[john tomkins]

i use 2 110 lesuire batteries and i have had them 15 months now and still going strong charge 1 use 1 then swap over

Should last for 15 years as you only work 3 hours a day

[P @ F]

Come on people , i thought i was tight , whats wrong with replacing the battery every 12 months anyway ?
I have just bought my fourth one in 4 years , cost me about 55 quid , thats about a quid a week , when you consider the return in pay whats the problem  , you claim it back anyway !

Rich P @ F   

[ftp]

  it's when they are 'guaranteed' for two or three years that you expect them to last longer than nine months.

[Londoner]

Come on people , i thought i was tight , whats wrong with replacing the battery every 12 months anyway ?
I have just bought my fourth one in 4 years , cost me about 55 quid , thats about a quid a week , when you consider the return in pay whats the problem  , you claim it back anyway !

Rich P @ F   

Its not the cost, it the agro caused by having a dodgy battery that lets you down. Usually in the middle of a big job with time left to do more customers but you can't. Then comes all the uncertainty of will it/ won't it let me down again before you finally give up and go and buy another.

[Wrekin C S]

Come on people , i thought i was tight , whats wrong with replacing the battery every 12 months anyway ?
I have just bought my fourth one in 4 years , cost me about 55 quid , thats about a quid a week , when you consider the return in pay whats the problem  , you claim it back anyway !

Rich P @ F   

Its not the cost, it the agro caused by having a dodgy battery that lets you down. Usually in the middle of a big job with time left to do more customers but you can't. Then comes all the uncertainty of will it/ won't it let me down again before you finally give up and go and buy another.

Yep I agree you cant take that chance can you especially if your miles away from home on a big contract job!
Think im going to buy another and keep it in the van as a spare.

[Ian Lancaster]

I use two 85ah batteries, one of them is the original I bought when I got my van mount three years ago and the other is one I bought about 18 months ago.  Neither will last a day, but I keep them both charged and change them when one goes flat.

You can use any 12 volt battery you want - some will last longer than others, just depends on what type they are.

[dave.e]

i use 2 110 lesuire batteries and i have had them 15 months now and still going strong charge 1 use 1 then swap over

Should last for 15 years as you only work 3 hours a day

thanks john that make 2 off us then

[P @ F]

it does get on your wick when a battery lets you down , the 3 previous have all let me down on the big jobs , either keep a spare and use them 1 one day and 1 the other , or in my case get yourself a halfords intelligent charger , you can never cook the battery this way , i think this has been my problem in the past , its amazing how little charge the battery needs , even after a big 8 to 9 hour day  , the halfords charger will only charge for about 2 to 3 hours , before with a standard charger i was leaving it on all night to make sure , this was causing the batteries to over charge and swell up , you dont notice until you put a new battery next to it , by then its too late ! 

 Rich P @ F   

[Sir Squeaky]

I reckon I know the reason why we keep killing batteries...

My pump is rated at 7amp/hr.

I work from 9ish - 3 or 4 pm.
Take away an hour for lunch and the odd rest, that's roughly 5 hours.
Take away moving about, chatting, trad work...
I reckon my pumps on for no more than 4 hours, if that.

Now that's 28amp/hrs used.

You can blast the charge in at 4/6/8 amps, but to properly charge it you should stick to 2amp charging.

Now that's 14 hours to get back to where it was, and I'm a lazy sod. We all do longer days sometimes.
It may need upwards of 20 hours a night for many of us.

It just ain't getting charged right up...

[ftp]

My own theory is it's just too many charging cycles for the battery over the year. Your average  caravan leisure battery is hardly used and recharged exept on bank holidays.

[Sir Squeaky]

Also as it gradually depletes over months, you get your first warning when it runs flat.
It's then too late, you've damaged cells and made it smaller.

Then it runs flat again, a bit sooner, and so on...

My battery is now the size of a watch battery inside, and goes flat by midday.

[dave.e]

why not use the power caps that the boy racer use for the amps thay take the power off the van batt and stores it up. i will have a look and post some pics so bear with me

[dave.e]

here we go boys have a look at this website mite be better than carrying spare batts

http://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/category_m-capacitors-power-caps-_c-509.htm

[Wrekin C S]

My own theory is it's just too many charging cycles for the battery over the year. Your average  caravan leisure battery is hardly used and recharged exept on bank holidays.

Got a good point there - and if you think about it a car battery is being charged all the time from the alternater so car batt prob better than leisure?!?

[Window Washers]

Took my leisure battery back today as it's still under warrenty. They stuck it on the shelf and said they will let me know. I'm not expecting any joy to be honest.

Called back today and despite my battery not being able to last for six hours they pronounced it perfect! They even connected their tester to show me. I told them it was obviously charging up but not holding the charge long enough. They said they couldn't exchange it because there was nothing wrong with it.  :

Ask how to kill a battery then they will be stuffed