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Subject Topic: Leisure battery
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09/7/2008 at 10:08pm
 Location: Barnsley
 Outfit: Mercedes 190 D & Abbey piper EX 14.5
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I have just been looking at a charger for my leisure battery and im still pondering over it , the charger is called Ring Powering smart charge 4 it is a fully automatic SLA 3 stage smart charger, it charges between 2-4 amps would this be ok as the advice with my new 85amp battery states that for a 85amp the charger needs to be 8 to 9 amp and for a 110amp 10 to 11amp .

can anyone help PLEASE.



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ALWAYS A PLEASURE NEVER A CHORE. CRAIG


10/7/2008 at 9:49pm
 Location: Yorkshire
 Outfit: Back to Tenting in a Cabanon
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If you want an intelligent charger for your leisure battery at a bargain price of £19.99 then this is for you CLICK HERE

Doesn't matter if you have a Lead Acid, Gel, AGM or whatever, this will charge your battery to 100% charge and maintain it as long as you want.

A mate of mine put me onto it, and I bought one for my 110ah battery. Its a 4 mode one, and is suitable for long term connection to  a battery.

There are dearer chargers, but this does what it says on the box!

By the way, you DON'T want a powerful charger, charging a battery too quickly distorts / damages the plates inside the battery and shortens the life of your battery.

At £19.99 I'm thinking of buying another (was £23.99 the other week and I thought that was a bargain!)

Chaz



10/7/2008 at 9:52pm
 Location: Yorkshire
 Outfit: Back to Tenting in a Cabanon
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One more thing, I bought my 110ah Leisure Battery form Waudby's for £59.99.

The 85ah were cheaper at either £39.99 or £49.99 I don't recall exactly.

Spoke to Howard there, he says they sell thousands each year, and gets maybe 1% coming back, but thats normally down to incorrect chargers/charging!

Chaz



12/7/2008 at 11:34pm
 Location: Staffs
 Outfit: Swift Challenger 490 SEL & VW Tiguan
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A 110a battery is VERY heavy. Ask yourself if your likely to be staying on a site with no EHU for more than a few days...


18/7/2008 at 11:13pm
 Location: Barnsley
 Outfit: Mercedes 190 D & Abbey piper EX 14.5
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I did bye the maypole 5 stage electronic charger from towsure and i must say it is exelent i have now also puchased a 600 watt inverter so when im on site with no hook up in can use the inverter to run my power and at the same time be charging the battery or a second battery how simple is that .

-------------
ALWAYS A PLEASURE NEVER A CHORE. CRAIG


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19/7/2008 at 7:24am
 Location: Yorkshire
 Outfit: Back to Tenting in a Cabanon
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Quote: Originally posted by crbrakes on 18/7/2008
I did bye the maypole 5 stage electronic charger from towsure and i must say it is exelent i have now also puchased a 600 watt inverter so when im on site with no hook up in can use the inverter to run my power and at the same time be charging the battery or a second battery how simple is that .

Right, correct me if I've miss-read your post . . .

You intend to use a 600watt inverter when you are on a site with NO hook up. So the inverter is powered by your battery, yes? And you are planning on using your mains charger plugged into the inverter to charge the battery?

Sorry, it doesn't work like that!

If it did, you'd never need mains electric ever again!

 

chaz



23/7/2008 at 7:47pm
 Location: Barnsley
 Outfit: Mercedes 190 D & Abbey piper EX 14.5
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no i mean you can  use the inverter to charge a second battery the charger is only 3.8 amp and as a five stage system the first rescues the battery if it is under 7.5 volts with pulse charging  then when at a safe level it does a bulk charge then some other stuff and finishes off on maintenence charge and this can be left on for months even when the battery is in use. so what you can do is alternate charge the batterys

-------------
ALWAYS A PLEASURE NEVER A CHORE. CRAIG


23/7/2008 at 8:33pm
 Location: Bristol
 Outfit: Lunar Conquest 544 a
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Quote: Originally posted by crbrakes on 23/7/2008


no i mean you can  use the inverter to charge a second battery the charger is only 3.8 amp and as a five stage system the first rescues the battery if it is under 7.5 volts with pulse charging  then when at a safe level it does a bulk charge then some other stuff and finishes off on maintenence charge and this can be left on for months even when the battery is in use. so what you can do is alternate charge the batterys

Nice idea , but you would flatten the supplying battery before you get near fully charging the second one , you would be better off fully charging both batterys at home , and not taking the charger with you ( said in a nice way ).

atb

Wizard



24/7/2008 at 3:58pm
 Location: Sussex
 Outfit: 2007 Eriba Triton 430GT
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My goodness,

 

we have a perpetual motion machine.



