Club 80-90 Forums

I am told that the leisure battery has quite different demands on it so that is what you should fit. Unfortunately I could not find one that fitted the compartment behind my passenger seat so fitted a standard starter battery instead. At least I could swop it over if the main battery failed or use jump leads from it. '85 1.9 Devon conversion. Anyone sourced a true leisure battery that fitted What I have got seems to do the trick but worth knowing if it ever gives up and needs replacing.

getunder wrote:I am told that the leisure battery has quite different demands on it so that is what you should fit. Unfortunately I could not find one that fitted the compartment behind my passenger seat so fitted a standard starter battery instead. At least I could swop it over if the main battery failed or use jump leads from it. '85 1.9 Devon conversion. Anyone sourced a true leisure battery that fitted What I have got seems to do the trick but worth knowing if it ever gives up and needs replacing.

Most 80-90ers use a normal vehicle (starter) battery as their leisure battery. Apparently you can fit up to a 096 batttery in the compartment under your passenger seat. There is info in ''The Wiki' at the top of this page on what batteries will fit etc.

^^^^^^^^^^SEARCH & YE SHALL FIND^^^^^^^^^^ The Gospel According to Rev.Jones (chapters 80-90).

I tried to fit a leisure battery - but as you have discovered, they are all too big - I did find some boat batteries, can't remember the name now, but they were 200 quid! So, stick to the starter battery... with the following trick...

Buy from Halfords, they give a three year guarantee - now a starter battery will only last up to a year used as a leisure, so use until worn out then go back to Halfords complaining your Metro won't start (the battery I purchased was designed for a Rover 200)... and they just give you a new one!!!

And so another year of electricity filled fun!

Helga wrote:............ now a starter battery will only last up to a year used as a leisure

My van has a starter battery in place of a leisure battery & it came with the vehicle in August 2006 & it is still in use 2 years & 7 months later. There is no reason whatsoever why a starter battery used as a leisure battery should only last up to a year.

Bowton Lad wrote: There is no reason whatsoever why a starter battery used as a leisure battery should only last up to a year.

In my experience it doesn't do them any good being used as leisure batteries, too much of a deep discharge on a regular basis quickly messes up a starter battery, they soon get to last less and less. Mine has done 16 months of admittedly quite heavy usage, living in the van for 6 months solid of that time, and now struggles for a weekend's use.

Personally I like Helga's style

i think 16 months of HEAVY use is enough for any battery! if you buy quality yuasa battery it will obviously last longer than a cheap yingtong from china.....

Fully agree about the heavy usage and no complaints really.

It's interesting to note though that they're both Lucas batteries, the starter battery is a good 3 years old and still works fine - holds a charge well & does it's job, but the one that's been used as a leisure battery, whilst only half the age of the other one is pretty much knacked, which I assume is due to the regularly discharging "too far" & recharging.

Still yet to find a true "deep cycle" battery to fit, I guess back in the day, it was just a case of making the box to fit what was available before the advent of fancy new fangled technology

Andi

Just find an alternative location for the leisure battery if thats your preferred choice, fairly straightforward to do if you are comfortable with the wiring. My leisure battery is in the cupboard directly behind the starter battery and was extremely easy to convert and only short cables were required. Tools and spares now occupy the vacant slot

andisnewsyncro wrote:

Bowton Lad wrote: There is no reason whatsoever why a starter battery used as a leisure battery should only last up to a year.

In my experience it doesn't do them any good being used as leisure batteries, too much of a deep discharge on a regular basis quickly messes up a starter battery, they soon get to last less and less. Mine has done 16 months of admittedly quite heavy usage, living in the van for 6 months solid of that time, and now struggles for a weekend's use.

So your starter(leisure) battery has lasted for ''16 months of admittedly heavy use''. How long might it have lasted under average usage on holidays & at VW shows? Well over a year.

Bowton Lad wrote:
So your starter(leisure) battery has lasted for ''16 months of admittedly heavy use''. How long might it have lasted under average usage on holidays & at VW shows? Well over a year.

Yep, it's done "well over a year"
Just comparing between the 2 really, and if you can "swap em" every 12 months or so like Hlega suggested it makes for cheap camping power

AngeloEvs wrote:Just find an alternative location for the leisure battery if thats your preferred choice, fairly straightforward to do if you are comfortable with the wiring. My leisure battery is in the cupboard directly behind the starter battery and was extremely easy to convert and only short cables were required. Tools and spares now occupy the vacant slot

That's something I'm looking into doing, finding some "spare" for a Yellow Top or similar, but sadly I have more pressing uses for my cash at the moment I was thinking of seeing what would fit in my engine compartment but I'm going to leave it for now, maybe a winter project ....

Off out to re-line my roof now whilst it's warm & sunny out there

Andi

I am a bit of a noob on this - but am about to buy one of these - as they say specifically that they fit T25 underseat compartment Decent warranty etc by look of it
http://www.alternativeenergystore.co.uk ... attery.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Any experience good or bad ? Cheers

I moved mine to the space you can never get to,
the bit at the back of the cupboard by the bed it also has the advantage of being nearer the control box.

the space under the seat then make a great place for a security box.

Octave Doctor - let us know if that Elecsol battery does fit under the seat - according to the specs on the web page you listed, it shouldn't:

Specifications:
· Deep cycle and engine start.
· Dimensions (LxWxH): 278 x 175 x 190 mm.
· Weight: 18.7kg.
· Cycle life: 1000 cycles to 80% dod.
· Guarantee: full 5 year, maintenence free.
· Fits in a Volkswagen type 25 campervan.

Maximum height is 175mm. See photo towards bottom of this thread:

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... &p=7341053

The Elecsol 100 definitely fits in my T25. Under the passenger seat - with ability to swivel the seat and roll it front to back ( although in practise I wont be doing this as I mostly fly solo ! ) I have quick fit clips on the battery and it still works with them on. I would add that I dont have any fancy cover on the battery though - just a bit of cloth - so if there is a metal cover or something on your bus underseat compartment it prob wouldnt fit. I am getting another as I plan to do a lot of wild camping and re-charge from solar when parked. Cheers