New Leisure Battery

[Dustydog]

The ten year old Numax gave up last week 8.4v.
New one arrived courtesy of Tanya , very well packed and all the safety leaflets. Vent plug removed and charged on smart charger. It’s lead acid and is showing 12.88 v which is its maximum. Some on here say voltage should be 13+ v.
Any comments? It’s a 120 ah.

 

[toad a caravan]

The ten year old Numax gave up last week 8.4v.
New one arrived courtesy of Tanya , very well packed and all the safety leaflets. Vent plug removed and charged on smart charger. It’s lead acid and is showing 12.88 v which is its maximum. Some on here say voltage should be 13+ v.
Any comments? It’s a 120 ah.

Without becoming over technical the ambient temp can make a difference .Gary

 

[Steve1962]

I've used Tayna for batteries for years - can you send a link to the battery to got?

Thanks Steve

 

[Anseo]

The ten year old Numax gave up last week 8.4v.
New one arrived courtesy of Tanya , very well packed and all the safety leaflets. Vent plug removed and charged on smart charger. It’s lead acid and is showing 12.88 v which is its maximum. Some on here say voltage should be 13+ v.
Any comments? It’s a 120 ah.

You can confidently regard it as fully charged DD.

 

[Buckman]

We always bought from Tanya, but we had a battery go faulty on us. It was a real hassle trying to return it 6 weeks later as we no longer had the vent plugs and they wanted us to pay for return carriage which would be refunded once they tested the battery and if it was found to be faulty.

Also finding a courier was a nightmare as not many wanted to transport a battery not even the same courier that delivered it to us! After that episode we only bought locally. Otherwise were very helpful etc and delivery prompt.

 

[otherclive]

I had an almost identical experience to yours and have posted into several threads over the years. Since then I’ve always bought batteries locally. I don’t want to face that hassle again for the sake of a few quid and delivery convenience.

Battery leak

Following has never happened before. Took battery out of caravan to give it a boost, had to walk about 40 m to garage and happened to look back along pathway and found long trail of "water". The battery is about six months old and is the so called non whatsit. On investigation underneath two...

forums.practicalcaravan.com

 

[Dustydog]

We always bought from Tanya, but we had a battery go faulty on us. It was a real hassle trying to return it 6 weeks later as we no longer had the vent plugs and they wanted us to pay for return carriage which would be refunded once they tested the battery and if it was found to be faulty.

Also finding a courier was a nightmare as not many wanted to transport a battery not even the same courier that delivered it to us! After that episode we only bought locally. Otherwise were very helpful etc and delivery prompt.

Good point but then I guess if I was worried I wouldn’t buy anything Mail Order.
Bring back the High Street shops😉

 

[Hutch]

I would leave it OFF charge , for a day, recharge and see what is the recharge voltage. Then leave for at least 6hours and check the voltage
My batteries recharge at 13.4 volts on a NON smart charger, then drop after two days, to 12.6 for one battery, 7 years old, and the other one 12.7. . Not great but ok for us. ( Depending on the battery in the multi meter, I never managed to get an Avo from work. !!!!!

Contact Tanya and see what they recommend. They are a good company.

 

[Buckman]

Good point but then I guess if I was worried I wouldn’t buy anything Mail Order.
Bring back the High Street shops😉

However about 99% of mail order stuff no issue buying as they are not classed as "dangerous" goods requiring specialist couriers.

 

[trevormonty]

Next time round I seriously consider LiFePO4 battery. There are some designed as drop in replacements for AGM, no need for new charger. The built smarts also have bluetooth and ph app for monitoring and management.

The two big pluses are being able to depth discharge to 20% so easy way to increase useable capacity. Light weight 11kg vs 28kg which means removing for winter storage or increase available payload is easy.
Life expectancy x4. Price is about ×3-4 but between increase capacity and life expectancy $WH per year is cheaper.

NB no fire risk unlike Li-Ion.

 

[Steve1962]

Next time round I seriously consider LiFePO4 battery. There are some designed as drop in replacements for AGM, no need for new charger. The built smarts also have bluetooth and ph app for monitoring and management.

The two big pluses are being able to depth discharge to 20% so easy way to increase useable capacity. Light weight 11kg vs 28kg which means removing for winter storage or increase available payload is easy.
Life expectancy x4. Price is about ×3-4 but between increase capacity and life expectancy $WH per year is cheaper.

NB no fire risk unlike Li-Ion.

My caravan battery is showing 11.1v so I am going to take it out and trickle charge it, then fully discharge it and charge it up again to see how it holds up
Just been chatting to a good mate of mine who knows his stuff when it comes to batteries and he recommends the LifeP04 batteries and advised me that if I were going to buy one I need to make sure I use a suitable charger for it ( currently have an Optimate charger for use with motorbikes).
Steve

 

[Buckman]

My caravan battery is showing 11.1v so I am going to take it out and trickle charge it, then fully discharge it and charge it up again to see how it holds up
Just been chatting to a good mate of mine who knows his stuff when it comes to batteries and he recommends the LifeP04 batteries and advised me that if I were going to buy one I need to make sure I use a suitable charger for it ( currently have an Optimate charger for use with motorbikes).
Steve

We were also advised by a leading supplier who also fits them that on many caravans, they simply drop in and no need to change the charger.

