Batteries

[Andrew1967]

Looking to get a battery for my 850 and see there are two types available.

1 - Maintenance free, sealed, calcium alloy cell type
2 - Traditional wet cell type

From a little research on the net, it seems that the calcium cell type batteries are not really suitable for low usage, older cars. I've read that they are difficult to charge and require a special type of charger to do it although they maintain their charge for longer.

Anyone got any experience or recommendations ? I was looking to get maybe an 063 battery as its a nice fit in the battery box, but my main concern is battery type over size.

Cheers

Andrew

[rich@minispares.com]

I always buy the cheap wet type.

That way you can abuse them, boost charge them, let them go flat, boost charge them again.

When they finally die its only £40 or so for another one.

A lad at work has a fancy calcium one on his golf tractor and he has to borrow a fancy charger when ever it needs a boost - its a pain in the arse!

[coopertim]

Good advice that Rich as I need one too!

Tim

[Andrew1967]

Thanks Rich, that was my thoughts as well but wasn't sure if it was just the traditionalist 'points and condenser' in me coming through again !

Now just got to find a battery that is not the calcium type !!

Cheers

Andrew

[Dr S]

I've ended up with a halfords one on redshed. Needed it in a bit of a hurry. However when Claire brought it home it's actaully a reasonably nice looking thing and suits the boot as opposed to a modern looking varta thing. Does need the stickers peeling off though.

Think it was about 40 squids

[smithyrc30]

You can sometimes recover batteries suffering from hard sulphation by using some Tetrasodium EDTA (Tetra Sodium Ethylene Diamine Tetra Acetate to give it its full name). You would need about a table spoon in each cell for a Mini sized battery.

Just pour it in, check the S.G. of the cell before putting in and then about an hour after. It should have risen a little in standard UK summer temps. Then put the battery on charge for 12 hours. Make sure the battery is not getting too hot (no more than 50C is about the limit) and a deep cycle pulse charger is good for this as well. Then measure the S.G. again. It works well as a conditioner in new batteries so you can throw it in your new battery and you should find the SoC will not fall as quickly. Don't eat it and if you get it on your skin do wash it off, it is water soluble. It is not that bad as it is used in most make up as a preservative and stabilizer but in much smaller doses than a heaped tablespoon

As examples at 27C:
100% SoC on a 12v lead acid battery will be about 1.277 and 12.73 volts
90% SoC on a 12v lead acid battery will be about 1.258 and 12.63 volts
80% SoC on a 12v lead acid battery will be about 1.238 and 12.48 volts

If it registers below 12 volts it is less than 40% charged and there is a very high probability of warping the plates if you apply a heavy load to it. (i.e. trying to start the vehicle.) Generally once you have warped the plates the battery is good as a door stop...

You can also measure the open circuit voltage and use this as an indicator of the state of charge. 80% charge is about 12.48volts. Anything less than this and the battery will start producing hard sulphates which dramatically reduce the SoC and CCA available. Once hard sulphate is formed it requires a pulse charge to get rid of it. Usually dynamos and alternators will not do this because they are voltage sensed not current sensed. A hard sulphated battery will still show quite high OCV but because the plate to plate area is blocked by the hard sulphate the CCA available is reduced and at some point will fall below the required value. (Usually when it is cold or when you desperately need the vehicle)

All batteries sulphate, it is part of the energy release process, what you need to do is prevent the SoC falling below 80% where hard sulphates begin to form more easily/readily. For most lead acid batteries, even one week of inactivity will drop the SoC down to 80% from 100% and this will happen faster as the storage temperature rises and/or if quiescent drains are on the battery (alarms, radios, clocks etc.) Cadmium, Lithium etc have much lower SoC decay rates. A lot of prevention is better than a lot of charging later so using a pulse trickle charger in the garage is a good way of prolonging battery life.

Dynamos are not very good at removing hard sulphate and they age pretty quickly meaning that they can at times of heavy demand (wipers, lights, heater) fall behind the power requirements meaning the battery is discharging, putting it into the lower than 80% SoC where issues begin. This is especially true when the dynamo is rotating more slowly.

Sorry bit of an essay there.....

[foxy52]

Looking to get a battery for my 850 and see there are two types available.

1 - Maintenance free, sealed, calcium alloy cell type
2 - Traditional wet cell type

From a little research on the net, it seems that the calcium cell type batteries are not really suitable for low usage, older cars. I've read that they are difficult to charge and require a special type of charger to do it although they maintain their charge for longer.

Anyone got any experience or recommendations ? I was looking to get maybe an 063 battery as its a nice fit in the battery box, but my main concern is battery type over size.

Cheers

Andrew

...as per Ritchies adv.. Unipart.. !! as were ?.. I have had faultless use..but get yerself a Halfords trickle charger/battery conditioner.. dead handy in the winter months... foxy52

[Andrew1967]

Well that's a pretty comprehensive post Smithy

I'll look about for an old school type battery then. Pity Unipart don't still do their 'lifetime' guarantee.

I've thought about a trickle charger in the past Foxy and probably could have saved the battery on the 850 if I had had one !

[foxy52]

Well that's a pretty comprehensive post Smithy

I'll look about for an old school type battery then. Pity Unipart don't still do their 'lifetime' guarantee.

I've thought about a trickle charger in the past Foxy and probably could have saved the battery on the 850 if I had had one !

that's the thing Andrew..t/c,s are so cheap given the hassle u can get with a low battery in winter !! Halfords do a good un for the money...the Unipart battery is very good .. 8 years of life so far !!!....reasonable price to when I bought it ..... foxy

[rich@minispares.com]

the Unipart battery is very good ..

Unipart no longer exist though.........

[foxy52]

thought so .. but is the concern anything to do with Partco now ??? foxy52