aandncaravan Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 Mr Heaton brought his CI Cipro, 2003 on a Merc chassis, to us today because the 15 month old battery wouldn't hold a charge and the charger no longer worked. Despite a long drive up from Essex to North Wales the AGM battery was 75% discharged, down at under12.3v when we looked at it. The Alternator output was only 14.1v and the mains charger was an original 2003 14.2v version. No where near the 14.8v that an AGM battery requires, so not surprising it was Goosed and no surprise the charger had taken a hit. He asked me to drive him to Tayna batteries, 15 minutes away, to get a new battery, which I did. On arriving he asked for a Varta LFD90 at £95 and was told, "that isn't a great battery, we can do much better than that". I stayed quiet and Mr Heaton went along with it. The first battery offered was an Enduroline (Tayna's 'Own' brand) AGM battery. Not only an AGM, but a low grade AGM. Mr Heatons response surprised me. Just lets say he wasn't enthusiastic. When the next 'better' battery was also an AGM he asked if it would work on a 14.2v charger, to which the salesman said no it would need to be a full AGM optimised 14.8v charger. When I pointed out that almost no Caravans and few motorhomes had an AGM charger he argued that wasn't true, "We have been told they all have multi stage 14.8v charging systems". When Mr Heaton insisted on a Varta LFD 90 he was told again "it wasn't a very good battery, but if that was what he wanted.....". That was my cue to get involved and I asked why the Varta LFD was so poor. 'Well, it's just an ordinary battery isn't it". "What about the Silver Powerframe technology it uses?". "The what?". At that point we just asked again if we could have the Varta. I like Tayna's prices and warranty support. I like Tayna's delivery and how well they package/protect the product in shipping. I like the way they offered to 'sticky' a clear window pouch to the battery so the original receipt/warranty could be kept safe with the battery. I like that they are big enough to have good stock/prices, but not so big that the batteries get turned over quickly so not on the shelf forever. But I think it is wrong that none of the sales staff, either telephone or front desk, have a clue about the batteries they sell. All they seem to be trained for is to sell the batteries with the highest profit margin. They are no different to Battery Megastore who treated me exactly the same recently and I suspect the same as most battery retailers. But it is a shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billggski Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 Sounds like there's a need for some sort of national scheme to advise caravanners and motorhomers of the best batteries for leisure use. Any ideas? ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 Billggski - 2018-07-12 8:26 AM Sounds like there's a need for some sort of national scheme to advise caravanners and motorhomers of the best batteries for leisure use. Any ideas? ?? You mean like The NCC? (lol) .......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandncaravan Posted July 12, 2018 Author Share Posted July 12, 2018 Billggski - 2018-07-12 8:26 AM Sounds like there's a need for some sort of national scheme to advise caravanners and motorhomers of the best batteries for leisure use. Any ideas? ?? Even if there was a national scheme that presented open and honest information, there would still be an issue with the buyer being able to recognise if a battery being offered was fit for purpose. I would suggest that a far better option would be a good Leisure battery labelling system that published all the data necessary to make comparisons, to be printed on the battery itself. For example it's ability to 'Deep Cycle' could use a traffic Light system similar to the food labelling system for Fat and Sugar? A battery with strong deep cycling capability would show a Green traffic light and a Numax with only 30 cycles would be Red. Obviously the actual cycling value would be inside the coloured circle, exactly as per the % figures shown on food labelling, Such labelling makes it easy for anyone, at the point of sale or any where else, to spot a good battery or a bad one. When anyone buys a vehicle, new or second hand, they can make a decision on whether the installed battery fits their needs. That applies to ALL batteries, not just ones where a manufacturer has paid for it to be 'verified'. There is always going to a question mark over two companies 'working together where money changes hands'. Yuasa have already made a positive move in this direction, see photo below. You will note that for the first time in history a mainstream battery manufacturer has published the cyclic figure on the battery itself, The cycling test figures we saw for this battery are nearer 250 cycles, so again history is probably being made with a battery manufacturer under stating the results by printing only 200 cycles on the casing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 aandncaravan - 2018-07-11 11:38 PM All they seem to be trained for is to sell the batteries with the highest profit margin. Or the one they have had in stock the longest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 Billggski - 2018-07-12 8:26 AM Sounds like there's a need for some sort of national scheme to advise caravanners and motorhomers of the best batteries for leisure use. Any ideas? ?? Or maybe - motorhome converters could find out what are the best batteries/chargers and fit those? David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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