[Granny]

I used to charge the 110 Ah Halford Leisure Battery soon as I got home after work.
But since I've cut down on work I sometimes leave it a 2 or 4 days and charge it just the day before work.
15 Amp charger used to take 30 -   45 mins to reach full charge.
A few times recently I've plugged the charger in and it shows Full Charge after only  a couple of minutes.
I thought the charger was faulty but it's lasted for work and the battery shows 12.9v.
Could leaving the charging for a few days allow the voltage to rebuild?
Charging immediately after use requires a long charge, leave it for a few days and it recovers?
Puzzled

[dazmond]

You should charge your battery up straight after using it every time for maximum longevity....

Your not a newbie so no explanation is needed mate....

[dazmond]

In winter I connect my charger up to my batteries after work and leave it until I next use my van,sometimes it's connected up for 3 or 4 days....

My 2 numax batteries are 4 years old now(used every day to run my pump,electric reel and diesel heater)and still work fine....👍

[Stoots]

Ive gone through a few chargers and batterys and a tell tale sign of failure is just this. You put the charger on and it says full straight away.

Only problem is i cant remember if this means the battery or the charger is knackered 

I would probably replace the battery, the halfords ones i get about a year out of.

[zesty]

Defo get a smart charger and charge it over night at a lower rate, I charge at either 2 or 4 amps with my ring smart charger, they always say it’s Better to charge slow.

[Jonny 87]

Ctek chargers all the way. 

I would imagine…..and I’m no expert….. (spruce is the man) ….. that your batteries might be reading fully charged because they are accepting less charge than normal. There capacity might be now reduced and the charger is saying full but your overall amps are less. This means your battery is starting to fail.

Smart chargers (like ctek) can recondition a battery which can in some cases bring them back to life. It’s worth a try.

[Don Kee]

If you’ve put your battery on charge straight away when you’ve got home your battery will show more charge as it’s not settled down.
I’m pretty sure its recommended to leave it still for a few hours before taking a voltage reading just to avoid any surface charge.

(If you check the voltage whilst working you’ll get a different reading still!)


In fairness, the quickness of the recharge might just be that the battery is holding less charge but if you’re getting 3/4 days out of it I wouldn’t worry.
I’d suggest charging it more regularly though just to extend the life of the battery.

Anecdotally, I have a battery to battery charger in the van and the battery has lasted over two years (even with two of us working) and I rarely bench charge it.
In my old van, I’d be happy to get 18months out of them so the charger must be decent.

Maybe a split charger may help things even more?

[Spruce]

Ctek chargers all the way. 

I would imagine…..and I’m no expert….. (spruce is the man) ….. that your batteries might be reading fully charged because they are accepting less charge than normal. There capacity might be now reduced and the charger is saying full but your overall amps are less. This means your battery is starting to fail.

Smart chargers (like ctek) can recondition a battery which can in some cases bring them back to life. It’s worth a try.

I go with this explanation. If a good working battery charger is recharging a flat battery very quickly then the battery has sulphated up and has lost capacity. With sulphation, a 110 amp leisure battery could end up with a capacity of 15 or 20amps.

CTEK chargers do have a reconditioning mode. This mode pushes a much higher charge voltage for a short period which could remove some of the sulphation on the battery plates. It won't remove it all and honestly, I wouldn't spend money on buying a CTEK charger in to hope it will recover your battery. Battery replacement is what is needed and then a proper bench charging schedule. I would also go with a class 2 leisure battery.

I put my leisure battery on charge every night, especially in winter. It's no problem as I plug a frostat heater in at the same time I come home. Also in winter, there is a good chance the diesel heater will fire up when the temperature drops. The smart charger will kick on at the same time and replenish that power draw taken from the leisure battery to start the diesel heater. In fact, I think the diesel heater has just kicked on now.

[harleyman]

Persoaly I go a couple of weeks with out charging I also run a electric reel suppose it may depend how much work you do. ?? Mine is110amp ive had it over 12months and doesn't show any signs  yet of failing  .. it'll  probably  pack in now I've  said  that.

