Mrs T Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Mr T says its an old chestnut but is there a best type leisure battery Some years ago there was a Clive on here from Hampshire who was a good battery advisor so is he still around? We need 2 new ones having used them for 6 years, they do not hold a charge so well now and they need topping up very often. Mr T looked in Halfords but was not convinced if he changed them himself. The van is a Rapido so he assumes that by calling in to Wokingham they would at least make sure they fit the correct ones. We use the van little (due to us aging and medication hazards) which might be some reason why they seem to be failing in their quality. Any comments welcome. Mrs T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 From personal experience I would not buy another Elecsol battery but I would buy Varta batteries again. I got my last ones from Tayna batteries at Abergele who gave a good price and swift delivery and as there are plenty of other makes and suppliers to choose from you could try using the search facility on here. Type in Leisure Battery, and look under Motorhome Matters over the last year and there should be plenty of light reading pop up for you to wade through! Motorhome shows are sometimes a good place to do a deal especially if you haggle to buy two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Batteries come in stamdard sizes so measure them and from that you can get ones the same size. There should be some sort of identofification on them as well indicating make, type and capacity. So Physical size so you can check they wil fit. Nest you need to know what type yopu have, are they Sealed or Flooded. If you have screw caps on teh top or a vemt tube attatched they are stanmdard flooded. If they are Gel or Agm they will say so on them. Tracker is correct in his advice. As for Halfords, far too expensive. Tayna are very good. Recently (few months ago) on these forums I found and highlighted another supplier which are very good for price on Bosch Liesure batteries. Limited to just 3 sizes but worth checking. http://www.carbatteriesonline.co.uk/ Tayna link is http://www.tayna.co.uk/ and if buying two, phone your order and ask for good discount, mention MMM out and about live forums. If you post back here with what you have at present there are a few people can advise what batteries are equivalent and can be a straight swap in. Only issue doing it yourself is the weight to lift them in and out, and if fitted under a seat which needs to be removed you have to be able to do so. S'pose it comes down to cost saving of buying mail order and then paying someone to fit if you have to. Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs T Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Many thanks, I'm told that the existing ones are Tayna (screw tops) so at least we have good ones now but they are aging and little used. Mrs T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickydripin Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Hi Brambles, have you been on the juce as your post does not usualey contain as many spelling errors (not like mine!!!!!!!!, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Mickydripin - 2012-06-19 11:22 PM Hi Brambles, have you been on the juce as your post does not usualey contain as many spelling errors (not like mine!!!!!!!!, Mike Oh heavens above, it is bad. I forgot to read over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Mrs T - 2012-06-19 10:53 PM Many thanks, I'm told that the existing ones are Tayna (screw tops) so at least we have good ones now but they are aging and little used. Mrs T Tayna are a stockist of lots of different brands although they do have their own brand Enduroline, I probably would not recommend Enduroline except for a few exceptions which are mainly in caravans not Motorhomes. Being screwtops, no I have not been on screwtops tonight Micky, these are flooded batteries so at least we can narrow down to nice common liesure batteries. Just need the Ah rating now and/or physical size. (or Actual brand and model number) . If buying from Tayna, look at the Varta range and also the Banner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Just had a thought, if you are hardly using teh Van now, does this also mean you may mainly use on hook up on campsites. If so would just one battery be of sufficient capacity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 It's perhaps worth adding that it's often possible to buy batteries locally as cheaply as on-line. For example, the Varta website http://www.varta-automotive.com/index.php?id=26 permits a supplier-search to be made. Batteries are heavy to transport and, if you can collect them yourself from a local supplier, you should be able to obtain a worthwhile discount. And, of course, if there's any subsequent problem, a local supplier may be simpler to deal with than an on-line retailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs T Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 Mr T says we mostly go to steam rallies as helpers and are often in a field for 6-7 days with no mains power, a generator has been used at times as a backup but the most efficient charging method seems to be by running the vans diesel for an hour, and its less noisy. T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Hi Mrs (& Mr) T - welcome to the mad-house! To add another slant to this, I'm not convinced that running a van's engine for 60 minutes is a good thing and how that would be more efficient than a generator I'm not sure. A van's engine will first charge up the engine battery, and only then the leisure battery, so how much charge you are actually putting back into a leisure battery (or 2) is debatable. Perhaps it might be worth considering a solar panel? :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Hi Mel, Not actually true. The voltage generated by the alternator is sufficient to charge both the engine and the leisure at the same time. If the engine battery was very low, which is very unlikely, then charge available to the leisure battrey would be a bit lower and so charging would take a small amount of time longer, but as the leisure battery is likely to be a lower charge level than the starter battery it will take most of the available charge and in fact could well delay the engine battery charging fully at idle speed. Charging from the alternator is very efficient way to charge electrically, not necessarily from the fuel usage point of view though compared to an generator. Jon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David B Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 A voltmeter reading (say about 14volts) at the leisure battery when running the engine would tell you if the alternator is charging the leisure battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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