Leisure battery

[jpee]

Whats the difference between a leisure battery and a normal heavy duty battery?

Cheers
Jpee

[R0B]

A car battery is designed to give out a large amount of power in a short space of time (starting the van) and then being quickly recharged. A leisure battery is designed to store power and release it over a much longer period of time.

[kevtherev]

inside they are almost identical

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Ca ... _batteries" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[boatdog]

i was going to say about £40 normally!

[R0B]

Just dont go trying to start your van with a leisure battery.You will quickly find they are not that identical.(As i found out)

inside they are almost identical

[kevtherev]

Starting (sometimes called SLI, for starting, lighting, ignition) batteries are commonly used to start and run engines. Engine starters need a very large starting current for a very short time. Starting batteries have a large number of thin plates for maximum surface area. The plates are composed of a Lead "sponge", similar in appearance to a very fine foam sponge. This gives a very large surface area, but if deep cycled, this sponge will quickly be consumed and fall to the bottom of the cells. Automotive batteries will generally fail after 30-150 deep cycles if deep cycled, while they may last for thousands of cycles in normal starting use (2-5% discharge).

Deep cycle batteries or "leisure batteries are designed to be discharged down as much as 80% time after time, and have much thicker plates. The major difference between a true deep cycle battery and others is that the plates are SOLID Lead plates - not sponge. This gives less surface area, thus less "instant" power like starting batteries need. Although these an be cycled down to 20% charge, the best lifespan vs cost method is to keep the average cycle at about 50% discharge.

Unfortunately, it is often impossible to tell what you are really buying in some of the discount stores or places that specialize in automotive batteries. The traction battery or "golf car" is quite popular for small systems and campers. The problem is that "golf car" refers to a size of battery (commonly called GC-2, or T-105), not the type or construction - so the quality and construction of a golf car battery can vary considerably - ranging from the cheap off the shelf to branded with thin plates up the true deep cycle brands, such as Crown, Deka, Trojan, etc. In general, you get what you pay for.

found this on website concerning deep cycle batteries

Using a deep cycle battery as a starting battery
There is generally no problem with this, providing that allowance is made for the lower cranking amps compared to a similar size starting battery. As a general rule, if you are going to use a true deep cycle battery such as a TROJAN also as a starting battery, it should be oversized about 20% compared to the existing or recommended starting battery group size to get the same cranking amps. That is about the same as replacing a group 24 with a group 31. With modern engines with fuel injection and electronic ignition, it generally takes much less battery power to crank and start them, so raw cranking amps is less important than it used to be. On the other hand, many cars, boats, and RV's are more heavily loaded with power sucking "appliances", such as megawatt stereo systems etc. that are more suited for deep cycle batteries.
It will not hurt a deep cycle battery to be used as a starting battery, but for the same size battery they cannot supply as much cranking amps as a regular starting battery.

[jpee]

I can get a battery of around 86 amp hour for around £40 from Dingboros (trade only motor factor). Would this do as a leisure battery ?

Cheers
Jpee

[Hacksawbob]

my take for hat its worth and I am no electricerist, is you can use a standard starting battery as a leisure with reduced camping life, but you cant use a specialist lesisure as a car starter. I have a battery from "the battery man" on ebay i suspect is a starter although thats not what he sells it as, they are marketed as leisures. but it runs perfectly well for 3 days at a festival as a leisure battery. So go for it fit a starter, you have the added benefit of being able to jump the two batteries together in a petrol to get the van started if it comes to it. jpee for 40 notes its got to be worth a try!

[kevtherev]

I can get a battery of around 86 amp hour for around £40 from Dingboros (trade only motor factor). Would this do as a leisure battery ?

Cheers
Jpee

yes.. any battery will do, but what will you be running off it?

[CovKid]

And judging by new MOT regs from January, both batteries need to be properly secured - not just sitting there. Am already working on fitting a securing bar for each one so I don't fall foul of that one.

[jpee]

12v cool box (fridge not working) lights and occassionaly portable dvd player and shower. As it is at the mo. The present leisure battery is showing fully charged but when hooked up won't run anything. Try system on normal battery and everything working fine. Leisure battery is lnked to starter battery with wires from and to + and - terminals.

[bigherb]

And judging by new MOT regs from January, both batteries need to be properly secured - not just sitting there. Am already working on fitting a securing bar for each one so I don't fall foul of that one.

The original clamp is still available from VW part no 251 915 313 £2.80+. Just make sure the battery comes with the VW adaptors.

[72BUG]

The cool box alone will flatten an 85ah battery in just a few hours. I would go for a 110ah proper deep cycle leisure battery minimum.

[kevtherev]

Me too
judging by your power usage you will be wasting your money with a starter


....and fix the fridge it'll help cut the power down when it's on gas
What's wrong with it any way?

[jpee]

Was only going to run cool box when running. It is only to keep milk and butter cool. We usually buy perishables daily. Mrs Jpee veggy, so I tend to just eat veggy when away. Don't know whats up with fridge, worked ok before i took it out. No power to 240v, fuses etc ok. Power going to 12v but fridge not cooling even after 4hrs. Never used it on gas, don't think it's been overhauld for about 25yrs so need to get it checked properly before i'd trust the gas.