tudor batteries

[cloud9]

We have a bank of three tudor TG 1102 batteries , i can't establish if they are maintenance free , any members got the same batteries? thks

[johnnyboy]

i have tudors on my 2010 42 ds. there is no model number on them. the jeanneau manual states that they are 110 ah rated, sealed lead acid.

they do have caps on the top that will come off. i just opened them to check the water levels. i am in my second season and i am having problems with them losing power after one night of anchoring out.

i just hired somone to test the cells.

[cloud9]

similar experience , anyone same position?

[spiderbill]

Johnnyboy,
When you checked the water were the levels low? I have the same batteries and can't seem to find information about checking fluid levels.

[MartyB]

generally speaking, 110ahr battery sounds like a size 31 12v to me.

2-3 years out of a 12v is not uncommon depending upon how they were charged, taken care of etc. Reality is tho, Lead batteries are a pretty good bang for the buck spent. If you can fit 6V bat's in the place of the 12V ones, you will get way longer life, over double, many times triple, and a bit more AHr to the size.

Marty

[johnnyboy]

spiderbill;
the levels were not low. after you pull off the plates and look down the cell holes with a flashlight, there is a black plastic finger on one side of each cell hole. the water should be at the tip of that finger. i added a small amount of distilled water to a few cells, but none of the plates were installed.

martyb; these batteries have gone through one season. i keep the charger on and plugged in with shore power during the week when we are not there as we have the refrigerator on. i have heard of other ds42's with the same battery, same age as mine have had problems.

after one night on the hook recenlty with mimimal battery usage, the voltage dropped to 11.9 the next am.

i think they are getting depleted between getting shipped from France to the USA and then sitting at the dealers lot.

you said 6volt batteries are good. do they come in lead or agm type? not sure if we'd have room. the compartments are made for those size 31's. from what i've heard, agm's are better.

[MartyB]

6v lead batteries have upwards of 1000 cycles to them, 12V lead, AGM and gel from what I can tell only get up to about 350-400 cycles before frying out. Then starting batteries may get 5 or 6 if you are lucky! With out looking it up, I believe amg and gel also come in some 6V sizes, but lead is way more common for sizing.

As far as which style is better, ie lead vs agm vs gel.............AGM can have more AHr to a degree more in a given size. They can take a higher charge rate.........BUT, if you do not have an upgraded alternater, you will fry one of them trying to charge the batteries this way. If you have shore power charging, that charger needs to be able to charge lead, agm or gel which needs and wants the least amount of charge going into it. AGM you can charge at 40% or there abouts of the ahr, where as lead would be say 20, gel 15%. Do not remember the latter two charge rate % frankly.

6v vs 12V lead, the 6V have heavier/bigger plates, so they handle the discharge etc better. bad part, is they can only be stood upright. AGM or gel can be just about any angle but upside down, even one IIRC gel can be stored that way if you really need to. 6V will be up to about an inch taller, so that is the issue with them vs 12V in some area's.

If you have agm for the house, you need agm for the start battery too. Along with these being 30-40% more cost than lead equals. 6V will also be a bit more than 12V versions.

That is a basic rundown. I went recently from a 24 to a 31 in my boat. had to do some mods to the battery box, but at the end of the day, an additional 30 ahr will be be good. I stuck with the lead, vs agm due to the alternator issue frankly. My little 50amp alternator would not like a larger input battery for very long. I would also have had to replace the starting battery too, that whole options would have been in the $500-700 range vs $200 for a 31 house and a new 24 start battery when the time comes. How I use it, not sure the additional cost would be worth it. Even if I had a 200-400ahr house bank......a lot more.

Marty

[MartyB]

Johnny,

While at my nearest West marine today, noticed they had some 6V AGM batts upwards of 280 AHr ea.! HEAVY SOB's, but they had the power part. They were a bit tall to potentially fit in the place of a size 31 12V, but maybe on there side or equal. Or a different size than what I saw.......

Would imagine that gels also have a few sizes available too!

Marty

[johnnyboy]

Here are some posts from another blog site about the tudor batteries....

www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=318879

[MartyB]

hmmmmm,

using a starting style battery as a house battery?!?!?! hmmmmmm......sounds like what GM did in a pickup I bought back in 88, gave me a starting battery where a potential deepcycle for campers, RV's etc went! needless to say, once I bought an RV trailer, started pulling amps out of that battery, it was toast! really fast really quick!

