Leisure battery advice

[shawbags]

Hi all, i am looking for a new liesure battery but there are so many to choose from,i'm looking for around a 110ha battery preferably with the extra little lugs to connect my solar panel to ( when i have chosen one),i want to spend around 100 quid,i am looking at one of the 80w to 100w solar kits on ebay at 130 quid to 160 quid,any advice on a good make of battery sealed or not,cheers Chris.

 

[chancer]

Hi Chris,
Ive been doing the same and found a local Numax supplier that recommended model XV31MF its a leisure/Marine battery with added bonus of being used as a cranking battery , its also got duel posts he quoted £77 each inclusive of the dreaded vat.

Paul

 

[Firefox]

Leisure/marine batteries are essentially cranking batteries anyway with a different label on. The marketing is there to confuse!

 

[shawbags]

battery

Hi Chris,
Ive been doing the same and found a local Numax supplier that recommended model XV31MF its a leisure/Marine battery with added bonus of being used as a cranking battery , its also got duel posts he quoted £77 each inclusive of the dreaded vat.

Paul

Hi,that battery is what i had in mind but it confused me a little being advertised as a marine crank battery,both you and the second post have cleared that up for me,cheers chris.

 

[maingate]

Hi,that battery is what i had in mind but it confused me a little being advertised as a marine crank battery,both you and the second post have cleared that up for me,cheers chris.

I have 2 x 110 Ah Numax batteries like the ones chancer mentioned. They are 3 years old and still going strong. I take care of them by not draining them past 50%. Having a solar panel has made a big difference to their life.

 

[Firefox]

I have 2 x 110 Ah Numax batteries like the ones chancer mentioned. They are 3 years old and still going strong. I take care of them by not draining them past 50%. Having a solar panel has made a big difference to their life.

This is very good advice. None of the batteries you can buy for £130 or under are anything other than cranking batteries. They aren't exactly the same but pretty much so. Some of the higher priced ones have slightly thicker plates or reinforcement to the plates but none of them are up to "deep cycle" use as sometimes claimed which is very misleading. Cycle them as shallow as possible, hopefully only 30-40%, no greater than 50% (about 12V on the volt meter) and charge them immediately. This is why solar is so good. Getting some charge back in with early morning sun would be much preferable to charging when driving off at 1pm several hours later - even that can make a big difference to battery life if you are doing it regularly.

 

[shawbags]

Thanks for all the replys,cheers Chris.

 

[simonp820]

Hi shawbags - do you go for this battery? In the same position now and would appreciate your feedback.