Buying New Leisure Batteries

mikebravo

mikebravo

Messages
55
Location
Glasgow
Vehicle
T5 SE 140
Hello All,

Both leisure batteries in my T5.1 Cali are dead and I'm looking to purchase replacements. Currently installed are two batteries; one in the wee cupboard on the left side of the boot and one under the front passenger seat. I can see that the one in the boot is a "Varta 7P0 915 105 A, 12v 75Ah 420A DIN, 800A EN/SAE/GS" but I haven't yet gained access to the one under the passenger seat to see what that is (...still need to unbolt the seat).

I'm looking for some help on the following in order to go ahead and purchase...
  1. Are both batteries in the van normally the same spec and dimensions?
  2. Is it acceptable to increase the capacity (Ah) when getting a replacement?
  3. Could someone sanity check for me: Are the following options all suitable replacements...
    1. https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/varta/a6/
    2. https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/bosch/s5a11/
    3. https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/enduroline/110agm/
Thanks! :)
 
www.tayna.co.uk

LA80 Varta Professional Dual Purpose AGM Leisure Battery 840 080 080

LA80 VARTA Professional Dual Purpose AGM Leisure Battery <i>Innovation with Purpose, Premium Experience, Powerful History</i> VARTA was founded in 1887 Germany, and was established fully in 1904 by delivering the first electric vehicle battery, famously driven by Thomas Edison. Soon after, VARTA...
www.tayna.co.uk www.tayna.co.uk

LA80 is the forum go to. Both the same front and back.

Guide :

k3yak.com

VW California leisure battery replacement

A few weeks ago we were away in the van the weather was warm over the course of a couple of mornings I noticed the fridge was off, I initially thought that I had somehow knocked it off while raisin…
k3yak.com
 
mikebravo said:
  1. Are both batteries in the van normally the same spec and dimensions?
Click to expand...
Yes.
mikebravo said:
  1. Is it acceptable to increase the capacity (Ah) when getting a replacement?
Click to expand...
Yes, but the physical dimensions will pretty much constrain you to something like LA80s.

A good brand name AGM, like Yuasa, will work fine too. The consensus on in house brands like Enduroline is that they are not worth it.
 
temporarysecretary said:
www.tayna.co.uk

LA80 Varta Professional Dual Purpose AGM Leisure Battery 840 080 080

LA80 VARTA Professional Dual Purpose AGM Leisure Battery <i>Innovation with Purpose, Premium Experience, Powerful History</i> VARTA was founded in 1887 Germany, and was established fully in 1904 by delivering the first electric vehicle battery, famously driven by Thomas Edison. Soon after, VARTA...
www.tayna.co.uk www.tayna.co.uk

LA80 is the forum go to. Both the same front and back.

Guide :

k3yak.com

VW California leisure battery replacement

A few weeks ago we were away in the van the weather was warm over the course of a couple of mornings I noticed the fridge was off, I initially thought that I had somehow knocked it off while raisin…
k3yak.com
Click to expand...

Help!

I’m right in the middle of replacing the batteries today but the k3yak guide doesn’t include a picture of the breather pipe for the front battery.

I found this lying loose. Is this it?
b81e09e96f976ccc827e6d5662d8248e.jpg



Thanks
 
My wife helped me fit the batteries and she thinks black from memory. If it is the breather it will already be fitted to the old battery, in which case just remove the little bung and stuff it in
 
Just realised I am sitting above the from battery! this is how it should look……
 
chockswahay said:
My wife helped me fit the batteries and she thinks black from memory. If it is the breather it will already be fitted to the old battery, in which case just remove the little bung and stuff it in
Click to expand...

Thanks for your help but, as you can see from my photo, it’s not fitted to anything . It was after I removed the battery from the compartment that I found this tube lying on the floor.

I could see that the old battery breather hole had a small L shaped connector tube still lodged in it. So, I suspect this rubber hose (in my hand) is the breather tube and it has just come loose when I was wrestling that stubborn rubber jacket off the battery.

The reason I was unsure is that the breather tube on the rear battery is a 6mm diameter corrugated plastic hose, which looks very different to this thicker foam rubber tubing.

I have just fitted it on to the little L shaped pipe and the job is now done. I trust that if I have made a drastic error here someone will jump in and let me know.

Thanks
 
Hello,

I am in the process of trying to replace my leisure batteries but I am struggling to find the Varta LA80 in stock , can anyone help me with finding a supplier with stock or an alternative make to replace the Varta but with similar quality and performance?

Thanks for your help.
 
I got them from Tayna. The interesting thing was that after I completed the purchase they emailed me right away to say they were out of stock and they suggested I take their own brand (Enduroline) equivalent. When I said no and that I would cancel the order, they came back to me and said that the Varta model had come back into stock. This all happened within the space of 24 hours. You can draw your own conclusion.
 
roadrunner 45 said:
similar quality and performance
Click to expand...
The criteria are:

Size 315x175x190
Chemistry: Pba (lead)
Construction: AGM
Ideally something specified for deep cycle or cyclic use.

In house brands seem to be a lottery. I'd avoid them.

