Halfords Leisure Battery ??

[beyond the blue]

A couple of days ago I bought an Halfords leisure battery. It came with no user instructions other than what is on the stickers you see in the pics. I assumed it would be a "sealed battery" only because I've not seen an unsealed one for many years, however indentations in the stickers show top up ports and right enough when I remove the stickers I found removable caps. One end of the battery has a small tube and the other has a red plug. The question is, do I need to remove the top up ports when charging the battery (like you needed to do in the old days) or is the tube some sort of vent? I thought I would ask the question on here as I assume there will be more intelligence on here than any Halfords store I have searched the web and found nothing.

 

[beyond the blue]

Sorry about all those pictures, I do't know what went wrong there.

 

[Alastair]

One of the end tubes is the battery vent.

 

[andyred]

I would presume that as there is a sticker over the top black plug, then this doesn't't need to be removed - logic thinking if you did need to remove / slacken, then why put it under a sticker ?

Think the red end one is a vent as Alastair says...

 

[beyond the blue]

I would presume that as there is a sticker over the top black plug, then this doesn't't need to be removed - logic thinking if you did need to remove / slacken, then why put it under a sticker ?

I tend to agree, especially when there is a clear part of the sticker over the charged level indicator. Ok, if I leave the top up ports closed when charging will it be safe? Also if the tube is a vent could acid technically leak out if tipped up?

 

[andyred]

I tend to agree, especially when there is a clear part of the sticker over the charged level indicator. Ok, if I leave the top up ports closed when charging will it be safe? Also if the tube is a vent could acid technically leak out if tipped up?

I would have presumed it would be safe - again, my logic is if not, why cover it up ?

With regards to the leak - pass, I think this is a question for Halfords ...

 

[the black fox]

It really depends what your normal needs for a leisure battery are ,if like myself you just go to sites with electric hook up and don't have a motor mover fitted ,then just a small normal car battery will suffice .as the battery only works as a voltage convertor storer/distributor .
If a motor mover is fitted or you go to non electric sites then a leisure one is needed or if you own a motor home used again off site .
Saying that I recently bought a used leisure battery while picking up a spare part from a caravan breakers £15 can't be a bad price either

 

[AJQS]

You din't need to remove the caps, it's vented, but it would still need the levels checking every now and then especially if you use it hard. The indicator is only on one cell.

 

[beyond the blue]

It really depends what your normal needs for a leisure battery are ,if like myself you just go to sites with electric hook up and don't have a motor mover fitted ,then just a small normal car battery will suffice .as the battery only works as a voltage convertor storer/distributor .
If a motor mover is fitted or you go to non electric sites then a leisure one is needed or if you own a motor home used again off site .
Saying that I recently bought a used leisure battery while picking up a spare part from a caravan breakers £15 can't be a bad price either

It is for powering an electric outboard motor. I called in to Halfords today to ask about the charging method and unsurprisingly they didn't know, One guy said it was a "sealed" battery, another one said it was "unsealed" but they both agreed that I should send an e-mail to Halfords.

 

[the black fox]

It is for powering an electric outboard motor. I called in to Halfords today to ask about the charging method and unsurprisingly they didn't know, One guy said it was a "sealed" battery, another one said it was "unsealed" but they both agreed that I should send an e-mail to Halfords.

ah in that case both aldi (online ) and shops and lidl both do a battery charger that will suffice around the £!5 area the caravan fraternity swear by them think they were in a couple of weeks ago with the easter week camping specials ,might be some still around . or just a fast charge car battery charger.
might also be worth investing in a solar panel camping top up charger .
certainly nothing complicated about it its just a slow discharge car battery ,just not designed to take the stresses of stop starting a car ,a battery out of a volvo diesel would have done the same job from a local scrap yard .

the only complicated thing about them is never leave it uncharged as it will slowly discharge i.e especially in winter and never ever let it fall below 11volts as it then becomes a expensive anchor ,you should be able to jury rig a voltmeter to it if your handy .also i advise using that solar panel to top up while in use in the boat/dinghy/canoe