[dazmond]

Persoaly I go a couple of weeks with out charging I also run a electric reel suppose it may depend how much work you do. ?? Mine is110amp ive had it over 12months and doesn't show any signs  yet of failing  .. it'll  probably  pack in now I've  said  that.

You must have a split charge relay in your van then or that battery would have been toast a long time ago!😄

[DJW]

Batteries only take so many cycles and overtime will deteriorate.
I’ve often wondered if less charging cycles are better with a deep cycle leisure battery than frequent charging when only partially depleted.

[dazmond]

Batteries only take so many cycles and overtime will deteriorate.
I’ve often wondered if less charging cycles are better with a deep cycle leisure battery than frequent charging when only partially depleted.

you should never discharge a leisure battery more than 50% of its capacity(ideally  charge again after 25% of use)

[Smudger]

I use these ...



been on the vans from 3 years to 5 years without failure - they are charged as we drive - and I would say maybe 3 times over the years ive had to bench charge due to large works like a school took most of the power that day.

Things may change as the new vans either have start/stop or "smart" alternators so these are charges daily overnight, so time will tell if they last as well or fail early.

Darran

[Spruce]

I use these ...



been on the vans from 3 years to 5 years without failure - they are charged as we drive - and I would say maybe 3 times over the years ive had to bench charge due to large works like a school took most of the power that day.

Things may change as the new vans either have start/stop or "smart" alternators so these are charges daily overnight, so time will tell if they last as well or fail early.

Darran

https://www.norwichcamping.co.uk/shop/product/monbat-xl-110-lb-leisure-battery-1996/

I noted the section in red in the battery description.

Important Information: Batteries must be fully charged immediately after use.  Failure to do so will shorten battery life and invalidate warranty.

[Smudger]

Would you say that applies to all leisure batteries ?

[mac74]

On a side note: below is a useful volts/amp hours monitor (£11 ish) which will help you know how much amps ect. that you are drawing out of your battery daily, and during use. I have one linked in between batt & controller/pump. You would have to use another one for batt to powered reel, although i haven't yet.
Copy & paste the below into the ebay search bar (the link was to big)

Simple DC Power Analyser Watt Volt Amp Meter 12V 24V Solar Wind Analyzer UK

[Spruce]

Would you say that applies to all leisure batteries ?

I believe so. If you don't then sulphation slowly starts to take over, reducing the battery's capacity, which it will do anyway, just a little quicker. As the Americans say, batteries wear out.
My last 110 amp leisure battery was 6 years old when I had to replace it.

For the work we did it would support my Shurflo pump with my daily work load. When my lad was out with me he mainly used his backpack as he prefers working with it rather than the hose reel.

As soon as I added my diesel heater the battery was flat at midday. It had no capacity left. So what I thought was still a good working battery as it did the job actually wasn't. Had I continued using it without the diesel heater it would have lasted another year possibly?

The batteries you use are a class 3 battery. I personally wouldn't look at buying one as their charging cycles are low. The specs don't give it a CCA rating, but they say it can be used with a motor mover.  I'm a little confused as the class rating and motor mover application conflict.

https://www.norwichcamping.co.uk/shop/product/monbat-xl-110-lb-leisure-battery-1996/

The NCC rating on this battery isn't good. NCC have the battery they tested as a XLM110LB so I don't know if this is the same battery NCC tested or not. But the Norwich Camping website does say it's an NCC Class C battery.

https://www.thencc.org.uk/Our_Schemes/ncc_verified_leisure_battery_scheme.aspx

It gives a capacity of 98 amps and a Life Cycles 50% DoD of only 70. However, if you are getting good service from them in your application then there is no reason for you not to continue using them.

If you look at the duty cycles on class B batteries you will see that they are up in the 220's + for a similar price tag.

So did the marketing dept. of Monbat drop the "M" for a reason? Why did the manufacturers give the battery NCC tested a 110 figure model number on the label when the battery capacity was only 98 amps? Was that to mislead me into thinking something different  without doing anything illegal? The first thing that went through my mind was that this battery was a 110 amp, exactly what the Norwich Camping website said it was.

