Replacement deep cycle batteries

Peter

Well-Known Member
Joined
31 May 2001
Messages
345
Location
cumbria
Visit site
Looking to replace my house batteries, 5 x 110amp/hr, standard lead acid batteries.
Not looking to change from a lead acid battery. Have been looking at the Tayna website and there selection

https://www.tayna.co.uk/110Ah-Leisure-Batteries-and-Group-31-Size-Leisure-Batteries-G152.html

If link works any comments on there star buy or any over battery manufacture as regards, longevity, value for money, warranties, although with the boat being in spain, not sure how effective a warranty is. Or any other comments.

Thanks
 
We use the Varta Hobby batteries and the last well but have solar keeping them topped up. That is quite a big yacht, do you have room for golf cart 6v batteries? the only problem is you will need 4 or 6, but they are true deep cycle batteries.
 
Out of that selection I'd go for the Exide or Varta. Enduroline just means fat margins for Tayna I think.

+1 I'm surprised at Tayna as they have a good reputation, but they push these unknown name, (own branded?), Enduroline batteries.

Definitely none are Deep Cycle, but what 110Ah batteries are??
 
+1 I'm surprised at Tayna as they have a good reputation, but they push these unknown name, (own branded?), Enduroline batteries.

Definitely none are Deep Cycle, but what 110Ah batteries are??

Tayna do have a good reputation and are my local supplier when home. Many battery manufacturers will do "own brand" labels and lots come in from China, as they have done for many years. I changed over to 4 x Trojan T125s 3 years ago and still going strong but too soon to see how life compares to the 12v AGMs which only lasted me 3 years.
 
If you have the space and can manage with less than 550Ah then Trojan T105s would be an excellent choice. You'd only get 450Ah from 4xT105s but probably much longer life if you don't keep pulling them below 50% SOC.

Tayna would sell for £550 delivered (you might get a small discount if you call).
Batterymegastore do packs of 4 for £520 incl. delivery

The lower price works out at £130 per 112.5Ah and that's about the same as several of the "leisure" (lorry start?) batteries listed.

The only downside is the lower 450Ah capacity. You could ask about 4 x T125s to get 480Ah.

Forget about 12V Trojan range, very expensive and only half the expected lifespan of the 6V range.
 
We only have one 110A battery in the house bank so it gets quite a hard life (swinging mooring, no solar). I've just been through the same process on these group 31 batteries and only succeeded in getting thoroughly confused and frustrated. Our last battery lasted 7 seasons so I've decided to replace the battery like for like.
It was a Lucas LX31MF and are available delivered for <£80. Tayna sell them so not sure why they don't show up in your linked list.
 
...the ones you are loking are not deep cycle they are starter batteriees.

Strictly speaking the ones in question are normally described as dual purpose. In the absence of other evidence I have to believe the manufacturers when they say that the plates are thicker than pure starter batteries. Most of these batteries have relatively low CCA figures. Just about any largeish battery will start a diesel engine. Your Trojans will start an engine.
When you say a five year life for a T105 are you talking liveaboard? Otherwise that seems quite a short life. As I said my dual purpose battery lasted for seven years before showing signs of dying.
 
Strictly speaking the ones in question are normally described as dual purpose. In the absence of other evidence I have to believe the manufacturers when they say that the plates are thicker than pure starter batteries. Most of these batteries have relatively low CCA figures. Just about any largeish battery will start a diesel engine. Your Trojans will start an engine.
When you say a five year life for a T105 are you talking liveaboard? Otherwise that seems quite a short life. As I said my dual purpose battery lasted for seven years before showing signs of dying.

Always difficult as there are so many variables. I used to get 6-7 years or more on my previous boat but requirements and expectations were very low. I now spend 6-7 months living on a boat and decided that T105s were a no brainer for me.

Trojan T105s were not much more expensive and had a predicted 1,500 cycles lifespan vs. likely 250 cycles for a leisure battery. Even that's guesswork as Trojans figures are measured in ideal lab. situation and it's difficult to get any figures from leisure battery manufacturers. I'd start to worry about leisure batteries after 1-2 seasons so bought T105s to get more peace of mind for very little extra cost, even though I only expect 50% of predicted lifespan.

If you manage with a 110A battery you probably use less than 33Ah/day, probably an awful lot less if you don't have wind, solar or shorepower. Even a failing battery might meet your needs for quite a few extra seasons.

