I only bought it in January, however I didn't look after it like I should, i.e. not charging it when I should, but I've had batteries before & they lasted longer than this with the same (lack of) treatment. Stitched up or just deserts?
Check it`s charging on the split charger - If you have one , mine wasn`t . I`m also a serial Leisure battery abuser and killed mine . To recharge it after a few days away i have to remove the battery and lug it home . After sorting out the split charger and fitting solar i`m going to TRY to look after the next one ...
Jut take it back - neglected or not - it should last longer than 4 months. But - it could be revived with pulse charging - a facility on more expensive chargers.
Me too - a battery per year for exactly your reason and TBH with most of each season well down on power. I'd run them until whatever was running stopped running, that's called over discharging and also very bad for the battery. Following your thought process I solared up. Cool, fit and forget style, so now every TWO years I have to buy a battery AND a panel. And for what? So I could spend £500 on a 12v fridge, £120 on a battery, £120 on a panel, £80 on a controller and wires AND £250 every two years on a replacement battery and solar panel - instead of cutting a hole for a gas fridge outlet. People give away gas fridges! The amount of camping I do most years I could have had a fridge's worth more cupboard space, thrown away the odd half used pack of bacon, saved myself the grief, eaten in the pub every evening meal and still be £better off.
That’s^ exactly what I did, following your and a few others lead, except I was smart and bought two panels because I didn’t think they would produce what they claimed to produce. Now I have two useless panels and a compressor fridge that uses more power than lots say they use. I should have kept the gas fridge and maybe bought a battery with more capacity.
Here's my twin battery system - Campers place unusual demands on their batteries. 1. Camper is often not used for long periods 2. Camper uses considerable power while on site. Molteni Mike's modifications. 1. Two batteries (NOT leisure ones) bought from a breakers yard for £25 each. They're huge, 70-80AH each, and have lasted at least 4 years each. 2. Hardwired the +ve terminals together with heavy duty jumper lead cable. Then sent both earth cables to a heavy duty (300Amp!) "boat switch" placed in a rear cupboard. This gives a choice of OFF - batt 1 - batt2 - both. The choice of using the "earth" for this system is in case of a short circuit, the system is safe. Never ever turn the switch to OFF with the engine running, you'll fry the alternator diodes! I've never used the "both" option as charging more one than one battery in parallel results in the "better" battery only being charged to the level of the "worse" one. 3. When parked in the drive, the electrics are plugged into an "smart" charger which safely keeps the battery charged without risk of overcharging. Protocol when away from home. As soon as the vehicle is parked for the night at the camp site, the battery is "switched" to the other one. In this way the battery just charged by a long drive will be fresh for the following day's startup. The one just connected can be used overnight without concern about the following morning's start. Touch wood, this setup/protocol has worked 100% for several years. Here's a picture of the boat switch, they're about £25 from chandlers. The traditional "split charge" system has the "overnight" camper electrics wired to the leisure battery and a relay to link both batteries together when the alternator is turning. It's a great system when everything is working! But there's a small risk that something to do with the vehicle's electrics will be left on (sidelights, courtesy lights etc), causing the engine battery to drain on site. Additionally, if the leisure battery is in poor condition, after a long drive the engine battery will become drained. Charging mismatched batteries in parallel is a bad idea! It's possible to fit a gizmo which sends the alternator's charge to the battery with the greater need. But that is an expensive option. But on an old vehicle, starting needs every help we can give , hence the decision to use two engine batteries. In my set up, the system has controlability in that it's me who decides where the charge goes and which battery is used overnight. Actually I don't use much power on site, in the days when I had just one battery, I could remain on site for several nights and the engine would (just about) start. For the majority of the time the camper is not used for holidays, so it can be driven without regard to charging. I like the peace of mind which comes with knowing that the fully charged battery is completely isolated overnight from any current drain. It's a bit of hassle to remember to switch over batteries but it soon becomes instinctive.
If you need a leisure battery try these folks ... https://www.batterymegastore.co.uk/product/hankook-xv110mf-leisure-battery/ They came recommended by @3901mick and seem very reasonable
Never tried a leisure battery but used them ones on my sprinter. One on winch and one starter. Both been spot on
I bought 2 of these for the boat 110Ah 1000CCA and the all important 5 year guarantee. The old batteries no longer held enough capacity to run all the boat electronics, but I still have them at home. After charging then left for a few days, they actually started the camper!
I use a losslesss diode splitter off the alternator to charge whichever battery needs it most. Because it cost me a tenner scrapped from work. A 41AH starter and an 65AH leisure battery. And 200 watts solar charging the leisure battery through an MPPT controller.
I thought diode splitters lost about 0.7 volts, and now boats use "FET" controllers which lose less than 0.1 volts? Vague idea that a 2 battery splitter costs around £200!
Its a Mastervolt MOSFET one off a boat, yes it is expensive.. for 6 MOSFETs on a heatsink and some other electronics. Simpler and cheaper to use a VSR between batteries , starter battery to alternator and solar cells to leisure battery.
You can’t leave a leisure battery without any charge, They fall asleep and die and it doesn’t matter how much you have spent either, They need a battery conditioner or regular charging
I just checked. Without charging a lead acid battery loses about 4% charge a week. If you dont charge it fully with a proper charger or run it on a long journey with an alternator feeding it, it may begin to degrade from new by sulphating up .. This came from a technical paper. It also shows why good leisure batteries have different plate alloy with calcium. They also point out that the best lead-acid batteries self discharge about the same rate as LiFePO4 ..
