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Bluest

Member Since: 23 Apr 2016
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 4209

2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 XS CSW Java Black

Thank you for the very useful info and debate on this thread. My 07 Puma is starting get a bit lazy starting if it is left for more than a couple of days, so time for a new one. I've gone for a Varta LFD90 for £95 online. The Varta website reccomended Blue Dynamic can be had for a couple of quid less, but the original has lasted and performed so well I can't see a need to change. 2007 110 TDCi Station Wagon XS

5th Mar 2017 6:45pm

Pickles

Member Since: 26 May 2013
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 3784

2013 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 CSW Keswick Green

ericvv wrote:
This is one of those touchy question/topics. There are as many strong opinions as there are battery types.
Original Defender Puma battery is a Varta deep cycle battery. You can go on the Varta UK website, enter your vehicle specifics and see what today you get as their recommendation. I just did it for my truck and got as result a Varta Silver Dynamic AGM 595 901 085 (should be identical result for yours). My own truck is still on its original, now 8,5 years old Varta battery. No signs of weakness at all yet. But I regularly connect it to the Ctek, so never discharge it deeply, and I do not have things like a electricity eating winch, etc.
When the time will come to replace this in the next few years I will go for the Varta recommendation again. In this thread topic I especially like the comments by tatra805. Pretty common sense I'd say.
Now £252.00 for this battery seems expensive I think, probably a main dealer price/markup? Once you know which battery you want, you might look at other stores where you could get the same.
Eric

https://www.varta-automotive.com/en-gb
https://www.varta-automotive.com/en-gb/pro...95-901-085

G'Day Eric.
I have a Ctek too. How do you connect it to your battery to charge it?
Regards, Pickles.

5th Mar 2017 9:03pm

ericvv

Member Since: 02 Jun 2011
Location: Near the Jet d'Eau
Posts: 5816

2009 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 SVX Station Wagon Santorini Black

Martin, I have seen in a picture of your 90 that you do have a tow pack. Cannot see what kind of tow electrics you have though. Is it the same 7pin 12N standard factory tow electrics socket as here in Europe? Or maybe the more recent 13 pin socket?
I have the factory 12N socket which came standard with the tow pack from new, and then for the Ctek I let my dealer add a 12S socket, which is a 7pin caravan socket with one of the pins being a permanent live connection to the battery. Martin here in his webshop is offering a Ctek adapter for either the 12S or for the 13 pin socket. So, I do not have to lift the seat bottom out to connect the Ctek to the battery, I just plug it into the 12S socket and the Ctek will do its thing automatically. Even if I have nothing to do with caravanning, I find adding this 12S socket a worthwhile upgrade, makes using the Ctek very easy. Martin's adapter quality is excellent, in my case it is in (frequent) use for almost 4 years now, and it remains as new with very high quality wiring which will not crack or break or so.
Suggest you read my below thread about this. Bonne chance.

Eric

http://www.defender2.net/forum/post234448.html#234448 You never actually own a Defender. You merely look after it for the next generation.
http://youtu.be/yVRlSsJwD0o
https://youtu.be/vmPr3oTHndg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GtzTT9Pdl0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABqKPz28e6A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLZ49Jce_n0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvAsz_ilQYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8tMHiX9lSw
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dxwjPuHIV7I
https://vimeo.com/201482507
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSixqL0iyHw

6th Mar 2017 5:34am

johnnyd

Member Since: 13 Apr 2013
Location: Chippenham
Posts: 1006

2008 Defender 90 Puma 2.4 XS CSW Stornoway Grey

Why is the varta site recommending an AGM battery for a non auto start/stop vehicle? Is that not a bit of a waste of money ? Surely a standard non AGM would suffice, or is the AGM better in other ways ?

JD

Pickles wrote:
ericvv wrote:
This is one of those touchy question/topics. There are as many strong opinions as there are battery types.
Original Defender Puma battery is a Varta deep cycle battery. You can go on the Varta UK website, enter your vehicle specifics and see what today you get as their recommendation. I just did it for my truck and got as result a Varta Silver Dynamic AGM 595 901 085 (should be identical result for yours). My own truck is still on its original, now 8,5 years old Varta battery. No signs of weakness at all yet. But I regularly connect it to the Ctek, so never discharge it deeply, and I do not have things like a electricity eating winch, etc.
When the time will come to replace this in the next few years I will go for the Varta recommendation again. In this thread topic I especially like the comments by tatra805. Pretty common sense I'd say.
Now £252.00 for this battery seems expensive I think, probably a main dealer price/markup? Once you know which battery you want, you might look at other stores where you could get the same.
Eric

https://www.varta-automotive.com/en-gb
https://www.varta-automotive.com/en-gb/pro...95-901-085

G'Day Eric.
I have a Ctek too. How do you connect it to your battery to charge it?
Regards, Pickles.

