Ec155 / Leisure Battery

[KR.]

I bought my van with a Platinum Leisure Plus 100AH battery fitted and recently bought a new battery to replace it as it's on its way out, losing charge very rapidly and probably not helped by my lack of proper recharging over the last 18 months. I've bought an Exide Et650 which is a Class A battery so appeared to be a suitable replacement. On coming to swap them out today I find that it looks like the Exide needs venting (which the Platinum wasn't), so do I need to attach a pipe/hose to the outlet and vent it outside somehow? Would a sealed unit that didn't require venting be better?

Also am I right in thinking that any leisure battery won't really charge up to 100% capacity through the alternator while driving (guilty) and the EC155 isn't capable either via hookup, therefore the only way to do it is via hookup but using the 220v sockets inside the van to power a separate battery charger unit? Due to the battery being under the seat the only way that would be possible at the moment would be to remove the seat to access the terminals, is there something I could get put in place that I could easily connect the battery charger to?

 

[travelvolts]

It will largely depend on whether or not your converter fitted a DC-DC charger when he installed the Sargent. As your battery has died I guess he probably didn't. Best thing you can do is get one fitted and at the same time fit a decent mains charger. You could have this as a permanent fixture mounted near to the Sargent. You can then hard wire it into one of the breakers in the Sargent and pick up the wiring from the battery there also. Once you have done this I recommend removing the fuse for the Sargent "charger" (not really a charger at all, more of a power supply really).
On the subject of venting for this particular type of battery you should fit vent tubes and run them to the outside of the van. This is a semi traction type battery and has no internal condenser. It will also require topping up with distilled water from time to time. If this not likely to be practical I would swap it now before you get it in place. A neglected battery of this type will also die very quickly. An AGM battery would better in this case.

 

[KR.]

Many thanks for the reply. You've really hit the nail on the head with the maintenance aspect, it isn't practical to remove the seat to check and top up with water, so this battery isn't suitable and I prefer maintenance free anyway. I've been put off AGM due to reading about charging problems, I assume the DC-DC addition you mention gets round that issue and I'll get 100% charging? If so that is the way I'll need to go I think. So cost wise I'm looking at DC-DC charger, AGM battery and installation. Are there any DC-DC chargers you recommend?
Quick question, when I had the seat off earlier to look at the battery I removed the negative on the battery (hinged plastic cover), I thought that's nice and easy and put it back on again as I did so the initial contact caused my Propex heater to give a burst of activity (1/2 second or so, no ignition). I checked again and it did it again. Everything on the 12v including the heater is switched off, this baffled me - any ideas?

 

[travelvolts]

Don't worry about the Propex, that is perfectly normal behaviour. Yes, a DC-DC charger will be able to charge an AGM battery fully.
My personal choice would be Xtreme 110 AGM battery, Ablemail ABMC 1230 DC- DC Charger and a Victron IP65 12/10 BlueSmart mains charger.
You can find more details on these parts on our website.

 

[KR.]

Thanks Martyn, charger ordered.