12V Batteries

[DaveG28]

Hi all,

as the indoor season approaches and I won't be able to use my car battery anymore for connecting my charger to, does anyone know what amp hours I need in a 12v battery if I buy one?

Is there anything else I need to worry about with this, I ues the Orion advantage charger?

When I use my old 12v battery I am only getting one battery charged before it says there are input voltage errors!?

Dave

[Southwell]

If you do full weekends 110amp is advisable. For just club meetings around 75amp is adequate.

[jim76]

yes, around 75amp will do. i had one of these originally and you could easily get 8-10 charges out of it with a few minutes of soldering work also.

just don't get one from Halfords as they are quite overpriced.

[DaveG28]

Interesting you should say not Halfords, as I assumed that bbut at the moment can't find any cheap alternatives!

I can get a 75amp hour battery from them for about £70, does anyone know where is cheaper?

Also, is there a big advantage to the more expensive gel type stuff?

[bigred5765]

power supply from a PC £20-£30
genuine 12 volt power supply £30-40
never had to use a 12 volt in the last 2 years

[mark christopher]

Interesting you should say not Halfords, as I assumed that bbut at the moment can't find any cheap alternatives!

I can get a 75amp hour battery from them for about £70, does anyone know where is cheaper?

Also, is there a big advantage to the more expensive gel type stuff?
my locaL caravan shop sells 110 ones for £50ish and the 75 amp ones for less, try a caravan dealer

also i would highly recomend you get a good charger that is capable of float charging or maintanence mode, you 12 volt will last far longer than using a normal 12volt car charger
if you have mains
these are good
http://www.ripmax.com/item.asp?itemid=O-IP2000&Category=010

http://www.ripmax.com/item.asp?itemid=O-IP2002&Category=010

[DCM]

a PC power supply will give you more than a propper 12Vdc supply, funnily, outdoors I now take a genie and my computer PSU's

[ashleyb4]

I have a motor world 85ah and it lasts me a weekend easily thats running orion advantage at 5 amp a cooling fan. 12v light 12v fam for me and a power inverter for soldering iron. i think it was 60 quid highly recomended always get a leisure battery not a car battery.

A

[DaveG28]

Hi again,

Yeah I have a 240v to 12v converter for a mains supply, but about half the meetings I did indoor last winter did not have any available sockets, hence why I want a 12v battery.

Can't do a gennie, it won't fit in my car, and also can't use them indoors! :wtf:

Have got a maintenance charger for it, but not sure if its working cos it doesn't like my old 12v battery (which was a half size formula ford race battery!)

So about £50 - £60 is reasonale for a price for a 75A/Hr Batt? What is the difference between leisure and car battery!?

[Southwell]

A standard 12v is designed to have a massive surge of power taken out of it (ie starting a car) then the alternator tops it back up. A leisure battery is designed to provide a smaller amount of energy but over a much longer period. Also leisure batteries are better at charging from a dead state, whereas a normal 12v may not charge up properly if it is completely drained.

[dan_kitty]

Hi all,

as the indoor season approaches and I won't be able to use my car battery anymore for connecting my charger to, does anyone know what amp hours I need in a 12v battery if I buy one?

Is there anything else I need to worry about with this, I ues the Orion advantage charger?

When I use my old 12v battery I am only getting one battery charged before it says there are input voltage errors!?

Dave

try topping up your old one with di-ionised water first, mine got to a state of only holding enough power to do one set of cells. i checked the levels and it was empty. it was as good as new after a top up:)
providing your old 12v is a standard leisure/marine battery i think

[VintageRacer]

These look interesting.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/slimline-leisure-power-battery-12-volt-100amp-hour_W0QQitemZ170150358856QQihZ007QQcategoryZ40975 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[MK999]

Halfords batteries I thought were rather expensive too, until a mate told me about someone at his club... The Halfords batteries come with a 2 year warranty, and if it isn't already dead from numerous 5,6... 8 amp (snoring cars love amperage) charges, he made sure it was dead and took it back for a replacement :p

[dave p hall]

i got a 110 amp hour leisure battery from me local motor factors.£55:D

[rcracer]

i got a 110 amp hour leisure battery from me local motor factors.£55:D

when we going to see you racing again then dave ???