Sounds like it is time for those of you with these batteries to upgrade to a true deepcycle style. I do not even like the multi use deep/starting ones frankly! My 02 for what that is worth!

marty

[johnnyboy]

i'm going to have a xantrex or link pro battery moniter installed so i can see exactly whats going on. hopefully i can get a few years out of these batteries, then upgrade to agm's.

[Mistroma]

I had the same batteries on my 2009 Jeanneau 42DS. I'm usually pretty good with flooded batteries and ones on previous boat lasted between 8-11 years. However, power usage on 42DS is much higher so I was only expecting 5 years.

I checked remaining capacity after 3 full seasons and found 65%, 79%, 60% of 110Ah. Batteries held this charge well but capacity was too low for my planned extended cruise.

I'd agree that these are more like lorry start batteries and not fit for deep cycling.

I fitted 4x Trojan T-105s and am happy with these (450Ah & ~£125 each). I'm hopeful that they will last a reasonable time. Lorry batteries weren't much cheaper so nothing much to lose.

Only problem was that battery box was 2mm too narrow and not deep enough (2mm again). I re-built the box to give another 25mm width and 50mm depth (allowed me to fit forced ventilation).

The mod. is a pain to carry out but isn't actually very difficult. Only one side needs to be moved but that still entails lifting the end of the water tank up. The base needs to be cut in 2 before it can be removed and replaed.

Plenty of room underneath to get extra height.

[deandavis1]

Personally I think the Tudor batteries Jeanneau are using are the wrong batteries.

1. They are wet cells that need venting and mounted in a non vented area.

2. They are not deep cycle and they use (or in 2010) the same type of battery for house and starter.

[Mistroma]

Agreed, I'm pretty certain that they are just "lorry type" batteries. I was also surprised that Jeanneau didn't vent the compartment.

I built ventilation into the modified battery box. Really must document that to help anyone else planning a similar upgrade.

The Trojan T105s have been great so far. Only down side is that I need to motor for 2.5 hours to get back from 50% to 80%. I must get around to installing the larger alternator I'm carrying as a spare.

[nornaj]

Hi, All
My SO39i came with
1 x Exide Nautilus Gold

[nornaj]

Let try that again....

My SO39i came standard with:
1 Exide Nautilus Gold deep-cycle NG-31 115 Ah as the starter
3 ditto in the house bank

The dealer added to the house 2 x Tudor TG1102 110Ah

All are flooded cell and require level maintenance.

As far as I can ascertain, the Tudors are an Exide product, they are deep-cycle but probably downmarket.

Experience so far (2 years) is OK, but they have probably only about 100 cycles to date. I am more concerned about limited bulk charging, but suspect this is a regulator issue and potentially adjustable (and working on it).

regards
NornaJ

[nornaj]

Let's try this again....

Hi All

My SO39i came standard with
1 Exide NG31 115Ah starter, and
3 ditto in the house bank.
The dealer added 2 x Tudor TG1102s (110Ah) to the house.

All are deep-cycle flooded and require regular top-up (about twice a year). As far as I can ascertain, the Tudors are manufactured by Exide and are downmarket.

Experience to date is OK, but then the house have only done about 100 cycles.

At the moment I am more concerned about bulk charging, but I think that is probably a regulator issue (and working on it).

regards
NornaJ

[nornaj]

One day I'll get the hang of this site.........

[johnnyboy]

my tudor batteries just went bad after 1 1/2 seasons. i have been having problems for months now with the batteries running low just after one night at anchor. the fridge would shut down because the amps got so low. the batteries finally gave out. needless to say, i am disappointed. less than 2 years on a new boat is not right. Jeanneau are well built boats, but they use some cheap components.

i plan on switching to agm's

[Steve]

Me too. Seraph had 4 Tudors, yes they are wet cells and the electrolyte checking is a PITA due to the battery wiring. 2 failed with the 2 year warranty. Took photos of old and new and purchase receipt and stonewalled by Jeanneau on my claim even though a Jeanneau agent confirmed they had died.

Starter motor one failed in year 3, it sulphated with loads of fumes and acrid smell so decided to also replace the one that was still left for piece of mind.

[Xlnt]

In my 42 DS I discovered one of the batteries had a dead cell. Replaced that battery and life became alot better :-)
Also noticed that the battery meter at the nav station was almost 0.3Volt off, and the alarms keept going off way to early. Had it fixed and life became even better :-)
Found out that the my mosfet battery splitter didn't do it's job. Replaced it and life is perfekt :-)

Buy a refractometer and check each cell


-Xlnt