# leisure battery



## ianandjo (Sep 7, 2009)

hi just about to install the electrics and battery into our van , having a sealed leisure battery is it wise to vent the area to ? thanks


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## Nomad1 (Sep 7, 2009)

yes you must vent to the outside,,,the leisure batteries on my van are vented thru the floor..


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## Firefox (Sep 8, 2009)

During charging even a sealed battery can produce hydrogen gas which is lighter than air. You are generally better off venting from the top of the battery compartment. 

Gas bottle lockers should be vented through a floor dropout panel as propane/butane is heavier than air.


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## Nomad1 (Sep 8, 2009)

all my leisure batteries have vent tubes fitted to them,,,so by thru the floor i mean the tubes are taken thru the floor and the hole sealed with sikaflex,,,in most cases its not easy to vent batteries from the top,,,you dont want hydrogen gas venting into the living area of the van..


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## Firefox (Sep 8, 2009)

Yep I should probably add if it's direct from the battery via a tube it can vent anywhere to the outside. If it doesn't have a tube (and not all of them do) you should vent a sealed battery locker via a tube to the outside, and this tube should come from the top of the locker to stop hydrogen collecting inside the top of the locker where a spark at the battery terminals could blow the locker apart. This tip is in the Haynes Motorcaravan manual by John Wikersham. It may be slightly over the top safety wise but better to be as safe as possible


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## ianandjo (Sep 8, 2009)

thanks for the advice . Where could i buy a sealed battery box from ?


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## Boxerman (Sep 8, 2009)

The new battery I bought recently is sealed - no vents at all, unlike the one it replaced which had a vent pipe. This one is a bit taller than the other but  don't know if that's relevant.

Frank


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## Bondy1 (Sep 8, 2009)

My leisure battery is under the floor in a sealed box but has a vent pipe out through the floor. I think this is because whilst the van is running it charges the leisure battery.


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## MikeH (Sep 8, 2009)

Doesn`t the idea of being sealed mean it doesnt have vents?

http://www.wildcamping.co.uk/forums/motorhome-problems/5008-venting-leisure-batteries.html#post48039

I have 2 x 75ah Numax sealed leisure batteries under the drivers seat. Halfords or your local motor factors sell them though they are more expensive than the traditional vented type.


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## Boxerman (Sep 8, 2009)

MikeH said:


> Doesn`t the idea of being sealed mean it doesnt have vents?
> 
> http://www.wildcamping.co.uk/forums/motorhome-problems/5008-venting-leisure-batteries.html#post48039
> 
> I have 2 x 75ah Numax sealed leisure batteries under the drivers seat. Halfords or your local motor factors sell them though they are more expensive than the traditional vented type.



My previous battery was "sealed" in that I couldn't top it up - no caps, but it did have a vent tube. The new one doesn't have a vent, it is also 75ah Numax.
I thought it was quite reasonable at £50 from a "local shop" how much are they at Halfords?

Frank


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## MikeH (Sep 8, 2009)

Boxerman said:


> My previous battery was "sealed" in that I couldn't top it up - no caps, but it did have a vent tube. The new one doesn't have a vent, it is also 75ah Numax.
> I thought it was quite reasonable at £50 from a "local shop" how much are they at Halfords?
> 
> Frank



90 quid for 70ah! Got mine from motor factor for 60 each.


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## Boxerman (Sep 8, 2009)

And they wonder why they get called "Halfrauds"

Frank


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## oldiebutgoodie (Sep 8, 2009)

£68 for 110AH leisure batts at my local shop.
I believe there is an ec directive that all batteries are having to be the 'sealed' type now.


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## Firefox (Sep 8, 2009)

Re Battery lockers, CAK do a below floor battery box

CBE ELECTRICS CAK Tanks Premier Source Of Interior Equipment Motor-Caravan Caravan Marine

Or you could make one from a lightweight sealed container.in a ply box.

I bought my 110AH battery for about £100 but it was one of those carbon block elecsol ones with a 5 year guarantee. When comparing battery prices I daresay you can get cheaper ones but it's the same argument why you would pay more money for a porsche than for a mini. I'll tell you in 10 years if I got my money's worth from the the elecsol one


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## ianandjo (Sep 8, 2009)

think i'll box it in and vent just to be safe . Thanks guys


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## oldiebutgoodie (Sep 8, 2009)

Firefox said:


> I bought my 110AH battery for about £100 but it was one of those carbon block elecsol ones with a 5 year guarantee. When comparing battery prices I daresay you can get cheaper ones but it's the same argument why you would pay more money for a porsche than for a mini. I'll tell you in 10 years if I got my money's worth from the the elecsol one



I have read a lot about Elecsol batteries on various forums - the general consensus appears to be that the guarantee is not worth the paper it is written on as they refuse to honour it and there have been a lot of people with problems with them in the first couple of years! If you want true deep cycle batteries I would recommend Vetus boat batteries - I had over 18 years out of two 100Ah ones.


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## Firefox (Sep 8, 2009)

Yes there is a lot of controversy that surrounds batteries. There's one guy on the net who makes charging equipment and power management systems who insists that nearly all "deep cycle" batteries are actually starter batteries anyway. Although the plates have better separation, they can still lose material from the plates during discharge, especially "deep cycles" which renders them useless eventually. 

I think battery guarantees would be difficult to honour because who can prove that the charge discharge cycles that the battery was subjected to were all within the stated tolerances. It's your word against theirs.


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## Deleted member 207 (Sep 9, 2009)

Leisure batteries seem to cope better with deeper discharge than the cranking batteries, recovery from being almost flat being the issue. Cranking batteries wont recover often, if at all, from being fully discharged. Leisure batteries should recover and accept a full charge for whatever time the maker says.

Gel filled batteries have no vents at all, you can fit them anyway you like, which is often handy as sizes (LxWXH) change so often and getting one to fit in the available space can become a problem. 

Ordinary wet cell batteries do produce some hydrogen and other corrosve gases (I'm more worried about these) whilst being charged, but plenty of van manufacturers have batteries fitted under the drivers seats and I cant remember any horrific tales in the media of exploding vans caused by hydrogen gas ignition - but no doubt there are.

Campervans fitted with gas appliances should have permanently open upper and lower vents so there is unlikely to be a build up of hydrogen gas.


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## Firefox (Sep 9, 2009)

I found the link about battery types. It was the guy at Sterling Power.

Sterling Power Products: What is the best battery to use for an auxiliary charging system?

It makes quite an interesting read. Basically he is saying "Deep Cycle" leisure batteries are a complete misnomer. I don't pretend to know much about batteries, but I do know if you discharge to 50 % or so they don't last that long, only a couple of years maybe, so the term deep cycle is relative.

On another note, I found a small hole at the top of my elecsol battery. I am going to vent from that via a tube although I don't think they ask for it in the installation instructions.

In my '06 Movano (aka Renault Master) the van battery is in the cab floor between the seats just in front of the handbrake. It is sealed in a compartment with 4 screws and a rubber seal for the lid. I can't remember any venting provisions in the battery box, but I'll have a look more closely when I fit the aux battery cable.


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## lebesset (Sep 9, 2009)

recently had occasion to have a chat with an AA man of 30 years experience on the subject ...my niece left the aircon running and flattened the battery on her honda 
he commented that she was lucky because it was fitted with a battery made to the AC delco design , because this is the only battery on the market which is truly maintenance free ....the others just dry out and fail ...enough life for the guarantee built into the design , most new vehicles are guaranteed for three years , don't expect more from your battery was his advice


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