Our cheap battery!

[Pedalman]

OK. I will give you an real life example involving the popular Banner Bull Batteries vs the Batteries I just got in yesterday to put in my Motorhome - so putting my money where my mouth is ...
Key Features of the two batteries

Banner Bull 100Ah Battery
£120
100Ah @C20 Discharge Rate
24.5Kg
2 Year Warranty
Requires periodic maintanance (topping up of water)
Requires external venting
200 Cycles when taken down to 50% Discharge (so it is expected that you can take out 50Ah 200 times before the performance is notably reduced and likely needs replacing.


12V 100AH RITAR AGM LEAD CARBON ULTRA DEEP CYCLE BATTERY
£190
100Ah @C20 Discharge Rate
29Kg
5 Year Warranty
Maintenance Free
No venting required
3000 Cycles when taken down to 50% Discharge (so it is expected that you can take out 50Ah 3,000 times before the performance is notably reduced and likely needs replacing)

So why buy the more expensive battery?
Well, the warranty is twice as long. It requires no maintenance (so pretty well fit & forget) and you can take out 50Ah every day the year for over 8 years. Do that with the Banner Bull battery and you will run out of cycles within 7 months. And the more expensive battery will also not complain too much if you want to take 80Ah or even 90Ah out of the 100Ah battery and still give you nearly 10 times the cycle count the Banner Bull will taking just 50Ah out.

To me, paying an extra £70 for those benefits is a no-brainer.

Where did you buy your Ritar battery from ,I would like to buy one but Im having difficulty finding the one you mention in your comment
Thanks in advance.

 

[wildebus]

Where did you buy your Ritar battery from ,I would like to buy one but Im having difficulty finding the one you mention in your comment
Thanks in advance.

From Alpha, but they have replaced the AGM version with a GEL model. Same manufacturer but badged Xplorer.

 

[Pedalman]

From Alpha, but they have replaced the AGM version with a GEL model. Same manufacturer but badged Xplorer.

I was looking at the Xplorer range thinking it can't be the same thing but it must be an upgrade / improvement. Thanks again for your quick reply.

 

[Herman]

Phantom, it would be interesting to have an annual update on your £65 battery, how's it holding out, have you noticed any lack or drop in performance over your previous battery

 

[wildebus]

I was looking at the Xplorer range thinking it can't be the same thing but it must be an upgrade / improvement. Thanks again for your quick reply.

Basically, there are folk who like AGM and folk who like Gel (and folk who don't care, they just want a decent battery - I'm in that camp). Alpha switched to the Gel version from the same manufacturer to widen their offerings in the Gel area.
I would have been happy with either one. It is not the very bestest battery on the market, but for the money it is a very decent option IMO.

 

[Markd]

From what I've read AGM and Gel are a bit sensitive to heat - so in southern Spain and Morocco you may think about that.
Apparently it was one of real reasons that BMW moved batteries into the boot away from their congested engine bays.
My Skoda has token insulation around the battery under the bonnet - can't see it doing much good with inevitable heat soak during a hard run.
Either way in this country I can't see overheating during high current charging being a major issue

 

[Phantom]

Phantom, it would be interesting to have an annual update on your £65 battery, how's it holding out, have you noticed any lack or drop in performance over your previous battery

Since fitting the cheap Probat battery we have lived in the MH full-time for a year. The Probat battery has been just fine, it is coupled to Yuasa battery which is 2 years older than it, maybe a bit of a mis-match but they seem about equal. Our power usage is quite low so the batteries haven't really gone much below about 80% and we had EHU all of last winter. We are not using MH this winter so I just give all batteries a top up charge every so often. I see no reason why the Probat shouldn't last us for many years but will update with any change in performance.

 

[molly 2]

Batterys are a bit like baileys say £ 18 a bottle. Aldi lidle £4 a bottle so aldi for my coffee . as for batterys pay up or take a chance

 

[trevskoda]

Im running almost 9 years on global truck batteries which were as cheap as chips.

 

[Robmac]

My first boat had an ordinary car battery for starting and habitation., and it was attached to a 10W solar charger.

Used for lighting and watching a 12v TV and water pump to the sink, it worked a treat and was still going strong when we sold the boat a couple of years later.

 

[wildebus]

My first boat had an ordinary car battery for starting and habitation., and it was attached to a 10W solar charger.

Used for lighting and watching a 12v TV and water pump to the sink, it worked a treat and was still going strong when we sold the boat a couple of years later.

How long did you use the TV for?

 

[Robmac]

How long did you use the TV for?

Usually a couple of hours. Once though we fell asleep watching it and it was still on in the morning.

