Battery!!! What is everone useing

[AMB]

Originally Posted by IH8HSV

My one lasted 2 years and I brought the car with it already in there at 66000 km. So I presume it was the original battery that the cops put in it.

Therefore it has lasted well over 100000kms. Plus it sits at the airport every week.

I reckon they are great, but I didn't have the spare cash to pay for a $350 battery.

The no maintenance batteries, you can still get to the cells, the caps are flat and hard to remove, and hidden under a sticker usually. I've pulled the caps off two dead ones before, just for fun, and found that the cells had dried up to below the grid bit. So i reckon they're 'no maintenance' becuase you can't easily maintain them and so you don't. If any of you got a dead no maintenance battery laying around, pull off the caps and check out how much electrolyte is in there, I'd be interested to know.

[IH8HSV]

Originally Posted by AMB

The no maintenance batteries, you can still get to the cells, the caps are flat and hard to remove, and hidden under a sticker usually. I've pulled the caps off two dead ones before, just for fun, and found that the cells had dried up to below the grid bit. So i reckon they're 'no maintenance' becuase you can't easily maintain them and so you don't. If any of you got a dead no maintenance battery laying around, pull off the caps and check out how much electrolyte is in there, I'd be interested to know.

Ive still got my old Optima yellow top, so I might try that.

If its low do I top it up with distilled water still? Or is it something else?

Cheers.

[AMB]

Yeh distilled water. They're the same. Just did a search for 'maintenance free car battery' and it seems that they're just a high quality battery that gasses less and so tend to lose less water (and also they got more electrolyte to allow for water loss over time). I suppose if your alternator stuffs up and starts over charging, you can still boil them dry quickly. Some people are happy with about 3 years out of battery, so maintenance free over that period might seem OK. I get about 6-7 years from normal bosch batteries (yeh the last 6 months gets a bit dubious). Just gotta make sure you keep the water topped up and fully charged. It takes many hours of driving to fully recharge a partially flat battery, so I put my battery on a automatic charger for 24 hours or more fairly regulalrly (maybe once a month, I try to anyway).

[big_fletch]

I wock as a auto elec in vic and i have a 600cca Supercharge battery, Definetly got the grunt and mine is 5 years old and still going strong

[IH8HSV]

Originally Posted by AMB

I get about 6-7 years from normal bosch batteries (yeh the last 6 months gets a bit dubious).

That's good to know. My brother works as an apprentice auto elecky and he got me a Bosch battery cheap.

So its good to know it will be reliable for a few years.

His boss gave me the impression that Bosch batteries are severely underrated - due to the lack of advertising for them - but reckons they are great.

[Dave_Obsession]

I haven't heard of anything that Bosch makes being of poor quality......

[sikford]

Optima bluetop for me. 800cca, 1000mca and twin terminals and the specs are all the same as the yellowtop except i get twin terminals for pos and neg. win win.lol. Optima's have gone up in price and are between 400-480 depending on where u go. mine cost me $350 about 6 months ago. been the best thing i have bought for the car.

[GUTLES]

I've got a Delkor Calcuim Battery in mine, has been the best Battery I've ever had. I can get them cheap too if anyones looking for one.

[SirHenry]

Originally Posted by IH8HSV

That's good to know. My brother works as an apprentice auto elecky and he got me a Bosch battery cheap.

So its good to know it will be reliable for a few years.

His boss gave me the impression that Bosch batteries are severely underrated - due to the lack of advertising for them - but reckons they are great.

Yeah I've got a Bosch Gold has been going great no issues at all.

Best battery I have seen was Century's parent company Yuasa had it in my old Corolla which for some reason chewed batteries for breakfast. It was the only thing it didn't chew. (short of forking out a motsa $)

[AMB]

That's a lot of money for a car battery sikford (its only there to start the car, the alternator does all the work once you're running). Bosch battery for a Ford is about $120, hell I just bought a large battery for my old Fordson tractor for $200, and thought that was a lot.
IH8HSV, the main thing to remember is that car batteries like to be kept at 100% full charge, they last a lot longer that way. The way I understand it is that the alternator gets them to about 80% charge quickly, but the last 20% takes a long time (the charge rate gets slower and slower, otherwise you would cook the battery). So your battery might be sitting around for months and years, not properly charged. So I put the battery on one of those slow automatic chargers over the weekend every now and then. That would be like driving the car for many many hours.

[GK]

Originally Posted by DJM83

Just dont get FPR to install them guys. :

Classic! LOL!

Originally Posted by AMB

the main thing to remember is that car batteries like to be kept at 100% full charge, they last a lot longer that way. The way I understand it is that the alternator gets them to about 80% charge quickly, but the last 20% takes a long time (the charge rate gets slower and slower, otherwise you would cook the battery). So your battery might be sitting around for months and years, not properly charged. So I put the battery on one of those slow automatic chargers over the weekend every now and then. That would be like driving the car for many many hours.

