New leisure battery advice.

[tom_sail]

My current 75ah leisure battery has seen better days. Tested it today and it's on 10.50V, I guess it's had it. Charged it up for 3 hours with the reading now being 11.70V.

In terms of replacement I plan to purchase a 115 ah alpaline leisure battery. Will This suffice a 26 foot sailing yacht with minimal instruments and lights?

Can anyone recommend an alternative? I'm not all that keen on this gell malarkey.

Sorry for a repeated subject and as always thanks.

 

[sailorman]

My current 75ah leisure battery has seen better days. Tested it today and it's on 10.50V, I guess it's had it. Charged it up for 3 hours with the reading now being 11.70V.

In terms of replacement I plan to purchase a 115 ah alpaline leisure battery. Will This suffice a 26 foot sailing yacht with minimal instruments and lights?

Can anyone recommend an alternative? I'm not all that keen on this gell malarkey.

Sorry for a repeated subject and as always thanks.

http://www.batterymegastore.co.uk/products/group/?c=Battery&a=Boat

 

[VicS]

My current 75ah leisure battery has seen better days. Tested it today and it's on 10.50V, I guess it's had it. Charged it up for 3 hours with the reading now being 11.70V.

In terms of replacement I plan to purchase a 115 ah alpaline leisure battery. Will This suffice a 26 foot sailing yacht with minimal instruments and lights?

Can anyone recommend an alternative? I'm not all that keen on this gell malarkey.

Sorry for a repeated subject and as always thanks.

The old battery probably has had it. If its been left at 10.5 volts, ie flatter than the proverbial pancake, for long I'd not rate its chances

However

3 hours is not likely to be long enough to get it anything like fully charged although you dont say what sort of charger you were using.

Try charging it for longer .. a lot longer. Try to get it to the point where it still reads 12.7 ish after standing for 12 hours.
If you can do that and it holds a reasonable charge for a couple of weeks or so there may be some life in it yet as a domestic battery.

Ideally use an automatic charger with a reconditioning stage.

Id think a 115 Ah battery will be more than adequate for a boat with minimal lighting and instrumentation. Much depends on your recahring arrangements. Its important for the longevity of any battery, except a true deep discharge one, that it is not regualarly discharged below 50% and that it is always reachrged promptly after use.

Work out how much power in Ampere hours you will use between recharging. Get a battery that is at least double that.

 

[tom_sail]

http://www.batterymegastore.co.uk/products/group/?c=Battery&a=Boat

Great website i think if I go ahead and buy a new batt it will from there.

The old battery probably has had it. If its been left at 10.5 volts, ie flatter than the proverbial pancake, for long I'd not rate its chances

However

3 hours is not likely to be long enough to get it anything like fully charged although you dont say what sort of charger you were using.

Try charging it for longer .. a lot longer. Try to get it to the point where it still reads 12.7 ish after standing for 12 hours.
If you can do that and it holds a reasonable charge for a couple of weeks or so there may be some life in it yet as a domestic battery.

Ideally use an automatic charger with a reconditioning stage.

Id think a 115 Ah battery will be more than adequate for a boat with minimal lighting and instrumentation. Much depends on your recahring arrangements. Its important for the longevity of any battery, except a true deep discharge one, that it is not regualarly discharged below 50% and that it is always reachrged promptly after use.

Work out how much power in Ampere hours you will use between recharging. Get a battery that is at least double that.

I'll leave it to charge over night too, the charger is fairly old.

I was having a lot of trouble with the battery last season. I would motor for 4 hours then when under sail alone the CD car radio would last 5 minutes before cutting off along with all the lights, to get them working I would have to switch to "both" batteries.

Current battery is a bocsh looks about 10 years old.

 

[richardabeattie]

"a 26 foot sailing yacht with minimal instruments and lights" So do you really need a big posh expensive leisure battery? I use a second hand car battery from a breakers yard. They test them in front of me, they cost about a tenner and they usually last me two or three years.

 

[gjgm]

Megastore are very good..why not give them a ring..
I concluded life would be alot easier for another few years if I just bought a new battery and stopped worrying about resurecting an old one !

 

[tom_sail]

"a 26 foot sailing yacht with minimal instruments and lights" So do you really need a big posh expensive leisure battery? I use a second hand car battery from a breakers yard. They test them in front of me, they cost about a tenner and they usually last me two or three years.

I intend to get a chart plotter and also want an inverter to charge camera batteries, I feel a reasonable sized leisure will allow me to fit more toys. I only charge the battery with the engine.

 

[tom_sail]

Megastore are very good..why not give them a ring..
I concluded life would be alot easier for another few years if I just bought a new battery and stopped worrying about resurecting an old one !

I agree. at the end of the day £80 is money well spent when last year we sat around the salon table with head touches in silence because the lights lasted 5 min.

 

[maxi77]

We used to do up to 10 days with 2X85s on our last boats with no charging except a baby forgen wind thing. Always took one ashore for proper charging when we were on a mooring

 

[rivonia]

I intend to get a chart plotter and also want an inverter to charge camera batteries, I feel a reasonable sized leisure will allow me to fit more toys. I only charge the battery with the engine.

