Leisure batteries and relays.

[OnPoint]

What leisure battery people using? Looking to purchase a new one.

this any good?

 

[OnPoint]

Also would this relay be suitable l? Would save me having to lug the battery in and out to charge.

 

[ched999uk]

Split charge relays are good it you do decent mileage and have a Euro 5 or earlier vehicle. Newer Euro6 spec vans generally have 'smart' alternators which can give out anything upto 20Volts, this is not suitable for a standard split charge relay as the voltage needs to be reduced to charge a leisure battery. Euro 6 normally needs a Battery 2 Battery charger!!

As for the leisure battery you showed they don't have a great reputation but are cheap and Euro Car Parts will probably honour the warrantee unless you tell them you are using it for window cleaning .

As you probably know you should avoid discharging the battery below 50% of it's rated capacity (rested voltage about 12.1v as a minimum).

 

[OnPoint]

Split charge relays are good it you do decent mileage and have a Euro 5 or earlier vehicle. Newer Euro6 spec vans generally have 'smart' alternators which can give out anything upto 20Volts, this is not suitable for a standard split charge relay as the voltage needs to be reduced to charge a leisure battery. Euro 6 normally needs a Battery 2 Battery charger!!

As for the leisure battery you showed they don't have a great reputation but are cheap and Euro Car Parts will probably honour the warrantee unless you tell them you are using it for window cleaning .

As you probably know you should avoid discharging the battery below 50% of it's rated capacity (rested voltage about 12.1v as a minimum).

Thanks for the reply man.

Ah, I see what you mean. Only thought of euro and perhaps halfords as each a few minutes from me so if I had any issues and had to return its with ease. Cleaning warehouse however not had great experience with so can imagine the Ballache and expense to resolve any issues.

Just been working my mileage out to see if it would work with a relay and I don't think I do enough with all the stop and starting.

Guess I'll stick to charging it indoors.

 

[ched999uk]

I believe Halfords and ECP both do 'budget' batteries and I think that you would have more joy with them if you had issues, although no guaranty on them exchanging especially if you told them you were a window cleaner!!

 

[spruce]

You really need to be looking at a class B battery @OnPoint . Numax has always done us proud but they don't warranty a battery used by a window cleaner.

You should be recharging your leisure battery after each day you have used it with the correct smart charger.

I have a battery2battery charger on my van and I can say from experience that we don't do enough mileage a day on average to fully recharge that battery. The van gets parked on the driveway and plugged in every night in winter and every second night in summer. If we have worked the battery hard then it gets recharged that night and not left until the following night.

Google "NCC verified battery scheme" for a leisure battery test review on most batteries available today.

Regarding split charge relays I posted this on DIY guides a few years back.

https://windowcleaningforums.co.uk/threads/split-charge-relay.22375/

 

[OnPoint]

You really need to be looking at a class B battery @OnPoint . Numax has always done us proud but they don't warranty a battery used by a window cleaner.

You should be recharging your leisure battery after each day you have used it with the correct smart charger.

I have a battery2battery charger on my van and I can say from experience that we don't do enough mileage a day on average to fully recharge that battery. The van gets parked on the driveway and plugged in every night in winter and every second night in summer. If we have worked the battery hard then it gets recharged that night and not left until the following night.

Google "NCC verified battery scheme" for a leisure battery test review on most batteries available today.

Regarding split charge relays I posted this on DIY guides a few years back.

https://windowcleaningforums.co.uk/threads/split-charge-relay.22375/

Thanks Spruce.

Seen Halfords do one 110ah - b rated.

Guess I'll go for that one.

 

[spruce]

Thanks Spruce.

Seen Halfords do one 110ah - b rated.

Guess I'll go for that one.

I see that battery has a magic eye. Before you buy the battery, please check that the eye is green. If not, look for another. Batteries discharge over time, so anything other than a green indicator could mean the battery has been in stock for a while. Granted, the battery will need to be fully charged when you get home, but a battery left at low charge for an extended period of time may have already started to sulphate. This isn't good.

I was wandering around a local caravan sales and accessory leisure outlet once and noted that they had a good stock of batteries, some of which didn't have the magic green eye showing.

Halfords have been pretty good at warranting their battery claims when used by window cleaners, but that could change in the future. I probably expect this is down to most of the sales force not having a clue about what they are selling, but that's my experience dealing with them. I'm not blaming them; it's Halford's for not employing people who have the expertise. But Halford's would have to pay a higher wage for that.

BTW, the process of identifying a faulty leisure battery isn't the same as a starter battery. So I would imagine that the instruction to the unqualified sales staff would be to replace the battery as long as a customer provides a proof of purchase that is dated within the warranty period and everything seems legit. I wouldn't drive into Halford with my sign written window cleaning van either; I would take the family car.