24/7/2008 at 5:04pm
 Location: Rochdale
 Outfit: Hymer Nova 470 Mondeo titanium 140tdc
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Quote: Originally posted by tykey on 23/6/2008
Sorry, I wouldn't buy the cheapest. The cheap ones are probably cheap because the plates are thinner and don't last as long.

I have always bought the cheapest that the local caravan dealer has on offer. I bought my first 85 amp battery in 1992 and added a second 85 amp battery in 1994 as I was spending a lot of time on sites without hook up and it was helpful to have a spare available whilst we got some charge into the first one. These two batteries lasted till 2000 when I replaced the first one with a 110 amp battery ( again the cheapest of it's type I could find ).In 2003 I bought a new HYmer that came with a gel battery fitted and the second 85 amp battery ( still working well at 9 years old ) went with the old van. I am still using the gel battery and the 110 amp battery and still get 5 days or more of use from each one ( lights water pump and a couple of hours TV a night ).

As to the OP if you are not likely to be stopping on sites that do not have hook up just get the cheapest 85 amp battery you can, this battery's sole function will be to smooth out the 12v supply to the lights and pump and it will last for years with care. If you are planning on spending time on sites that do not have hook up then a pair of 110 amp batteries and a setup in your car to allow you to charge the battery whilst you are out and about on your holiday are a good idea, that way you can stay away almost indefinitely as long as you do a few miles every day in the car.

 



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24/7/2008 at 5:57pm
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Batteries are a bit of a lottery, regardless of the price. Even the most expensive ones can fail quickly and some of the cheapest will go on for over 10 years. I've seen a few 15 year old cars with the original battery on and others fail at 3 months old.

If you are on hookup, you really don't need a good battery, is is only being used as a capacitor in reality, you are drawing the power from the charger.

I have two 85 aH batteries and with conservative use can easily get a weekend from one without EHU. The TV kills it within a few hours. In the summer with a 13 watt solar panel, I have never managed to flatten a battery.

My recomendation is if you always use EHU get a cheap small capacity battery, even consider a second hand car battery. It won't last as long as a proper one, but if you get it for £5 - £10 and it lasts a year you're laughing. Given that your charger should keep it topped up on ehu, even if it dies you probably won't notice.

If you have the odd weekend without EHU, it might be worth getting a 110 aH.

If like me you rarely use EHU I would consider 2 batteries, a lot of people have a 110 aH for use and an 85aH as a spare and swap them over if their main battery does go flat. If you rarely use EHU, I also recommend some form of renewable power source, normally a solar panel, but wind generators are starting to appear on sites as well. If you go for a solar panel (or wind generator) get the biggest you can afford. I find a 13 watt doesn't quite keep up with my demand unless it is height of summer and I keep my power consumption to an absolute minimum, but does make a huge difference to the time it takes to flatten the battery. You could also fit a battery box into your car and connect it to your 12S socket. You can then keep a spare leisure battery in the car fully charged so if you flatten the one in the van, you can swap them over.


04/8/2008 at 6:26am
 Location: Nottm
 Outfit: Hymer 535BB and Mitsi Shogun
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Hi

Another thought.......if you ever upgrade to a motor mover I'd suggest you buy the 110amp that way you'll alway's have enough power for what you need.

Regards, Paul



04/8/2008 at 10:15am
 Location: Sheffield
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Quote: Originally posted by LegsDownKettleOn on 24/7/2008
Batteries are a bit of a lottery, regardless of the price.


That's very true, but price shouldn't be the be-all-and-end-all. I guess a lot depends where you buy it from, battery dealers and caravan shops are probably the best bet.




05/8/2008 at 6:31am
 Location: South Gloucestershire
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Quote: Originally posted by charlichoo on 10/7/2008

If you want an intelligent charger for your leisure battery at a bargain price of £19.99 then this is for you CLICK HERE

Doesn't matter if you have a Lead Acid, Gel, AGM or whatever, this will charge your battery to 100% charge and maintain it as long as you want.

A mate of mine put me onto it, and I bought one for my 110ah battery. Its a 4 mode one, and is suitable for long term connection to  a battery.

There are dearer chargers, but this does what it says on the box!

By the way, you DON'T want a powerful charger, charging a battery too quickly distorts / damages the plates inside the battery and shortens the life of your battery.

At £19.99 I'm thinking of buying another (was £23.99 the other week and I thought that was a bargain!)

Chaz


Hi,

There is lots of evidence in the "Old Bike Mags" and from my own experience that the Optimate and similar devices are not kind to batteries.

I had three motorcycle batteries fail in a year and a half when connected full time to one of these so called "intelligent" chargers.  I now use it every month or so just as a top up and all seems fine.

My son's battery was declared u/s by the Optimate, I then whacked it on a £6.99 Halford's charger and it was brought back to life.

Mr UM

 




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