Birdseye
Well-known member
need a new 110aH boat battery. Nothing fancy, just an ordinary leisure battery. What makes do posters recommend? Lucas? Numax? Powerline? Varta? The latter seems about 50% more expensive.
new battery - recommended makes?
- Thread starter Birdseye
- Start date
sailorman
Well-known member
1 have 4 of these
http://www.batterymegastore.co.uk/product/XV31/
http://www.batterymegastore.co.uk/product/XV31/
abraxus
New member
+1.
I have 5 of those and am very happy with them and the service from battery megastore.
I have 5 of those and am very happy with them and the service from battery megastore.
Plevier
Active member
Interesting to note that Battery Megastore call this a deep cycle battery but its manufacturers Atlas BX in Korea call the XV31 a starter battery! Their cycling range is the DC series (also sold by Bat Mega.)
See http://www.atlasbx.co.kr/eng/product/product_list/Product_View_ST.do
When I was in the battery industry quite a while ago I reckoned I knew who made the good ones but now with so much less European production and more from Korea, China and Taiwan in most cases you don't know who has actually made the product despite the label. (The Alphaline range is an exception to this; Atlas BX declare Bat Mega as their UK distributor and http://www.alphalinebatteries.co.uk/buy.html carries both names. However the Korean website doesn't list the XV110 that Batt Meg sell as Alphaline.)
You used to get a lot of variation in weight too that was a good indicator of quality; now if you pick a particular size they all seem to be the same weight. I have to get the XV110 because of limited height. All the ones I could find, including Varta which used to be a reliable top name, are 24kg except the Exide gels originally fitted which are 28kg but a silly price and i wouldn't use gel anyway.
Tayna sell 2 supposedly different qualities of Enduroline and Powerline with different warranties at different prices but they weigh the same. I'd bet they are the same; we used to do that for Unipart - different prices for different warranty and different colour of box, insides were the same.
Lucas is just a brand name and I'm almost certain the same product as Numax and some others. Actual manufacturer unknown; there may well be several and they may change frequently.
So now I regard them as interchangeable commodity products. I bought the Alphaline in the end.
Of course it's a different ballgame if you lok at Trojan, Lifeline etc but not justified for occasional weekend use. "Leisure" batteries although technically cr*p are the economic solution.
sailorman
Well-known member
Yes your correct mine are DC31s
savageseadog
Well-known member
My thoughts on batteries in boats is to have two (at least), one a normal diesel engine automotive battery and the other a deep discharge battery. Use each battery for the purpose it was made for.
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Ignoring other variables, which is to be preferred, sealed or open? I've looked at Alphaline DC24s but am put off by not being able to top them up - I add water to my current batts every two months or so.
As I understand it sealed batteries have a pressure release vent. At what level of charge will this operate?
As I understand it sealed batteries have a pressure release vent. At what level of charge will this operate?
Plevier
Active member
Yes, but don't kid yourself any "leisure" battery - or anything priced like one - is really a deep discharge battery.
If you mean what you say, you must use something like Trojan for wet or Lifeline for AGM. As I said, that's a different ballgame.
If you are liveaboard/blue water, fine.
IMHO not the economic solution for occasional weekend/short cruise use.
I do agree about starter batteries - why do people use anything other than normal starter batteries if that's the only duty they are doing
KevB
Active member
I think generally there are only two brands where you'll know what you are getting for a leisure battery, Banner or Trojan.
savageseadog
Well-known member
Yes, but don't kid yourself any "leisure" battery - or anything priced like one - is really a deep discharge battery.
If you mean what you say, you must use something like Trojan for wet or Lifeline for AGM. As I said, that's a different ballgame.
If you are liveaboard/blue water, fine.
IMHO not the economic solution for occasional weekend/short cruise use.
I do agree about starter batteries - why do people use anything other than normal starter batteries if that's the only duty they are doing
Don't worry. I'm an electrical/electronic engineer. I'm not a believer in leisure batteries which appear to be a compromise between starting capability and deep discharge capability. I like the post that mentioned battery weight as an indicator of quality. It is.
Plevier
Active member
You are confusing two types of battery.
"Sealed maintenance free" such as the DC24 is just an ordinary wet battery that will not need topping up in its lifetime if charged according to certain conditions. It's really just marketing making use of the effects of improved modern materials such as lead - low antimony and lead-calcium alloys. The battery is not technically different other than the liquid level may be a bit higher. If you use very aggressive charging - roughly speaking anything above 14.4V routinely - you may indeed lose too much water. Many of these batteries (I don't know specifically about the DC24 but the pic looks like it may) have a cover strip over the original filling ports, often under a label, that you can lever off and top it up; they just don't have the old style screw plugs. However some do have sealed on covers, then you have a problem. These batteries don't have pressure relief valves.
"Sealed lead acid" also known as VRLA and AGM are genuinely sealed with a pressure relief valve, do not have free liquid acid in them and cannot be topped up. However if correctly charged they do not lose any water or gas, internal recombination reforms the water during charging (and the energy appears as heat). The pressure relief valve should only open in the case of serious overcharging (some may gas a bit early in their lives before reaching equilibrium).
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KevB
Active member
Here is an interesting read from Sterling, the makers of battery chargers, regarding the best 'leisure' batteries
http://www.sterling-power.com/support-faq-2.htm.
http://www.sterling-power.com/support-faq-2.htm.
NickRobinson
Well-known member
I went for these, 110Ah @ £60 very well packed/delivery included. I can't say how it'll last but it drives stuff well on board.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110-amp-L...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item43c7f8a1f4
Only weighs 18kg, ask me in three years...
N
sailorman
Well-known member
The DC 31s weigh over 30kg
NickRobinson
Well-known member
Reaching into the cockpit locker past the start battery at full stretch, one arm, I'm going to treat the lightness as a virtue...
sailorman
Well-known member
my 4 are abaft the engine, thats why i went the sealed route, i dont have a smart alternator booster eitherReaching into the cockpit locker past the start battery at full stretch, one arm, I'm going to treat the lightness as a virtue...
KellysEye
Active member
> just an ordinary leisure battery.
Make sure it's a deep cycle battery as used in golf carts not a starter battery. As said Trojan is one and is the most popular.
Make sure it's a deep cycle battery as used in golf carts not a starter battery. As said Trojan is one and is the most popular.
Plevier
Active member
23.4kg according to Bat Mega. Over 30kg would be amazing for that size. (Incidentally although Bat mega say it's 125Ah, its manufacturers say it's 100Ah, see http://www.atlasbx.co.kr/eng/product/product_list/Product_View_SC.do )
Bat Mega say the XV110 is 23.8kg (regrettably I didn't check before fitting them). That makes NickRobinson's identically sized ones extremely light if they are only 18kg.
sailorman
Well-known member
yes i was quoting from a failing memory[3889]
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Thanks, a good explanation.