new battery time again

wildebus said:
The Clamp meter I have was £30, bought from Amazon in 2017 and still working fine.

No longer available (at least the link from the original order takes you to a dead page) but doing a search on the Amazon site I saw this Clamp meter that looks very good value for money:
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£34 but has a 20% discount voucher currently, so takes it down to just over £27 which I reckon is a bit of a bargain. That one also has a temperature probe which could be surprisingly useful I think and also features an "NCV" function which tells you if a mains circuit is live or not (handy quick way to check if a plug fuse is blown or if it is the device failed or the supply failed)

If I didn't have a DC Clamp Meter already, I would be ordering that one today!
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I'd say a DC clamp meter is a mandatory item for any motorhomer.
The most recent review of that one above David suggests that it's resolution isn't particularly low, he says it wont detect a parasitic load.
Obviously everything is price dependant but the one I've had for a few years now has a lowest DC current range of 2V FSD and, if you're carful, will show just a few milliamps. Unfortunately the upper range is 100A and not 200A? Dont know why that is, I'm sure I've measured over 100A myself?? I'll check mine later.
 
or there is this at just £8.90 inc. HABOTEST HT206 Digital Clamp Meter DC/AC Current 600A Multimeter Ammeter Voltage Tester Car Amp Hz Capacitance NCV Ohm Test. Sounds good to me and if it only lasts a few days that is all I need though Merl's latest post indicates that I should have one permanently.
 
good grief, another one has just popped up for £2.86 inclusive of postage but might attract some tax. What's the scam I wonder. I might buy one just to see if it is true; with credit card, of course!
 
Harrytherid said:
or there is this at just £8.90 inc. HABOTEST HT206 Digital Clamp Meter DC/AC Current 600A Multimeter Ammeter Voltage Tester Car Amp Hz Capacitance NCV Ohm Test. Sounds good to me and if it only lasts a few days that is all I need though Merl's latest post indicates that I should have one permanently.
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This is where you need to take care in checking what you are actually buying.
I see that on Ali Express, with 3 options. the cheaper ones are actually AC Current only. If you select the AC/DC Current model then that is £20. Add the VAT at £4 (this is taken at point of sale directly) which makes them £24, then add on £6.75 (plus possibly VAT on shipping?) and you are over £30. Where is the saving?

Harrytherid said:
good grief, another one has just popped up for £2.86 inclusive of postage but might attract some tax. What's the scam I wonder. I might buy one just to see if it is true; with credit card, of course!
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£2.86 including postage will buy you a POS made in Chinese slave labour camps. personally I wouldn't consider that on multiple fronts.

Harrytherid said:
well, Dave just before I saw your last post I found this https://shorturl.at/tuB9t. what do you recon.
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£17.63 + VAT = £21.16 is a good price. Looks like the same as the Amazon one I linked to with the incorrect "REL" button instruction.
 
Yes Dave but where was the £21.16 one made and by whom, we just don't know do we. However, on closer inspection the cheapest one that it definitely says is dc amps is £8.90 so I shall buy that. If my inspection is wanting then I shall just have to suffer the consequences.
 
Harrytherid said:
Yes Dave but where was the £21.16 one made and by whom, we just don't know do we. However, on closer inspection the cheapest one that it definitely says is dc amps is £8.90 so I shall buy that. If my inspection is wanting then I shall just have to suffer the consequences.
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Remember to add shipping and VAT (charged at source)

is it the HT206A? -
1720530637380.png


or the HT206B?

1720530706349.png

I have a couple of Habotest products and they are ok, but they make multiple flavours of the same thing. You need the 206D

1720530939855.png
 
Harrytherid said:
Yes Dave but where was the £21.16 one made and by whom, we just don't know do we. However, on closer inspection the cheapest one that it definitely says is dc amps is £8.90 so I shall buy that. If my inspection is wanting then I shall just have to suffer the consequences.
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wildebus said:

Remember to add shipping and VAT (charged at source)

is it the HT206A? -
View attachment 132960

or the HT206B?

View attachment 132961
I have a couple of Habotest products and they are ok, but they make multiple flavours of the same thing. You need the 206D

View attachment 132965
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Yes Dave, 5 day postage is included and the VAT on a £9 product still only comes to £10.80. A friend came over and having heard the story said is solar connected, cos if so that is why the power is still up and dies at night. Silly me , why did I not think of that. Age, maybe? I shall get on and order that meter now before I forget what I was doing.:D
 
Ordering that meter all went wrong and I failed to get the passwords right, what a nuisance passwords are are. My wife is currently doing it for me as she is better at that than I. Ah she has succeeded, see I said she was better than I.

I went out and checked the battery and it was weird. It was down to12 volts overnight with everything switched off and solar unplugged. The weird thing was the meter was going up and down rapidly with the voltage after the decimal point but I suppose it averaged 12.4 volts or so. Looks like I shall have to await the arrival of the meter.
 
I have given up on finding the culprit for my "all switched off" discharge rate which seems to be less than one amp anyway so I am proposing to buy the new battery now. So is the 12v 115ah leoch agm lead carbon deep cycle (lcdc12-115-g31-dt still the battery of choice and if so what will be the difference between 12v 115ah leoch agm lead carbon deep cycle (lcdc12-115-g27-dt (notice the difference? (g31 or g27) my discussions with David on the subject of Clamp meters has taught me to look more closely at the specifications as, until I got his input, I nearly bought the wrong meter.
 
Regarding batteries under the cab seats, these are the ones I got from Alpha.

The van was the 2007 Citroen Relay I expect but not certain, the Fiat Ducato & the Peugeot Boxer are the same, I got two under the driver seat no problem.

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I did cut out the carpet

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And I forced the cable out of the way, plenty of slack actually.

1721645347646.png



The hardest part was paying for them and hoisting the seat out and back in I did tie them down and there was about 20mm clearance despite how it looks.

1721645499654.png




The Explorer XP31MF is no longer available, this is the equivalent SFL-120DT

 
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Pudsey Bear said:
Regarding batteries un the cab seats, these are the ones I got from Alpha, not sure if they still do but probably do.

I got two in no problem.

View attachment 133370

View attachment 133371

View attachment 133372

View attachment 133373

I did cut out the carpet

View attachment 133374

And I forced the cable out of the way, plenty of slack actually.

View attachment 133375


The hardest part was paying for them and hoisting the seat out and back in I did tie them down and there was about 20mm clearance despite how it looks.

View attachment 133376



The Explorer XP31MF is no longer available, this is the equivalent SFL-120DT

Click to expand...
Glorafide starter batteries, no worth the full of my ass of roasted snow.
 
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Robmac said:
Yet they work for Kev??

Have you tried them Trev?
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yes mate has them, 300 cycles, lead carbon 1300/1500 cycles, no brainer Rob and when my £45 lead acids fail thats where im going, do me my lifetime.
 
trevskoda said:
yes mate has them, 300 cycles, lead carbon 1300/1500 cycles, no brainer Rob and when my £45 lead acids fail thats where im going, do me my lifetime.
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You can get Lithium as cheap as lead/carbon these days Trev 3-6000 cycles and much lighter.
 
trevskoda said:
Yes may also go that way, what i dont like is the heater sys etc, will have to do more homework.
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I think the heater/BMS all looks after itself Trev.

Although the cheaper Lithiums don't have inbuilt heaters but other users have reported that they have had no problems without them.
 
Let me know what to look for, Trev, and maybe I will go that way too though I WAS happy with the lead/carbon idea but who knows!
 
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