Leisure battery recommendation?

barryd

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I think my single no maintenance (Sealed) Alphaline 125ah Leisure battery may well be on the blink. Its six years old now and has been well hammered I guess. Currently been away in the van since June and the last five weeks or so on the Isle of Arran and apart from this weekend we have not been on hookup once and have just relied on the Solar and 125ah battery with no problems until the other day. I noticed the reading on the MPPT controller was dropping from a fully charged level to about 12.0 vaults by bed time (about 11-11:30pm). In the morning it was recovering and quickly (too quickly) showing 12.7 but plug in a laptop or whatever for ten minutes and it was quickly back to 12.0 or 12.1. I dont think its dead, just on its way out.

So we are on hookup finally for a few days and will see how it goes once we clear off and go wilding again but if it dies suddenly what would people recommend as a replacement and from where? I want a similar output if not better really and also someone who can deliver to the Isle of Arran. That may be an issue I guess as least of all I have no idea where to get it delivered to "The van on the shore with the scooter" probably wont do. :) Maybe a campsite perhaps? (I hate even mentioning that word :) )
 
I think my single no maintenance (Sealed) Alphaline 125ah Leisure battery may well be on the blink. Its six years old now and has been well hammered I guess. Currently been away in the van since June and the last five weeks or so on the Isle of Arran and apart from this weekend we have not been on hookup once and have just relied on the Solar and 125ah battery with no problems until the other day. I noticed the reading on the MPPT controller was dropping from a fully charged level to about 12.0 vaults by bed time (about 11-11:30pm). In the morning it was recovering and quickly (too quickly) showing 12.7 but plug in a laptop or whatever for ten minutes and it was quickly back to 12.0 or 12.1. I dont think its dead, just on its way out.

So we are on hookup finally for a few days and will see how it goes once we clear off and go wilding again but if it dies suddenly what would people recommend as a replacement and from where? I want a similar output if not better really and also someone who can deliver to the Isle of Arran. That may be an issue I guess as least of all I have no idea where to get it delivered to "The van on the shore with the scooter" probably wont do. :) Maybe a campsite perhaps? (I hate even mentioning that word :) )
I can’t help with delivery suggestions but I would highly recommend Alpha batteries. I have replaced our engine battery and both leisure batteries this year and their service was very good.

I needed advice on choosing my leisure batteries and they were very helpful and didn’t just try to sell me the most expensive option. Delivery was fast too.

And don’t forget they give us a members discount.
 
I can’t help with delivery suggestions but I would highly recommend Alpha batteries. I have replaced our engine battery and both leisure batteries this year and their service was very good.

I needed advice on choosing my leisure batteries and they were very helpful and didn’t just try to sell me the most expensive option. Delivery was fast too.

And don’t forget they give us a members discount.

Thats just what I was looking for thanks. Just having a look through their site and its very informative. I initially thought about AGM batteries but reading on their site they may not be a good idea as most onboard chargers do not charge them at the correct voltage 14.6-14.8 I think it said and our van is quite old although I think the charger was replaced in 2009. We mainly use solar for charging though in the summer at least. So I think ill give them a call and see what they recommend. Cheers.
 
There used to be option of collecting a parcel from a post office called I think post resante ? Ebay an Amozon have drop shops. I,m a fan of Numax lead acid batterys
 
Does anyone remember Red Star Parcels, you'd take whatever to the station, they put it on a train and you informed the recipient when and where it would be, there was also a similar national bus service.


 
I swapped the 3 x 5 year old flooded lead acids for these 3 x 105ah AGM batteries from Alpha earlier this year (to go with new 400w solar panel and ring rscdc30 charge controller/B2B)

Delighted so far....

Screenshot_20210911-120250_Chrome.jpg
 
If you are on the road and need a quick replacement you could try Halfords. They sell Yuasa batteries which, I believe, are generally well regarded. They used to re-brand them as Halfords but now don't bother.
 
Thanks for the further replies. I am on the Isle of Arran so definitely no Halfords here and I would imagine no other suppliers of leisure batteries. I am on a CL at the moment but I am pretty sure the owner is often away so maybe not much point in getting one delivered here. I could ask on the local facebook group I guess or maybe the post office. I like the sound of the AGM batteries but reading the bumf on Alphas site it might not be that straight forward unless you have the right chargers and presumably ill have to select the right choice of charge on my Solar MPPT Controller. I seem to remember there are a few options but its years since I read the manual. :)


Might be safer to just go lead acid wet but the one we have is sealed no maintenance so maybe its already an AGM. Bought it from Battery Mega Store in Canne France in 2015 I think. When we leave here fully charged on Tuesday morning I think ill see what its like for a day or two so it might wait until we get home in a couple of weeks or so. Its getting to the time of year now where Solar is not enough anyway and there is not much sunshine expected so maybe time to use a mixture of sites and wilding. We run two smartphones, TV, two laptops and God knows what else. Not like the old days where it was maybe one nokia phone where the charge lasted a week! :)
 
