Rayjsj Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Surely Now, with only 2 leisure batteries : Banner and Varta, shown to be worth the 'Title' it would pay the other Manufacturers and Suppliers of 'Genuine' good quality leisure batteries to submit their products to an 'Independant' testing organisation (similar to 'Sold Secure' or 'Thatcham' in the security products industry) for destructive Testing, that way it would be obvious which Makes to buy, would 'drive out' the fakers, and make the business more open to competition and hopefully 'fair' pricing. Otherwise Banner and Varta will corner the market, and other (perhaps very good) makers might 'Go to the wall'. Just a Thought. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted October 27, 2013 Author Share Posted October 27, 2013 Exide is a brand that I would trust, and probably more so than Varta based on experience, but the consistently clear winner Banner seems to be the best bet for ultimate performance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Ray you are correct, well at least amongst readers of the article, of further concern is of otherwise equally good batteries may not have been included in the test the inference being that anything other than the two noted as being good are crap, and given that CC would not name them is unhelpful to say the least, or is that just another example of the CC putting it's members interests first. >:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 johnnerontheroad - 2013-10-27 8:27 AM So after all that has been said I need 2 new 110 batteries any ideas which to buy? Dave The most expensive you can find with a known brand name stuck on the front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Banner and Varta won't corner the leisure-battery market because few buyers are battery 'geeks' and will purchase primarily on price and/or stated warranty duration. Even though Banner and Varta showed well under testing, it's quite likely that Bulletguy's £90 battery (although not specifically a 'leisure-battery and probably not 125Ah) will prove perfectly adequate for his needs and last for more than 4 years. The press articles have never said which of the batteries on test have been black sheep (the reasons for this are explained in the CC article) so there's no way of knowing if buying an Xplorer battery would be a wise choice regarding value for money. Certainly (if the 125Ah claim is ignored) there are batteries with similar dimensions to Bulletguy's battery being marketed for leisure purposes at a cheaper price. I suspect that some of the respondees to my 24 October posting have not read the latest CC article - the photos reveal just how bad some of the batteries on test were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Derek Uzzell - 2013-10-27 12:34 PM Banner and Varta won't corner the leisure-battery market because few buyers are battery 'geeks' and will purchase primarily on price and/or stated warranty duration. Even though Banner and Varta showed well under testing, it's quite likely that Bulletguy's £90 battery (although not specifically a 'leisure-battery and probably not 125Ah) will prove perfectly adequate for his needs and last for more than 4 years. The press articles have never said which of the batteries on test have been black sheep (the reasons for this are explained in the CC article) so there's no way of knowing if buying an Xplorer battery would be a wise choice regarding value for money. Certainly (if the 125Ah claim is ignored) there are batteries with similar dimensions to Bulletguy's battery being marketed for leisure purposes at a cheaper price. I suspect that some of the respondees to my 24 October posting have not read the latest CC article - the photos reveal just how bad some of the batteries on test were. Exactly, but it does beg the question why the dodgy ones were not named, I mean what is the point of the article in the CC mag if they won't name and shame, the only explanation given that the "club" thought it inappropriate, perhaps a subscription to Which is in order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 The probem with Varta now is their standard flooded leisure batteries are dual starter deep discharge and rated at about 200 cycles. Still better than most budget brands which whilst claiming 500 ctycles are actually only around 150 cycle dual purpose. If you want the best varta you need to go for the AGM ones. The banner leisure batteries are still semi traction types so should be a better choice. You have to weigh up cost and how heavily you use them bearing in mind a top spec battery lightly used will still degrade over time so not give value. Equally a heavily used budget type or dual purpose will be bad value for money as wears out quickly. The varta short code LFS and LFD are all dual purpose but for most still represent a good battery. The problem is the market for Dual purpose flooded is far larger than for semi traction where the AGM types (LA series) have taken over and are better, they are still dual purpose but theor deep discharge capabilities come form being AGM. ( Can't help thinkling LFS stands for Leisure Flooded Starter, and LFD stands for Leisure Flooded Dual) I believe batteries form Varta such as the 813010 Varta Hobby Leisure Battery A28 are stil the semi traction design. They are not found on their website under professional battery listings but are still available in the market. So now you can see it all gets very messy choosing Varta from battery sellers. Banner still make the semi traction Liesure batteries so has fast become a favourite. Bosch batteries ( which is owned by Varta/Johnson Controls) have always had excellent batteries. Used to be the Varta semi traction liesure batteries rebadged, are now sourced from other ranges presumambly within the Johnson Controls group and the Bosch L4 ranges should all be semi traction designs so should also be good batteries. I have yet to investigate the latest specs for Bosch though. Its a massive mine ( or is that mind!) field for various batteries and the starting point should always be what quality you really need and your use profile be it light use for what I call coffee stops to full blown 4 days without hook up to full timing with solar panels. There is also merit in buying full traction batteries or Gel at a much higher cost for some. So my short list now for premium quality would be Varta AGM, Banner or Bosch (L4 series). edit - just posted and already see spelling mistakes - sorry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Forgot to mention Exide which Tracker brought up. Yes Exide also make excellent batteries and if you want gel leisure batteries this is an area they excel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 The xplorer Batteries from Alpha Batteries appear to be Yuasa leisure.marine batteries. The 125Ah is probbaly a Yuasa M31-100. Explains the 1000cc whichs the marine cranking amps. As to 125Ah, well goodness knows. For what the battery is and comparing with other vendors is actually not a bad price. Personally I have never rated Yuasa Liesure Batteries very highly as again are dual purpose and by Yuasa's own marketing info were ony 100 cycles. Strange to mentiomn up to 100 cycles and be proud of it. Oh Hum! Anyway, I am convinced the 100 cycles marketing info was based on older non full calcium types, and carrrried forward and shoud be 150 cycles to 200. However from searching this, I have found the latest Bosch L4 Batteries may actually be YUASA marine batteries. I need to check this out before I suggest Bosch L4 again as a possible good Leisure battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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