watty55 Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 Hello, Having not used the MH for almost 8 months due to winter storage and now the covid 19 situation, I went to visit it the other day and fortunately it started okay ( I left the starter battery disconnected ). However, the leisure battery was flat ( forgot to disconnect it ). With no luck in charging it at home, a replacement was needed The make was Varta and after looking up various battery companies, I decided to go for a " direct " replacement, a Varta LFD90 dual purpose at £99 approx.. When I arrived at the battery store and handed in the old battery, I was informed that the old one was in fact an AGM type at almost double the price. I was told that the AGM was a better type with more advanced technology, although the only obvious difference to me was it being sealed otherwise it was still big and heavy. So a few questions I have, a) What is AGM technology? b) would the LFD90 have sufficed? c) Is the AGM type a superior battery? d) Not being too cynical and with my ignorance of battery matters, did they see me coming? Regards Watty55 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 Back end of last year replaced Banner AGM with Varta LFD. It's still to early to give a definitive answer due to upping the capacity and also CV-19 meaning no use this year, but. my initial thoughts are the the Varta is not as good as Banner, but not twice as good as the pricing would suggest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DickB Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 There is a lot of good info on this site http://www.aandncaravanservices.co.uk/battery-technology.php Allan was a prolific adviser on electrical and battery matters, and he was very keen on plain lead acid Varta LFD90 batteries. If you have previously had AGM and now change you will need to alter your charger settings. Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 watty55 - 2020-06-24 7:07 PM ...So a few questions I have, a) What is AGM technology? b) would the LFD90 have sufficed? c) Is the AGM type a superior battery? d) Not being too cynical and with my ignorance of battery matters, did they see me coming? Regards Watty55 a) AGM stands for Absorbent Glass Mat explanation here) https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/absorbent_glass_mat_agm b) Yes c) As a motorhome leisure battery, generally not - unless the battery needs to be installed on its side or will be inside the motorhome’s habitation area and cannot be vented to the outside air. d) Quite possibly, but one hopes not... An AGM battery should really be charged using a specialised AGM charging regimen and, until relatively recently, the onboard battery-chargers fitted to motorhomes lacked that capability. It used to be advised that the charging regimen for a gel-battery be used, but that’s still not optimum. The Varta LFD90 is a ’no maintenance’ wet-acid battery and should have a vent-tube fitted to it. But any motorhome onboard battery-charger should be suitable for charging a LFD90 correctly. As Dick advises, if you’ve opted for the LFD90 your motorhome’s onboard battery-charger would need to be moved to its 'wet-acid’ setting (if it wasn’t already on that setting!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 Derek Uzzell - 2020-06-25 9:29 AM The Varta LFD90 is a ’no maintenance’ wet-acid battery and should have a vent-tube fitted to it. But any motorhome onboard battery-charger should be suitable for charging a LFD90 correctly. ....some of the post is debatable (but has been debated at length here anyway, so enough), but the bit in bold is most definitely questionable. Schaudt's "AGM update" of their EBLs replaced the Lead/Gel alternative switch setting with AGM/Gel, leaving no dedicated wet-acid battery setting. I don't think either of the newer settings ideally suit an LFD90. (If my AGM's don't last, and they're showing no signs of distress so far at 2 years, then they will be replaced with Gel - if they do last, but ultimately need replacing, then it'll be the cheaper of AGM or Gel). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 OK, I'm not Schaudt-EBL literate... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watty55 Posted June 27, 2020 Author Share Posted June 27, 2020 Hello, Thank you for your help guys, just a quick reply to Derek U, when I installed the new battery into its compartment which incidentally is completely sealed, I missed the sticker stating " sealed battery only". I feel a lot happier now that the correct battery is fitted despite the extra cost Regards Watty55. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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