Anyone use Electronicx batteries?

[shouldknowbettor]

I need a new battery for my caravan. It's inside the cabin so needs to be gel pack. The space I have normally tops out at 110ah but these are available with 140ah and the same footprint.

140ah Electronicx on ebay

They're German brand I've not heard of. Anyone used them?

Thanks.

 

[Mr Plodd]

Why does it need to be a gel pack?
Most lead acid batteries are sealed these days anyway.

 

[RogerL]

Why does it need to be a gel pack?
Most lead acid batteries are sealed these days anyway.

Your point is valid but they aren't sealed - they have a breather tube which needs to be vented to fresh air - same applies to AGM batteries.

My Touareg has an AGM battery in the cabin under the passenger seat - it has the necessary vent tube which leads out through the floor.

 

[Challenger]

Your point is valid but they aren't sealed - they have a breather tube which needs to be vented to fresh air - same applies to AGM batteries.

My Touareg has an AGM battery in the cabin under the passenger seat - it has the necessary vent tube which leads out through the floor.

Interesting - when you stop to think that hydrogen is much lighter than air

 

[RogerL]

Interesting - when you stop to think that hydrogen is much lighter than air

It's valved so only tries to get rid of gas when it's higher pressure than atmospheric - the gas freely mixes with the air, in this case under the car, and safely disperses. Some caravans vent their battery through the floor for the same reasons.

In the context of a car, the battery sealing apart from the vent is important in a roll-over crash - I wouldn't want the battery leaking acid or venting gas into the cabin to add to my woes in that situation.

 

[DerCribben]

I found this forum looking for the same answer OP is. Hoping at some point one of the responses will be to answer the question asked

 

[otherclive]

I found this forum looking for the same answer OP is. Hoping at some point one of the responses will be to answer the question asked

You might be unlucky as the tread is over 12 months old.

 

[DerCribben]

You might be unlucky as the tread is over 12 months old.

It's absolutely still a relevant question though, Electronicx batteries look like the most common batteries on the Amazon DE site, and they are absolutely a great price, but I've never heard of them before. It makes me wonder if others have some experience to share, which it looks as though the OP did as well a year ago.

SO... Question still stands. Anyone used them? Have any insight to share in regards to them?

 

[otherclive]

They are a reputable German manufacturer, with a wide range of products. My only concern would be if it had a defect when returning it could be problematic as a used battery is classed as hazardous waste and only licensed carriers can transport them. So that rules out most, if not all, of the normal transport companies. I speak from experience from this aspect.

 

[DerCribben]

They are a reputable German manufacturer, with a wide range of products. My only concern would be if it had a defect when returning it could be problematic as a used battery is classed as hazardous waste and only licensed carriers can transport them. So that rules out most, if not all, of the normal transport companies. I speak from experience from this aspect.

This is a great reply!

Knowing that they are a reputable brand in Germany is very helpful as I know Germans tend to have high expectations and are generally bluntly honest about how they feel about things. Regarding returns, Amazon generally handles all of the logistics both ways, so I'm fairly confident that if there was an issue that they would efficiently manage the returns or in some cases even just tell me to dispose of it locally if the return cost didn't make business sense to them. I remember a time from years ago when I got a defective printer from them, messaged their support, and had a replacement unit at my doorstep the following day. Got a return label from them that needed to be used to ship out the old one within two weeks or they would charge me for both units.

Thanks for your reply!

 

[otherclive]

This is a great reply!

Knowing that they are a reputable brand in Germany is very helpful as I know Germans tend to have high expectations and are generally bluntly honest about how they feel about things. Regarding returns, Amazon generally handles all of the logistics both ways, so I'm fairly confident that if there was an issue that they would efficiently manage the returns or in some cases even just tell me to dispose of it locally if the return cost didn't make business sense to them. I remember a time from years ago when I got a defective printer from them, messaged their support, and had a replacement unit at my doorstep the following day. Got a return label from them that needed to be used to ship out the old one within two weeks or they would charge me for both units.

Thanks for your reply!

 

[otherclive]

Yes Amazon are excellent on returns, and should be a step up from the eBay sellers of these batteries.

 

[JTQ]

First I can't contribute to the unique product "knowledge" point, but I understand a little about our batteries generally.

The price, the compactness for like for like known brands both ring warnings, the clincher would be the weight, has it got the vital amount of lead? Used to both store the energy and provide the battery's cell structure.

