Member Since: 31 Aug 2010
Location: retford'ish
Posts: 2230
how do you test a leisure battery?
Hi,
as the title really, how do you test a leisure battery to see which is the best or more to the point which one is getting ready for the scrap man
Have got a 110 a/h which is about 8 years old and
two 85 a/h each of which came with the caravans when we bought them, guessing 1 is 7 years old and the other 5 years?
Last time out (in a field no elec) used an 85 and it lasted 3 days, 2 nights ok (no telly or anything hungry like that) left the lights on when back home to see how much longer it lasted and only did the next night
Do you do a drop test from 3' (only joking about the 3' ) when fully charged like a car battery
Member Since: 11 Mar 2009
Location: Somerset
Posts: 3551
A little info below which I copied for you as it was easier than typing it all up and take note of the bottom bit
A battery needs about 120% INPUT to get to full charge...so...your 110 leisure batt would need;
110 x 120% = 130Amps per hour.
Normal charging rate is at 10% for best life...SO.....13A for 10 hours.
Unless you wanna spend around £500 for a charger, your gonna have one that gives a MAX of 10A.
If you watch it charge, you'll see it starts at 10A, then after a few hours it may be down to 3 or 4...then after about 24 hours you see it at 1. At this time, most people think "Ok...it's almost full..I'll use it now."
WRONG!!!!
You NEED to put 130A/h into that battery...so, you have "something like":
2 hours at 10A = 20
5 hours at 5A = 25
10 hours at 3A = 30
20 hours at 1A = 20
TOTAL, after 37 hours, is still only 95A/h......and it gets less charge as the time goes on....that's why I say maybe 3 DAYS to charge that battery fully.
Charge it up as far as possible, leave to sit for a couple of days then SLOW discharge (50w bulb) and monitor the voltage drop over several hours (12) - depending on the result you will have a good idea of the battery's capacity
Remember leisure batteries are intended to deliver low current for long periods not high current for short periods so don't drop test it Wanted D4s non runners pm for competitive price.
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10th Feb 2013 10:47 pm
D4mation
Member Since: 29 Jul 2011
Location: Ruralshire
Posts: 593
Member Since: 23 Feb 2006
Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Posts: 867
Hi Ta and if you are getting those sort of years from your batteries, don’t change a thing to the way you use and charge them because they are pretty good life spans.2008 TDV8 RR Lux + 2009 D4 2.7
11th Feb 2013 10:29 am
riverblanche
Member Since: 31 Aug 2010
Location: retford'ish
Posts: 2230
Hi,
thanks for the replys
will get one charged up fully then try the slow discharge
guess there not doing too bad for how old they are, as long as they last the same again I will be happy Transit! 2019
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14th Feb 2013 7:48 pm
anthony65
Member Since: 06 Feb 2013
Location: USA
Posts: 5
Generally, the 2 batteries i.e the car and leisure are the same with a bit slimmer and more of them in the car power supply. the assessments are the same and will do no damage in using a ''volt drop test'' on the leisure batteries.holiday houses gold coast
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15th Feb 2013 6:26 pm
WarPig
Member Since: 15 Feb 2013
Location: S.Yorks
Posts: 77
I use a ctek battery level indicator on my caravan battery. It clamps to the battery and gives either a red/yellow/green light depending on battery voltage level.
GREEN: battery voltage is over 12.65 = battery is fully charged
YELLOW: battery voltage is between 12.65 and 12.4V = battery is well charged. Recharge if you have time and opportunity
RED: battery voltage is below 12.4V = time for charging to prevent battery damage.
Click image to enlarge
Click image to enlarge
My Ctek MXS 5.0 charger can connect straight to the indicator if I need to charge the battery, saves having to leave it permenantly connected when the battery is in store..
Click image to enlarge
Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated 1996 Defender 110 300tdi Bonatti Grey
16th Feb 2013 2:49 pm
drivesafe
Member Since: 23 Feb 2006
Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Posts: 867
Hi Warpig and do you now why they have set those voltage levels?
The settings are next to useless as the RED setting at 12.4v means you have used less than 20% of your batteries capacity and you can safely cycle a deep cycle down to 11.58v or 20% of the battery with out harming the battery and even a cranking battery can be safely cycled down to 12.06 or 50% without harming them.
I use a chart similar to one in the link provided by D4manion and I have been using this chart for about 20 to 25 years and it’s spot on, for batteries in use while camping.
Click image to enlarge
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16th Feb 2013 5:47 pm
WarPig
Member Since: 15 Feb 2013
Location: S.Yorks
Posts: 77
drivesafe wrote:
Hi Warpig and do you now why they have set those voltage levels?
No, Im not sure why. I emailed Ctek to ask what the voltage levels were for their indicator and that was the reply I received.
Incidentally, I always thought -11.8v indicated a dead leisure battery. Apparently not according to the chart in that link.1996 Defender 110 300tdi Bonatti Grey
16th Feb 2013 11:58 pm
WarPig
Member Since: 15 Feb 2013
Location: S.Yorks
Posts: 77
Re: how do you test a leisure battery?
riverblanche wrote:
Do you do a drop test from 3' (only joking about the 3' ) when fully charged like a car battery
After checking the voltage of your caravan battery, perform a load test by activating your caravan mover rollers (if yo have one?) for a few seconds without them being engaged on the tyres. Monitor what the battery does during this time, the volts will drop but a healthy battery will quickly return to the original voltage reading.
Either do this with a volt meter connected to the battery terminals, or do what I do and plug one of these into your caravans 12v socket and watch it through the window..
Click image to enlarge
1996 Defender 110 300tdi Bonatti Grey
17th Feb 2013 12:11 am
drivesafe
Member Since: 23 Feb 2006
Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Posts: 867
WarPig wrote:
I always thought -11.8v indicated a dead leisure battery. Apparently not according to the chart in that link.
Hi again WarPig, this is where a problem comes into checking batteries.
The chart above is for checking batteries that are in use, while the clip-on 3 LED monitor is for checking batteries that have been sitting in a No-Load/No-Charge state for at least 24 hours.
The later is known as OPEN CIRCUIT voltage monitoring and is next to useless for most RV situations.
If you are using the OPEN CIRCUIT voltage monitoring then with some types of lead acid batteries, 11.8v will mean a flat battery.
The reason a state “some lead acid batteries†is because OPEN CIRCUIT voltages vary from one type of lead acid battery to another, making the of OPEN CIRCUIT voltage monitoring even more useless for RV situations.
If you have batteries sitting around in an No-Load state for months at a time, you should already have a battery maintenance routine in place to make sure your battery(s) is being correctly serviced while not in use.
If you are using your battery(s) then the chart above is pretty accurate for current loads up to 5% of the total battery capacity and is the same for all types of lead acid batteries.2008 TDV8 RR Lux + 2009 D4 2.7
17th Feb 2013 1:00 am
WarPig
Member Since: 15 Feb 2013
Location: S.Yorks
Posts: 77
Interesting reading
Just so I fully understand, when my caravan battery is sat on my garage workbench all winter, I assume my LED indicator is suitable? But its not suitable for using when the battery is fitted to my caravan and in use?
So say if I had it fitted in my car and connected to my car battery permanently, then the readings wouldnt be so accurate?
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) when fully charged like a car battery 
