What is a Leisure and Marine Battery?

Leisure and marine batteries are known as deep cycle types. This means they provide long-term energy delivery and are capable of a much greater number of deeper discharge cycles than automotive, or car, batteries.

Yuasa’s Active range features three types of battery technology. Conventional Flooded, Enhanced Flooded (EFB) and Absorbed Glass Matt (AGM).

AGM batteries can also be used without venting, unlike conventional and EFB types which should be fitted in a vented locker or with a vent pipe.
All Yuasa Active batteries are maintenance free so there is no need to check liquid levels or top up.

Seasonal Use

Some caravan and motorhome owners are under the misconception that a leisure battery is a fit and forget product, however, this is not the case. If a battery is not maintained when not in use for long time periods its condition will deteriorate and it may need replacing. In these cases, the battery has not failed because of any manufacturing or material defect but due to lack of care and maintenance when not in use for prolonged time periods.

Choosing the right battery

It might sound obvious, but always choose a battery of the correct specification and technology to meet your needs. Using the wrong battery will result in a short service life.

There are three factors to consider when choosing your battery:

Battery Size

A leisure battery’s size will be limited by the amount of room physically available in your caravan or motorhome’s locker and tray. Be sure to select a battery that will fit the space you have available.

Watt Hours

This is the amount of power the battery can supply when fully charged. You can calculate your requirements by working out the consumption of the accessories the battery will power, and how long you usually use them for.

An example of how this is calculated could be:

– TV rated at 80 Watts on for 5 hours takes 80 x 5 = 400-Watt hours

– 5 light bulbs rated at 20 Watts for 4 hours takes 4 x 20 x 4 = 320-Watt hours

– Water pump rated at 50 Watts for 1 hour takes 1 x 50 =50-Watt hours

Total = 770-Watt hours

It is then advisable to factor in a 20% safety margin as the figures used for the capacity calculation can go up or down.

Total battery requirement is therefore 924-Watt hours.

The required battery capacity will also be dramatically affected if using motor mover equipment which consume large amounts of power over a very short time.

Cyclic Life

The number of times the battery can be discharged to 50% then fully recharged. The higher the cyclic life, the more work the battery can do during its life in service.

Capacity

The amount of power the battery has to run your equipment. The higher the battery’s Ah rating, the longer it will operate your gear.