Bongo Fury

Hello there folks.

I'm looking for some advice on my Leisure Battery. At present, my battery gauge is reading around 8.1. I've tried charging it up for a few hours but the gauge doesn't budge. When i first switch the charger on, it reads around 10 and then goes slowly down and sits at 8.5 - 8.7. I left it on for 2 hours but it didn't budge. I have a Willinton Split charge relay installed - should I remove this from the battery before I charge it up or is it ok to charge it with this on? For easyness sake i've just left the battery in situ and connected up the charger to it.

When I start the engine, the meter reads about 14.4 and then when I switch the engine off, it drops to around 12.5-13 but after about an hour, it has slowly fallen down to 8.1.

Is the battery dead or am I missing something ? Should I take the battery out to charge it up ? How long should it be on charge before the meter starts to show a difference ?

Any help is appreciated.

Cheers,

Craig

I would guess your battery is past it's best....Try giving it a slow charge for 24 hours....then if the voltage drops below 12 over the next 24 hours I reckon it's time for a new one....you can charge it in situ

It certainly doesn't sound like a healthy battery. The only thing I would suggest is to disconnect one of the battery terminals whilst doing the charging just to ensure that nothing else in the vehicle is causing confusion, but whenever the battery voltage falls below 10v then it is almost certainly one or more duff cells.

That's a bit of a bummer ! I've only had the battery for 8 months. Is this common? How long should a lb last?

It depends how it has been used.......If it's been allowed to drop below 11 volts at any point it's useful life will be reduced......if this happens a few times ????

mcbainia wrote:That's a bit of a bummer ! I've only had the battery for 8 months. Is this common? How long should a lb last?

Dont you get a warranty with a battery ?, sometimes two or three years, take it back ,nothing to lose .

Savvy battery dealers reduce warranties to 12 months, if used as a leisure battery but intended for use as a starter battery - because of the deep discharge issue. If that was the case, and you need to replace it but also want a leisure battery that will last well (and will double up in emergency as a starter battery), have a look at Elecsol http://www.elecsolbatteries.com/product ... -Batteries. The Elecsol 100 fits a standard Bongo second battery tray (winter spec Bongos, anyway), and they get a 5 years warranty regardless of use. Expensive but worth the dosh, and your dealer would be able to source, presumably with some allowance against the apparently failed one.

It should still be under warranty then ? I'd have a word with your supplier ASAP.

Looks like it is dead....spoke with the supplier and it is under warranty - 3 years so i'm getting it replaced, £14 for delivery so it's not as bad as I thought.

Thanks for all the help.

mcbainia wrote:Looks like it is dead....spoke with the supplier and it is under warranty - 3 years so i'm getting it replaced, £14 for delivery so it's not as bad as I thought.

Thanks for all the help.

Thats good, a lot of suppliers these days are not as easy, as too many people knacker leisure batteries by too many deap discharges. You should never take one below 50% capacity if you want it to last any length of time. I expect my boat batteries to last 3-4 years but work hard to not discharge below 70% do this. Also particularly liesure batteries will never last their longest with car alternator charging only. They need a good charge from a multi stage battery charger every now and then to get the best out of them.

Cant understand why you have to pay for postage ? it's not really your fault that the battery has failed after only 8 months, obviously you dont admit any liability ! but a faulty product should be replaced at no cost to yourself, i am sure this is written into consumer law

If you can borrow one try an Optimate - I have saved a few with these, does not sound like its worth buying one in this case, but someone with a bike or a car in the garage will lend you one, pop it on for a week see what happens.

Jim