As you intend to get a chart plotter (they eat electricity) I would anvise that you do get a very decent charging system. You say that you only chage by using the engine. Well you would have to have a reasonably big alternater and leave the engine on for some considerable time.

Just a thought. It might pay you in the long run as deep cycle batteries are NOT cheap.

Good luck

Peter

 

[Otter]

As you intend to get a chart plotter (they eat electricity) I would anvise that you do get a very decent charging system. You say that you only chage by using the engine. Well you would have to have a reasonably big alternater and leave the engine on for some considerable time.

Just a thought. It might pay you in the long run as deep cycle batteries are NOT cheap.

Good luck

Peter

Our last boat had a colour chart plotter that used 0.85ah. £80 for a new battery is money well spent, I would also get a cheap solar panel - 5w max. You won't need a regulator with that and it will keep the battery from self discharging.

 

[tom_sail]

Megastore are very good..why not give them a ring..
I concluded life would be alot easier for another few years if I just bought a new battery and stopped worrying about resurecting an old one !

Thanks for the replies.

A new battery and solar panel will be added to the already massive/expensive list. I do have a wind turbine but doesn't seem to anything, I prefer solar panels tbh.

 

[misterg]

I was having a lot of trouble with the battery last season. I would motor for 4 hours then when under sail alone the CD car radio would last 5 minutes before cutting off along with all the lights, to get them working I would have to switch to "both" batteries.

Although the prognosis isn't good for a 10 year old battery, you should check that it is being charged correctly by the boat engine. Measure the voltage across a fully charged battery with the engine running - it should be ~14 - 16V.

Andy

 

[stevensuf]

plenty of 110ah batteries on fleabay for much cheapness, maybe some cheapo led bulbs on fleabay as well, under a pounds each, should make the battery last much longer

 

[Otter]

Just a small extra point, if you have doubts about the charge state of a battery on board, don't put the selector switch to "both" as you described doing, as this will drain the good one into the bad one. Better to switch to solely drawing from the good battery.

 

[Richard10002]

plenty of 110ah batteries on fleabay for much cheapness, maybe some cheapo led bulbs on fleabay as well, under a pounds each, should make the battery last much longer

About £70 to £80 for the cheapest. Ive just bought 3 x 110Ah for £210. Can't really see any reason to buy more expensive branded batteries, nor have I been convinced of the value of the more expensive AGM or gel types.

Toying with the idea of a solar panel to finish off the topping up while I'm not on board. Probably worth the hundred quid or so it might cost.

 

[Kelpie]

Been shopping around for a new battery myself... I've found cheap 'sealed calcium' ones claiming 250 cycles... or for a bit more I can find ones claiming 500 cycles... is 500 as good as it gets? What sort of cycles do the posh batteries do?

 

[NickRobinson]

Age of Ebay Battery..

""

About £70 to £80 for the cheapest. Ive just bought 3 x 110Ah for £210. Can't really see any reason to buy more expensive branded batteries, nor have I been convinced of the value of the more expensive AGM or gel types.""

I bought an Ebay Leisure Battery which was duff from day one. Had to go back (to rather nice country house/business near Leicester) to get him to reluctantly change it for one which seems only slightly better. I had got sick at that point of driving 40 miles each time...

This led me to post here about how to avoid buying 'new old stock' batteries as age is a real issue on filled batteries. (Leisure batteries often look 'new' when they go in the skip...)

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=275043

So use a high turnover reputable local supplier and ask if the stock is fresh.

Regards

Nick (Rivendell)

 

[ripvan1]

On the batterymegastore link, what is the significance of cold cranking figure and why are some N/A ?

Also why is a battery with a higher cold cranking and AHs cheaper than one with lower spec ?

Thanks

 

[VicS]

On the batterymegastore link, what is the significance of cold cranking figure and why are some N/A ?

Also why is a battery with a higher cold cranking and AHs cheaper than one with lower spec ?

Thanks

just lifted from a website at random

What does CCA mean?
Cold Cranking Amps is a rating used in the battery industry to define a battery's ability to start an engine in cold temperatures. The rating is the number of amps a new, fully charged battery can deliver at 0° Farenheit for 30 seconds, while maintaining a voltage of at least 7.2 volts, for a 12 volt battery. The higher the CCA rating, the greater the starting power of the battery.

What are MCA or CA rates?
This is a rating used to describe the discharge load in amperes which a new, fully charged battery at 32 degrees F (0C), can continuously deliver for 30 seconds and maintain a terminal voltage equal or greater than 1.2 volts per cell. It is sometimes referred to as Marine Cranking Amps or Cranking Amps.​

CCA or MCA is the important factor for an engine starting battery. It would not be given for a battery not intended or not suitable for engine starting.


Ampere hours capacity is the important factor for a battery used for the boat's domestic services. It's a measure of how much juice there is available in the (charged) battery.

Few few ampere hours are required for starting an engine so batteries with a high CCA or MCA but a very small capacity can be used if space is in short supply.