Ok here it goes, during the weekend we were at the Malvern show, and a very nice old chap parked next to us with a rapido, as you do at such events you soon engage in conversations re. all sorts of things and it was during one of the many chats we had that he told me that he regularly lets his batteries go down to hear this now, 8/9 volts, i told him that his batteries must be well and truly gone by now(bear in mind he had them fitted to his new rapido 2 years ago), to which he replied no they are ok for another 3 years, he used to own a narrow boat and he swears by these deep cycle starter/leisure all in one batteries, hence he explained why he can let them go that low, i'm rather doubtful re, his claim, i was thinking of replacing mine before my trip to Italy, my question is has any body else out there had these batteries fitted to their camper/motorhome or narrow boat and what sort of experience have you had re. to what voltage should you let them go down to??? I know that a standard leisure battery at 12 volts is as flat as a pancake,, replies please
i got a new van recently ( christmas)and got 2 new 110 amp leisure batteries( ther mor or less the same). ive just been on hol . for 17 days . 3 days on elc hk up the rest on bat . i only had to swop the baterry with 3 days left. i ralliy a lot and dont use a generator . but if your going abroad get a new one. i also use a 4 amp smart charger. to recharge it does deep cycle . i used to use a car batery charger it ended up knackering my batteries(to fast a charge. fast in fast out). leisure batteries are designed for constant chrging and low volt use
My friend that does not answer my question re, how low should you let them go down to?????? Is the old chap right using those batteries and the low voltage he usually runs them down to??? That was my query.
Below 11.7 volts and the battery is fully discharged,discharging any lower will shorten the battery life and quite often it won't be possible to recharge it.
Saxo1
Ok Saxo, thanks for the reply, but how do we explain that his batteries have been on his rapido for the past 2 years and they are still working? I'm convinced that the old chap was very positive re. his statement, so are we or should i say most of us missing something, when you purchase a new battery(leisure) it does not come with any literature does it?, they don't even tell you the safe voltage you should let it go down to, we all learn as we go along ie, friends and people who have done it all before, as an example the old chap. The sole reason i asked on this topic is wether to buy such batteries as mine are coming to being 3 years old now, and replace before my trip to Italy first week in sept.
Surely it doesnt matter what voltage you "let" your battery go down to? As long as it has enough power to run the things you want/need. My tv is the first thing to suffer when the battery is low, although with a split charge relay, this rarely happens. Ive had 2 in 11 years of camping, and never "test" the voltage. On the couple of occasions that i have had to mains charge the battery was when the van has stood unused for a long period (eg 9+months)
------------- need to sell it, or shift it.(s midlands)
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Bust,I think you have answered your question when you say you have a split charge relay and rarely let your battery run flat you are maintaining it properly.
http://www.bigginhill.co.uk/batteries.htm
Some info on battery maintenance on the link above.
Wineciccio,
The old guy may well have abused his batteries for two years and they are O.K. but that doesn't mean they will last many more.
From his description Starter/leisure batteries he may have traction batteries or Marine batteries which will suffer abuse more readily but are extremly expensive in the first place.
I expect to get at least 5 years out of a battery my current one is 7 years old and still going strong,it is left on maintenance charge all the time and is never removed from the van.
Saxo1
Thanks for the replies, and as i have done it all these years i shall fit standard (2 85 amps) batteries, as for the od chap he did say that his batteries were rather expensive, so thanks again
I used to read into things a lot so here is my take on it a few years agao when I was into bmw motorcycles in a big big way they always used to suffer with battery failure.(stay with me we will get to the point). These particular bikes have power draw off points for radio sat nav shaver built in heaters and all manor of electrical gadgets . As a consequence battery failure was a big issue , then we all started using Gel batteries because they are able to go into regular state of total discharge and recover with trickle/normal charge at a guess that is probably what makes the batteries that you neigbour had so good. Mind you I am only guessing at that one so it,s worth investigating .I went through 4 batteries in 2.5 years went over to gel type and got 3 years from it with constant park up use of stereo 2 way radio shaver and kettle plus the battery would then still over a whopping 1100cc motor without any problem .
As I say that only my take on it and sometimes I do tend to think we all look into things and draw to many negative conclusions , and the only way we satisfy our thoughts or doubts is by trying the things out , Back to the 85a/h leisure battery there is a company on ebay at the moment selling them for £52.99 delivered with a 4 year guarantee that with postage next day delivery.
Let us all know how you get on but most of all enjoy the ITALIAN JOB.
DELBOY
Post last edited on 24/08/2010 08:37:01
------------- you may be frustrated now but infront of me there is a big incline . yeh it may be slow but it is in front
Hi and thanks for the very explicit write up, yes i think like you said most people draw on the wrong (negative) side of things, as for the batteries, they are already connected and working fine, so with any luck we should (she should) be alright to watch tv and play her favourite dvd.s without running out of power, as for myself good adventure books are fine, especially Clive Cussler and John Grimshaw, obviously read with a very nice bottle of red. And yes i will enjoy my trip, seeing my sisters its always a pleasure, they don't even know i'm going over, its nice to surprise them. Ok thanks again.
hope you don't mind me picking up on this thread, i've been looking into buying a new leisure battery and tried to find the differences, i looked at Wikepedia it's explainded the differences to me in pretty basic terms, from car batteries & deep-cycling batteries including the advantages of GEL batteries. Basically, buy a good quality one... you get what you pay for!
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Topic: Leisure batteries
