Which battery brand do I trust

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I need advice as to which pair of batteries I should install in our motorhome. Ideally I wanted 2 x Exide 142ah but they are too long. Trying to keep the amp hours as high as possible with a maximum length of 330mm narrows the field down to a handful; rendering the handful down of other questionable brands there are basically two 120ah batteries; a Enduroline EXV135 and a Lucas LX35MF from what I have read on various forums both have been described as budget batteries (whatever that means) which is a concern. So I’m looking to establish which one of the dubious pair to buy. Or alternatively if anyone knows a better wet battery at a similar or better amp hour then please let me know. Alternatively let me know which of the two battery brands I should buy. Someone suggested Leoch batteries but again I don’t know if they are any good. What I do know is that the battery industry is full of skullduggery and re-labelling. That’s why I need some help. Thanks
 
Varta or bosch silver power frame batteries,these will hold for 5 years as the plate frames dont disintrigrate ,just dont ruun them below 65/70 % discharge,there is nothing in lead acid to beat them,second choise would be yeasu.
 
Price + warranty is a good way - alternator goes wrong could knacker batteries also discharge them too low could knacker them as well - just my view anyway
 
goneoff said:
I need advice as to which pair of batteries I should install in our motorhome. Ideally I wanted 2 x Exide 142ah but they are too long. Trying to keep the amp hours as high as possible with a maximum length of 330mm narrows the field down to a handful; rendering the handful down of other questionable brands there are basically two 120ah batteries; a Enduroline EXV135 and a Lucas LX35MF from what I have read on various forums both have been described as budget batteries (whatever that means) which is a concern. So I’m looking to establish which one of the dubious pair to buy. Or alternatively if anyone knows a better wet battery at a similar or better amp hour then please let me know. Alternatively let me know which of the two battery brands I should buy. Someone suggested Leoch batteries but again I don’t know if they are any good. What I do know is that the battery industry is full of skullduggery and re-labelling. That’s why I need some help. Thanks
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As has been suggested, contact Alpha Batteries for good advice. If you have the information such as max physical size (length, widrth and height), then that will help eliminate batteries that could be suitable except for their size.
Leoch are a top quality brand and are a very big manufactuer of Batteries of all sorts of shapes and sizes.

I see there have been recommendations on Trojans and on the Powerframes. If they suit your setup, then fine, but they are by no means an automatic or even a good choice for all so don't go into the discussion with pre-conceived ideas.

Also as far as fitting a battery in a limited space, if you get the right technology battery, you can mount the batteries in different orientations (maybe you are limited to 330mm length but have more height then that? Put it on its side (IF the battery permits it). Just an example of keeping the selection open and not discounting options.
Having said that, you said "...if anyone knows a better wet battery". Why do you specifically want a wet-cell battery?
 
Fit ONE of these .. I rang them and asked if you needed anything other than the battery and they said NO. It's just a straight swap. 100Ah battery will give you nearly the same usable power and about half the weight of one 80Ah battery. It is under 330mm. Our new MH is going to have one fitted when it turns up. If you are thinking of buying a couple of batteries might be worth a look and you certainly won't give yourself a hernia trying to lift one in.
 
QFour said:
Fit ONE of these .. I rang them and asked if you needed anything other than the battery and they said NO. It's just a straight swap. 100Ah battery will give you nearly the same usable power and about half the weight of one 80Ah battery. It is under 330mm. Our new MH is going to have one fitted when it turns up. If you are thinking of buying a couple of batteries might be worth a look and you certainly won't give yourself a hernia trying to lift one in.
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Warning .... It is NOT a straight swap!

Underlined and emboldend because ....

If you charge that battery when it is at 0C or below - very possible in the UK in the Winter, then the battery will be damaged and seriously so. This is typical for lithium batteries and the info on the link shows this battery is no different ("... Battery must not be charged below freezing")

So yes, fit one in exchange and it is a good price, but you DO need more than just the battery! You need a method to disable any charging at low temps.
 
As I understand you also need a monitoring system as the voltage doesn't drop until flat , also is the wiring could be too thin to carry the high current a lithium can take when charging .please take this post as more of a question than a factual statement .
 
