# Which battery



## 100512 (Aug 13, 2006)

I wish to repalce two leisure batteries on my Motorhome, the old ones are Leisure, non sealed lead Acid 85 AH units. I need a bit more capacity than I have now.

I seem to have 3 options

2 x Elecsol 125Ah batteries at £107 each plus PP at £5

2 x Numax 110 AH Batteries at £57 each, no cost for PP as these are local to me.

2 x Leisure marine 120AH sealed lead acid at £59 each plus PP at £13 each.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SEALED-120AH-...1QQihZ003QQcategoryZ36798QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Idealy I think I would like the Elecsols but am unsure the additioanal cost is worth it. Second choice are the sealed leisure marine batteries, (I think)

Is there any consensus amoung users which would be the better bet.

Thanks,

Dave


----------



## Don_Madge (May 1, 2005)

davebl said:


> I wish to repalce two leisure batteries on my Motorhome, the old ones are Leisure, non sealed lead Acid 85 AH units. I need a bit more capacity than I have now.
> 
> I seem to have 3 options
> 
> ...


Dave,

I've been using Elecsol batteries now for six years and never had a problem. One downside is they need to be checked once a month, they don't need topping up every time though.

My two 100ah leisure and the engine battery are being charge permanently by my 60 watt solar panel.

Don


----------



## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Battery Prices*

Hello there,

We have the Numax which we paid £57 each for (tanya batteries) we collected to save carriage.

Scince then we have found them @ £45 at go outdoors www.gooutdoors.co.uk for you local store.

IF you change to gel make sure your charger is set for gel and not wet batterires.

Hope this helps

Trev


----------



## Snelly (Aug 20, 2005)

Go for Numax, but pay slightly more and get the black coloured heavy duty version. They are about £65 for a 113ah.


----------



## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Black Is best!*



Snelly said:


> Go for Numax, but pay slightly more and get the black coloured heavy duty version. They are about £65 for a 113ah.


Thats interesting !

I have one black and one green. Did not realise there was a difference, just thought they had gone green as a product change to brighten it up.

Trev


----------



## Snelly (Aug 20, 2005)

By "black one", I mean the CXV series. They have 2 year guarantee, twin terminals etc... Look at this link, the standard Numax batteries are the top ones, then the heavy duty ones are below (CXV).

Link


----------



## 100512 (Aug 13, 2006)

Thanks all, Thats interesting the CVX is a sealed Lead Acid so is the same type and the Squadron Battery I looked at (link above) a little more in cost though.

I think my only other question is there is a Squadron AGM battery at £89 that would be the only other option. I guess the question now has changed a little.

Should I buy 2 off,

Sealed Lead Acid (VRLA) 120AH at £59
AGM 110AH at £89
Carbon Mat (Elecsol) £125Ah at about £117

Id prefer the sealed aspect of the battery's mostly safety issues, I have no issue maintaining them.

Is the uplift for AGM or Carbon worth the extra £60 to £100 ?

or should I just spend the extra on new batteries in a few years, technoligy may have improved by then.


----------



## 100512 (Aug 13, 2006)

*Usefull battery link*

http://www.mpoweruk.com/leadacid.htm


----------



## Snelly (Aug 20, 2005)

We have gel batteries on the ambulances and they don't seem worth the extra cost... they're often being replaced, sometimes after a few months.

I suppose its up to the buyer at the end of the day, but with most sealed lead acids having 2 or 3 year warantees, i'd go with that (as I did).


----------



## 100512 (Aug 13, 2006)

http://www.sterling-power.com/htm/faqmain.htm


----------



## antnjac (May 12, 2005)

Dave, thanks for the Sterling link, it made very interesting reading, i'm glad i went with my £25, 85 amp/hr leisure batt, it's 4 years old and still going strong,so good value.

Tony


----------



## 100512 (Aug 13, 2006)

Thats my view too I think, but Im canvasing opinions on this..... all be it I want to fit a Sealed Lead Acid battery, (VRLA or SLA) I most probibly will fit as I dont intend to put massive charge in to it. The Squadron batteries appear to be competitive from various suppliers, I am consion of getting what you pay for though.


----------



## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

Personally I fail to see the advantage of sealed batteries in motorhomes. Give me cheap, matched flooded lead acids any day, plus a bit of plate strengthening ONLY if it doesn't cost much more (it usually does).

But then I'm a fan of a battery monitor to tell me what I've cumulatively or instantaneously taking out or putting into them.

Dave


----------



## elbino (May 9, 2005)

Dave,
You raised a point close to my heart at the moment. I only have a bog standard red-orange-green monitor which is as much use a one legged man at an a***-kicking contest. Is there such a thing as an inexpensive digital monitor that i can fit myself that will give me information on usage etc.?. Please bear in mind that I would only start to fit something myself if it was simple and straightforward !

paul


----------



## 100512 (Aug 13, 2006)

DABurleigh said:


> Personally I fail to see the advantage of sealed batteries in motorhomes. Give me cheap, matched flooded lead acids any day, plus a bit of plate strengthening ONLY if it doesn't cost much more (it usually does).
> 
> But then I'm a fan of a battery monitor to tell me what I've cumulatively or instantaneously taking out or putting into them.
> 
> Dave


I may well agree, but in this case the uplift is about £15, my main issue is the battery locker is a pain to get in to to top up batterys, not that I mind doing it. Also I dont like acid around the place from spils etc, i ahve dogs around so in my case if 'may' be worth it if there is no down side. There seems to be plate strengthening in that there is glass matt in the SLA battery which I am told helps a bit. What I was unsure of is if the additional AGM cost £89 oer battery or the Elecsols were worth it.

