Leisure Battery

[Steve.T]

My leisure battery appears to have given up the ghost.
Does anyone know if it can be brought back to life or where a cheap long lasting replacment can be found?

[jcb]

I bought my last one from http://www.tayna.co.uk/
and bought one of these Numax CXV31MF Sealed Leisure Battery 12V110Ah1000MCA 500 Cycles XV31MF which is now 5 years old. Happily powers two or three chargers and soldering for a days racing still.


Never had any luck with trying to revive one

[s22jgs]

your car? lol

[blue_pinky]

I personally wouldn't use your car to be honest...the batteries aren't the same as a leisure battery and are not designed to be deep discharged...as you might do charging on a days/weekends racing!!!

A good condition car battery will do it for a bit...and I know a few that do...but I don't like the risk of the big car not starting at the end of a race day! They are more designed to give a short high current burst to get your engine started...and are kept topped up by the engine the whole of their lives.

But a half decent Leisure battery battery will charge more than everything you need...and will be more than happy to be heavily cycled over and over again in the long term.

[walden]

Hi Steve

I was in the same position as you with my lesuire battery - to save money
i went along to my nearest breakers yard and got a battery from there i made sure there was no damage on it and got out of a relatively new car that had slight damage on the rear end and basically paid £10 for it and its still going strong week in week out

[s22jgs]

Originally Posted by blue_pinky

I personally wouldn't use your car to be honest...the batteries aren't the same as a leisure battery and are not designed to be deep discharged...as you might do charging on a days/weekends racing!!!

A good condition car battery will do it for a bit...and I know a few that do...but I don't like the risk of the big car not starting at the end of a race day! They are more designed to give a short high current burst to get your engine started...and are kept topped up by the engine the whole of their lives.

But a half decent Leisure battery battery will charge more than everything you need...and will be more than happy to be heavily cycled over and over again in the long term.

i dont really see the difference... they are both lead acid.
I charge all day on my car when racing... constantly turning over 3 sets of saddles and have never had an issue at the end of the day.

there are too many things these days where they are branded as for a specific use, and therefore slap up the price. it wouldnt surprise me if this was one.

as a hobby related example... batteries.... i run the nano tech ones from hobbyking. they are the best batteries ive ever used, but because they are not yet roar approved, they are about £20 a set. Yet Roar approved ones are 70,80,90 quid. its just wrong.

What makes the distinction between a car battery and a leisure battery? is it the plastic handle lol.

[adon30]

Originally Posted by Steve.T

My leisure battery appears to have given up the ghost.
Does anyone know if it can be brought back to life or where a cheap long lasting replacment can be found?

You could try a smart charger such as this one which may revive it:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00499DTW...&hvptwo=&hvqmt=

Or you can get a new 85Ah leisure battery of ebay for about £55


Car batteries are designed for a high current such as starting a car and are then kept charged by the alternator. A leisure battery will run and run down to a really low capacity (deep discharge) without any large amount of damage to the battery itself. Both will do the job but a car battery won't last quite as long. If you only paid a tenner for it and keep it charged it may last a while.

[MatJohnson]

The difference being that the lead is thicker on the cells. When the battery drains down, the lead is erroded, on a car battery, as its got less lead (thinner anyway) in it they get erroded quicker. A leisure battery has thicker plates so lasts longer so they errode, but can take it (deep cycle).

Its not a con, its one of those things thats genuine and its also about the same price for a leisure one v a car one.

[s22jgs]

time to google the inside of a lead acid battery... this sounds interesting

[DanW]

Generally I've found buying cheap 12v batteries a false economy.

Car battery will have a much shorter life span than a leisure battery for deep cycling.

I used to buy budget brand leisure batteries, used weekly they would last the 1 year garauntee period, but not much more.

If you want trouble free race days - buy a quality battery and decent charger to charge it with. Store it charged rather than discharged.

[badger5]

Car batteries have very slim lead plates that are close together, and when they are over discharged the plates can buckle causing a dead cell in the battery. Leisure batteries have thicker plates that are further apart, and generally a lot heavier duty.

Usually once a lead acid battery is dead there is no recovering it, even an Optimate type charger that say can recover dead batteries never really do.

If you can get a Halfords trade card or someone that has one they offer good discounts, I got about 40% knocked of my leisure battery.

[blue_pinky]

Originally Posted by badger5

Car batteries have very slim lead plates that are close together, and when they are over discharged the plates can buckle causing a dead cell in the battery. Leisure batteries have thicker plates that are further apart, and generally a lot heavier duty.

Usually once a lead acid battery is dead there is no recovering it, even an Optimate type charger that say can recover dead batteries never really do.

If you can get a Halfords trade card or someone that has one they offer good discounts, I got about 40% knocked of my leisure battery.

What he said

[mark christopher]

Originally Posted by blue_pinky

What he said

+ 1 more

[fencer39]

Leisure battery @ £55 lasts a few seasons

second hand nearly new car battery from breakers yard (ex diesel )@ £8-15 .
My last car battery lasted 2 seasons.

Im no professor but my maths is ok.

[adon30]

ECP (euro car parts) have an extra 15% off leisure batteries this weekend.
Promo code LEISURE15
Link:
http://www.eurocarparts.com/leisure-batteries

So if you want a good branded one a lot cheaper than halfords then this is the place. There are cheaper batteries available. I am just highlighting the top end ones that can be bought at a reasonable price.

[zoaman]

I GOT 1 FROM SPARES WORLD 135AMP LEISURE FOR MY CARAVAN 2 WEEKS AGO COST £45 WITH 3YRS GUARANTEE

[Jamesk]

I have a Toyota Avensis diesel battery, cost around £70 and its not even needed charging yet after doing around 20 race weekends. Well worth the out lay.

Jk

[Howler]

I use a little 14ah deep discharge battery from an electric golf cart. If you work it out on watt-hours, 14ah 12v is 168wh. A 5000mah lipo is 37wh. Round that up to 40wh for nominal voltage. You can charge a 5000, from flat 4 times. And realistically, you would just be topping off, and hopefully arriving with at least one set of batteries fully charged.

In a full day's racing i use about a third of it's capacity.

Oh and they cost about £15-20.

[imull]

And whatever you buy, DON'T store it on the cold garage floor because the cold kills the cells. I've learnt this over the years, shove it on a bit of carpet or better still some shelves