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molly 2 said:
As I understand you also need a monitoring system as the voltage doesn't drop until flat , also is the wiring could be too thin to carry the high current a lithium can take when charging .please take this post as more of a question than a statement .
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This is a good point. You cannot use a voltmeter reliably to monitor a Lithium Battery in the same way that one can be used with Lead Acid. The voltage on Lithium tends to be very flat so a glance at a voltmeter could mean the battery is anything from around 100% to 5% charged and it is only right at the end the voltage falls off the cliff.
 
wildebus said:
This is a good point. You cannot use a voltmeter reliably to monitor a Lithium Battery in the same way that one can be used with Lead Acid. The voltage on Lithium tends to be very flat so a glance at a voltmeter could mean the battery is anything from around 100% to 5% charged and it is only right at the end the voltage falls off the cliff.
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Do you have a comment about the wiring ? I have 2 x105 amp badged. ?? Leisure Battery's , about 4 years old when their time is up lithium is so tempting . also is the onboard charger compatible Sargent 328 . .at 14.4 volts
Not adjustable , as I'm sure you know the Sargent also controls the solar to engine and LB battery . 46 klg against about 14 is so tempting .
 
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Couple of suggestions. If you're still looking.

www.batterymegastore.co.uk

Hankook XL31S Dual Purpose Leisure Battery

Hankook XL31S Dual Purpose Leisure Battery product brought to you by BMS Technologies LTD Offering free next working day delivery.
www.batterymegastore.co.uk

www.batterymegastore.co.uk

Hankook XL31 Dual Purpose Leisure Battery

Hankook XL31 Dual Purpose Leisure Battery product brought to you by BMS Technologies LTD Offering free next working day delivery.
www.batterymegastore.co.uk

Cheers

H
 
Cables should be designed for max charge source Baz. A lithium battery may be able to accept a lot more current quicker but if source can’t deliver it there shouldn’t be a problem. Really you would want to take advantage of having that type of battery though so should check everything.
They can only be plug and play if the system supports it.
 
molly 2 said:
Do you have a comment about the wiring ? I have 2 x105 amp badged. ?? Leisure Battery's , about 4 years old when their time is up lithium is so tempting . also is the onboard charger compatible Sargent 328 . .at 14.4 volts
Not adjustable , as I'm sure you know the Sargent also controls the solar to engine and LB battery . 46 klg against about 14 is so tempting .
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The way the Lithium Battery pricing is dropping, it certainly has become a lot more affordable and worth checking out.

I don't know if the 328 Charger is compatible with Lithium. It is quoted as a Smart 3-stage Charger so it is likely compatible with the "drop in" style of Lithium Batteries, but maybe worth a call to Sargent Tech Support for their comment.
You do need to consider the low-temp charging aspect though as mentioned. A simple and useful way to deal with this if adding to an existing setup is to use a Battery that will not just cut out charging at zero Celcius, but actually still charge BELOW zero. Alpha Batteries sell a version of the RB100 that can charge at down to -20C which I would think would be well within any realistic UK requirements
This is the model here - https://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/12v-100ah-relion-low-temperature-lithium-ion-battery-rb100lt/ . An extra £50 over the normal one, but saves the hassle of adding in extra temp-sensing wiring and adds piece of mind.
You could alternatively get one that has a BMS that cuts the charge if temp goes low, or add your own circuit to do this, but whatever the approach taken, it is important to make sure this is considered otherwise you could end up with an expensive brick.


When you say about the wiring and your comment "...is the wiring could be too thin to carry the high current a lithium can take when charging ", I would hope that the wiring installed is suitable for the possible current the charger could deliver already? A Lithium Battery charges much more efficiently so the charger could be providing the max current the charger can deliver for a longer time, so it is possible the cable could get bit warm if underspecced, but for say the Sargent 328, I think that is a 25A charger? and the standard Sargent cabling is usually 4mm2. I would say those two are perfectly compatible.
 
Fazerloz said:
Could have sworn The OP particularly asked about wet batteries, but there you go.
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He did indeed (hence your suggest on the T105s :) ).
I did wonder why and asked specifically Wet Batteries. Maybe we will find out why he likes Wet Cells?
 
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