The conclusion for my requirement is the Elecsol, due to the 14.4V charging and maintinence, Im not sure is for me, the AGM, may be but in real terms it is a £60 uplift for the pair of AGM batterys and two new SLA's are £120 so Im still pondering.....

Is there a down side to AGM's bearing in mind what Stirling and others say ? An no I can fit deep cycle traction batteries as they really do seem to cost too much.


----------



## 100512 (Aug 13, 2006)

The battery monitor is in hand by the way, which device do you use out of interest ?


----------



## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

No cheap answer to battery monitors I'm afraid. I use the Victron:
http://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-UK-BMV501BattMonitor.pdf
though it is simple enough for DIY fitting.

Plate strengthening gives you a greater ability to discharge routinely below 50% capacity without adversely affecting life.

Sealed batteries limit charging to 14.4V, absolutely fine if you have sufficient capacity for your needs. If not, you can get arguably up to 50% greater capacity in them by using a multi-stage charger that goes above 14.4V, at the penalty of having to check and occasionally top them up with distilled water more often.

You pay a price premium for either technology. Which means you had better not pay for both then abuse your batteries anyway! If you achieve this I reckon you are doing better than the average motorhomer 

Having a battery monitor makes managing batteries a trivial, subconscious activity. Many will say they are an un-necessary expense. I agree. But try taking it away from someone who's had the benefit of one....

Dave


----------



## 96088 (Aug 22, 2005)

davebl said:


> 2 x Numax 110 AH Batteries at £57 each, no cost for PP as these are local to me.


That's 220AH for £114...sorted, which seems ok to me.

Nobody seems to have mentioned your power requirements in this thread

I used to worry about these things when I first got my van, since then I have yet to flatten or destroy my very cheap 85AH battery.

Mine is not a technical based opinion :wink:


----------



## smokingdragon (Apr 27, 2006)

Hi

Just found this 'glowing' recommendation of Elecsol batteries. (from a caravan forum.

http://www.caravantalk.org.uk/index.php?showtopic=9882

cheers

Simon


----------



## 100512 (Aug 13, 2006)

<That's 220AH for £114...sorted, which seems ok to me.>

Most likely Ill go for the £118 option 240Ah also which is OK, (OK theres Pand P on top but Im trying to work with that.)

My power requirement is about 180 -190 AH but Im working on the basis batteries will reduce in capacity over a shorter time than Id like so am planning a couple of years hence. My current 170Ah is a bit low in practice. So to resolve this I have reduced the lighting requirements by using low power devices and now use an LCD TV. Ill do my best to keep charge levels up where I can and make sure they are looked after but the only thing for certain the capacity will fall not improve over time. I like to travel in the winter too, some times North, so I ahve to plan for the dark months....

What really puzzel's me is I can buy a good 120AH VRLA for £59 and a 110AH flooded battery for about £48 and a proper deep cycle 110AH AGM for £140 why is it over twice the price, same lead, OK may be a bit more, same acid, same plastic case, a bit of glass fibre. So why the massive difference in cost ?


----------



## 100512 (Aug 13, 2006)

Simon,

Thanks for the link. Thats quite interesting....


----------



## 100512 (Aug 13, 2006)

After much deliberating I have purchased 2 x 110Ah AGM batteries and fitted these on to my MH. The principle reasons over Flooded Lead Acid and Sealed Lead Acid (VRLA) were I wanted a sealed unit as access can be trick to maintain the battery. Also I dont like acid spils around the place as some times our dogs go under the MH and I worrey about splashes from the vent tubes. My view, and it might prove wrong in time is the AGM battery was advised to have heavier plates in it and would hold charge better, only 1% - 3% loss per month. The charging regeme can be accomodated with in my existing equipment. So for the £60 uplift in cost for the AGM's, that was what I did.

http://www.squadronbattery.com/downloads/marine_rec_broch.pdf

The batteries were supplied by Martin at Electroquest

[email protected]

They also selll via ebay such as this battery.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LONG-LIFE110A...4QQihZ003QQcategoryZ36798QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Electroquest were extreemly helpfull and provided an very good price on the batteries. They were also delivered over night very promptly.

I also rewired the spagetti that someone else had added to the battery compartment over time, definitly not Autotrail's fault. I used a battery distribution box from this company, its at the bottom of the page.

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.co.uk/VWPweb2000/fuse-1/fuse-1.html

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.co.uk/VWPweb2000/fuse-1/photo/BDB1.jpg

Its neat in that it fits on top of one battery rather than externaly and avoided me having to fit inline fuses or busbars etc and external fuse boxes to accomodate the existing added equipment.

The invertor has a midi 80A fuse and the interlink to the other battery an 80A Midi fuse. These are all accomodated with in the distribution box.

4 maxi fuses feed the main MH services and other devices such as the Sat dish.

Ill update this thread to let others know how these batteries are holding up.


----------

