Capt.Golightly

I need to replace my three cheapie 120 ah leisure batteries and whilst I fully appreciate that you get what you pay for any advice on brands offering good compromise between price and performance would be most gratefully received.

As you were! don't interrupt me with facts when I'm ranting! The Batteries are "Numax Leisure" 100AH the date "year" is given as 9012345678 and below it says: Indicator Condition O (circle which is green) Good Condition O (circle which is black) Charging Necessary O (circle which is white) Needs Replacing.

a set of numbers Richard..why? as if I am even wronger I shall be even happier!...ie year 90 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9...month 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12...thanks.

I apologise to all for my initial rant, though in honesty it had to be done to gain a healthier perspective as without external balance my head has a tendency to fry itself in latter days, and in respect to those I have thus far encountered in my new World I have to say I agree, they do seem to be a peculiarly honest and friendly group of people...and even though it may have appeared otherwise I always require concrete proof before actually naming names and leveling allegations rather than merely giving vent to generalised vitriolic suspicion elsewhere, (Dulcinea being her new name) a tendency I hope my more pacific life to come will lessen...doing so on here today and the measured and reassuring responses has truly made me feel a whole lot better..and I thank all who took the time and trouble to respond...afteral a tendency to foolishness only becomes true idiocy when it loses sight of its own tendency to foolishness.. Andrew.

I am now going with this too as it has made me feel better my friend, thank you! she's an old boat and in fairness I expected to have to replace stuff on her, I am also aware that it is my often poor mental health which causes me to leap rapidly to hostile interpretation (the price of having been formerly employed by the NHS I'm afraid). Thanks again.

Thanks Blodger, I am really hoping I am wrong in my suspicions as I am really sick of being casually screwed at every turn with seeming impunity and of having such a low default setting on my opinion of the honesty of my fellow man...thats exactly what I'm thinking Tony, that the vendor offset the cost of her blacking by having a deal on the possibly expensive battery's removed and replaced them with the old "spares" he had kept...I am afraid my experience over the last years has given me a very low opinion of human nature...and thanks JDR I too truly hope you are right.

Is it possible for a bank of three 100ah Lumax Leisure Battery's to last twelve years? I am wondering this as since having purchased my boat 6 weeks ago and having been on Shoreline since (living with dim 12v lights and a trickle of water) my Battery's have simply refused to take any charge and my fridge has consistently indicated that the voltage has dropped below its 10v cutout. Either the previous owner ran an incredible battery care regime which just happened to collapse three weeks after he stepped off or the receipt I found for blacking in a boatyard not half a mile from the one it was purchased in and three days previous to her arrival here shows where the serviceable batteries were removed and replaced with these planks....what do you reckon? p.s I could have negotiated on the price at the time had the marine Electrician who was supposed to carry out the engine rewire done so when he was supposed to and then when he turned up 5 weeks late not failed entirely to spot the reason for the Batteries not charging despite being down there rewiring for four bleeding hours!!! When I asked why he thought they weren't charging he said "I've no idea and the Vendor came whilst I was checking her initially for what work was needed and he didn't know either"..now I may not be able to prevent people from being dishonest but it REALLY pulls my chain when they also insult my intelligence!! I guess this is my own fault for trusting people, particularly "professional" ones, a lesson I should have learned repeatedly as a former NHS "whistle blower" over the last ten years or so really. When yesterday I finally checked myself it took me all of five seconds to spot what the Surveyor and Electrician had both missed as the probable cause of her lifeless 12v. system... THE DATE ON THE TOP OF THE BATTERIES DEC 1999!!

given that the socket is wired to the batteries and aside from slight drops caused by cable length and the number of contacts etc is this likely to be wildly different?...barring some catastrophic fault between the socket and the battery that is of course..sorry you answered while I was typing thanks. Thanks Richard..But I didn't have a Citroen Saxo..... I had a Honda CB900f Hardtail Chop, and 1977 BMW R100rs instead as they both a tiny bit quicker

would it not not tell you how many volts the batteries where putting out then? as in not allowing them to drop below 12,4v etc before charging?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LED-Car-Battery-Electric-Cigarette-Lighter-Voltmeter-Voltage-Meter-DC-12V-24V-/230935260229?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Test_Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item35c4d06c45 Would one of these be any use at all for monitoring battery state?

Is it possible for someone to give a clear statement of rule of thumb guidance on battery charging regimes for different batteries eg 100ah 110ah 120ah (or the most common types) something like this would be brilliantly useful : "when your monitor reads x it should be considered "flat" for its longevities sake so run your engine/generator or whatever until it reads x (NEVER discharge below x) and then knock it off as this is as good as it gets.... if however your battery drops to x and will not charge above x it is "dead" so buy another" ..this would be great. I ask because having worked in technical support in I.T I know that if I said "press this, that, and then that" they didn't call again whereas if said "press this to clear the Cache, etc etc" then they were on the phone again within ten minutes having forgotten entirely what they should be pressing... Thanks.

As you were on that idea..though it still stands as an economy..It was basing it on the fact that my lights dip enormously when my pump activates but as I have discovered that new pumps only draw about 4a I think this may be due to knackered Batteries..all this is very difficult to work out as mine is a new boat (to me) and I have been trapped on Shoreline since its purchase awaiting completion of an engine rewire...hence all my posts on such things are based on the anxiety of speculation.....I have amended my op as it wrongly gave the impression I knew what I was talking about, when I finally get to live on my on steam I may have power to spare or a life of twilight... will keep you posted. That is a better idea mate..bit I still like my emergency supply as running out always creeps up at the worst time however carefully I try to monitor its use.

They would have been told the same story and fed extra carrots to make it more believable it case of capture...Subs used red cabin lighting at night so as not to impair night vision on surfacing...

I bought 2x 25 litre water containers which I always replenish when filling my tank..as an emergency backup. But realising that most of my water use during the day is for the kettle and very brief spurts of mostly cold water I fitted a tap to the base of one and stood it by the sink..with a short length of hose attached...I fill it from the the sink tap when running the engine and this mostly negates the use of the water pump when moored entirely, a big saving on the batteries...on non cruising days a brief burst of engine power whilst the pump runs takes a few minutes to refill it...and is a good time for a very quick shower too. This also extends the life of the Water Pump saving its endless stopping and starting. I should add here that I have a vintage water (to which I am oddly attached) pump with an intermittent fault and so this measure was as much about sparing it work as saving energy.

hello Julian, I like the sound of the solar hot water too...i think I'm probably being optimistic about the output of my 290watt panel supplying all my needs, though they are low ,24w 12volt tv or laptop (never both) and in the evening mostly one led light...sometimes I spoil myself with two, i reckon the major users are the water pump and 12v fridge,,this is all speculation as I haven't lived on engine generated power yet still being in the marina where i bought the boat 6 weeks ago waiting for an engine rewire to be completed and hence on shorepower,..anyway soon I hope to be off cc'ing so i will no doubt update with more questions about other things on here then,,,cheers Andrew.