Jump to content

Maintenance free batteries

Guest

By Guest
in Boat Equipment

 Share

Featured Posts

Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted (edited)

...Anybody use them?

 

Reason is, we currently (pun intended!) have 4 x 135Ah Banner 95901 domestic batteries and where they are mounted - under the engine room floor - makes it a right PITA to get to them to check the electrolyte levels - you have to dismantle 1/2 of the engine room and take the floor up to get to them and that's before you've done the contortionist act to remove the inspection caps and add distilled water or electrolyte. They seem to have been needing topping up more frequently of late so this is becoming a concern

 

So the theory is to replace them with sealed units, either gel cell or AGM types that will not require such frequent checking, such as the Varta LFD230 etc.

 

Does this sound like a good idea? What are the pitfalls (there are bound to be some!)? Has anyone else done this?

 

Thanks

 

S23

Edited by Speedy23
Link to comment
Share on other sites
WotEver Veteran II

WotEverDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

Downside is slower charging due to the lower charging voltage required.

 

With Gels you can't equalise (Desulphate) at all. With SLA you can only do so 'gently'.

 

Gels are MUCH more expensive.

 

The advantages are that they're maintenance free :)

 

Oh, and an ammeter (and possibly a SmartGauge) will help you maximise the life of whatever batteries you fit.

 

Tony

Link to comment
Share on other sites
NMEA Rising Star

NMEA

Posted
Posted

I've had Victron Gel batteries for the domestics in my own boat for over five years, they still hold a charge well. I have also fitted them for a number of customers without problems. I used AGM in our rental boat as I doubt they will ever be checked. Always for similar reasons to you but if they were readily accessible I would probably stick with standard lead acid and check regularly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Geo Rising Star

Geo

Posted
Posted

I looked into the cost of that, half the price of the batteries. sick.gif

 

But they last a long time not just the life of one set of batteries and if they make that first set last 50% longer than they would abused worth it I would suggest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Machpoint005 Veteran II

Machpoint005

Posted
Posted

...Anybody use them?

 

Reason is, we currently (pun intended!) have 4 x 135Ah Banner 95901 domestic batteries and where they are mounted - under the engine room floor - makes it a right PITA to get to them to check the electrolyte levels <<<

 

>>>Does this sound like a good idea? What are the pitfalls (there are bound to be some!)? Has anyone else done this?

 

Thanks

 

S23

 

Yes, I do, for the same reason as you. The battery bank was impossible to top up without using a mirror held in an arm with double-jointed elbows, and even then you couldn't get the caps off.

 

Fitted "maintenance free" about 3-4 years ago - no problems so far. TBH, the boat hasn't been getting as much use as it should over that time, but it was the right decision.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chewbacka Veteran

Chewbacka

Posted
Posted

Mine are Lucas flooded batteries with sealed caps, so maintenance free.

Now 4 years old and still good enough for our use - Basically I don't use a lot, have 600Ah capacity and 400W solar so they rarely get discharged below 70% and the solar will soon have then back to 100%. Though I don't get to use the boat much in winter as sadly, my wife does not like cold/wet weather boating. So even in winter if we use the boat for a weekend the solar will have the batteries full in about a week.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cuthound Veteran II

cuthoundDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted (edited)

My boat is used for leisure use, rather than liveaboard since new, always on a landlines, when not cruising.

 

It will be 9 years old at the end of November.

 

It has the original Lifeline AGM's fitted, for starter ,domestic and bow thruster batteries.

 

They seem to have plenty of capacity left, certainly the domestics have over 60% of their original capacity left, as I discharged them to 50% and measured the amp hours used.

 

They are not cheap though https://www.tayna.co.uk

 

When they need replacing, I will see if I can fit Trojan T105's.

 

Edited to correct the autokorrect version of amp hours.

Edited by cuthound
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Top cat Rising Star

Top cat

Posted
Posted

We fitted "sealed for life" maintenence free cheap leisure batteries 3 1/2 yrs ago because acess for maintenence is really poor. So far they are still doing all we ask with ease, we rarely take them below 75% charge.

We are aboard about 1/3rd of the time and the batteries are kept topped up with a solar panel since new. The only sign of ageing is that they go up to 14.4v quite quickly and only take about 50A from a 110A alternator.

 

I had grave doubts about the wisdom of fitting these but so far so good , if I get another 2 seasons out of them I will be content.

 

Top Cat

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bewildered Proficient

BewilderedDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

So the theory is to replace them with sealed units, either gel cell or AGM types that will not require such frequent checking, such as the Varta LDF230

 

S23

Anybody know exactly what type of batteries Varta LDF230's are? Varta's web site is very vague on the subject. Edited by Bewildered
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Naughty Cal Veteran II

Naughty Cal

Posted
Posted

We fitted Varta maintenance free batteries some four and a half years ago now as access to our domestic batteries is very poor.

 

We don't liveaboard but are usually on the boat four nights a week. Our batteries are on a "smart" charger when we are on our home berth but we are away from our home berth most weekends.

 

The batteries are holding up very well, far better then we expected. We have in the past had to change our batteries at 2-3 year intervals so this set are lasting remarkably well for us. Since changing our alternator at the beginning of the year, the new one giving a much higher charging voltage, we have found that they are performing better this year then they were last year! The voltage very rarely drops below 12.4v.

 

We hope to get at least another year out of this set.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.