Leisure Batteries. Which Ones Please?

[Zayna]

Hello everyone and thank you to the techies for the new forum. Couldn't live without it.

 

Anyway.

 

We need new leisure batteries and need to know which ones to get.

 

We are weekenders not liveaboard, we don't have shore power (well we use it when we're out and about if it's available but don't have it on our home mooring), so which make of battery should we get, please? I understand that there are different types, and that we shouldn't get the ones that are designed to be permanently on charge via hook up, is that right?

 

About £100 per battery would be lovely. Is that ridiculous? We need four.

 

The batteries we have now are about 6 years old and are pretty much goosed. We also don't know if they are the 'original' batteries that were put on the boat when it was built 6 years ago because the vendor could have swapped them for crap ones.

 

If anyone has any recommendations please, that would be fabulous.

 

Eternally grateful for this forum and the wise people who post here, thank you.

 

Zayna.

[DHutch]

Can't recall the price we paid last time, but it was well under the £100 mark as far am aware. And some back form recycling the old.

 

Just go for a set of normal, wet cell, conventional leisure batteries, from a manufacture that's been around for a while, from a local outlet with good turn around.

 

Names the come to mind:

Exide

Varta

Lucas

Trojan

Yasua

Numax

Tayna

Banner

 

 

Assuming you have sensible useage levels, and move the boat when your onboard you should have no issues getting 4-8years easy. The only thing you need to do is make sure they get to funm charge most times, and that they are well up when you leave them.

 

 

Daniel

[Richard10002]

I just bought 4 x Trojan T105 at £100 each delivered. Total 450Ah at 12v.A 100W solar panel tops them up during the 3 or 4 days a week I'm off the boat.

[Nickhlx]

If you have made the batteries you have last 6 years you are certainly looking after them well ! Any "normal" battery can be killed in weeks / months by improper care, regardless of "quality" or price. The secret is to keep them topped up (if wet) and brought back to fully charged as soon as possible after discharge (usually overnight). Personally I prefer flooded / wet lead acid batteries as they seem more tolerant of abuse if you keep them watered and charged

 

As you can obviously look after them as they need to be, its probable that any flooded / wet battery that you can come across will give you good service. Some subscribe to the view that "the cheapest" is the best investment, and if you inadvertently kill them by e.g. not being able to tend to them for a period of absence, then its a whole lot less of a loss. I have made Numax batteries last 6 years so far ( cheaper end of the scale) and my Trojans ( T-125) which are also 6 years old are going strong as well, which are a lot more expensive. With any battery I check the Rested battery voltage, if possible before purchase at e.g. Halfords, to check it is at least at 12.6 or more volts, which hopefully is an indication it is a good one to start with

 

You should find batteries at around £100 for a 12V 110 aH - possible suppliers include Bristol Batteries or Tayna (you should remember them !) but have a google and choose a large distributor with a high number of good feedback, as they will hopefully have a good turnover and they will be "fresh"

 

Nick

[eightacre]

I got these last time:

 

https://www.tayna.co.uk/XV31MF-Enduroline-Calcium-Leisure-Battery-P9110.html

 

.....no problems.

[bottle]

All above advice is good, you may have a motor factors or battery specialist in your area that would do a deal on four.

 

Personally I think the Trojans would be 'overkill' for your usage.

 

 

and that we shouldn't get the ones that are designed to be permanently on charge via hook up, is that right?

 

All batteries can be on 'permanent charge' if the charger is 'intelligent' that is a one that is Three Stage, (bulk, absorption, float).

 

Something to think about if you do not already have it, is a solar panel (does not have to be large) and a suitable controller then your batteries will/should be always fully charged when you get to the boat..

Just one more point make sure the physical size and the terminals are in the same place on the new ones as the old ones.

[Zayna]

Thanks all. Yes, we are talking about getting a solar panel.

 

Is that a whole other subject - ie. which one, what size...

[bottle]

Depends if it is to just be used for battery maintenance or run the boat.

[bigcol]

https://www.tayna.co.uk/XV31MF-Powerline-Leisure-Battery-P8968.html

 

Bought 4 of these, 4 year warrantee, £59 with the warrantee you can't go wrong

Low level ones of same 110amp £50,

 

eBay link. With warrantee Next day delivery

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271148411865?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

Col

Edited June 17, 2015 by bigcol

[Zayna]

Probably just battery maintenance.

 

We don't have loads of appliances. We have a 12v fridge, small TV, DAB radio. And the usual mod cons such as a water pump and a flushing toilet (cassette, not pump out, lol). We have LED lights and I'm very economical with them, I'd rather have my battery fairy lights on when it's dark.

 

We don't have a washer or a freezer and I don't straighten my hair or use a hairdryer.

 

One other thing... we went to Llangollen a few weeks ago and had hook up... decided to put the immersion heater on for some hot water and it's not working. Great. But irrelevant to this thread so don't worry about it.

[Naughty Cal]

Probably just battery maintenance.

