaced my Varta batteries they were certainly within 6 month.
Had them from here, the guy was not aware of the date codes but i sent him the list i found and he checked his stock prior to shipping mine. I paid £90 back in sept 2020. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12425224...d=link&campid=5338547443&toolid=20001&mkevt=1
 
This site contains affiliate links for which MHF may be compensated.
quickweh said:
Customer service Battery Megastore style. I will respond later but he also fails to say in their warranty that sulphation can occur in batteries that have been stored for a long time.



Good Morning Mr Coleman

Thank you for your email.

Thank you for quoting the wording you have quoted from our website that sulfation occurs at or below 12.06v - as your battery in question is by your own reading at 12.4v this is not an issue.

I am unable to offer you Varta batteries within 6months of manufacture as you can clearly see from your own investigation Varta batteries are potentially older than that when they arrive to us from Varta - as you can appreciate this is outside of our control as to how quickly Varta dispatch their batteries to us. You are more than welcome to raise their dispatch times with Varta directly.

I refer you to my previous email advising the batteries are approximately 80% charged and good to be used straight away. They are not faulty. I am still happy to offer you a good will gesture due to the batteries being dirty upon delivery to yourself.

If you are unhappy with your purchase then you are within your rights to return them to ourselves within the first 30 days from date of purchase for a full refund (providing they are returned unused and undamaged) They are to be returned at your own cost.

Regards

Russell.
Click to expand...
Looking at the warranty procedure below, the customer is pretty much screwed if claiming a refund.



Warranty Procedure​

What is covered under the warranty?
The warranty on your battery covers all faults caused by manufacturing or materials.
What is NOT covered under the warranty?
The following faults are not covered under the warranty:
  • Wear and tear
  • Incorrect application
  • Physical damage
  • Overcharging – Any voltage under 10.6 volts will not be processed as a warranty claim as this indicates more than 100% discharged
  • Deep or over cycling
  • Sulfation
Wear and Tear – When a battery is charged and discharged, material from the battery plates (active mass) is in motion, through the electromechanical reaction that produces electricity. Every time a battery goes through a charge-discharge cycle, a small amount of this active mass is lost from the plates. Due to so many factors impacting on the life of a battery, it is impossible to stipulate a minimum or maximum life expectancy.
Every battery has a finite number of cycles that it can go through before it loses its active mass, and in turn, its capacity. Vehicles with high usage such as buses, minibuses, taxis, and trucks, will often put a battery through this finite number of cycles over a much shorter amount of time, causing a battery to show the above symptoms after only 12-24 months. This is not a manufacturing fault.
Incorrect Application – The car batteries recommend via the VRN checker on www.batterymegastore.co.uk are equal to or above the original manufacturer equipment specification. Fitting a smaller or less powerful battery, or the incorrect type of battery to your vehicle will result in a shortened lifespan and premature failure. This is not a manufacturing fault.
Physical Damage – Any physical damage that occurs to the battery terminals or casing due to improper fitment, if the battery is dropped, if any connectors are hammered on to the terminals, or if connectors are not properly fastened, the battery may fail rapidly. This is not a manufacturing fault. **If your battery is damaged when it arrives with you then please let us know within 48 hours of receiving your delivery. Any claims made after this time will not be accepted**
Overcharging – If a battery is charged at an excessive current or voltage then it may overheat and the electrolyte inside will start to evaporate. This overcharging will cause an accelerated break-up of the active mass of the plates and the battery will lose performance.
This is usually very obvious as there will be a strong smell of Sulphur (rotten eggs) when charging the battery. When off charge the acid levels will be low and there may be a black coating on the filler caps. This is not a manufacturing fault.
Deep or Over Cycling – This happens if your car engine is switched on and off frequently, or you leave the interior lights, headlights, or other electrical consumers on for extended periods between journeys. Remember to completely switch everything off before locking your vehicle.
As mentioned above, every time a car battery goes through a charge and discharge cycle a small amount of material from the plates is lost. If a car battery is subjected to deep discharging (over 40%) and then rapid charging, this process is accelerated. This is not a manufacturing fault.
Sulfation – Sulfation occurs when a battery is allowed to stand in a discharged state for an excessive amount of time. When a battery voltage drops below a certain level, a chemical reaction known as sulfation takes place. In most cases, this voltage is at or below 12.06v. Sulfation is normally irreversible, and can permanently impair the performance of the battery, causing reduced performance and premature failure. Sulfation can be seen as a fine white/grey coating on the plates.
This damage can be caused if a battery is stored for long periods without charging, or installed in applications that are not frequently used, i.e. tractors, boats, and motorbikes. Vehicles are prone to discharging batteries as there is always a permanent drain from vehicle clocks, alarms etc. Over time, sulfation will build up on the plates, and hinder the performance of the battery.
Under normal operating conditions a battery cannot become discharged on its own (unless left for a long period of self-discharge). The reason for this discharge is normally caused by one of the following:
  • malfunctioning alternator, regulator, or starter motor
  • slipping fan belt
  • electrical fault
  • excessive use of electrical items such as heated seats, air conditioning etc
  • long standing time without recharge
  • boot light/glove box malfunction
  • vehicle lights being left on
As sulfatation is easily avoided by simply keeping your battery charged, this is also not a manufacturing fault.
 
