Topic: Battery questions

[Jeffers]

Hi again, picking my C5 up tomorrow after the seller from ebay not being in for most of this week *sigh*

Bit looking forward to it all the same. 

My question is this, i have 2 24 ah batteries but theyre non deep discharge will thse be ok?

cheers guys

[fezza_rs]

tbh ive been runing car batteries all be it big car batteries (100ah) and its been ok but now ive been using my c5 to get to work on a daily basis they have started to die quite rapidly. If your going to use it for the odd day out now and again for a blast round the block then fine but if you want to use it more regular then a leisure battery is the way to go as they can be deep cycled, a 75ah leisure battery will give you huge range and will last a fair amount of time longer than a car battery.

[Karl]

There are a couple of threads ;

http://c5alive.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=39.0

http://c5alive.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=95.0

..but basically the battery option is determined by the wiring you choose to use.

Sticking with the keyswitch set-up is quite restrictive.

Using a power wiring kit opens up your choice to car batteries and leisure batteries. I've used both and found car batteries to be a very cheap and effective way of powering a C5  . The leisure batteries tend to give a greater range but do weigh more, so personal preference also comes into the equation.

In short ,any 12v car battery will do if you can connect it up. There are some "disclaimers" to this statement, covered in the threads above 

[Elmo]

Why not try a Leisure battery? they have a 15 mile range and only cost about £80!!

Mum uses one for her c5 and it has lasted ages!! i'd recommend it 

[Karl]

I've used "pre-owned" type 063 car batteries ,made by "Drivemaster" , on my 24v C5 for the past year and they are still going strong. These are "cheap and cheerful", not an especially expensive make, and have provided good performance so far. They have been used on every meeting since Voodoo was up and running May last year. Thats a lot of miles in wind,rain,sunshine ,hot and cold weather and up/down some big hills. I'm very happy with them.

So ,based on real world experience, I am perfectly comfortable recommending car batteries and feel they offer good value for money.   

I fail to see how health and safety concerns come into it 

     

[fezza_rs]

I've used "pre-owned" type 063 car batteries ,made by "Drivemaster" , on my 24v C5 for the past year and they are still going strong. These are "cheap and cheerful", not an especially expensive make, and have provided good performance so far. They have been used on every meeting since Voodoo was up and running May last year. Thats a lot of miles in wind,rain,sunshine ,hot and cold weather and up/down some big hills. I'm very happy with them.

So ,based on real world experience, I am perfectly comfortable recommending car batteries and feel they offer good value for money.   

I fail to see how health and safety concerns come into it 

     

Drivemaster batterys are cheap ill give you that! (£29+vat) I work for Andrew Page car parts and they are our own brand batterys and tbh I think they are crap but i use my c5 nearly everyday. You have seen the massive 100ah volvo baterys i use on agro and they have about had it, I can tell every time i use one that its range goes down significantly from the last time i used it and they are £140 batterys. As from a H&S point of view car batterys have a real nice habbit of spitting acid at you when they are moved/charged/used if I had a pound for every battery related entry in our accident book id be buying a very nice new c5! Sealed batterys such as leisure batterys are so much safer and better to use in the c5

[Karl]

Lead gel batteries would also be a preferred choice, Lithium power packs even better ? It all depends on how much you want to pay.

But at the end of the day, if you only use your C5 occassionally then on a purely financial basis you simply can't beat a cheap and cheerful car battery.The drivemaster ones I 've used have certainly outperformed the Numax leisure batteries by quite a margin. And they weigh a lot less aswell.

As for health and safety, not all leisure batteries are sealed & the only danger arises when you dont treat them with respect.  We used 64 car batteries on the London-Brighton run.

Number of acid injuries ......nil .

[spudit2003]

Lead gel batteries would also be a preferred choice...

AGM (absorbed glass matt) are similar, theyre safe, can survive the cold, dont lose their charge very much atall and can be used for deep discharge without doing any damage, they can also be charged with most chargers (except mine, which has mysteriously broken) including standard car chargers, and very quickly if you by a powerful one. standard lead gel batteries take ages to charge and need an intelligent charger.

[Karl]

Having just completed the recent 12mile Norfolk run, in the cold and on wet roads (both factors that reduce battery range), I'm still impressed with my cheapie "Drivemaster" batteries  I've used them on my 24v "Voodoo" for every run since last summer.And they were "left overs" from the London-Brighton run last May.

Although better alternatives do exist, if you are on a tight budget and dont use your C5 everyday, I reckon this is proof enough that cheap'n'cheerful car batteries can do the job. It would seem claims that car batteries die very quickly are less than accurate 

As a comparison, Angie was running her usual 70ah leisure battery and that expired just as we finished the run.     

[Retro Andy]

I know my spelling is not the best, but Karl i think you mean proof not poof, anyway it made me chuckle.

Retro Andy.

[TOM-1]

hey karl how did you get on this weekend did you have that meeting with that guy about the mobility batteries and what type of batterie are you running on

[Karl]

I know my spelling is not the best, but Karl i think you mean proof not poof, anyway it made me chuckle.

Retro Andy.

 
...now corrected , should have used the spellchecker I know - but sometimes life is just funnier without it 

[Karl]

hey Karl how did you get on this weekend did you have that meeting with that guy about the mobility batteries and what type of batterie are you running on

Hi Tom - the guy was Derek from the BVS, check out his electric bike on this thread   http://c5alive.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=285.0

He uses  Sonnenschein maintenance-free A500 batteries  http://www.barden-uk.com/golf-cart-batteries.html  (plus other links if you google etc)

I'm told these last really well, with no loss of performance after 5years - and the performance of his homemade bike was amazing. However, he only has a 7mile range, and the batteries are very expensive.

Martin and I tend to keep coming back to Halfords car batteries, not the cheapest but you can get a decent battery for reasonable money - plus a useful guarantee.

But as always it all depends on everyones individual circumstances - budget, useful contacts in the trade, how often you intend to use your c5  etc etc.

It may be that buying a couple of cheap batteries over a few years is actually more cost effective than buying one really expensive one that lasts the same amount of time.

For me personally, I'm leaning towards the cheaper batteries 'coz they suit my particular needs at this time.