Brands I've had decent experience with: Delco/Deltec, Yuasa, Trojan.

My experience is quite dated.
 
roadrunner 45 said:
Hello,

I am in the process of trying to replace my leisure batteries but I am struggling to find the Varta LA80 in stock , can anyone help me with finding a supplier with stock or an alternative make to replace the Varta but with similar quality and performance?

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
I just ordered a pair from here.

www.mlperformance.co.uk

Varta LA80 AGM Dual Purpose Leisure Battery 12V 95Ah 840080080

Get Varta LA80 Dual Purpose AGM Leisure Battery and other Varta for your car from ML Performance at the lowest price with FREE UK shipping & next day delivery on in stock items. Very cheap prices & good service.
www.mlperformance.co.uk www.mlperformance.co.uk
 
Leisure battery successfully changed today , using the guide mentioned previously and was very helpful.
 
roadrunner 45 said:
Leisure battery successfully changed today , using the guide mentioned previously and was very helpful.
Click to expand...

Changed my leisure batteries today thanks for the guide it made it much easier


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Hi, I’m thinking about doing this, I wouldn’t say the batteries are shot, but I wonder if they should be replaced, we bought the van used 3 years ago (it’s a 2011 no idea if or when the LBs have ever been replaced). I feel like the percentage drops to 50 or 40% after about 2 full days off grid (fridge working hard this weekend in the heat), lights minimal useage, usb charging of phones

@mikebravo when did you realise yours needed changing? How have they held up since changing?

Thanks
 
Gazbibelots1860 said:
Hi, I’m thinking about doing this, I wouldn’t say the batteries are shot, but I wonder if they should be replaced, we bought the van used 3 years ago (it’s a 2011 no idea if or when the LBs have ever been replaced). I feel like the percentage drops to 50 or 40% after about 2 full days off grid (fridge working hard this weekend in the heat), lights minimal useage, usb charging of phones

@mikebravo when did you realise yours needed changing? How have they held up since changing?

Thanks
Click to expand...

[mention]Gazbibelots1860 [/mention] Mine were completely depleted when I replaced; at that point the fridge wouldn’t even stay on for half an hour, not even after a full charge on mains. Having seen how they perform now (which is still excellent) I realise the old ones were probably running below par for about a year or two before they went totally flat. I should have changed earlier… but it’s difficult to quantify what optimum should be look like, especially if you are a relatively inexperienced owner (as I was) and you don’t ever spend more than 3 consecutive days off grid when touring (as I didn’t). Maybe others on this thread can give an indication of what optimum performance should look like for longer off grid periods.
 
I’ve been following a few threads on Leisure battery replacement as ours are coming up to 9 years old.

This might also be useful to check out -

vwcaliforniaclub.com

ADVANCED AGM LP100 LEISURE BATTERY 100AH 12V

I am just about to purchase two new 100 ah leisure batteries. They are to replace the original 85 ah batteries supplied with the 2017 cali. Just occurred to me that as I will be upgrading by 15ah (85 to 100ah) I might need to upgrade fuses ie the one on the battery terminal, is this correct...
vwcaliforniaclub.com vwcaliforniaclub.com
 
Thanks I’m trying to read up all these posts and understand it better. I should probably check what we have installed already.

We just came back from 2 nights away but the drive home was only 30 mins. The display says 11.9 volts and flicks between 30% and 40%. Going on the colour coded table I’ve seen on here this seems at the bottom of the ‘good’ rating of battery health. But I’ve got the van hooked up at home now and I imagine it’ll go back up to 90 or 100%.
 
Just an update here. This van has been plugged in (nothing switched on inside) at home for around 9 hours, it’s gone up from around 11.9V (40%) to 12.4V (80%). Does this tell me anything about the battery health?

Also the batteries are both black VARTA AGM batteries. Anyone know whether I can discern whether these will be the original factory fitted ones or replacements? Van is 2011
 
Gazbibelots1860 said:
Just an update here. This van has been plugged in (nothing switched on inside) at home for around 9 hours, it’s gone up from around 11.9V (40%) to 12.4V (80%). Does this tell me anything about the battery health?

Also the batteries are both black VARTA AGM batteries. Anyone know whether I can discern whether these will be the original factory fitted ones or replacements? Van is 2011
Click to expand...
To find the manufacture date on a Varta battery, you'll need to locate a 9-digit code, typically found on the upper right side of the battery cover. The 4th and 5th digits of this code represent the year and week of manufacture, respectively. If there are two lines of engraving, the second line's first 5 digits reveal the manufacturing date, with the first two representing the year, the next two the week, and the fifth digit the day of the week, according to akbset.com.

Here's a more detailed breakdown:

  • Locate the code:
    Find the 9-digit code on the battery cover.
  • Identify the manufacturing date:
    The 4th and 5th digits of the 9-digit code represent the year and week of manufacture.
  • Alternative code:
    If there are two lines of engraving, the first 5 digits of the second line indicate the year, week, and day.
    • Example:
      If the code is 202337X, the battery was manufactured in the 37th week of 2023,
 
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