Jump to content

An endorsment for budget batteries


gary955

Featured Posts

I replaced my 3x 110ah bank with a 3x 125ah battery’s 17 months ago. I don’t have a sophisticated charging regime and I’m not very good at remembering to top them up, so I decided that I would buy budget sealed batteries and treat them as consumables.

I bought Hankook battery’s from Battery Megastore in Tewksbury, paying less than £230 for the three. They were fitted at the beginning of Nov 2015 and have never seen a charger since. They’re connected to a single 80w solar panel and occasionally get a boost from the alternator through an Adverc charge controller.

During a quick check before going for a cruise for a few days I noticed that the battery in the middle of the bank was showing a white “replace battery” indicator. It was still showing white after a six hour cruise so although the bank was showing over 13v I took it out in case it damaged its neighbours.

Remembering the two year warranty I put it in the van and popped into Tewksbury on the way home. The staff at Battery Megastore asked me to draw a diagram of the way the bank is wired up, which they agreed was correct, they explained that they could not entertain a warranty claim without seeing the original invoice (which I didn’t have with me) but said that they would charge and carry out a full test on the battery if I left it with them. The battery was oddly now displaying a green indicator and measuring 13v on a multimeter!

Two days later they’ve called me and told me the battery has 95% of its rated capacity, it seems possible that a bubble got on top of the indicator ball giving a false reading. The battery is fine.

So this is a shout out for both for Hankook batteries which seem to be performing admirably considering they cost £76ea and for the customer care of Battery Megastore who were prepared to replace a budget battery a year and a half after it was bought.

It seems budget leisure batteries are not always a false economy and expensive chargers are not always a necessity.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, gary955 said:

I replaced my 3x 110ah bank with a 3x 125ah battery’s 17 months ago. I don’t have a sophisticated charging regime and I’m not very good at remembering to top them up, so I decided that I would buy budget sealed batteries and treat them as consumables.

I bought Hankook battery’s from Battery Megastore in Tewksbury, paying less than £230 for the three. They were fitted at the beginning of Nov 2015 and have never seen a charger since. They’re connected to a single 80w solar panel and occasionally get a boost from the alternator through an Adverc charge controller.

During a quick check before going for a cruise for a few days I noticed that the battery in the middle of the bank was showing a white “replace battery” indicator. It was still showing white after a six hour cruise so although the bank was showing over 13v I took it out in case it damaged its neighbours.

Remembering the two year warranty I put it in the van and popped into Tewksbury on the way home. The staff at Battery Megastore asked me to draw a diagram of the way the bank is wired up, which they agreed was correct, they explained that they could not entertain a warranty claim without seeing the original invoice (which I didn’t have with me) but said that they would charge and carry out a full test on the battery if I left it with them. The battery was oddly now displaying a green indicator and measuring 13v on a multimeter!

Two days later they’ve called me and told me the battery has 95% of its rated capacity, it seems possible that a bubble got on top of the indicator ball giving a false reading. The battery is fine.

So this is a shout out for both for Hankook batteries which seem to be performing admirably considering they cost £76ea and for the customer care of Battery Megastore who were prepared to replace a budget battery a year and a half after it was bought.

It seems budget leisure batteries are not always a false economy and expensive chargers are not always a necessity.

As far as I am concerned you are very much speaking to the converted!!  although actualy thats not right I have always bought cheapos and never visit them until I replace them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not surprisingly there's a lot of discussion on batteries at this time of year.  

I did a rough calculation recently based on what members were saying about battery cost/life, and my own experience.  I concluded whether you go cheap or expensive the cost works out at 50-60p per week per battery.  I'd be interested if anyone thinks they are getting significantly better economy than that.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

Not surprisingly there's a lot of discussion on batteries at this time of year.  

I did a rough calculation recently based on what members were saying about battery cost/life, and my own experience.  I concluded whether you go cheap or expensive the cost works out at 50-60p per week per battery.  I'd be interested if anyone thinks they are getting significantly better economy than that.  

I would agree roughly with that costing and thats why life is tooooooo short to mollicodle expensive batteries.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Neil2 said:

Not surprisingly there's a lot of discussion on batteries at this time of year.  

I did a rough calculation recently based on what members were saying about battery cost/life, and my own experience.  I concluded whether you go cheap or expensive the cost works out at 50-60p per week per battery.  I'd be interested if anyone thinks they are getting significantly better economy than that.  

Ties up pretty well with our cost per week on batteries.

ETA: Our 60p a week is for two batteries so 30p per battery per week.

Edited by Naughty Cal
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Neil2 said:

 I'd be interested if anyone thinks they are getting significantly better economy than that.  

I guess it depends whether you estimate daily useage or just the time the batteries have been onboard.

A better measurement might be the number of Ah taken from battery over its lifetime, but then that wouldnt be a rough calculation.

 

Edited by rusty69
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not one battery type suits everyone's lifestyle.  Battery types all have different plus and negative's, you just need to do research to find out if the plusses outweigh the negatives for you.

When off-grid the equipment and running costs for charging the batteries is usually the highest cost and not the batteries themselves. 

Edited by Robbo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

54 minutes ago, Robbo said:

Not one battery type suits everyone's lifestyle.  Battery types all have different plus and negative's, you just need to do research to find out if the plusses outweigh the negatives for you.

When off-grid the equipment and running costs for charging the batteries is usually the highest cost and not the batteries themselves. 

This is all very true. Nothing is for nothing. for instance Mike has problems with his batteries and buys more sets than I do BUT I spend way more on diesel and wearing my engine out charging the batteries than Mike does :( I think there is probably only one undeniable fact re batteries and that is that Solar DEFFO helps in every way and cheaply.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, WotEver said:

I'd hazard a guess that gary955's power requirements are quite modest. Is that right Gary?

Tony

Yes absolutely. All LED lighting and gas fridge. So really just the water pump and bath gulper, plus the inverter for occasional music telly and brief hair drying for the other half when away from shore power.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

This is all very true. Nothing is for nothing. for instance Mike has problems with his batteries and buys more sets than I do BUT I spend way more on diesel and wearing my engine out charging the batteries than Mike does :( I think there is probably only one undeniable fact re batteries and that is that Solar DEFFO helps in every way and cheaply.

Absolutement.  Yet scores of boaters still st seem to be completely ignorant of the benefits.  When we're out cruising I get quizzed about the solar panel constantly.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Anyone know of a battery supplier in the Stafford area who will supply and fit three new leisure batteries in a narrowboat please?  Mine are goosed and need replacing and I am no longer able to man handle that sort of weight around.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.