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Hi all,thanks to all the great advice I received from my last post I realise I need to,among ather things, replace my batteries that are not holding there charge,I've seen 130amp batteries on ebay for 70 odd quid,has anyone had any experience with these cheap batteries or is it false economy,any recommendations please,many thanks 

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44 minutes ago, baldlimey said:

Unless you are really commited to battery management you can kill expensive batteries as quickly as cheap ones.

 

I treat then as a consumable so buy the cheapest I can find but expect to replace them every 4-5 years.

 

Pete

 

My own experience is that even as someone really committed to battery management I managed to kill the one set of expensive batteries I ever bought, being let down by the faulty instrument I also purchased to help me conduct the battery management. 

 

 

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I buy the cheapest sealed batteries I can find, usually from car spares wholesalers. I have bought Probat for the last 3 boats and surprisingly have had very good life from them all.

Rather than buy on ebay I contact the supplier and ask for a quote for say 4 batteries delivered to the same address and usually get a significant reduction in the price.

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6 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

I buy the cheapest sealed batteries I can find, usually from car spares wholesalers. I have bought Probat for the last 3 boats and surprisingly have had very good life from them all.

Rather than buy on ebay I contact the supplier and ask for a quote for say 4 batteries delivered to the same address and usually get a significant reduction in the price.

 

Can you expand on this please? 

 

Are you buying cheapo car starter batteries or cheapo batteries but still designated "leisure" batts? (I"ve never really understood the difference). 

 

Also, climbing up the chain of suppliers always strikes me as a Good Idea. With batts I suspect they pass through several hands before reaching the boater, each hand adding a profit margin. At some point though IME, you are expected to buy a pallet of them rather than just four.

 

 

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I have most often gone down the cheap battery route and replaced every 4-5 years.

 

However when seeing very cheap batteries advertised on eBay make sure that they are giving you power figures in the standard way and not an over inflated value.

 

The normal rating is the C20 (i.e. discharge over 20 hours) and how much AH you will get.  There are other levels too such as C100 which is showing the discharge over a larger amount of time and a lower rate of discharge. All batteries perform better the smaller amount of load used.

 

So a leisure battery rated at C20 may be say 110AH but could be rated 130AH at C100.  If advertised as a 130AH battery you will not be getting what you thought  you were if you wanted an actual 130AH battery.

 

This for example is a case in point.

 

12V 130AH 130 AH Leisure Battery DEEP CYCLE for Motorhome / Caravan / Campervan£ | eBay

 

It says it's 130AH but it is NOT as it is showing the C100 rating.

Edited by churchward
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4 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Can you expand on this please? 

 

Are you buying cheapo car starter batteries or cheapo batteries but still designated "leisure" batts? (I"ve never really understood the difference). 

 

Also, climbing up the chain of suppliers always strikes me as a Good Idea. With batts I suspect they pass through several hands before reaching the boater, each hand adding a profit margin. At some point though IME, you are expected to buy a pallet of them rather than just four.

 

 

Leisure batts.

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7 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Or as Gibbo said, "start batteries with handles" 😀

Hey, don't knock.  They work fine, are a good weight. With an inverter perhaps starter batteries would have a place as they cope with very heavy loads better than so called leisure batteries.

 

I see no point in spending £150 a battery when a £60 one will do the job for just as long with the average boater who neglects his batteries.

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2 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Hey, don't knock.  They work fine, are a good weight. With an inverter perhaps starter batteries would have a place as they cope with very heavy loads better than so called leisure batteries.

 

I see no point in spending £150 a battery when a £60 one will do the job for just as long with the average boater who neglects his batteries.

 

I agree, as long as people buying so-called leisure batteries know what they are actually buying. I am sure my last set of Exide leisure batteries were no more than start batteries with handles. Perhaps the small premium on price gave pocketed plates, but I rather doubt it, and they were six years old and going strong when I sold the boat. Also purchased for a Motor Trade wholesaler with a known high throughput.

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27 minutes ago, Kendorr said:

 

Bought six ABS 110A leisure batteries, over the last two years. Two for the boat's 12v system and four for the inverter. No problems to report. Good delivery. Unlike me (doh), don't forget to remove the blanking material over the vent holes on arrival.. Placed there for transportation. I left four in their boxes for a while, and when I came to unpack them, the ends looked as if the plates had swollen. Thinking I'd got some duff batteries. and about to blow a fuse. The fault was entirely mine. I didn't realise how much gas pressure could build up, and enough to distort the case. The cases did return to a normal shape. 

 

 

Edited by Higgs
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59 minutes ago, Higgs said:

 

Bought six ABS 110A leisure batteries, over the last two years. Two for the boat's 12v system and four for the inverter. No problems to report. Good delivery. Unlike me (doh), don't forget to remove the blanking material over the vent holes on arrival.. Placed there for transportation. I left four in their boxes for a while, and when I came to unpack them, the ends looked as if the plates had swollen. Thinking I'd got some duff batteries. and about to blow a fuse. The fault was entirely mine. I didn't realise how much gas pressure could build up, and enough to distort the case. The cases did return to a normal shape. 

 

 

Why the split system and not a bank of 6, electrically more efficient unless the drain on all cells is the same.

 

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17 minutes ago, Ex Brummie said:

Do you need some Covonia? 

What I said, 12 volt batteries with a capacity of 110 amp/hr. 

 

Ok I'll spell it out. "Amps/hr" is misleading nonsense, rubbish and meaningless.

 

You probably means Amp Hours. 

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1 minute ago, MtB said:

 

Ok I'll spell it out. "Amps/hr" is misleading nonsense, rubbish and meaningless.

 

You probably means Amp Hours. 

 

True, and for a start battery Amp hours is an obsolete capacity measurement. It should be Cold Cranking Amps, Marine Cold Cranking Amps or reserve capacity. Luckily for those who want to use them for domestic use, Ah is often still quoted.

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The Ah rating is indeed only meaningful for a specified discharge current. The web sites of the reputable electrical suppliers from which I get the SLA batteries for our electric bikes provide dowloadable data sheets for the batteries they supply which include Ah data for different discharge rates and info about the type of duty the batteries are suitable for.  12Ah batteries of a size that would fit our bikes are available costing from around  £15 to over four times as much. The cheaper ones are designed for static operation for alarm systems, emergency lighting etc. where they will be trickle charged continuousy and not called on to deliver current regularly. The expensive ones I need to buy are specifically designed for traction use, can cope with deep discharge and vibration, and types are now available that have a specified life of at least 9 years.  The batteries that came with our first bike (bought new some 15 years ago) had a nominal 15Ah capacity but barely lasted 12 months.  The traction quality 12Ah  replacements with a design life of 5 years that I have been  using since, have typically lasted at least 7.  

 

I guess there is no "best" battery, there are only batteries that are best for the circumstances under which they are to be used.  

 

 

Edited by Ronaldo47
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