If the car runs a lot of extra audio gear and isn't driven much at least a few times a year is a good idea. I drive an 80+km round trip each day to and from work with a fair amount of highway kays, so the batteries in my AUs seem to last a while.

GK

[Au2falcons]

Guys I had a Bosch Gold Series battery in the AU for 5.5 years. These are maintenance free and I never once opened it the check the electrolyte levels. In the end I changed it as it was starting to get slow to crank and didn't want to get caught out.

We've had about four of these batteries in our family with similar reliability.

Unfortunately not many places stock Bosch batteries these days, so I picked up a Supercharge batter from AutoOne. It's a Gold Series maintenance free Calcium Grid battery with 3 years warranty. This battery is 100% sealed. I'm extremely happy with it, my AU only gets driven once every few weeks and the power never dips between uses, recommend this one!

[lofty]

I just bought a Bosch S3. 530 CCA. $135. 2yr warranty. <shrug> I needed it today and it's what they had. From the box it looks like it's the cheaper one in the Bosch range. The Sprint Auto guy said it's maintenance free. I said so I have to prise the covers off to check the levels. He said no seriously it's fully sealed, don't mess with it. Hmm. I guess that's a good thing.

BTW, does anyone use the plastic battery box, or is that just the embuggerance it looks? The PO had given it to me and I looked at fitting it today, but couldn't see the point.

[Beer Baron]

I think mine is a century battery and it will be 4 years old on the 01/01/2010.

[AMB]

Originally Posted by lofty

.......does anyone use the plastic battery box, or is that just the embuggerance it looks? The PO had given it to me and I looked at fitting it today, but couldn't see the point..........

Are you talking about the plastic battery box that comes with the car Lofty? Its there becuase the under bonnet temps are too high, so the battery overheats and dies. The plastic box insulates the battery, and it also has an air intake to get cool air around the battery.

[amiers]

Originally Posted by AMB

That's a lot of money for a car battery sikford (its only there to start the car, the alternator does all the work once you're running). Bosch battery for a Ford is about $120, hell I just bought a large battery for my old Fordson tractor for $200, and thought that was a lot.
IH8HSV, the main thing to remember is that car batteries like to be kept at 100% full charge, they last a lot longer that way. The way I understand it is that the alternator gets them to about 80% charge quickly, but the last 20% takes a long time (the charge rate gets slower and slower, otherwise you would cook the battery). So your battery might be sitting around for months and years, not properly charged. So I put the battery on one of those slow automatic chargers over the weekend every now and then. That would be like driving the car for many many hours.

i just bought a cheap battery for my car ,it is to suit the car but not heavy duty. i flattened it while fixing a drama, it charges when i drive the car, but if i leave it without starting it for a few days its flat again. mind you i have only driven it around the block twice in 2 weeks. so i ssume if i charge it and drive the car regulary again it will be ok?

[wkd-windza]

Powermaster 1000cca deep cycle $500.. you would think it came with terminals at that price, terminals $40

[lofty]

Originally Posted by AMB

Are you talking about the plastic battery box that comes with the car Lofty? Its there becuase the under bonnet temps are too high, so the battery overheats and dies. The plastic box insulates the battery, and it also has an air intake to get cool air around the battery.

Yeah that one. That makes more sense than venting fumes like I thought. Might fit it before summer. Don't want the new battery cooking. Thanks.

[AMB]

Originally Posted by lofty

........I just bought a Bosch S3. 530 CCA. $135. 2yr warranty. .......................The Sprint Auto guy said it's maintenance free. I said so I have to prise the covers off to check the levels. He said no seriously it's fully sealed, don't mess with it. .........

Definitely will be maintenance free for 2yr warranty period LOL. I reckon start thinking about checking the electrolyte level after about 3-4 yrs.

[AMB]

Originally Posted by amiers

i just bought a cheap battery for my car ,it is to suit the car but not heavy duty. i flattened it while fixing a drama, it charges when i drive the car, but if i leave it without starting it for a few days its flat again. mind you i have only driven it around the block twice in 2 weeks. so i ssume if i charge it and drive the car regulary again it will be ok?

If it goes flat after few days sitting around, then something may be drawing current that shouldn't be. I once had a dodgy relay which was passing current all the time (I think it was drawing about 100 milliamps) -battery would go flat after a couple days. Took quite a bit to find that problem. First thing to do is check how much current draw there is with everything completely off (key out) -most of the cars I've checked have round about 5 millamp draw.
Is your battery charger one of those fully auto ones that can't overcharge the battery -they cost about $80 and you can leave your battery on charge permanently, and know its 100% fully charged.