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Hi All,

I would welcome any advice on the best type of battery to use and it's maintenance if needed.

We purchaced our 1999 Compass Rallye 460 GTE recently and was assured the battery was nearly new,it is a Diamond 110AH model.We were recently preparing to go away on a trip and plugged the van in to the supply as usual to give the battery a full charge in preparation for our break,  We soon discovered that the battery was barely holding it's charge at all and on further investigation discovered that the fluid level was so low that it hardly covered the bottom two inches of the internal elements.(knackered one thinks!!)  To be fair the battery does look quite new so was wondering what could have caused the battery to have possibly boiled dry if this is what happened like this??

Is this a good battery as we were led to believe, or could anyone advise as to what may have caused this as we don't want to repeat this when we purchase a new battery.   many thanks

Is this a good battery as we were led to believe, or could anyone advise as to what may have caused this as we don't want to repeat this when we purchase a new battery.   many thanks

due to the low fluid,i think the battery is US .therefore you need a new one,its possible that the fluid level has never been checked,not an overnight thing so it was no good when you got it.when you get a new one buy a little meter about £6 and check when its on mains and charging,check at the battery terminals and it should read about 13.5 volts when charging.

http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/Documents/Looking%20after%20your%20leisure%20battery.pdf

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Hi Patricia,

                 I would certainly go for a new ELECSOL, theyre expensive but you wont have any trouble with them. look for the adverts in the caravan mags. I bought one in 1997 and put it in 3 sucessive vans, until my latest van was supplied with a gel type so I let the other one go. Just remembet to check and fill with de-ionised water about once every 3 months... Peter.

It is worth looking at this site.  If you don't want to read the whole article just go to the conclusion-

Conclusion

The best battery to use for fast charging using advanced charging systems

• For general leisure use: use low cost Lead Acid which can be topped up with water. So called leisure batteries
• For long term cruising then use 6 volt traction

Avoid Gel / AGM for 3 reasons

1. very expensive
2. their fast charger rate causes them to gas
3. poor cycling numbers. 

If a lead/acid battery is looked after they are cheap and give reliable service for many years.