 

[RogerL]

My caravan battery is showing 11.1v so I am going to take it out and trickle charge it, then fully discharge it and charge it up again to see how it holds up
Just been chatting to a good mate of mine who knows his stuff when it comes to batteries and he recommends the LifeP04 batteries and advised me that if I were going to buy one I need to make sure I use a suitable charger for it ( currently have an Optimate charger for use with motorbikes).
Steve

Fully discharging it won't do a lead acid battery any good, indeed it just hastens the end - it's best to use a smart charger, most of which now include a conditioning cycle at the beginning to help restore a failing battery.

 

[ProfJohnL]

We were also advised by a leading supplier who also fits them that on many caravans, they simply drop in and no need to change the charger.

The problem is the phrase "that on many " which has to imply that not all installations are suitable for using LifePO4 batteries. It is important to check if they system is compatible, rather than just assuming it will be.

 

[Buckman]

The problem is the phrase "that on many " which has to imply that not all installations are suitable for using LifePO4 batteries. It is important to check if they system is compatible, rather than just assuming it will be.

Here is the link https://www.ksenergy.co.uk/ if you wish to debate the issue with them as obviously on older caravans the charger may not be suitable. If you can afford a Lithium battery for an old caravan then you could probably afford to upgrade the caravan.

 

[Dustydog]

Ridiculously expensive🙉.
Lead acid has served me well for decades . Last one lasted 10 years👍

 

[Tobes]

We went with a Kepworth LiFePO4 from Amazon. £379 on offer for 100Ah. Also a drop in replacement for Lead acid with a full BMS including Bluetooth monitoring. It's been working absolutely fine, including driving the motor mover and off grid on the roof mounted 100w panel. We chose LiFePO4 for the 50% weight saving over the previous Banner that lasted 5 years.

 

[Dustydog]

We went with a Kepworth LiFePO4 from Amazon. £379 on offer for 100Ah. Also a drop in replacement for Lead acid with a full BMS including Bluetooth monitoring. It's been working absolutely fine, including driving the motor mover and off grid on the roof mounted 100w panel. We chose LiFePO4 for the 50% weight saving over the previous Banner that lasted 5 years.

How does the BMS actually work? I have a Apuljack onboard smart charger unit that replaced the BCA oem.
I must confess having a Bluetooth battery seems to be taking caravanning into another dimension 🤪. At home I thought the ovens washing machine dishwasher even the extractor unit are all wi fi bluetooth was a bit ott 😉But I guess boys and their toys😎

 

[Tobes]

The BMS is piece of HW and Sw that sits between the two terminal posts on the outside of the battery and the four eight (in 4 pairs) LiFePO4 cells on the inside. It actively monitors and manages the voltage at the posts, current that flows to and from the posts and cells, ensuring that the cells are evenly balanced in terms of voltage an current (load or charge). Its also monitoring cell temperature and looking for high or low spots that may cause strain on the chemistry. It can step in and isolate the cells if there is an issue, and reports the whole status via a phone app.

There is a good video on the specific battery Here

 

[Buckman]

How does the BMS actually work? I have a Apuljack onboard smart charger unit that replaced the BCA oem.
I must confess having a Bluetooth battery seems to be taking caravanning into another dimension 🤪. At home I thought the ovens washing machine dishwasher even the extractor unit are all wi fi bluetooth was a bit ott 😉But I guess boys and their toys😎

Our washing machine and tumble drier are BT and wifi linked. Thought is was a bit OTT, but has come in handy.

 

[Buckman]

The BMS is piece of HW and Sw that sits between the two terminal posts on the outside of the battery and the four LiFePO4 cells on the inside. It actively monitors and manages the voltage at the posts, current that flows to and from the posts and cells, ensuring that the cells are evenly balanced in terms of voltage an current (load or charge). Its also monitoring cell temperature and looking for high or low spots that may cause strain on the chemistry. It can step in and isolate the cells if there is an issue, and reports the whole status via a phone app.

There is a good video on the specific battery Here

If I remember correctly, in addition it also notifies you of the temperature and will give you warnings as they do not like low temperatures plus of course low voltage reading.

 

[otherclive]

Our washing machine and tumble drier are BT and wifi linked. Thought is was a bit OTT, but has come in handy.

My wife must not be linked , as she still has to load and unload the washer and tumble drier. 😂

 

[RogerL]

The BMS is piece of HW and Sw that sits between the two terminal posts on the outside of the battery and the four eight (in 4 pairs) LiFePO4 cells on the inside. It actively monitors and manages the voltage at the posts, current that flows to and from the posts and cells, ensuring that the cells are evenly balanced in terms of voltage an current (load or charge). Its also monitoring cell temperature and looking for high or low spots that may cause strain on the chemistry. It can step in and isolate the cells if there is an issue, and reports the whole status via a phone app.

There is a good video on the specific battery Here

A Battery Monitoring System (BMS) is fitted to many modern IC cars to monitor the battery and control the smart alternator fitted to almost all cars nowadays.