OP has 550Ah batteries so probably has quite a bit of electrical kit onboard. This makes it a bit more difficult for him to get the right balance between capacity, performance, cost, available space and charging systems.
 
Last edited:
Looking to replace my house batteries, 5 x 110amp/hr, standard lead acid batteries.
Not looking to change from a lead acid battery. Have been looking at the Tayna website and there selection

https://www.tayna.co.uk/110Ah-Leisure-Batteries-and-Group-31-Size-Leisure-Batteries-G152.html

If link works any comments on there star buy or any over battery manufacture as regards, longevity, value for money, warranties, although with the boat being in spain, not sure how effective a warranty is. Or any other comments.

Thanks
I used Numax 110 amp leisure batteries bought from the local farmers shop about 8 years ago, still going strong. They are allegedly sealed but you can unscrew the caps using a pair of needle nose pliers. I have kept them topped up with distilled water and they are connected permanently to a solar panel/ panels. They were about £80 and you can still get them for not a lot more
Stu
 
I did a lot of research on this topic before replacing my service battery. I concluded:
1/ Your engine start battery needs to provide CCA in short bursts, but (like your car battery) needs to be charged up regularly and will never fully recover from any deep discharge.
2/ Your service battery needs to be able to recover from deep discharge because of it's use (running lights, nav equipment, tiller pilot etc for long periods whilst not being charged).
3/ For deep cycle capability, lead content is king. Lead is heavy. I bought the heaviest AGM battery I could find with the required capacity.
 
My Trojans are 8 years old now and still going strong. Well worth the money, but they are bloody heavy.
 
I did a lot of research on this topic before replacing my service battery. I concluded:
1/ Your engine start battery needs to provide CCA in short bursts, but (like your car battery) needs to be charged up regularly and will never fully recover from any deep discharge.
2/ Your service battery needs to be able to recover from deep discharge because of it's use (running lights, nav equipment, tiller pilot etc for long periods whilst not being charged).
3/ For deep cycle capability, lead content is king. Lead is heavy. I bought the heaviest AGM battery I could find with the required capacity.

I like your thinking until you said AGM. I'd still back the right wet battery (e.g. post #16) against the best AGM.
Your other current thread shows one of the risks with AGM.
 
I like your thinking until you said AGM. I'd still back the right wet battery (e.g. post #16) against the best AGM.
Your other current thread shows one of the risks with AGM.

In typical circumstances, wet flooded batteries, maintenance-free batteries and AGM batteries will all have a reasonable lifespan. The situation experienced by 12 Year Plan B-) isn't typical. I'm still happy to use AGMs, especially for their ready charge acceptance and complete cleanliness.
 
If you have the space and can manage with less than 550Ah then Trojan T105s would be an excellent choice. You'd only get 450Ah from 4xT105s but probably much longer life if you don't keep pulling them below 50% SOC.

Tayna would sell for £550 delivered (you might get a small discount if you call).
Batterymegastore do packs of 4 for £520 incl. delivery

The lower price works out at £130 per 112.5Ah and that's about the same as several of the "leisure" (lorry start?) batteries listed.

The only downside is the lower 450Ah capacity. You could ask about 4 x T125s to get 480Ah.

Forget about 12V Trojan range, very expensive and only half the expected lifespan of the 6V range.

My opinion and my experience, this is by far the best option. The 6V batteries are TRUE deep cycle. They are much more robust and forgiving of abuse, partial charging, deep discharging, etc. Also the most bang for the buck.
 
In typical circumstances, wet flooded batteries, maintenance-free batteries and AGM batteries will all have a reasonable lifespan. The situation experienced by 12 Year Plan B-) isn't typical. I'm still happy to use AGMs, especially for their ready charge acceptance and complete cleanliness.

AGMs will take a higher rate of charge IF you have the charger or alternator that can manage. However this high acceptance rate is only significant in the range of roughly 50-80% state of charge. Once over around 80% the charge acceptance of AGMs drops to a level closer to that of FLA batteries. Over 90% the difference is negligible.

Also with AGMs, they don't tolerate well frequent partial charging and to realize full life need to be fully charged on a regular and frequent basis. If not able to do this it is very likely your expensive AGM batteries will have a short life span. Since they cost about four times a FLA battery that would be an expensive loss for me.
 
Top