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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Car Batteries - choose by CCA/£

I'm looking at replacing my Sprite battery, and my V8 Rover battery.

Looking simply at what will fit based on size, is it reasonable to pick my battery on which battery gives me the most Cold Cranking Amps - per pound i.e. CCA/£ ?

If not, why not ?

Ta

FWIW - here's a link that list battery size against code.

http://www.puretyre.co.uk/car-battery-specification-chart/
Malc Gilliver

Malc,
I'd take the Ampere Hour and CCA on that list as examples

the first thing you need to check is that any dimensions are overall and not just the case missing out a protruding base perhaps

then you'll probably want to check the terminals are correct type and position but cables and connectors are easy to change if required

certainly for your V8 you'll want a higher CCA but you also may want to consider what use the battery will get, if you're the type to immediately switch on (or have not turn off from the last use of the car) more gadgets and components than the TARDIS then the reserve capacity might need considering and the ampere-hour capacity

I think generally the more CCA the more AH on it, the battery's health and life depends on its use and your charging system and wires/leads/cables/earths and all connections being in good condition, clean, secure and protected

regular use of the car on reasonable length journeys will also help
Nigel Atkins

Malc - yes.
I've just bought a big'un for my race van from these people and I won't hesitate to recommend them
http://www.tayna.co.uk/Car-Batteries-C48.html
David Smith

What you have to remember is if your car only requires 100 cold cranking amps (cca) and you buy a battry with 600 cca, then the battry will only use 100 cca and leave the rest in the box to never be used

What id look at is how long can the battry hold onto that 100 cca .... id perfer my battry to hold 100 cca for 2 hours instead of holding 600cca for 5 minutes....so i like deep cell gel battrys... after all I spend more time with a spare head light hooked up to the battry to see under the car then I do giving jump starts to 18 wheeler freight haulers and caterpillar diesel bull dozers

You battry will only take what it needs....so yes id want some good cca, but id want endurance and long life quality over just umpf/heavy lifting

All the numbers im quoting and throwing around... are only hypothetical examples, to state my case...and are not real numbers

That said.. my sears gold diehard that was made for the car spec and lasted 8 years was rated just shy of 600 cca

But my new battry (1 year ago) is a gel battry from battry plus store... it only has 520 cca but is supposed to hold the charge much longer then the normal avg battrys...appeartly by at least 3x...

but im sure that (3x) is a McGinty's pub and pizza bar stool stat

Prop




Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Malc,
if you main consideration is CCA/£ then do check you're comparing SAE (American Standard commonly used in UK) CCA against SAE CCA not DIN or other CCA

if you're using the Sprite in the very coldest part of winter then the 20w part of 20w-50 will be working against you for starting too

ETA: I saw on one battery supplier web site that they put to look at 10-15% CCA over car spec
Nigel Atkins

My understanding of CCA is it a measure of how many amps the battery can put out for 30seconds at -18degC, before dropping volts, so my assumption is the more the better.

As Prop says if I only need 500 then 600 is pointless, but again assuming I need 500 to crank and I have a 500CCA battery I get 30 seconds crank time, i.e. 500/30 = 16.6 amps per second - so the car draws 16.6 amps per second but if I have 600CCA maybe I get 35 seconds crank time i.e. 600/16.6 = 35 ?

I could be talking complete rot - lol

Conversely, the higher the CCA, usually the higher the ampere hour as well.

As to gel batteries - how do you charge them - all the websites I found imply you need a different lower paper charger or you bugger the battery - so how does a gel battery cope with a alternator or dynamo shoving power in ?

Reserve Amps is another measure - but most suppliers don't list that.

Malc
Malc Gilliver

I didnt do anything... just stuck the battery in the hole , straped it,and wired it...then turn the key

1 year later... it still works no issues

Prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Prop,

1 year is fine, but my current battery was fitted in 2008 and that cost £45 but the guy that sold it me has retired, otherwise I wouldn't be posting - lol
Malc Gilliver

Malc,
I think your maths (with an 's' Prop) is wrong but I'm the last person to correct it other than pots and pans stuff - lets say, for round figures only, the starter engages the engine to start spinning at 200 amps and once moving drops to 50 amps

if your current battery was only fitted in 2008 what makes you want to change it now?

if you put in a battery with too much capacity would your charging system be able to service it fully
Nigel Atkins

Nigel

I made the dis claimer that my math was only for debate purposes....I have no idea how much cca a car needs....ive got 520 cca and that turns the starter just fine

But yes you will need more amps in the dead cold of winter... your car will decide how much it needs and wont take a volt, watt, or amp more...leaving the rest in the battery

If the car wants 300 cca, and the battry has 1000, cca ... it will leave 700 in the box (overly simple... but you get my direction)

Prop

Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Nigel,

Because my battery is starting to struggle to turn the car over.