Thanks for the further replies. I am on the Isle of Arran so definitely no Halfords here and I would imagine no other suppliers of leisure batteries. I am on a CL at the moment but I am pretty sure the owner is often away so maybe not much point in getting one delivered here. I could ask on the local facebook group I guess or maybe the post office. I like the sound of the AGM batteries but reading the bumf on Alphas site it might not be that straight forward unless you have the right chargers and presumably ill have to select the right choice of charge on my Solar MPPT Controller. I seem to remember there are a few options but its years since I read the manual. :)


Might be safer to just go lead acid wet but the one we have is sealed no maintenance so maybe its already an AGM. Bought it from Battery Mega Store in Canne France in 2015 I think. When we leave here fully charged on Tuesday morning I think ill see what its like for a day or two so it might wait until we get home in a couple of weeks or so. Its getting to the time of year now where Solar is not enough anyway and there is not much sunshine expected so maybe time to use a mixture of sites and wilding. We run two smartphones, TV, two laptops and God knows what else. Not like the old days where it was maybe one nokia phone where the charge lasted a week! :)
Hi Barryd, i am just over the water from Arran Lochranza ferry to Cloanaig,you could get batteries sent to me and i could meet you at ferry if you have any problem,but i would ask cal mac to take delivery at Ardrossan and take over to Brodick.pm for phone no if interested.
 
Hi Barryd, i am just over the water from Arran Lochranza ferry to Cloanaig,you could get batteries sent to me and i could meet you at ferry if you have any problem,but i would ask cal mac to take delivery at Ardrossan and take over to Brodick.pm for phone no if interested.
Thanks for the offer. Ill see how I get on.
 
This could only happen here. I posted on the Arran facebook page more as a way of maybe sussing out if anyone could order a battery or maybe had one they werent using and out of the blue a guy that deals in used cars and scrap cars turned up at the van with a heavy duty Banner Battery off he says a four litre truck or something. He didnt know how many Ah it was though and it looked a bit smaller than my current one. Said its six months old and fully charged. Wants £45 for it. Might be enough to get me away again. What do you all think?
 
This could only happen here. I posted on the Arran facebook page more as a way of maybe sussing out if anyone could order a battery or maybe had one they werent using and out of the blue a guy that deals in used cars and scrap cars turned up at the van with a heavy duty Banner Battery off he says a four litre truck or something. He didnt know how many Ah it was though and it looked a bit smaller than my current one. Said its six months old and fully charged. Wants £45 for it. Might be enough to get me away again. What do you all think?
Thats the power of advertising put you on the spot spose you bought it :ROFLMAO::LOL::ROFLMAO:
 
Nah I never bought it for two reasons. Firstly it might not be suitable so I did a bit of research and secondly Im now wondering if its my laptop thats caused the issue. Sounds daft but I run it fully charged normally always on its 12v adaptor. I have noticed today though now we are on hookup and ironically I let it run down as I knew I could charge it easily that its battery is on the way out so I wonder if when its been plugged in to the 12v if its being drawing a full 65w pull all the time because of its duff battery. So the plan now is to leave here Tuesday and not use the laptop at all for a couple of days. See if it was that.

I am not sure the Banner energy bull truck battery I have been offered will be any good though. I read up on them and they have to be vented. I know my old Banner battery had a vent tube but I never spotted one on this one. https://www.bannerbatterien.com/en-gb/Support/FAQ

However a kind lady who works at the Coop here says I can get a battery delivered to them and the local Garage owner has said he can get me one also. We should be ok one way or another I reckon.
 
Banners are notorious for drinking water. I have 2 as original equipment in my van. This will be their 4th winter and, hopefully, their last.
 
You have to decide how many amph you need , whar type, agm, gell or lead acid , then decide how much you want PAY, try to go for a class B , weight is a good guide to to quality. The more you look the more you get information overload
 
I was recently pointed towards AliExpress to look at some lifepo4 batteries. They do 280ah 3.2 batteries. Connecting 4 in series gives you your 12v battery.
The difference is unlike traditional batteries where you can only drain 50%, all of the capacity of the lifepo is useable. Also the banks are much smaller in comparison for the capacity.

There are higher capacity ones available too, seen banks of 320ah and 420ah for not ridiculous money too.

I am seriously considering this route next time.
 
Thanks again for the suggestions. I dont think I need much more than 125ah like we have now as I only have 100w of solar anyway. Im leaning towards another maintenance free battery so will call Alpha and see what they advise if mine is knackered of course.
 
Thanks again for the suggestions. I dont think I need much more than 125ah like we have now as I only have 100w of solar anyway. Im leaning towards another maintenance free battery so will call Alpha and see what they advise if mine is knackered of course.
Dont know how you keep up with such a small batt pack, but good luck with whatever you go with.
 

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