 

[Aethelric]

My Banner battery lasted around 4 years. I've got a Panasonic battery in there now. It's been in three years and is still doing OK. I've done a write up about my mods to the van's electrical system including my experience with batteries. There is a link below if anyone is interested.
We haven't used it near as much in the last couple of years due to some bug that's going around.

https://2045.co.uk/auto-sleepers-nuevo/

 

[wildebus]

My Banner battery lasted around 4 years. I've got a Panasonic battery in there now. It's been in three years and is still doing OK. I've done a write up about my mods to the van's electrical system including my experience with batteries. There is a link below if anyone is interested.
We haven't used it near as much in the last couple of years due to some bug that's going around.

https://2045.co.uk/auto-sleepers-nuevo/

Had an initial look at your link and will look forward to reading in detail as sounds interesting

Like you, I bought a Motorhome (AutoTrail in my case) and really like it but the electrics definately needed updating. Put my updates on the sister Motorhomebuilder.com forum

 

[trevskoda]

After reading and listening to wildebus i had to do a complete rebuild of electrics, numax charger is behind the fuse box.

 

[Markd]

Usually recommended as best practice to replace all in the bank at the same time with matching batteries

If both van and hab batteries are same size there is a school of thought that suggests moving hab to starter when buying new leisure before it's completely gone.
Starter batteries have a much easier time only being called upon to work for a few seconds at a time normally getting recharged straightaway.
Of course they do need voltage keeping up when parked up but a bit of solar should be enough for that.

I had my starterbattery go down to 3.3V once 5 years ago (months of alarm standby) - it wouldn't charge using smart charger of course and even old fashioned charger wouldn't touch it. But I jump started (after a 20 minutes hook up) and the alternator then did the business.
I put in a dual channel solar regulator and fairly unbelievably it's been fine ever since - saying so will probably sound its death knell

 

[trevskoda]

My solar reg does both, one amp to starter, my on board 10ah numax will also charge starter and hab with a switch and 200ah relay running through battery cable, this gives me the advantage of starting the engine using all batteries if required.

 

[scoobydiver]

We're still deciding on the most suitable upgrades for our generally low moho power usage. Recently one of our FLA leisure batteries was finally declared about dead so looked for a convenient and quick replacement as we are moving about. Saw one on ebay 110Ah for £65 delivered next day, ordered at 5pm and it was delivered at 9am next morning, so seemed a convenient punt. But it has made a world of difference, so am very happy with our purchase. Not talking here about battery technology nor long livety at all as was just a cheap temporary solution to suit our current needs.
But now in more detail just looking at what we actually got for £65 delivered next day!
Well it appears to be a generic 110Ah, mainenance free, wet lead battery, labeled Probat, containing "Expanded Metal Technology (EMT) by using lead-calcium alloy in the production of battery plates, alledgedly proven to deliver increased reliability and longevity of an automotive battery." Claimed to be dual purpose starter/deep cycle? It has a 4 year guarantee, so seemed a no brainer for the price?

I had 3 x 110ah probat batteries and used them for 6 years they were still working well when I sold the van , bought a new van but only 98ah battery , already doubled this but with no room for more solar so no point in more batteries.

 

[mistericeman]

I had 3 x 110ah probat batteries and used them for 6 years they were still working well when I sold the van , bought a new van but only 98ah battery , already doubled this but with no room for more solar so no point in more batteries.

Had the same thing when we went from home built Transit Jumbo
To the Fiat Motorhome....

The single 90 ah battery was woefully inadequate...
Now up to 3 x 105 ah AGM batteries
400w solar panel
Ring Rscdc30 combined solar MPPT/B2B charger
Victron BLUE SMART IP22 CHARGER 12V 30AMP 3 Output charger
And victron 800w inverter
Victron smart shunt

All to make it as capable of off grid as the transit was....

I've had a couple of moments where I've wondered whether I should've just stuck with the Transit lol

 

[wildebus]

Had the same thing when we went from home built Transit Jumbo
To the Fiat Motorhome....

The single 90 ah battery was woefully inadequate...
Now up to 3 x 105 ah AGM batteries
400w solar panel
Ring Rscdc30 combined solar MPPT/B2B charger
Victron BLUE SMART IP22 CHARGER 12V 30AMP 3 Output charger
And victron 800w inverter
Victron smart shunt

All to make it as capable of off grid as the transit was....

I've had a couple of moments where I've wondered whether I should've just stuck with the Transit lol

I guess it depends on your carpentry skills, but after redoing the electrics in my Motorhome, I have the kind of electrical setup I would have put in a Self-build, but with the interior build quality that - in my own case and skill levels - I could only dream of.
Win-Win