AC Delco Voyager Batteries

AC Delco Voyager Batteries

It is a sort of lucky dip with A'van as to which battery you end up with! First up when you order you either get the "big" or "small" battery! We suggest you always opt for the "big" battery and further insist that you get an AC Delco as some A'vans do not have maintenance free batteries fitted, which means they will fail in about 18 months if you do not top up with distilled water every couple of months. This is not an easy task especially for those with a 3C. Many owners have written in having a bit of a moan about this and the club newsletter has mentioned in many times. By far the best and fitted to many A'vans is the Voyager deep cycle marine battery by AC Delco in the USA. We absolutely swear by ours and it has given fantastic service and we are very heavy users. Putting it another way, any replacement will be the same! It is a spunky looking battery with a couple of good sized carry handles. It is a maintenance free job meaning that it is sealed for life, but for safety there are a couple of pressure vents at the top. For this reason it MUST be used only in the vented enclosure provided by A'van. It has a built in hydrometer on the top, but there is no way on earth that you can look at this in an A'van unless you have a 2002 model with the easily removable box top!

We like the excellent terminals - ordinary pole type as well as stainless steel wing nuts. This means that in an emergency you could use this battery to start your vehicle. Be aware that you CANNOT do this with most deep cycle batteries. Being designed for marine use means that it is well equipped to cope with bumpy dirt roads as the plates seem to be positively anchored. For all those interested it has an output of 625 cold cranking amps. Most deep cycle batteries are totally unsuitable for engine starting as generally they only have four plates. The Voyager is designed for both uses - a handy thing to remember. The AC Delco site is a bit of a nightmare to navigate, but most of the useful info is on this page. We have put this article up for all those needing to buy a new battery as we do get quite a few emails on this subject. Without a doubt this is the way to go. The M30HMF ($240.00) is a minimum 115 amp/hour and the M27MF ($196.00) is 105 amp/hour. Both batteries will fit in the A'van vented enclosure. You can buy them from any branch of Battery World - 13 1760 - connects you to your nearest branch anywhere in Australia. Email is service@batteryworld.com.au. They are also on the net, but it is one of those waste of space websites with no useful information! The prices can vary from branch to branch. Those quoted are for Brisbane and they are pretty "keen".

Bob Eustace

NOTE: You can markedly extend battery life by NEVER fully discharging and by stopping using as soon as the voltage indicates 12 volts (equates to 50% discharge). Heavy users should invest in a better solar regulator than the A'van one. Plasmatronics PL20 is FANTASTIC and even tells you what you have put into and taken out of the battery in the last 24 hours. ($300 - $400). We have also used the Kyocera FM16 - ($215.00). This gives a lot of info EXCEPT nothing on consumption but by pressing a button it will tell you how many amps are going in at that point in time. It really does fully charge your battery as it is a smart regulator. Both of these units are easy to source from any solar specialist - we used Battery World and Solar Xpress. The price of the PL20 fluctuates all over the place, so best to be careful! At the bottom of this page is a story of woe!

The following email was received from Battery World. Our reply follows and theirs concludes the exchange. Visitors can make their own conclusions. At the time of writing, we had purchased AC Delco batteries from our local Battery World store.

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Drysdale [mailto:chrisd@batteryworld.net.au]
Sent: Friday, 7 October 2005 1:35 PM
To: webmaster@around-oz.com
Subject: Use of Battery World

Hello Sir
We note that you refer to Battery World stores within a section called clinic promoting AC Delco batteries.
The use of Battery World is not authorised.
AC Delco is not an approved product available at all Battery World Stores
Please delete any reference to association with this brand of product.
Please confirm receipt and acknowledge when these references have been deleted
Yours sincerely
Chris Drysdale
Product Support Office
Battery World Australia P/L
A.C.N. 0509 399 605
Ph 07 3373 1771 fax 07 3373 1770
Or Mobile 0407 757 460

Our reply

Dear Chris

Thanks for your email. We are sorry that you have taken offence at the FREE promotion of your business for the last THREE YEARS. Your terse attitude is very disappointing as our site is totally non profit with the aim to share the RV lifestyle with the hundreds of thousands of Australians touring this great country of ours. In fact it costs a considerable amount of time and money to do so.

We have dealt with your Slacks Creek office on many occasions including purchase of the above batteries and found them to be extremely helpful. Hence the reference to your business name. If you don't want free and positive publicity, then that is obviously your choice.

If you no longer stock this brand, then that is fine we will delete all reference accordingly. It might be best if we put your email on the bottom of the page as an update - that way the 8 million plus genuine hits we get to this site each year will know where the information came from.

Chrissy Eustace

Webmaster

www.around-oz.com

0408 729 580

and their reply

Hello Chrissy

AC Delco is a product imported and has been sold at a particular store. It is not an authorised Battery World product and causes immense problems when warranty claims present in other stores. Battery World is 90 stores with national standards to uphold.

Sorry you felt my request was terse, all companies tend to be precious about brand and being connected with product that is not authorised. The web site was brought to our attention by a customer who demanded that the web site was ours and he wanted the AC Delco product immediately.

When our clients are confused upset or misled then we do require remedial action. sometimes even free advertising causes issues.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Chris Drysdale
Product Support Office
Battery World Australia P/L
A.C.N. 0509 399 605
Ph 07 3373 1771 fax 07 3373 1770
Or Mobile 0407 757 460