If I charge the battery for about 15mins before starting, the car bursts into life, if i just get in and turn the key,it struggles over and usually fails first and second time, then runs.

So I think that at 6 years old the battery is starting to fail to hold charge and come the end of summer, when the temp drops the battery will fail, so I'm looking now.

Malc
Malc Gilliver

Malc

It sounds like you at the right ball park, 6 years is pushing a battry... could be a dead cell

Id also look closely at the battry cables, pull them off the battry, pull back the insulation and look for a mint greenish white powder inside the copper windings...that will prevent a starter for turning also....its hard to see it when its bolted to the battry and many times look in great shape... thus the need to remove the cable from the battry

But yes ... if you have to charge the battry before you can start the car... id lay good odds its battry (a cell dying) or corroded cables

Prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Malc,
it obviously depends on your battery, it's use and charging but I'd expect a lot more than 6 years out of my car batteries

and you're quite right to change the battery before the battery rush usually at the second cold snap of winter (first cold snap owner ignore and charge the battery, second they give up, same with c/h sysyems)

a battery that won't start the car is a pet peeve of mine and I'd never put up with it, the condition of the battery was among the first things I check when I got a s/h car (including the over priced ones called classics) and if required I'd change to a good quality new replacement that I'd expect to last much more than 6 years

are you sure it's the battery at fault, are you sure it's not something draining the battery - also a full, slow long charged up of the battery might help with perhaps the use of something like Granville Bat-aid tablet (Prop possibly uses them on his teeth overnight) - http://reviews.halfords.com/4028/186197/reviews.htm

there are two John Twist vids on batteries, one from a while back (perhaps around number 10 vid) and one more recently and on at least one he says that the battery is the most oversold part for a car and I agree

only recently a mate of mine, despite what I've told him about batteries before, had a fail to start and called out the RAC who put a tester on the car and said the battery needed replacing and the RAC man could sell him one, my mate declined but bought a replacement battery at a lower price for himself only to find there was nothing wrong with the original battery other than crud on the unseen terminal clamp, he cleaned that off and then had a new battery that wasn't needed
Nigel Atkins

Exactly why i say take the cables off for a look...sometimes that furry stuff likes to hide

Nig... it also depends on the quality of the battry...steven got.a value craft and it lasted a year, interstates will last only 5and a gold diehard will last forever

Prop

Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Prop,
yours is a different country, different climate different standards, etc. and certainly different people with a different way of thinking (and I don't just mean you)

I suppose over here there might be reclaimed/rebuilt batteries that might only last a year but I've not been conscious of them in my 37 years of driving various cars
Nigel Atkins

I was looking at batteries on ebay only today, and found some reconditioned/recycled batteries for sale.

£25 with a 12 month guarantee, as opposed to £45 for a Bosch or Varta with 4 years guarantee.

Hmmm, which should I choose?
Dave O'Neill 2

Well the 4 year guarantee is tempting. But just like insurance, you have to remember that in the vast majority of cases, the warranty will never be called in. It can be offered because the item is not likely to fail.

If you buy the battery with a 12 month guarantee you will get to use it for the remainder of the summer and all of the coming winter. That's a good enough test to see of the battery is up to the job.

Same spec battery? If so, and if the referb is done properly,with new plates, -- and it isn't just an acid fill con trick. I'd save 20 quid and buy the refurb. I always bought refurbs from a local place when I lived in Streatham. Never had any problem.

Whose the vendor? What the record?

You pays yer money --- .

Lawrence Slater

Oh, I forgot. . . you also need to part-ex an old battery, which I don't have ;o)
Dave O'Neill 2

I went down the Halfords route in the end simply because I have one a mile from my house, a mile from the GF's house and two miles from the parent's house, as my cars are spread evenly across those locations I figured I could return easily.

I fitted a type 063 battery with 480a cranking amps, supposed to be good for 50000 engine starts and guaranteed for 5 years, as I'm fitting an alternator at the mo I haven't had chance to start the Sprite yet.

Malc
Malc Gilliver

Wow, I now have a car that can't wait to start - turn the key and it flies over.

Malc
Malc Gilliver

This thread was discussed between 05/07/2014 and 07/07/2014

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