Lesuire battery died today!!!!!!

Gutted i had 10 days off over xmas and left my battery connected to my pump although the controller is turned off it must still draw power from the battery as when i got ready to go back to work it was dead and the little circle window showed black!!! Charged it up and seemed ok. Anyway charged it Sunday ready for work this week and it's died on me at 3pm today. It seemed fine all last week too but i did charge it mid week. Think ive ruined it now. Gutted as only had 4 more houses to finish too. Decided to put my old battery back in the van now to as a spare. We live and learn i guess. Must find the receipt and take it back too halfords see if they will exchange it.

Don't tell them this though  :1f609:

should still charge on a good charger, trickle charge.  i have a charged old van battery in van for these type of disasters,  get a days work out of it if leisure battery dies .

Spring digital controllers still draw power from the battery when turned off. If you have crocodile clips, unclip them when you finished work (disconnect earth first and reconnect last).

If you use battery clamps, fit an on/off switch onto connecting wire ?

steve garwood said:

Spring digital controllers still draw power from the battery when turned off. If you have crocodile clips, unclip them when you finished work (disconnect earth first and reconnect last).

If you use battery clamps, fit an on/off switch onto connecting wire ?

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Varistream also use current when switched off.

We found a Varistream caused a new 85 amph Numax battery to lose 25% of its charge when the van stood idle for a week. A battery going flat in 10 days doesn't seem all controller related but I don't have a Spring controller so I don't know for sure.

I got the feeling from the OP thread that he only charges the battery on Sunday for the week. Personally I think he is expecting a lot anyway. Longevity of a leisure battery increases substantially if the battery is only used to 1/2 charge and charged asap after use.

I think mine could be on the way out too. Last Friday mine was flashing BAT. Luckily I'd finished for the week, so when I got home it went straight on charge. I drive a lot of miles with a charging system in the controller. I've put it on charge tonight just in case it decides to die tomorrow. I've got a multi meter but that's on the blink so I can't read the charge on the battery. I'll buy another leisure battery and leave it in the van ready for back up.

I keep two numax chargers permanently in my van and charge my van mount and trolley every night until full. This is the best way to treat leisure batteries (charge as soon as used). Make mine last years

I thought it was allways best to let the battery get half full then charge. Ill start charging it every night again if thats the case. Just gutted the 2 varistreams drained my battery when i was off over xmas just didn't think to take the clamps off. 

GSS Window Cleaning said:

I thought it was allways best to let the battery get half full then charge. Ill start charging it every night again if thats the case. Just gutted the 2 varistreams drained my battery when i was off over xmas just didn't think to take the clamps off. 

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I think that a lot of misconceptions about batteries is due to there being so many different types of batteries. So its just something you have to put down to experience.

Lead acid batteries need to be recharged as soon as possible. (Once popular Nicad batteries needed to be run flat before recharging to stop them developing a memory, so different to lead acid batteries.)  Leisure batteries last longer if they are recharged soon after they have worked. A leisure battery that is gone flat suffers damage due to sulphation and will not perform as it did previously.

This article recommends you charge a lead acid battery after each time you have used it.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_the_lead_acid_battery

This article is a good read.

There is nothing like experience. But you can also learn a lot from other's experiences. Our leisure battery use does mimimic the caravan, RV (motorhomes), yacht and canal boater's demands, so there is always valuable info on their forums.

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