Will a sealed battery be damaged?

[Manny]

My leisure battery seems to have given up the ghost, it will not hold a charge for more than a few hours and then the voltage drops to about 10.5 volts. Anyway, I need to replace it and although I have done a search I can't find a definate answer to my questions, so I hope someone can help. Can I replace it with a seal maintenance free battery since it seems to require a slightly lower charging voltage than a wet battery and will be charge from the alternator using a split relay. Could this damage the sealed battery? I am hoping it is okay as I have looked at the Xplorer 88AH sealed ultra deep cycle leisure battery for £72.99 with 4 years guarantee and I like the sound of it. Is anyone using a sealed battery and had no problems or have they?

Hope someone can help. A fact sheet on battery relevant to the Bongo would be useful.

Manny

[g8dhe]

Hi Manny - Most leisure batteries are sealed these days, but they are often referred to as Calcium batteries and these have a slightly HIGHER voltage 5%-8% so possibly as high as 13.6v. However these are still "12 volt wet" batteries.

The "Xplorer 88AH" appears to be a pretty standard battery, nothing I can see from most of the adverts saying that the voltage is anything other than a standard "12volts", they only thing I would suggest is that at 88AH it isn't the largest of capacities, but if you know that suits your needs, then not a problem.

My own L/B is a "ELECSOL 100 Carbon Fibre Leisure Battery" and is sealed, I would have gone for a higher capacity, but the existing tray size prevents it, the total cost with delivery was about £100 late last year.

There is a leisure battery Factsheet on the club site http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/member ... teries.pdf the only thing I would say is I don't agree about the L/B being smaller than the S/B I can't see any rational behind it at all, and mine works just fine !

[Manny]

Hi Geoff, thanks for your reply. That now gives me confidence in using a sealed battery. I think I probably would like a larger capacity but I think the 125 AH they do is just that little bit higher than the one I have at present and might just not fit. I will measure again with more presicion, as that's the one I would like . The "ULTRA DEEP" batteries are advertised as being able to discharge by 70% without any damage as opposed to the "DEEP" wich is only 50%.
I have seen advertised the "xplorer Ultra Deep" 125 Ah leisure battery for £94.99, vat inc, next day free delivery, 4years warranty. Also 500 charge cycles instead of the usual 150 to 200.

I am flying to Spain on Saturday for a week, so will pick up on this when I return and try to complete before we go to the Northern bash.

Manny

[maxi_77]

Yotties in general prefer normal wet batteries because they can be charged at higher rates but inb a bongo that is unlikely to be a serious problem. I would also suggest most LBs are not sealed but the 'maintainace free' label does pull in the punters. I don't see a problem with one in a bongo though as it will never get prolonged high rate charging. I would not deliberately take any LB below 50% as it will always shorten their life unless you want to indulge in some very specific charging routines which will involve buying kit more expensive than the battery.