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Quote: Originally posted by jtaw45 on 08/8/2017

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I use a Lucas AGM leisure battery. Mainly due to the fact my brother had an AGM battery sat in his garage for 9 years and it still held charge perfectly. I used it for 3 years and I always camp off grid using an 80 watt solar panel. I damaged it beyond repair by dragging it down the road for 5 miles ( another story) and wore 3 inches off the battery. Amazingly it still worked and powered everything on my caravan for the final 36 hours of my holiday. Quite a glowing endorsement I thought.
So on my return home I bought a Lucas 105ah AGM for £150 and it's been perfect for 4 years now.
I know this doesn't answer the OP question but I thought it was worthy of a mention while on the subject of batteries.

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Quote: Originally posted by trog100 on 08/8/2017

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interestingly we have two confusing examples.. £150 quid for a Lucas 105ah AGM battery and around £75 for my 110ah cheapo type leisure battery..

my cheapo as now had three years of mostly off grid use and is still going strong..

if i put my fancy battery tester on my cheapo battery it tells me its 80% of its as new capacity or like a new 85ah battery..

i would give it another couple of years before its down to 50% of its as new condition then it would be time to replace it..

the mistake people make is to think batteries just fail.. in the end they do but long before that they simply wear out and lose capacity..

i dont doubt that the £150 quid battery would last longer than my £75 quid battery but then again it does cost twice the price..

battery capacity is a bit like the tread depth on a tyre.. the more you start off with the longer it will last before its worn out..

i dont buy "expensive" batteries because i dont think they are good value for money but i do buy as big a battery as will fit into the space i have..

the only real down side to a bigger capacity battery is it weighs more.. it has more lead in its pencil so to speak..

trog   

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