i have a 110v leisure battery and i trickle charge it every 3 days or so. It is 2 years old but hasn't had that much use apart from running the sub pump. It would last 3-4 weeks sometimes before it would run out. I would then use jump leads from my trolley if i ran out on the job.
The sub pump i use is a "bilge pump yatch" and its amp is 4.2.
The clamps i use are brass from halfords and the wires from each were wrapped around a screw. It would run nothing when both connected but works fine with 1 connection.
I'm wondering if i'm better off having separate battery clamps and swapping the sub pump ones over as and when i need them.
Mark, I assume you mean 110Ah not Volts
I see 2 problems that have happened to your battery? with a good 110Ah battery you should be able to run your 2 pumps (approx 8 amps) for approx 10 hours Continuous , the reason for your battery not being able to run both pumps at the same time is simple, Its knackard, its not going to be to long before it wont even run 1 pump. and the cause of this is? 1. constant deep discharging and 2. Lack of recharging.
Many Window Cleaners replace their lead-acid batteries every couple of seasons because they unknowingly kill them. Improper charging must rank as the number one cause of early battery death. With the right kind of battery, properly charged, you could get ten years of use, I know this for a fact my own leisure battery is now in its 9th year, 14 months of that as a wfp w/c.
When a battery is left in the discharged state, the lead sulfate slowly hardens and it becomes more difficult to charge and discharges more quickly. This in turn causes more lead-sulfate to form and the problem gets worse until the battery becomes useless. So the first tip to longer battery life is to fully charge the battery and to keep it charged. Don't learn the hard way and keep the battery fully charged at all times.
A second reason for early battery death is deep discharges. The service life of most batteries is severely shortened if discharged below 50% of capacity. Some car-type start batteries can be destroyed by discharging them completely only three or four times! To prevent deep discharges you must match battery size to the expected load or
re-charge more often. If you regularly discharge your batteries more than 10% of capacity, purchasing deep cycle batteries (leisure battery) will pay for itself very quickly.