PhilandMena said:
Looking at the warranty procedure below, the customer is pretty much screwed if claiming a refund.



Warranty Procedure​

What is covered under the warranty?
The warranty on your battery covers all faults caused by manufacturing or materials.
What is NOT covered under the warranty?
The following faults are not covered under the warranty:
  • Wear and tear
  • Incorrect application
  • Physical damage
  • Overcharging – Any voltage under 10.6 volts will not be processed as a warranty claim as this indicates more than 100% discharged
  • Deep or over cycling
  • Sulfation
Wear and Tear – When a battery is charged and discharged, material from the battery plates (active mass) is in motion, through the electromechanical reaction that produces electricity. Every time a battery goes through a charge-discharge cycle, a small amount of this active mass is lost from the plates. Due to so many factors impacting on the life of a battery, it is impossible to stipulate a minimum or maximum life expectancy.
Every battery has a finite number of cycles that it can go through before it loses its active mass, and in turn, its capacity. Vehicles with high usage such as buses, minibuses, taxis, and trucks, will often put a battery through this finite number of cycles over a much shorter amount of time, causing a battery to show the above symptoms after only 12-24 months. This is not a manufacturing fault.
Incorrect Application – The car batteries recommend via the VRN checker on www.batterymegastore.co.uk are equal to or above the original manufacturer equipment specification. Fitting a smaller or less powerful battery, or the incorrect type of battery to your vehicle will result in a shortened lifespan and premature failure. This is not a manufacturing fault.
Physical Damage – Any physical damage that occurs to the battery terminals or casing due to improper fitment, if the battery is dropped, if any connectors are hammered on to the terminals, or if connectors are not properly fastened, the battery may fail rapidly. This is not a manufacturing fault. **If your battery is damaged when it arrives with you then please let us know within 48 hours of receiving your delivery. Any claims made after this time will not be accepted**
Overcharging – If a battery is charged at an excessive current or voltage then it may overheat and the electrolyte inside will start to evaporate. This overcharging will cause an accelerated break-up of the active mass of the plates and the battery will lose performance.
This is usually very obvious as there will be a strong smell of Sulphur (rotten eggs) when charging the battery. When off charge the acid levels will be low and there may be a black coating on the filler caps. This is not a manufacturing fault.
Deep or Over Cycling – This happens if your car engine is switched on and off frequently, or you leave the interior lights, headlights, or other electrical consumers on for extended periods between journeys. Remember to completely switch everything off before locking your vehicle.
As mentioned above, every time a car battery goes through a charge and discharge cycle a small amount of material from the plates is lost. If a car battery is subjected to deep discharging (over 40%) and then rapid charging, this process is accelerated. This is not a manufacturing fault.
Sulfation – Sulfation occurs when a battery is allowed to stand in a discharged state for an excessive amount of time. When a battery voltage drops below a certain level, a chemical reaction known as sulfation takes place. In most cases, this voltage is at or below 12.06v. Sulfation is normally irreversible, and can permanently impair the performance of the battery, causing reduced performance and premature failure. Sulfation can be seen as a fine white/grey coating on the plates.
This damage can be caused if a battery is stored for long periods without charging, or installed in applications that are not frequently used, i.e. tractors, boats, and motorbikes. Vehicles are prone to discharging batteries as there is always a permanent drain from vehicle clocks, alarms etc. Over time, sulfation will build up on the plates, and hinder the performance of the battery.
Under normal operating conditions a battery cannot become discharged on its own (unless left for a long period of self-discharge). The reason for this discharge is normally caused by one of the following:
  • malfunctioning alternator, regulator, or starter motor
  • slipping fan belt
  • electrical fault
  • excessive use of electrical items such as heated seats, air conditioning etc
  • long standing time without recharge
  • boot light/glove box malfunction
  • vehicle lights being left on
As sulfatation is easily avoided by simply keeping your battery charged, this is also not a manufacturing fault.
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Thanks Phil, the last line is the one, by that definition these batteries would fail a warranty claim before they left the warehouse, they had been standing for at least 14 months and not charged, sulfation sets in at 12.4 volts according to Tanya web site. Off to Tewkesbury tomorrow to return them.
 
tonka said:
Drop them back when you go to the halloween rally... (y)
When i replaced my Varta batteries they were certainly within 6 month.
Had them from here, the guy was not aware of the date codes but i sent him the list i found and he checked his stock prior to shipping mine. I paid £90 back in sept 2020. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12425224...d=link&campid=5338547443&toolid=20001&mkevt=1
Click to expand...
Thanks Steve, appears that they don't do batteries any more. Off to Tewkesbury tomorrow to return them.
 
This site contains affiliate links for which MHF may be compensated.
It doesn't matter what the supplier says.
You have a contract with the supplier.
You do not have a contract with the manufacturer.

The supplier must take 100% responsibility for the battery state.
 
Yorick said:
It doesn't matter what the supplier says.
You have a contract with the supplier.
You do not have a contract with the manufacturer.

The supplier must take 100% responsibility for the battery state.
Click to expand...
Absolutely, they are not of merchantable quality but getting a refund is easier than making a claim in the small claims court. I live close enough to Tewkesbury to return them.
 

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