Leisure Batteries.

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oldgit

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Need pair of 120 (ish) AH domestics.
Have searched and searched to the utmost ends of the interweb probably read everthing/ watched all the Youtube comparos.
Rather ancient charger so no fancy arm and leg high end GEL stuff.
Use is basically mostly shore power but every now and then,( on non tidal Thames) need to stretch to 24 hours and then 2 or 3 hour run to next mooring.
It would appear that either wet Banner or sealed Varta are the two preferred choices, with Exide/Lucas/Numax as alternatives
Prices are all within a few pounds of each other.
Web wisdom appears to sugget a pair of bathroom scales is your best friend .
As secondary question which battery is likely to give me the most number of charge cycles.Open or sealed.

All comments and suggestions most welcome.
Best deals do seem to be on Ebay and Amazon.

Most interesting was on Youtube, caravan chap actually cut open a number of leisure batteries to reveal whats actually inside, most proved to be rubbish with one battery an outright fraud.
 
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Trojan can be deep cycled to 50% many times without harm, most other leisure batteries cant so last less time. However, Trojans are expensive so most compromise. Its up to you to decide best value but Advanced Batteries apparently give good advice.
 
We just installed 2 x Leoch Adventurer 130AH Batteries for the house bank (https://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/12v-130ah-leoch-adventurer-agm-leisure-battery-lagm130/).. Specs claim good cycle life and price is good compared to similar spec batteries..

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oldgit said:
eventually went for a couple of these as best cost/quality/ capacity compromise.
Weight about 35 kilos.
ER650 Leisure Battery 142Ah 850cca 12V L349 x W175 x H290mm Electrical By Exide
Click to expand...

The fact a CCA number is given made me look and find 'Exide DUAL ER 650 Sealed Battery Designed to supply power to traditional motorhomes and caravans, this Exide DUAL battery '
so is it really a leisure battery? after watching the video of the man in his shed it seems it can not be.
 
ltcom said:
The fact a CCA number is given made me look and find 'Exide DUAL ER 650 Sealed Battery Designed to supply power to traditional motorhomes and caravans, this Exide DUAL battery '
so is it really a leisure battery? after watching the video of the man in his shed it seems it can not be.
Click to expand...

From what I can gather wet leisure batteries need thick lead plates to better cope with the deep discharge cycles. The ER 650 is certainly full of lead at 35 kilos for 140Ah.
Most leisure batteries claiming 115 - 130 Ah are considerable lighter at around 25 Kilos.
As you know from the YouTube video one "leisure" battery barely weighed 16 Kilos. ?
 
oldgit said:
Need pair of 120 (ish) AH domestics.
Have searched and searched to the utmost ends of the interweb probably read everthing/ watched all the Youtube comparos.
Rather ancient charger so no fancy arm and leg high end GEL stuff.
Use is basically mostly shore power but every now and then,( on non tidal Thames) need to stretch to 24 hours and then 2 or 3 hour run to next mooring.
It would appear that either wet Banner or sealed Varta are the two preferred choices, with Exide/Lucas/Numax as alternatives
Prices are all within a few pounds of each other.
Web wisdom appears to sugget a pair of bathroom scales is your best friend .
As secondary question which battery is likely to give me the most number of charge cycles.Open or sealed.

All comments and suggestions most welcome.
Best deals do seem to be on Ebay and Amazon.

Most interesting was on Youtube, caravan chap actually cut open a number of leisure batteries to reveal whats actually inside, most proved to be rubbish with one battery an outright fraud.
Click to expand...
My Numax 110 amp hr leisure from the local farm place, used for electric fences, at £80, were a steal. They lasted nearly 9 years!
Nothing special needed!
 
I have had 2 no Numax 110a/h batteries as my domestics, and the last lot were still going strong after 9 seasons. I changed them just in case as I was doing a trip for a few weeks to Belgium and Holland. I have gone for Numax again and hope they last as long as the others.
I have a Red Flash AGM as my starter battery and use a 1/2/both switch which I know many people hate but it works for me.
I always start on the Red Flash and switch over to domestics after about 15 minutes. When the engine is warm and restarting later on I use the domestics to avoid going below to switch over again. It didn't do my Numaxs any harm.
I did try a VSR but it would not work and kept " chattering". Victron said it didn't like the differential in battery bank capacities so i now keep it simple.
 
ditchcrawler said:
I have had 2 no Numax 110a/h batteries as my domestics, and the last lot were still going strong after 9 seasons. I changed them just in case as I was doing a trip for a few weeks to Belgium and Holland. I have gone for Numax again and hope they last as long as the others.
I have a Red Flash AGM as my starter battery and use a 1/2/both switch which I know many people hate but it works for me.
I always start on the Red Flash and switch over to domestics after about 15 minutes. When the engine is warm and restarting later on I use the domestics to avoid going below to switch over again. It didn't do my Numaxs any harm.
I did try a VSR but it would not work and kept " chattering". Victron said it didn't like the differential in battery bank capacities so i now keep it simple.
Click to expand...

A sound scheme for when you have a 1,2 both selector switch

older types of VSR can chatter if the priority battery is a small starter battery and the secondary battery is much larger, esp if a bit low on charge. My understanding is though that modern VSRs ( eg the Victron Cyrix) jncorporate a bit of electronic jiggery-pokery that prevents it ( Now you'll tell me that's what you have!
 
VicS said:
older types of VSR can chatter if the priority battery is a small starter battery and the secondary battery is much larger, esp if a bit low on charge. My understanding is though that modern VSRs ( eg the Victron Cyrix) jncorporate a bit of electronic jiggery-pokery that prevents it ( Now you'll tell me that's what you have!
Click to expand...

Your understanding is correct. the Cyrix is microprocessor controlled, part of that control is not allowing the relay to open and close instantly when changes in voltage are detected, this stops the chatter.
 
ditchcrawler said:
The Victron Cyrix is exactly what I had. A marine electrician couldn't get it to work properly either. To be honest I gave up as I like being able to control which battery is on charge or not.
Click to expand...

Not doubting your experience with the Cyrix for a moment, but i'm a little puzzled. Was this recently or many years ago ?
 
Sealed batteries will give you around 20% more cycles than a normal lead acid battery. If your battery bank is in your living compartment it would be wise to go for the sealed option due to battery fumes. I personally went for two Varta AGM Pro 95Ah deep cycle batteries but I do not think you can go wrong with any of the mayor brands as most offer at least a two year warranty. Have even seen some Bosch batteries with a 5 year warranty.
A future proof solution would probably be one 12v LiFePO4 battery. I like the fact that these batteries have a much much larger usable capacity that AGM batteries so instead of two AGM's you only really need one LiFePO4 bat. For now the prices are crazy but maybe one day...
 
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