lesrollins

Thanks for all the help and information. I went for varta 180,s as a replacement also replaced the starter battery with a varta. In the end i got them from evesham marina who i found to be great people to deal with. Its the first time i have dealt with them and i would have no problems going back there. Cheers

Forget solar panels at night. I have invested in 2000 hamsters it can get a bit noisy in the boat, but boy when they are all in there different wheels which are in turn connected to the batteries they put some amp power back into the batteries.

Varta 180,s now on order pick them up friday £486 for three. Elecsols 220 new battery seems to come in a wider cage now, but if i could have had elecsols i probably would of got them and perhaps regreted it later. Elecsol need to book up there idea,s. i would love to know which stockist as actually got some elecsol batteries because i couldn,t find any. There is a company on ebay advertizing elecsol 220 batteries with a buy it now price but they don,t actualy stock them, your order is passed onto elecsol themselves and they post them to you. So hands up if you know a stockist who as got them should be interesting.

I am not anyway anything to do with any of the company,s mentioned. When I looked at midsummer energy there kyocera 135 solar panel came in at £435 but at solar-wind.co.uk the same panel is priced at £261.33 there controllers were better priced to. So shop around before you buy panels. Personaly I wouldn,t rely on solar power to cope with the washing machine. Have you got a travel pack on the engine at least that way you can do the washing, heat the water and charge the batteries much cheaper than going to the laundrette.

The more you read the reviews about elecsol the bleaker it becomes. Even caravan/motorhome user,s seem to disown them even though the caravan club seem to praise elecsol,s. How do they make a profit. Spoke to battery megastore tewkesbury and they told me they would never touch elecsol,s, when asked about the varta 180,s even thou they are a stockists I was told there wasn,t any stock available anywhere and they tried to sell me the mf190 battery. But when I rang groves batteries of cheltenham I was told they could get the varta battery in a couple of days. Do suppliers endorse some batteries more than others because they make more money on certain brands.

I think I like the sound of the Varta LFD180. The dimensions are spot on and I will be dropping 120 amps but even 540 amps should be more than enough. We have got 12v tv,12v fridge and led lighting so everything is being kept to a minimum. Am I right that you should not let the battery power fall below 80% before charging. So 540 amps - 80% = 108 amps of usage. That should be more than enough on such a low usage system. Confused.com

Pete I am a liveaboard without any mains hookup so looking for something decent. As for ringing elecsol i have done that but the conversation was short the guy seemed unhelpful and was supposed to ring back but so far has not but it was only about 4 hours ago perhaps he is still having a break

Just wondered if anyone can help regarding ideas with battery replacement. The batteries in the boat now need replacing there are 3 x 220 elecsol batteries. I was going to replace them with the same brand of battery but seem to be having difficulty getting hold of any elecsol,s unless anyone knows where there are some. The battery sizes are L520 x W230 x H220. I have looked at the Varta 180 any thoughts ? I was offered the Enduroline exv 220 as a replacement but the reviews seem poor. Do I go for sealed, agm, gel, wet type. Thanks for any help.

Thanks smileypete I have now ordered the amp,shunt,voltmeter and black panel that you told me about. Will be getting some new batteries next week so I will try and look after them. Don,t know what batteries to go for yet. Boat is fitted with 3 x elecsol 220. Any decent brands out there you can help with. Cheers for your help.

Just wondered if this item would be okay I would have to get a panel for it to sit in to hide the hole when I take the durite volt meter out. Ebay item number 180463308411. Cheers

Thanks looking forward to the links

Just couldn,t understand why I thought the connection had come off the negative but when I tried it was to short anyway.

So how do you learn all about voltmeters, ammeters and shunts. When I enquired about bulk, absorption and float, Bottle (keith) gace me a nice link to a website that put it into good old fashioned terms. Bearing in mind that just before March I lived in a house where the flick of a switch supplied electricity, turning the tap supplied endless amounts of water and bodily waste dissapeared never to be seen again. You are never to old to learn.

I will look into " snake oil " sounds like a good old red indian remedy. But if these are the original batteries after 7 years I think new ones are needed. I noticed that all the leisure batteries are connected positive to positive, negative to negative. On the bow thruster there are two batteries both positive,s are connected but only one negative is connected before it feeds off to the bow thruster leaving the other negative untouched. Any reason why, the bow thruster only worked for a short period when I first picked the boat up now it just clicks when operated, advised it could be the relay.

Thanks bottle that couldn,t of been easier. cheers for the help.

Well I did the hydrometer readings on all three batteries starting from the positive pole. The readings varied between cells a few in the red which states recharge, most others being in the white ( fair ) but only three cells were on the border of good and fair. I noticed that a couple of the cells where I took readings from did not provide a clear acid like the others but a slight brown colour. Any guesses why ? and can someone educate me what bulk, absorption and float mean on the phoenix multi control. Cheers

A silly question when is it best to take a hydrometer reading before or after charging.

Got the hydrometer from halfords yesterday so i will check them today. at least i will know if or any of the cells are kaput.

Thanks when i rang them yesterday they told me they didn, t stock them ! Strange.

I haven,t been able to get hold of a hydrometer locally tried halfords and all the car spare places. If someone knows of anywhere in Gloucester let me know. Otherwise I will source one off the net. Anyway I have just been looking at the paperwork on the boat and in the craft spec sheet under service batteries the item is marked down as 3 x Elecsol 220 a/h 12v. And they are Elecsol,s still fitted on the boat so if they are the original ones they have had a good innings and its time for a change. Would it be sensible to stick with such a large bank of batteries or even drop down to some 110,s. Any good batteries come to mind ? This is all new to me. Cheers

I would not stick a smartguage in to solve my woes but hopefully help to manage and understand the battery bank. it looks like i might need to buy new batteries but until i have tried a few things i can,t be 100% sure. and to replace the battery bank i have now is probably going to cost around 600. so i think they should be understood somehow.