 

[ched999uk]

Halfords have been pretty good at warranting their battery claims when used by window cleaners, but that could change in the future. I probably expect this is down to most of the sales force not having a clue about what they are selling, but that's my experience dealing with them. I'm not blaming them; it's Halford's for not employing people who have the expertise. But Halford's would have to pay a higher wage for that.

BTW, the process of identifying a faulty leisure battery isn't the same as a starter battery. So I would imagine that the instruction to the unqualified sales staff would be to replace the battery as long as a customer provides a proof of purchase that is dated within the warranty period and everything seems legit. I wouldn't drive into Halford with my sign written window cleaning van either; I would take the family car.

Way back in the late 80's I worked for Halfords part time during my apprenticeship. The staff were just 'shop' staff with very very little knowledge. I remember waking in one Friday evening and being asked to go to the 'warehouse'. They had a bike on the stand which had new Index shifting gears, every member of staff had tried to get them to work correctly all that day and failed!!! I looked at it, realised that the cables were slack, took out the slack and bingo they worked!!!
Things have changed since then but when ever I go in they still employ very young people as they are cheap. They will have a slightly older member of staff maybe 20 who is duty manager but I doubt very much they will know much especially about leisure batteries.

The twist to all this is if the 'budget Halfords' batter dies will it destroy your day and cause you to earn significantly less? If so it might be worth spending a few more ££ and getting a better quality battery, although you still have to look after it! If Halfords is 'on your round' then it might be a great idea to get one from them but park round the corner if you have an issue with the battery, mind you I doubt a Halfords employee would have a clue that window cleaners had a leisure battery in their vans!!!

 

[OnPoint]

I see that battery has a magic eye. Before you buy the battery, please check that the eye is green. If not, look for another. Batteries discharge over time, so anything other than a green indicator could mean the battery has been in stock for a while. Granted, the battery will need to be fully charged when you get home, but a battery left at low charge for an extended period of time may have already started to sulphate. This isn't good.

I was wandering around a local caravan sales and accessory leisure outlet once and noted that they had a good stock of batteries, some of which didn't have the magic green eye showing.

Halfords have been pretty good at warranting their battery claims when used by window cleaners, but that could change in the future. I probably expect this is down to most of the sales force not having a clue about what they are selling, but that's my experience dealing with them. I'm not blaming them; it's Halford's for not employing people who have the expertise. But Halford's would have to pay a higher wage for that.

BTW, the process of identifying a faulty leisure battery isn't the same as a starter battery. So I would imagine that the instruction to the unqualified sales staff would be to replace the battery as long as a customer provides a proof of purchase that is dated within the warranty period and everything seems legit. I wouldn't drive into Halford with my sign written window cleaning van either; I would take the family car.

Thanks for that key bit of information. Plan to go tomorrow. ?

 

[spruce]

You have said it better than I did.

My lazy son got them to replace a headlight bulb in his car as one had blown. After all, they advertise that they have over 5000 trained experts who have all the necessary equipment for a hassle-free service. Son paid £8.00 plus VAT to change the bulb. The car went in for MOT and the MOT inspector identified that the offside bulb had been fitted upside down. (A bulb has a locator tab to ensure it's fitted correctly. There is no excuse to get it wrong.)

When they removed the engine cover trims to access the bulb they found the rubber 'boot' that prevents dirt and water ingress into the headlamp lying in the bodywork, so hadn't been fitted back properly.

We always changed (and still do) headlight bulbs in pairs because the other side will blow soon afterwards. This happened. No one advised him this would happen and that he should replace both bulbs. (We would replace both bulbs and put the still working headlight bulb into the glovebox as a spare.) Another sale lost. Thankfully, son listened this time and removed the ABS wiring loom to get to the headlight and changed the bulb himself. The ABS Control Module is located right behind the nearside headlight. Many years ago, Halfords informed me that they couldn't change that bulb on the same model car. We had to book it into their workshop to have the ABS module removed to get access to the headlight.

 

[Ian Rickard]

What leisure battery people using? Looking to purchase a new one.

this any good?
View attachment 26637

When I was looking for batteries, i found Tayna to be better value than Euro Car Parts. Might be worth a look to see if you can get it cheaper from tayna.co.uk I would be interested to learn what you decide and the build.

 

[spruce]

When I was looking for batteries, i found Tayna to be better value than Euro Car Parts. Might be worth a look to see if you can get it cheaper from tayna.co.uk I would be interested to learn what you decide and the build.

Once you have received an online order you basically have to rely on the supplier to supply the actual battery you ordered. I've had one try to replace a class2 battery with a class 3. The other did send a replacement that was from the same manufacturer with a different branding, so I accepted that. With regard to warranty, Tanya specify that no warranty will be given on batteries used by window cleaners, and the other catch is that most say warranty is user to cover cost back to supplier for them to check battery failure. Then they have the evidence.

https://www.tayna.co.uk/tutorials/battery-warranty-information
At least with Halfords they are accepting warranty on their batteries ATM.