Varta LA80 or cheaper equivalent

[steve_b]

Hi all. Is there any combined wisdom on alternatives to the LA80 leisure battery? I need a pair of them and that's £340 from tayna.

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

A random search on 75Ah AGM batteries has brought me here, same dimensions (well, shorter but I can't see that being a problem) , 75Ah so same as the original Vartas fitted

12V 75AH Expedition Plus AGM Leisure Battery - Alpha Batteries

Made in Europe and Exclusive to Alpha Batteries Designed for a wide range of purposes, for long-term discharge applications and […]

www.alpha-batteries.co.uk

A saving of £140 for a pair is not to be turned down - or is it a false economy!

Thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks

Steve

 

[WelshGas]

Hi all. Is there any combined wisdom on alternatives to the LA80 leisure battery? I need a pair of them and that's £340 from tayna.

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

A random search on 75Ah AGM batteries has brought me here, same dimensions (well, shorter but I can't see that being a problem) , 75Ah so same as the original Vartas fitted

12V 75AH Expedition Plus AGM Leisure Battery - Alpha Batteries

Made in Europe and Exclusive to Alpha Batteries Designed for a wide range of purposes, for long-term discharge applications and […]

www.alpha-batteries.co.uk

A saving of £140 for a pair is not to be turned down - or is it a false economy!

Thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks

Steve

The Varta have a 4 yr Warranty against 3 yrs for the Xplorer.
Also the Varta spec shows 400 Discharge cycles against 350 for the Xplorer
Both will fit.

 

[2into1]

I got a pair of Varta with 10 or 15‰ off voucher on ebay from Tanya.... It was an ebay only deal and was a proper saving. I tried to see if Tanya could beat it going direct, but they wanted £40 more!
Worth checking ebay for those voucher codes as it may well close the gap to allow you to justify the vartas.

 

[steve_b]

good spot re ebay - how bizarre, must cost them more in fees to use ebay yet sell them for less..?

Pardon our interruption...

so that's £290 vs £200 now for varta vs alternative Does anyone have real experience of the alternatives or should I go for the reassuringly more expensive option?

 

[2into1]

good spot re ebay - how bizarre, must cost them more in fees to use ebay yet sell them for less..?

Pardon our interruption...

so that's £290 vs £200 now for varta vs alternative Does anyone have real experience of the alternatives or should I go for the reassuringly more expensive option?

Great news. It doesn't make any sense at all does it?
For £90, I'd go varta for resale value. I had an Explorer battery in my T4 Exclusive and it seemed fine, but Cali buyers like to see them properly maintained (kept as standard).

 

[steve_b]

Just ordered 2 x LA80 from the tayna ebay site - £289 inc delivery. A nice 50 quid saved by 2into1
Thanks

 

[WelshGas]

Just ordered 2 x LA80 from the tayna ebay site - £289 inc delivery. A nice 50 quid saved by 2into1
Thanks

Just a couple of tips.
Tie some rope/strap around the rear leisure battery when you fit it. Makes it so much easier to get it out in future if needed.
When fitting the front battery, undo the 4 bolts holding the seat to the swivel frame and lean it forward against the Dashboard. If you unplug the connectors for the heated seats, if fitted, and the airbag Do Not switch on the ignition until they are plugged back in otherwise you get a Latched Airbag alarm that will need a visit to the Dealership to reset it, unless you have an OBD dongle such as Carista and the Carista software Or VCDS.

 

[steve_b]

Thanks. I have taken the rear one out already and bagged the +ve lead to prevent it shorting and ordered a 10mm spline drive bit which I am hoping is good for the bolts on the front.

At the front, the heated seats don't work, however there is an unconnected lead with a black plug on swinging from the seat. I hope to find where it plugs into as part of this adventure. Do you happen to know if the lead from the seat plugs into a socket on another lead, or does it go into a panel or something static?

 

[WelshGas]

Thanks. I have taken the rear one out already and bagged the +ve lead to prevent it shorting and ordered a 10mm spline drive bit which I am hoping is good for the bolts on the front.

At the front, the heated seats don't work, however there is an unconnected lead with a black plug on swinging from the seat. I hope to find where it plugs into as part of this adventure. Do you happen to know if the lead from the seat plugs into a socket on another lead, or does it go into a panel or something static?

This might help

--><!--

Electrics Seat and backrest heater element for 2008 Volkswagen Campmob. (Typ2/Transp./LT) Europe market

www.oemepc.com

 

[steve_b]

Update - both Varta LA80's installed along with new ceramic fuse. They're now on charge through the new EHU port that was also installed, but I can notice the difference already - for example the erbspatcher heater starts up when I ask it to, whereas it never used to

Thanks all

 

[TripleBee]

Did you find the plug for the seat heater? If so, does it work again?

 

[steve_b]

Did you find the plug for the seat heater? If so, does it work again?

sadly, no - I couldn't find where it plugged into and on closer inspection the wires themselves had been caught in something and partially cut so the copper cores exposed in one part. All in all, I decided that I was better off without heated seats

 

[TripleBee]

sadly, no - I couldn't find where it plugged into and on closer inspection the wires themselves had been caught in something and partially cut so the copper cores exposed in one part. All in all, I decided that I was better off without heated seats

I can surely tell you it can come in handy on a very cold and moisty morning...

 

[Robin Brooke]

Hi all,

Can I ask for your experiences, after how many years did you replace your leisure batteries?

Mine is a 2015 with originals, we use it daily, wondering when I should plan to change.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

 

[TripleBee]

Hi all,

Can I ask for your experiences, after how many years did you replace your leisure batteries?

Mine is a 2015 with originals, we use it daily, wondering when I should plan to change.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

Mine is a 2010 (november 2009) and also with the 3 original batteries in place.
My starter battery is tending to give up for the last 2 years, but after a couple of charges, it still copes.
The warmer weather helps for sure.

 

[2into1]

I've just swapped out the original leisure batteries in a 2006! They were still operating everything but didn't fancy much over a days use of the heater and fridge. Depends on how yours have been treated but should easily do 5 years as a min.

 

[356DNA]

Update to this old thread. I bought 2 of the cheaper explorer 75aH batteries as described above as the Varta was out of stock. Fitted 2020 and they worked for about 18th months before performance fell away. I fitted a solar charger so didn’t really mind but I have just replaced them with the Varta batteries today. False economy. They are both toast and in a worse condition than the originals that were 12 years old when I swapped them out.