Defender Main & Aux Batteries

[Sunray-I40]

What are people's recommendations for main and aux/leisure batteries? I know one 4x4 dealer will no longer sell odyssey 1500s as so many they have sold have failed, and I am hearing mixed reports about Optima.

I need to replace both my batteries and would appreciate the latest thinking for a cost-effective solution!

[landroversforever]

Are you sure its not the other way round? That's the first bad word I've heard of Odyssey!

[Les Brock]

What he said - I dont have a good word to say about Optima's ...plenty of bad ones tho

[Tanuki]

For main/starter batteries if given the choice I prefer to go for Varta, Bosch or Yuasa.

For deep-discharge ones I've found Numax to be OK: my local branch of "Go Outdoors" had 55amp/hour ones on special discount (but unfortunately only one per customer....) around this time last year - I guess they wanted to shift them before the end of the camping/caravanning season.

[Sunray-I40]

Are you sure its not the other way round? That's the first bad word I've heard of Odyssey!

that's what he said - i double checked... they have had to send replacement batteries around the world for overland trips they fitted out with odyssey. somewhere i read that the pc1500 manufacturing might be subbed out but i am not sure of that.

[Sunray-I40]

For main/starter batteries if given the choice I prefer to go for Varta, Bosch or Yuasa. For deep-discharge ones I've found Numax to be OK: my local branch of "Go Outdoors" had 55amp/hour ones on special discount (but unfortunately only one per customer....) around this time last year - I guess they wanted to shift them before the end of the camping/caravanning season.

numax seems to be mentioned by 4x4 dealers for aux/leisure. i wonder what their main/starters are like?

[need4speed]

Odyssey all the way. Dont know who it was said Odyssey were bad but i suspect they dont know as much as they say they do....

[mmgemini]

If it was me I'd be talking to a Numax supplier for both batteries.

[Diesel_90]

I have a numax CXV24MF? Batteries on two separate systems on my 90 and I am very impressed with them. I have previously had optimas but they are now past there best. Time will tell if the numax will last as long or longer.

[pete3000]

2 numax cxv-x 1000's for me for the last 3-4 years. They are cheap and have a re/green/black eye on them so you can see when they need change or charge. they have normal round taper posts and m8 bolts for hard wiring.

I got mine from tayna. around £70 each which isn't bad with a 3 year warranty

I run them with national luna split charge, and two isolators to switch everything off except a solar charger to trickle them on the few nice days we have each year.

[Sunray-I40]

For the battery ignorant like me, what does the numax cxv x 1000 do that the cxv24mf doesn't or vice versa? are both batteries dual purpose (ie starter and leisure)? thanks

[Guest]

I have a three of numax batteries and they work perfectly well for both functions, they completely discharged when I was off ill but have charged back up with no issue, they also worked well in the cold in Norway.

Jason.

[western]

For the battery ignorant like me, what does the numax cxv x 1000 do that the cxv24mf doesn't or vice versa? are both batteries dual purpose (ie starter and leisure)? thanks

http://www.tayna.co.uk/Numax-CXV-X-1000-Amp-P7632.html

http://www.tayna.co.uk/Numax-CXV24MF-P3126.html

both are the same physical size & amp/hour rating but different CCA ratings.

[Aragorn]

I read something a while ago that said "leisure" batteries were essentially exactly the same thing as standard car (starter) batteries. Proper "deep-cycle" (aka traction) batteries are SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive, and almost never used in "leisure" applications due to cost. More typically used for things like electric forklifts and suchlike.

This article says basically the same thing:

http://www.sterling-power.com/support-faq-2.htm

If its true, it means that you dont need to waste extra money on special "leisure" batteries as a standard starter battery with the right ratings will do the job just as well.

[Sunray-I40]

I have a three of numax batteries and they work perfectly well for both functions, they completely discharged when I was off ill but have charged back up with no issue, they also worked well in the cold in Norway. Jason.

jason, which model(s)/variant(s) of numax do you have?

thanks for the loan of the rivnut tool -- i dropped it back with ally rivnuts.

[Sunray-I40]

I read something a while ago that said "leisure" batteries were essentially exactly the same thing as standard car (starter) batteries. Proper "deep-cycle" (aka traction) batteries are SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive, and almost never used in "leisure" applications due to cost. More typically used for things like electric forklifts and suchlike.

This article says basically the same thing:

http://www.sterling-power.com/support-faq-2.htm

If its true, it means that you dont need to waste extra money on special "leisure" batteries as a standard starter battery with the right ratings will do the job just as well.

now that is interesting!

[Sunray-I40]

http://www.tayna.co.uk/Numax-CXV-X-1000-Amp-P7632.html

http://www.tayna.co.uk/Numax-CXV24MF-P3126.html

both are the same physical size & amp/hour rating but different CCA ratings.

thanks Ralph

in practical terms what does capacity in AH and CCA mean - i know the definitions but what is the effect? the numax 24 says wet technology, what does that mean?

[western]

AH capacity & CCA

• Ampere-hours (A·h) is a measure of electrical charge that a battery can deliver.it is rated at a fixed discharge current of I/20, within 20 hrs until final discharge voltage of 10.5 V at 25°C is reached.
• Cold cranking amperes (CCA) is the amount of current a battery can provide at 0 °F (−18 °C).

more on the wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_battery

[Bowie69]

And MCA is at 0C:

COLD CRANKING AMPS (CCA)
The CCA rating represents in amps the current flow the battery can deliver for 30 seconds at 0o F. without dropping below 1.2 volts per cell (total of 7.2 volts for a 12-volt battery). The higher the number, the more amps it can deliver to crank an engine.

MARINE CRANKING AMPS (MCA)
Batteries designed for marine use may be rated at MCA instead of CCA. The MCA rating method measures battery output at 32o F., not 0o F. A battery's MCA rating will be one-third higher than its CCA rating would be.
To compare two batteries when one has an MCA rating and the other has a CCA rating. multiply the CCA rating by 1.3 for the equivalent MCA rating. Or, multiply the MCA rating by 0.77 for the equivalent CCA rating. Example:

500 CCA x 1.3 = 650 MCA
or
650 MCA x 0.77 = 500 CCA

[bpman]

i have 2 odyssey pc 1500's in my truck for 2 1/2 year with no problems, I run a ctec charger on them when the truck is stored.

i used the bluesea dual battery controller

mine worked fine in Norway and are rated to -55C, they have gell not water