Lead acid / Absorbed glass mat / gel

[thosoneill]

Which of these batteries would you choose

 

[Woodentop]

Lead acid.

Absorbed glass mat are hideously expensive and don't really give enough benefit to justify the expense.

I would be surprised if you can find a gel lead-acid leisure battery.

Best option is a Halfords own brand 115Ah leisure battery for £95 with two year warranty. They are a badged Yuasa, one of the best makes on the market.

The Prof will be along soon to correct me - probably.

 

[Martin_E]

Lead acid.

Absorbed glass mat are hideously expensive and don't really give enough benefit to justify the expense.

.

You can get 110 Ah AGM batteries with four year warranty for £110 from Alpha Batteries

 

[JTQ]

Lead acid.

Absorbed glass mat are hideously expensive and don't really give enough benefit to justify the expense.

I would be surprised if you can find a gel lead-acid leisure battery.

Best option is a Halfords own brand 115Ah leisure battery for £95 with two year warranty. They are a badged Yuasa, one of the best makes on the market.

The Prof will be along soon to correct me - probably.

I have one factory supplied in my 8 year old Hymer still giving an excellent performance, as did the previous van for the 7 years we kept that.
They don't come cheap, but for an off EHU caravanners like ourselves they have proved to be very good for the job.
It is this Exide:
http://www.countybattery.co.uk/caravan-boat/exide-es900-12v-80ah-gel-leisure-battery/?gclid=CJz1w-LgttACFcHNGwod-XcD-A

 

[Martin_E]

http://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/110-ah-xplorer-agm-leisure-battery/?gclid=CNqp4pr3ttACFcEy0wodImoNbA

 

[thosoneill]

I am tempted by both the agm and gel batteries - in particular I like the exide es900 gel battery with 80ah capacity - I have a motor mover fitted to our lightweight abbey Iona caravan - would this particular battery be a good match for our caravan - generally we pitch with electric hookup

 

[JTQ]

I am tempted by both the agm and gel batteries - in particular I like the exide es900 gel battery with 80ah capacity - I have a motor mover fitted to our lightweight abbey Iona caravan - would this particular battery be a good match for our caravan - generally we pitch with electric hookup

As you generally pitch with an EHU it is hard to see you will get value for money from the ExideGEL, good as it is.
Plus a GEL is actually not best suited for powering a mover, certainly one moving a heavier van; the out rush current though not anything like a car starter is higher than what GEL are best at. Edit: Your van I note is very light so that is not an issue.
A big attribute of a GEL is that it is better able to cope with quite deep cycling, circa 50%, doing less damage than other types. Being on an EHU that is not a feature you really need to be paying for.

For a typical mainly EHU user with a modest weigh van then Varta's LFD90 is a very good value for money choice. It is though a true maintenance free battery, sealed for life, if you are prepared to keep an eye on the acid level and you have a vented battery space then Banners Energy Bull is one of the better wet leisure batteries. I have both these for other uses, as well as the Exide in my van. Some typical versions, other sizes available.

https://www.tayna.co.uk/LFD90-Varta-Professional-DC-Leisure-Battery-930090080-P3638.html
https://www.tayna.co.uk/Banner-Energy-Bull-Leisure-Battery-95751-P8270.html
As ever John Wickersham's excellent article for the CC is a worthwhile read;

http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/media/6552072/technical.pdf

 

[thosoneill]

Opted for the varta lfd90 at £82.50 delivered to my front door

 

[Woodentop]

Opted for the varta lfd90 at £82.50 delivered to my front door

Along with Yuasa and Bosch, Varta make up the top 3 from what I have read.