Leisure battery recommendation

[Sam Vimes]

My leisure battery is dead so I'm looking for any recommendation, please.

Don't need to use it off grid just run the motor mover up and down the drive and on site. So I don't think I need a high capacity one.

Thanks.

 

[Jcloughie]

I have used Varta online with no problem but others have had difficulty if they have to return. Others don’t, but I find Halfords are good, and easy to return to if need be. Stress free, so long as they have one local.

John

 

[Woodentop]

The Halfords own brand are rebadged Yuasa which is one of the best brands - along with such as Bosch and Varta - that you can get. I had a Halfords (115Ah) on our last van (Bailey Pegasus 462) and never a moment's problem, and have a Varta (90Ah) on our current S4 Seville but this one had to be low profile as the battery is in the floor!

 

[RogerL]

My leisure battery is dead so I'm looking for any recommendation, please.

Don't need to use it off grid just run the motor mover up and down the drive and on site. So I don't think I need a high capacity one.

Thanks.

If you don't go off-grid and only use the mover up/down the drive (and pitching on site) then you don't need a leisure battery - a car battery will do fine, even a used one that's already done it's time in a car. That approach has served me well for over 30 years

 

[Anseo]

I am not particularly a fan of Halfords but their own brand (rebadged Yuasa - as already said) is worthwhile because of the no quibble returns policy.

Their warranty can be bettered by others and you can find lower prices elsewhere, but overall, for batteries I think they are worth consideration. If only for the hassle free returns\warranty aspect.

 

[Sam Vimes]

If you don't go off-grid and only use the mover up/down the drive (and pitching on site) then you don't need a leisure battery - a car battery will do fine, even a used one that's already done it's time in a car. That approach has served me well for over 30 years

Thanks for reply because I was thinking just the same, especially as I have an old car battery already.

The motor mover spec states 20A average current and 80A max, although I'm not sure what conditions they apply to.

So I was thinking a 90Ah car battery would do the job.

 

[RogerL]

Thanks for reply because I was thinking just the same, especially as I have an old car battery already.

The motor mover spec states 20A average current and 80A max, although I'm not sure what conditions they apply to.

So I was thinking a 90Ah car battery would do the job.

Until recently I used a Vauxhall 70 ah battery, it had 3 years in my company Cavalier and was then used to upgrade our family Nova - at around 7 years old it was switched to caravan duty and lasted another 8 years - it was kept in reserve for a few years and gave sterling service at a couple of music festivals - it was nearly 20 years old when I finally took it to the tip.

If you've got a 90 ah car battery in working order, it'll be fine - although charging from a smart charger would be better than a caravan onboard power supply as the conditioning cycle and float phase will look after it better.

 

[Dustydog]

Most movers will only need an initial 60 - 80 amps to start. Once moving I doubt they’ll pull much above 20 amps. So in your case an 80ah will be fine

 

[ProfJohnL]

Just a note about the assumption that Halford's batteries are manufactured by Yuasa. I suspect that may not always be the case. They will try to strike a deal with any manufacturer mainly based on price.

In a similar way back in the 1970's I had a rather expensive cassette deck which had been set up to use Maxell tape formulations. I discovered that Dixon's (the high street photographic brand) sold compact cassettes which for a period of time were supplied by Maxell and they worked very well, but after a couple of years new Dixons tapes didn't work as well becasue they had changed suppliers.

For that reason I wouldn't assume Halfords Batteries have always come and will always come from the same manufacturer.

 

[Woodentop]

Er, I think there has been a misunderstanding here. A 100Ah battery means that it should be able to provide the equivalent of 100A for 1 hour. However car batteries are specified on a 10 hour rate and leisure batteries usually at a 20 hour rate.
Ergo, a 100Ah car battery should be able to supply 10A for 10 hours, or the other way 200A for ½ hour. A 100Ah leisure battery should supply 5A for 20 hours. In practice a fully charged battery might start off looking like it will make it but they rarely do!
In terms of a mover, you might be using it for, say, 10-15 mins at most, so even if your unit is pulling 30 per side, a 75Ah battery should have enough (theoretical) oomph to move the van for 1¼hrs. Thus 15 mins will only deplete it by 20% - which is nothing.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Er, I think there has been a misunderstanding here. A 100Ah battery means that it should be able to provide the equivalent of 100A for 1 hour. However car batteries are specified on a 10 hour rate and leisure batteries usually at a 20 hour rate.
Ergo, a 100Ah car battery should be able to supply 10A for 10 hours, or the other way 200A for ½ hour. A 100Ah leisure battery should supply 5A for 20 hours. In practice a fully charged battery might start off looking like it will make it but they rarely do!
In terms of a mover, you might be using it for, say, 10-15 mins at most, so even if your unit is pulling 30 per side, a 75Ah battery should have enough (theoretical) oomph to move the van for 1¼hrs. Thus 15 mins will only deplete it by 20% - which is nothing.