2008 TDCi 2.4 XS CSW

22nd Jun 2017 11:29am

ericvv

Member Since: 02 Jun 2011
Location: Near the Jet d'Eau
Posts: 5816

I don't think they do. When you do the selection exercise for a Defender Puma on the Varta website, they recommend in the first place a Blue Dynamic model 595 402 080 battery, capacity 95Ah CCA 800 A. Which is a flooded lead acid battery.
Only as an alternative they suggest a Silver Dynamic AGM battery model 595 901 085, same 95Ah but slightly higher cold cramping amps 850 A.
Eric You never actually own a Defender. You merely look after it for the next generation.
http://youtu.be/yVRlSsJwD0o
https://youtu.be/vmPr3oTHndg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GtzTT9Pdl0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABqKPz28e6A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLZ49Jce_n0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvAsz_ilQYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8tMHiX9lSw
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dxwjPuHIV7I
https://vimeo.com/201482507
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSixqL0iyHw

22nd Jun 2017 1:29pm

Caterham

Member Since: 06 Nov 2008
Location: Birmingham
Posts: 6298

2011 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 XS CSW Stornoway Grey

it may prove to be a mistake but just bought a Bosch A14 013 - 800A - 95A.
4 yrs warranty and less than Â£120 (inc VAT)

I don't care much for the colour / look of it but I hope not to be seeing it very much

21st Apr 2018 1:38pm

Ianh

Member Since: 17 Sep 2018
Location: Essex
Posts: 2008

Just thought I would update this great set of posts on starter batteries.

The Varta LFD90 (Leisure,Flooded(wet) Dual purpose 90 amp hour) 800 CCA battery is generally accepted as the battery rebadged by LR and fitted in Puma defenders. Being dual purpose it is both a starter and a leisure battery, providing better deep cycle performance compared to a dedicated starter battery.

These batteries are still available but I have been advised by Tayna batteries they are being discontinued. Their replacement being the Varta LED95 ( Leisure, EFB (enhanced flooded battery) Dual purpose 95 amp hour) 850 CCA battery. This is also a dual purpose battery but being an EFB has even better deep cycle, CCA and Amp hour performance than the LFD90 while still being a wet battery.

EFB technology is a half way step between standard flooded(wet) and AGM batteries in both performance and price.

My understanding is that AGM batteries are not best served by our old school alternators, which results in the AGM batteries never performing or lasting as long as they should. However as the EFB is a wet battery it performs well with our alternators.

I have therefore just purchased a Varta LED95 (circa Â£134) and will report on its performance once it arrives and I fit it. As my 2.2 puma is not in daily use the low drain and deep cycle properties of this dual purpose battery were key decision points in its purchase.

Alternatives considered were wet dedicated starter batteries from Varta, these being the 019 G3 blue dynamic -95ah 800 CCA circa Â£90 delivered and the 019 H3 silver dynamic - 100ah 830 CCA circa Â£101 delivered. If I used my defender more often I would have gone for the silver dynamic.

Varta do an 019 G14 silver dynamic AGM - 95ah 850 CCA circa Â£163 delivered, but given the price and my concerns on how it will perform with our alternators I did not go that route.

Worth noting the Varta LED95 looks to be the same as the Varta N95, the former with 2 year warranty and Â£134 the latter with a 4 year warranty and Â£138. However I expect both to well outlast 4 years especially with trickle charging in the winter.

22nd Mar 2022 8:12pm

Ianh

Member Since: 17 Sep 2018
Location: Essex
Posts: 2008

Further update.

The Varta LED95 has been performing very well. My 2.2 has not been started for 3.5 weeks, turned the key and fired up instantly , no delay, no alarm cherp.

29th May 2022 2:48pm

stephan123

Member Since: 18 Mar 2015
Location: London
Posts: 282

Pls can you send a link for this battery? The original battery on my 2015 2.2 has finally given up the ghost and this one seems like a good alternative. Many thanks

16th Jan 2023 9:09am

Bluest

Member Since: 23 Apr 2016
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 4209

If you Google Varta LED95 there are loads of results. Tayna are a good trusted seller. 2007 110 TDCi Station Wagon XS

16th Jan 2023 9:16am

stephan123

Member Since: 18 Mar 2015
Location: London
Posts: 282

16th Jan 2023 11:09am

Ianh

Member Since: 17 Sep 2018
Location: Essex
Posts: 2008

Further update,

18 months after fitting the Varta LED95 itâ€™s still performing perfectly. This time it was 5 weeks since it was last started and once again it started instantly , no delay, no alarm chirp.

Will trickle charge now itâ€™s getting colder but itâ€™s low drain properties are working well.

27th Sep 2023 8:34pm

swt

Member Since: 24 Aug 2018
Location: Cumbria
Posts: 163

2008 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 XS CSW Stornoway Grey

Partly on the strength of discussions on here, I used a couple of LED 95's when putting together my new dual battery setup earlier this year. Both the starter and the accessory battery are performing impeccably - starting seems (subjectively) even better than with their Varta predecessors. I'll be interested to see how they perform in cold weather.

They are a big pair of batteries to fit in the seat box alongside bus bars, shunt, split charge relay and cables, but seem to be excellent performance at a sensible price.

27th Sep 2023 11:24pm

mrfirepro

Member Since: 06 Nov 2020
Location: kent
Posts: 230

1996 Defender 90 300 Tdi HT Bonatti Grey

Thanks to all the above who made choosing my new battery for my 2007 2.4 puma much easier.

I bought this one

https://www.tayna.co.uk/leisure-batteries/varta/led95/

If any issues I'll post back here but expect it to be plain sailing paid a total of Â£135.54 incl VAT and UK Delivery

16th Nov 2023 12:13am

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