An example of being mislead was an advert produced by Ford South Africa about 30 years ago. Trust me, it was a brilliant 'manipulation' of the facts.
Ford had a Madza 3 based hot hatch in the 1.6 engine class. It was in competition with Opel and several others in the same class all promoting their 0 - 100km acceleration times. Ford was the slowest of the class. It wasn't marginal, it was a difference of a couple of seconds. So Ford's advert didn't give a time. It was 0 to 100km "in one deep breath." Wow, that was quick. And it worked; they sold plenty of that model. How long is one deep breath? Absolutely brilliant but very misleading.

BTW. This is my opinion of the battery and the way I see it from the "facts" I see.

[Smudger]

Cheers spruce - tis all Greek to me I don’t do electrics that well !
If these start to fail quickly on the new vans I’ll get back to you for reccomendations 

Was that the probe your talking about ?

Darran

[Spruce]

Cheers spruce - tis all Greek to me I don’t do electrics that well !
If these start to fail quickly on the new vans I’ll get back to you for reccomendations 

Was that the probe your talking about ?

Darran

No it wasn't the Probe. We never got that model in South Africa.

It was called the Ford Lazer in Africa and was virtually the same shape as this Mazda 323.
https://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/1988_mazda_323_15379676743ef9481ab5d17020180908_181155.jpg

[dd]

Would you say that applies to all leisure batteries ?

I believe so. If you don't then sulphation slowly starts to take over, reducing the battery's capacity, which it will do anyway, just a little quicker. As the Americans say, batteries wear out.
My last 110 amp leisure battery was 6 years old when I had to replace it.

For the work we did it would support my Shurflo pump with my daily work load. When my lad was out with me he mainly used his backpack as he prefers working with it rather than the hose reel.

As soon as I added my diesel heater the battery was flat at midday. It had no capacity left. So what I thought was still a good working battery as it did the job actually wasn't. Had I continued using it without the diesel heater it would have lasted another year possibly?

The batteries you use are a class 3 battery. I personally wouldn't look at buying one as their charging cycles are low. The specs don't give it a CCA rating, but they say it can be used with a motor mover.  I'm a little confused as the class rating and motor mover application conflict.

https://www.norwichcamping.co.uk/shop/product/monbat-xl-110-lb-leisure-battery-1996/

The NCC rating on this battery isn't good. NCC have the battery they tested as a XLM110LB so I don't know if this is the same battery NCC tested or not. But the Norwich Camping website does say it's an NCC Class C battery.

https://www.thencc.org.uk/Our_Schemes/ncc_verified_leisure_battery_scheme.aspx

It gives a capacity of 98 amps and a Life Cycles 50% DoD of only 70. However, if you are getting good service from them in your application then there is no reason for you not to continue using them.

If you look at the duty cycles on class B batteries you will see that they are up in the 220's + for a similar price tag.

So did the marketing dept. of Monbat drop the "M" for a reason? Why did the manufacturers give the battery NCC tested a 110 figure model number on the label when the battery capacity was only 98 amps? Was that to mislead me into thinking something different  without doing anything illegal? The first thing that went through my mind was that this battery was a 110 amp, exactly what the Norwich Camping website said it was.

An example of being mislead was an advert produced by Ford South Africa about 30 years ago. Trust me, it was a brilliant 'manipulation' of the facts.
Ford had a Madza 3 based hot hatch in the 1.6 engine class. It was in competition with Opel and several others in the same class all promoting their 0 - 100km acceleration times. Ford was the slowest of the class. It wasn't marginal, it was a difference of a couple of seconds. So Ford's advert didn't give a time. It was 0 to 100km "in one deep breath." Wow, that was quick. And it worked; they sold plenty of that model. How long is one deep breath? Absolutely brilliant but very misleading.

BTW. This is my opinion of the battery and the way I see it from the "facts" I see.

If you are running a diesel heater you need 2x 110amp batteries.