Car batteries are also designed to cater for high discharge rates in the order of hundreds of Amps (over short periods) required for starter motors.

Unless a "softstart" systems has been included, the peak current demand of the DC motors is determined by the dc resistance of the motors windings. and as soon as the motors begin to spin up the back EMF of the motors reduces the the current demand.

The exact characteristics will depend on the design and the conditions the caravan mover is being used in, but typically the highest current demand will last for less than a second, and the current will reduce as the caravan gets up to speed.

It's rare for a caravan mover to be used continually (finger on the button) for more than just a few seconds, so if you were to add up the actual total time the mover is actually active in reality it's less than 5 mins to position a caravan on site. But even if it is a full 5 min, that typically uses no more than about 2Ah of battery capacity.

Which is why a comparatively small car type battery will be adequate if all its doing is running the mover.

 

[Sam Vimes]

Thanks for the information about batteries. The van has just past its annual service and they've confirmed the battery is now an ex-battery.

I think my super smart alternator didn't help and the last struggle to get the van up the drive finished it off.

I'll wait until next season before getting a new battery but for now I hope the old car battery I have will at least allow me to get it up the drive when we get home.

 

[Woodentop]

If you still have the old battery, treat yourself to a smart charger - about £14 when Lidl or Aldi have them on - and stick it on charge for a couple of weeks. You might be able to recover it.

 

[Raywood]

We have had two from Platinum from a local dealer in recent years seemed to las t well enough although I have seen some criticism of them.

 

[Sam Vimes]

If you still have the old battery, treat yourself to a smart charger - about £14 when Lidl or Aldi have them on - and stick it on charge for a couple of weeks. You might be able to recover it.

I have a smartish charger so I'll try what you suggest.

Thanks

 

[steven_wynn_uk]

Your motor mover will specify a min / max battery requirememt. Outside of that, it will cut off, so whatever you get, car or leisure, ensure its in range.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Your motor mover will specify a min / max battery requirememt. Outside of that, it will cut off, so whatever you get, car or leisure, ensure its in range.

I'm not sure what your trying to tell us? Are you referring to the battery Voltage, or the battery capacity (Ah)? Or something

Can you clarify please?

 

[RogerL]

Your motor mover will specify a min / max battery requirememt. Outside of that, it will cut off, so whatever you get, car or leisure, ensure its in range.

It won't "cut off" if the battery capacity is too small or too big - if it's too small, the motor may run at less than full power and the battery flattened quickly. - if it's too big, then it'll be fine.

Leisure batteries aren't at their best with the current draw of a motor mover, but by specifying a minimum capacity it ensures a leisure battery will cope - a car battery of half the minimum capacity will cope just fine as it's designed for high current during starting.

 

[steven_wynn_uk]

Some, such as emove, have an under and over protection, where they will refuse to operate and indicate this on the remote.

 

[RogerL]

Some, such as emove, have an under and over protection, where they will refuse to operate and indicate this on the remote.

That's presumably the operating voltage?

 

[Sam Vimes]

Got home yesterday with dead battery in van which could only move it about 1m.

Tried the old car batter which had been on charge and indicated full. Didn't work at all.

Had to take the battery out of the car to put in the caravan and then move it up the drive way. Then re-installed the car battery and moved that up the drive way.

Might ask Santa for a new battery but most likely will wait until next season.

Any suggestions as what to do with dead battery - garden ornament or something.

(Currently its on a repair cycle but I think its not going to be resurrected. Strangely enough the little greeen light on the top indicates its ok)

 

[RogerL]

The little green "light" has always been regarded as a useless gimmick - most household recycling centres (local tip) will take old batteries.

 

[Jcloughie]

Got home yesterday with dead battery in van which could only move it about 1m.

Tried the old car batter which had been on charge and indicated full. Didn't work at all.

Had to take the battery out of the car to put in the caravan and then move it up the drive way. Then re-installed the car battery and moved that up the drive way.

Might ask Santa for a new battery but most likely will wait until next season.

Any suggestions as what to do with dead battery - garden ornament or something.

(Currently its on a repair cycle but I think its not going to be resurrected. Strangely enough the little greeen light on the top indicates its ok)

Our local tip take them for recycling.


John

 

[Sam Vimes]

Our local tip will take them but I was looking for a more creative use rather than just throwing it away

 

[RogerL]

Our local tip will take them but I was looking for a more creative use rather than just throwing it away

They'll get recycled from the local tip - the lead content is quite valuable