These gel technology are extensively used in German van's, motorhomes, or had been.
Another aspect in that market is typically, though not exclusively that the German users are on EHUs, so storing high quantities of energy and yielding good battery lifetimes is not what the leisure user seek.
Are you one that does the same or one needing good off grid performance? The latter can't be done, in LA technology, without lots of lead.

 

[DerCribben]

Not sure of the OP's needs, but I want an all around capable system. I've got a 1990 VW T3 Syncro camper, with an ac socket that only works when it's hooked up to shore power (which is what I think you're referring to by EHU?), and 60Ah house battery that supplies 12v power to the interior lights only at present. House battery is only charged from the alternator as it is now.

I'd like a pair of 100Ah house batteries that will take a charge from shore power or alternator, and eventually might be plumbed into 200w-300w or so of solar too, with an inverter (or inverter/charger) so I can run ac off of the house batteries as well as 12v when boondocking, and a switch either manual or automatic that will just run the ac sockets off of the shore power when it's plugged in.

So anywhere I can shave off a couple/few hundred euros without sacrificing safety, quality, or reliability would be great.

 

[JTQ]

You will be straight into other potential issues pairing a new 100Ah battery with a "used" 60 Ah one; the general advice is they have in all respects to be twins.
Also hoist in two other bits of info;
1) Even the very best LA batteries, and those designed for that duty can withstand the punishment that comes from deep cycling, and with what inverters open up, very high current draws, often encountered replicating "mains" supplies.
2) Even the very best [read very expensive] deep cycling batteries start to really suffer if taken lower than 50% SoC [state of charge].
So the set up if it has 160 Ah [out of the box capacity] batteries has an occasional usable 80 Ah. That is at 12 volts [give or take], so 960 kWh, be that at 12 volts or mains with a lossless inverter. Note that is just under one unit of mains power, very little indeed.

And as said do it routinely and any battery is going to fail, some way earlier than others.

Your requirements if not your budget is better served on several counts by ripping every thing out and going to the Lithium technology route

 

[DerCribben]

You will be straight into other potential issues pairing an new 100Ah battery with a "used" 60 Ah one; the general advice is they have in all respects to be twins.
Also hoist in two other bits of info;
1) Even the very best LA batteries, and those designed for that duty can withstand the punishment that comes from deep cycling, and with what inverters open up, very high current draws, often encountered replicating "mains" supplies.
2) Even the very best [read very expensive] deep cycling batteries start to really suffer if taken lower than 50% SoC [state of charge].
So the set up if it has 160 Ah [out of the box capacity] batteries has an occasional usable 80 Ah. That is at 12 volts [give or take], so 960 kWh, be that at 12 volts or mains with a lossless inverter. Note that is just under one unit of mains power, very little indeed.

And as said do it routinely and any battery is going to fail, some way earlier than others.

Your requirements if not your budget is better served on several counts by ripping every thing out and going to the Lithium technology route

Oh yeah, I should have been more clear, that 60Ah is outta there for sure! 😅 I'm talking about running a pair of 100's or 105's instead of the single 60. And absolutely ripping out most if not all of the current wiring. This is a Wesfalia conversion not done in the Westfalia factory so the wiring in there does what I described above, but that's all and I'm sure it could be made to do even that better.

I've heard that the glass mat and the gel batteries can go lower than 50, with the gels supposedly down to 80%?

Lithium is on the horizon down the road somewhere, but for now my budget can't support going that route. I need to power a cpap machine and a fan overnight, and we really like our coffee in the morning so I'll be using .8kwh each day if I don't turn a single other thing on. We figure 200Ah should be good for a week'ish (5 days?) camping in one spot without any charging, more if we're driving from site to site or when we get solar.

 

[JTQ]

I've heard that the glass mat and the gel batteries can go lower than 50, with the gels supposedly down to 80%?

Yes if inadvertently one lets it happen, the battery is likely to recover with little damage; very different to planning to do so other than for a few errors of use.

 

[DerCribben]

I need a new battery for my caravan. It's inside the cabin so needs to be gel pack. The space I have normally tops out at 110ah but these are available with 140ah and the same footprint.

140ah Electronicx on ebay

They're German brand I've not heard of. Anyone used them?

Thanks.

Sorry for hijacking your post, hopefully I got you some good replies if you still want to know this stuff. Did you ever pick up that 140ah? How'd it go if so?