Ive pulled out a battery from an old caravan and I want to recharge it. It doesnt say its a leisure battery and when I search on line its like it doesnt exist as it must over 10 years old.
Mammoth PLUS - heavy duty 065 - maintenance free.
Ive emailed Mammoth but they havent got back to me and I do not want to charge it on the wrong setting, I doubt its a lithium batter either.
Ive got a RING 4A smart charger.
Quote: Originally posted by Pickled Onion on 07/9/2024
Hi and welcome to the forum. To be honest, leisure or not if the battery is 10 years old I'd be looking to replace it not recharge it.
Dave.
Agree. Once a battery has totally drained, as that one will have, it never fully recovers. I speak from experience, having let one drain by mistake (I think I left a light on over winter).
A new battery doesn’t break the bank.
Depending on the type of battery it can be a major outlay.
But do agree with PO it’s time for a new one.
aaet
------------- XVI yes?
As well is two words!
How does a sage know everything about everything? or does he? or does he just think he does?
Remember, if you buy something you bought it, not brought it.
It sounds like a heavy duty car battery (lead acid) there's not much difference between that and a lead acid leisure battery, they were often used by those with motor movers.
Without seeing it all I can do is make an educated guess, if you want to know for sure show it to a garage or motor dealer, Halford will will tell you and even check it for charge.
Incidentally the longest lasting wet battery that I've had was an Exide which lasted 11 year
You say you contacted Mammoth, but the only company I can find under that name is a fairly new American outfit.
------------- XVI yes?
As well is two words!
How does a sage know everything about everything? or does he? or does he just think he does?
Remember, if you buy something you bought it, not brought it.
Quote: Originally posted by busylizzie1965 on 09/9/2024
I appreciate your responses but do you know if this a leisure battery or not? This was my question after all.
Almost impossible to tell from the outside, it's the internal structure of the battery that makes the difference between the two types. Some unscrupulous dealers often badge car batteries as leisure ones anyway.
The reason for two different types of lead acid battery, (car and leisure) is basically the totally different application that they were designed for. The car battery uses a high amount of amps in a very short time to turn over an engine and conversely the leisure battery is designed to supply a lower fairly steady current in your caravan for a longer time.
Dave.
------------- Never argue with an idiot, they will drag you down to their level and beat you on experience.
Mark Twain.
I think you may be missing a more crucial point than what type of battery it is for recharging purposes!
If it's 10 years old, or more, then with some certainty NOT anything other than a lead acid battery, car starter or leisure battery is academic!
If it's 10 years old it's almost CERTAINLY beyond meaningful use no matter how well cared for! That's pretty much guaranteed end of life for a lead acid battery! Most of us have an optimistic expectation of 6-7 years well cared for use, if we make 8-9 years we're blessed with exceptional good fortune! IF you could get it to accept a charge, it'd have virtually NO capacity, and go flat near instantly on even the lightest load! A proverbial chocolate teapot, all the appearance, but NO practical use!
If it's not been maintained with regular charges every few months throughout it's life, and/or stood severely discharged for any time, it's 100% DEAD and BEYOND recharging!
On technicalities, if it doesn't claim to be a leisure battery on labelling, then it is almost certainly NOT a leisure battery! Leisure batteries are constructed slightly differently to car starter batteries to better cope with the demands of use, they have more lead and weigh quite a bit more than an equivalent sized/rated starter battery, they sell at a premium price, and will proclaim their intended use. Leisure batteries are rated with NCC (National Caravan Council) rating designations of intended use, and labelled accordingly (See here: https://www.halfords.com/motoring/advice/what-is-the-ncc-verified-leisure-battery-........ ). There are dubious quality 'leisure' batteries sold, which are NOT truly leisure batteries, sometimes with labels proclaiming 'leisure', but really only starter batteries, and they will fail very early when put to typical leisure battery uses! They almost certainly will NOT have the NCC certified labelling and rating, as that would be a profoundly false claim with legal consequences for the supplier!
As to charging, a basic leisure battery is charged exactly the same as a basic car starter battery. If it's a higher spec leisure battery like an AGM (absorbent glass mat construction), then slightly more specific charging requirements.
'Mammoth PLUS - heavy duty 065 - maintenance free' sounds like a regular car starter battery. A '065' sized battery is only 45/55Ah rated, which is a VERY small capacity for a leisure battery, they are usually near twice that capacity! As a starter battery, it's even less likely to have survived 10 or more years in a useably/recoverable condition if used as a leisure battery!!!!!!
It 'may' be worth trying to charge your battery to check out systems on the caravan (use basic starter battery setting on charger), if that is your intention (but hooking up to a EHU would enable that to), but be under NO ILLUSION, you do not have a battery to be put to any really functional use, at best it may bring a flicker of life to systems, but will go flat again in no time at all! If you want practical use out of a leisure battery, then I'm afraid you need to buy a new one, and a proper leisure battery of as large a capacity/case size as will fit the battery locker is generally the best investment, it's unlikely to be more than an 80Ah rated one on an older van!
An 065 is a car battery and as mentioned already it fits a fairly small engined car. When I worked in motor factors and accessory shops years ago it was a quite popular part number.Most car batteries only last a few years and a neglected, 10 year old one that still works properly would be very rare.
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Topic: is this a leisure battery?
via mobile 07/9/2024 at 2:27pm
