Leisure Batteries

[mtbandy]

Hi all,

In the search for a battery to compliment my small solar system (50w panel and charge controller) I have come across a lot of relatively cheap sealed lead acid 'leisure batteries' on eBay. They are either 85 or 110Ah. I was just wondering if these would be suitable for daily use on a solar system if I looked after them properly? (no more than 20% discharge).

Due to the low cost I will probably buy one anyway to get myself up and running, but I suppose I was just wondering how long one of these is going to last with a daily discharge to 75-80% and recharge to 100% the next morning.

Thanks

[AbyssUnderground]

I think you would be better off with a proper deep cycle SLA battery rather than a marine battery. Something like this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/YUASA-SWL2500FR-12vRechargableBattery-90Ah-UPS-5-Avbl_W0QQitemZ330135275912QQi
hZ014QQcategoryZ40975QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem which is what I have would probably yield a better life than a marine battery.

[mtbandy]

what a find! thanks for the link. I've asked the seller what the date code is or how long they've sat for, if they turn out to be alright I'll probably drive up later in the week grab a couple.

[AbyssUnderground]

:-) The cost is quite low which suggests they may not be new-new but you never know, they might be OK.

[mtbandy]

Damn! I bought 3 of those batteries, then minutes before setting off to collect them I got a message from the seller saying they had been stolen from his garage during the week waiting to be refunded now. Luckily I used PayPal.

I guess I'm back to square 1 now, in search of a decent battery!