 

We don't have loads of appliances. We have a 12v fridge, small TV, DAB radio. And the usual mod cons such as a water pump and a flushing toilet (cassette, not pump out, lol). We have LED lights and I'm very economical with them, I'd rather have my battery fairy lights on when it's dark.

 

We don't have a washer or a freezer and I don't straighten my hair or use a hairdryer.

 

One other thing... we went to Llangollen a few weeks ago and had hook up... decided to put the immersion heater on for some hot water and it's not working. Great. But irrelevant to this thread so don't worry about it.

I feel your pain with the immersion heater. We have just replaced the element in ours which is i a tricky place to reach and requires taking the fridge out to get at the tank. Put everything back together again only to find it was faulty and had to be replaced again

 

We have Varta Proffesional batteries on at the moment. They seem to be doing the job just fine. They have been on over a year now with no noticeable loss of performance.

[Neil Smith]

Probably just battery maintenance.

 

We don't have loads of appliances. We have a 12v fridge, small TV, DAB radio. And the usual mod cons such as a water pump and a flushing toilet (cassette, not pump out, lol). We have LED lights and I'm very economical with them, I'd rather have my battery fairy lights on when it's dark.

 

We don't have a washer or a freezer and I don't straighten my hair or use a hairdryer.

 

One other thing... we went to Llangollen a few weeks ago and had hook up... decided to put the immersion heater on for some hot water and it's not working. Great. But irrelevant to this thread so don't worry about it.

The fridge will be your biggest drain so to keep up I would go for 200watts of solar with mppt controller, as for your immersion heater try pushing the little reset button in the thermostat as they can trip out if the engine heats the water above 85c, unless its a proper marine one then its 100c.

 

Neil

[wirren]

Go Outdoors will price match and give 10% off plus free delivery on Numax. I bought the 97ah with 3 year warranty.

Worth a try.

Mark.

[dor]

Probably just battery maintenance.

 

We don't have loads of appliances. We have a 12v fridge, small TV, DAB radio. And the usual mod cons such as a water pump and a flushing toilet (cassette, not pump out, lol). We have LED lights and I'm very economical with them, I'd rather have my battery fairy lights on when it's dark.

 

We don't have a washer or a freezer and I don't straighten my hair or use a hairdryer.

 

One other thing... we went to Llangollen a few weeks ago and had hook up... decided to put the immersion heater on for some hot water and it's not working. Great. But irrelevant to this thread so don't worry about it.

 

Pretty much the same as us Zayna, except our "weekends" are usually 3 or 4 days. A 100W solar battery has transformed our battery management. What kills batteries is being left half charged, which is normal situation when you leave the boat, for a few days. The solar panel puts a nice long slow charge which brings them up to 100% fully charged, which you would have to run your engine for 10 hours to achieve.

Edited June 17, 2015 by dor

[Arthur Brown]

Buy the same type number as the batteries you already have as then the big fat wires will be in the right place, ( they are expensive!).

 

Buy any solar panel ASAP then sort out a suitable array for the summer. An electrically frugal life style will use a 150w panel but add the fridge and some other bits then 300w will be more reasonable. If you have a small panel "to spare" then fit it separately to the starter battery. Half of boating's problems evaporate when the engine starts.

[Rob-M]

I bought Numax batteries from Tayna, selected based on dimensions mainly as they needed to fit in a specific sized space.

[Chris3]

We have a 12 year old boat which we bought 3 years ago and it is fitted with the , at the time, 'state of the art' alternators and inverters..... no need for specifics.

The boat is used for leisure purposes so we tend to cruise for a considerable time each day but despite this and a set of new batteries there were times when a visit to a shore line and a good overnight charge came in handy.

Talking last year to folk with solar panels I decided to fit a beginners kit to see if it helped with the dwindling battery situation so at the tail end of last season I bought a 160w panel and suitable mppt contol box.

Although the panel does take up a chunk of roof space it still gives room for walking around and space too for the use of the centre line.

Results:-

This year has been solar panel weather, clear skies and at this time of year loads of daylight. I made a tilt and point cradle for the panel and from first light to dusk we are putting useful amps and volt back in the batteries. Now, for example, if we stop for lunch and the 240v fridge starts the solar panel supplies sufficient power to prevent a current drain. The other plus is the controller which has revitalised the batteries with it's intelligent charging techniques.

However, the biggest change of all has come about by taking a good look at what is loading the batteries. I don't know about you but I am guilty of plugging in all the mobile phone charges, the tv aerial amplifier, the ipad etc etc even if the devices themselves are not on charge. With all our kit plugged in on standby I found I was drawing 6 amps. So the rule now is only switch on charging devices when on the move. The difference is enormous. On average in the morning the alternator controller would switch to trickle charge after 2 hours of cruising but now it takes 10 minutes.

Hope this is of some help to you if you are considering fitting solar panels.

 

Our batteries are still good after 3 years . Chose these because of their size and terminal positions. We have 3.

 

http://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/190-ah-xplorer-leisure-battery/