On 10 May 2009, at 18:53, Allan Cazaly wrote: > Hi Beeky! > > I can highly recommend Bristol Bateries as being the cheapest and > most efficient company for lead acid batteries. > I bought my original ones from them (6 in number) and replaced them > not too long ago. I think I paid £49.00 each recently,(Including the > top discount for quantity), plus VAT and there was a nominal > carriage price of £16.00, being delivered by carrier on a pallet > anywhere in the uk.
>> What constitutes best quality though and how does one track down a >> source ? Plate thickness and shape, electrolyte capacity . . . what >> makes a unit "good" ? Thx for the info Allan, so these are around £60 gross with VAT & delivery. The Limekiln ones £68. The alleged "500 cycle" Prince of Darkness ones from Alpha Batteries £87. So £240 to £350 for 4, which is best value ? Is it really worth spending an extra £100 ? NOTE - UM has spent most of it's life plugged in to the mains, which may explain the relatively long battery life. On the other hand we have the dissolving steel to concern ourselves with one day in the future. The batteries went through their worst period about 15 months back when the boat was being painted and off the mooring - so no mains connection for about a month. Their performance was a bit naffish after that but another year plugged in seemed to refresh them until the one of them recently developed the thirst for distilled water. The only instrumentation we have is a volemeter backed up by a winking red light on the fridge to tell us that we have an insufficiency of small rodents. Beeky
