Further to this thread: http://thelatebay.com/index.php?threads/can-you-decipher-this-on-my-leisure-battery-please.23940/ I have accepted that my old battery is no more. Which of these is the best buy: Both are from Tanya Batteries http://www.tayna.co.uk/ELECSOL-110-Carbon-Fibre-Battery-P5553.html Elecsol 110 Carbon Fibre Battery 12v 110Ah CCA 750A 353mm Long 175mm Wide 190mm High £108.49 delivery £9.73 5 year guarantee http://www.tayna.co.uk/EXV110-Enduroline-Calcium-Leisure-Battery-P8423.html EXV110 Enduroline Calcium Leisure Battery 110Ah 12v 110Ah CCA 1000A 354mm Long 175mm Wide 190mm High £114.95 delivery £9.38 4 year guarantee Thanks in advance to anybody who knows more about batteries than me (That's practically everyone) and who wouldn't mind advising me.
From experience I would go for the 1st one. Its the same amp/hour and comes with five year warranty not 4. With these old things we often abandon them over winter so batteries can tend to fade if not used.
Either is fine, slightly more expensive one us meant to be better but I by gets 4 year warranty, the other one gets 5. Not much to choose between the two.
Check the terminal locations on your current battery. Leisures are usually mounted under the spare wheel with the terminals closest to you and with the negative terminal towards the front and the positive terminal towards the rear. These both seem to have the opposite. Assuming the size is ok you'll be able to fit them ok but you may need to do some tinkering.
Have you gone to the engine bay and measured which will fit? (assuming it will be positioned there?) I mentioned in my reply to your other post a lot wont - the Lucas Cadmium one I got does fit is rated at 110ah and cost me about £100 all in?
My old leisure battery is pos on the right and neg near the rear lights so the new one SHOULD be a straight swop. I'm fairly sure the height will be ok but I'll need to measure the length to make sure. Does the Carbon Fibre in the name refer to the case construction?
I went to my local battery distributor at the weekend. They did two sizes of 110Ah (both looked huge) standard height and a lower version. The higher would have clashed with the spare wheel well. I wasn't sure that the low height one would either, so opted for the 85Ah. Having fitted it I reckon was the right decision. But I'm only intending to run a cool box, propex and a bit of lighting. In short I would check the dimensions to the spare wheel.
Allegedly the carbon fibre is the plates, i've been looking at these 2 batteries too, ive had and elecsol and it was fine, but is seem to read about them now is that the company are, well, difficult to deal with in case of a warranty there by rendering the 5 year warranty pretty usless (this is only what i've read on tinternet though) The other one, i cant seem to find anything to justify the price, what makes it more expensive? lots of reviews say its good, but why!? what difference does calcium make to a battery to make cost £50 more than a standard leisure battery? So as yet i'm still undecided, i think it will come down to the toss of a coin
It was Aplha batteries (they were good and very quick) Pretty sure this is mine as you can see its on offer (typical!) http://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/leisure-batteries/110-ah-lucas-leisure-battery/
I've used a company called Alpha Batteries for the past 5 or more years and found them very good and pretty cheap: http://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/leisure-batteries/ They do a large range of leisure batteries, including a 110Ah one that is the smallest dimensions I've seen anywhere - 345h x 175w x 175h - and are £79.99 including postage. I used two of these on my T4 conversion and was very happy with them: http://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/leisure-batteries/110-ah-ultra-plus-low-height-leisure-battery/ For my T2 however I opted for one of their 90Ah ones as I was concerned about size in the engine bay. I am however having a large solar panel on the roof and figured that would easily account for the lowe Ah battery. Nick.
Just seen Stan recommend Alpha Batteries too while I was writing my message Meant to say, I've have always got their own brand ones rather than a named brand and never had any problems - must have had about 8 batteries from them now between car, van and leisure ones.
Stan I looked at the one you recommended and it is over 190mm tall so it won't fit in my van. I spoke to a very nice lady called Ann at Tanya Batteries and she advised me to but a pure leisure battery instead of one with a cranking option. So.... I've just bought this and it should be with me by 18.00 tomorrow. http://www.tayna.co.uk/Banner-Energy-Bull-Leisure-Battery-95751-P8270.html Thanks again for all your help and advice guys, because of your help I think I've made a much better choice this time than I did when I bought the first leisure battery.
Well done mate. Pure leisure batteries are designed for numerous recharge cycles and not hard core cranking but can be used to help jump the van should you need it. You can also use your old 'normal' van batteries as a leisure battery subject to what you need it for. Just 1 thing to remember they are a lot bigger and heavier than the vans battery.
well I bought the Banner battery from Ann at Tanya batteries. It turned up the next day in a huge box and I wondered if I'd got my measurements correct. Luckily the battery was a bit smaller than the box but still a very big battery. We happened to have a travelling circus passing the house so I borrowed two elephants to climb up onto the battery to give a sense of scale. After a wrestle I got it into the engine bay but it was so long it spanned the bumps on the battery tray. I didn't want it balanced on just four corners so I made a spacer from some old resin based counter top. This battery does fit in the van - just. there is about 2cm from the battery to the rear light cluster. I took some advice from others on this site and beefed up my leisure wiring while I was there. I used 6mm2 cable and provided a seperate feed just for the fridge. Then I fitted three switches into the side of the van just beside the rear seat. When I do the door cards I'll box around the switches so I can control the leisure electrics without removing fuses which is what I've been doing for the last year. I put a switch in for the TV because it's either on or on standby so previously the only way of turning it off completely involved fiddling around behind the TV to pull out the power lead.
PeaSoup re; your advice about the fridge. Checked it and found that it wasn't working, hence not getting cold. I got it checked and found a broken wire. Fixed that and now have cold beer. matty Thanks for all your advice during this, my difficult time.
