Battery choice

[DANNY8]

I'm looking at getting this Supercharge Allrounder battery for my VK. It's goin in the back in a battery box.

Supercharge Batteries - Car Batteries, Maintenance, Expanded Grid Technology

Here's the specs:

Powered by EXG Technology, the ALLROUNDER battery is built tough with high temperature tolerance and better vibration resistance - fit for Marine & Leisure applications. It boasts of it's ability to deliver high cranking & reserve capacity together with high ampere hour rating. Starting and Cyclic capability in One.

Allrounder (Starting and Deep Cycle) - model MRV70 Volts: 12
CCA @ -18 Deg: 760
RC at 25 Deg: 160
20 AH Cap: 105
5 AH Cap:
Length: 305
Width: 174
Height: 202
TH: 224
Wet Weight: 26.257
Assembly: D
Terminal Type: Twin Marine Terminal - Type M
Other Features: Central Venting, Fold Down Handles, Hydro Eye, Liquid Gas Separator
Warranty: 12

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Do u rekon this would be good for my VK (mild 173)? Is 760 CCA pretty good? Wats a standard battery size?

I've only ever had standard batteries, but thought I might go a bit better this time as I've spent lots of coin on my car already.

I can get it for $195 and they're gonna throw in a battery box to suit it. Does that sound ok?

[commsirac]

The word overkill comes to mind. Basically at 26kg it is two batteries!

Less than a 1/4 of that battery is really necessary for starting a 173, however, you havent stated your exact needs......is it to be able to run a large stereo all day without flattening it?

Why is it going in the back, other than it possibly will not fit under the bonnet. Im not sure about the design of this battery, it boasts "central venting", but appears to be of sealed design. If you are mounting it in a box, it still has to be able to get rid of any hydrogen gas the battery emits(none if its sealed), which means your battery box has to be sealed and vented to the outside of the car.

Price sounds reasonable for that much battery(also factor in that you'll need at least 4m of large diameter battery cable + new connectors to have it work properly if installed at the rear), but how much can you get a regular battery to suit the 173 for off the same supplier? supercharge ns50z or ns50zl would be far more than adequate.

[AttaBoy]

A 450cca battery is adequate. I have a 450cca and never had problems running the stereo for quite a long while.

[Haydz]

got a supercharge myself they outlast the competition i think especially there gold series. havent had any problems since i bought it

[DANNY8]

Thx for the help guys. I might go back to the shop and see wat other batteries they have. I'll look for one a bit smaller I think.

I want sumfin that isn't gonna go flat easilly, and sumfin that will have the power to run the stezza for a while without goin flat. Not a huge stezza, just a pair of 12's probably....haven't got it yet :P

The battery is goin in the back coz I want the engine bay as neat as possible. I'm running 3 lengths of 4ga cable, one directly from the battery to the alternator, and two which go directly to the starter motor from the battery, and they also power the car when the starter motor doesn't use them.

[Silver surfer]

I work for century batteries you can't go past a ultra high performance one should last you a while.

[impulsesv6]

I work for century batteries you can't go past a ultra high performance one should last you a while.

hallelujah - believe this man, he speaks the truth!!

[DANNY8]

Thx guys. I went to AutoPro this morning and got them to see how much the same battery but smaller was. Turns out as they go smaller they get more expensive. So I just got the one above.

It may be a tad to much, but atleast I shouldn't have any battery related problems anytime soon haha.

[AirStrike]

Thx for the help guys. I might go back to the shop and see wat other batteries they have. I'll look for one a bit smaller I think.

I want sumfin that isn't gonna go flat easilly, and sumfin that will have the power to run the stezza for a while without goin flat. Not a huge stezza, just a pair of 12's probably....haven't got it yet :P

The battery is goin in the back coz I want the engine bay as neat as possible. I'm running 3 lengths of 4ga cable, one directly from the battery to the alternator, and two which go directly to the starter motor from the battery, and they also power the car when the starter motor doesn't use them.

Don't know about a 6, but -4AG is too small. I have a 560CCA battery in the boot of the SS with -00AG cable and it still takes abit to crank it.

[AirStrike]

Thx guys. I went to AutoPro this morning and got them to see how much the same battery but smaller was. Turns out as they go smaller they get more expensive. So I just got the one above.

It may be a tad to much, but atleast I shouldn't have any battery related problems anytime soon haha.

Is it going to fit in a battery box? Just because it has huge CCA doesn't mean it won't run down easy.

[Silver surfer]

Is it going to fit in a battery box? Just because it has huge CCA doesn't mean it won't run down easy.

Airstrike is 100% right here just cause the cca are high does not mean that it will last longer if you run the wrong battery the chances of you destroying it or causing damages to something else are higher then using the correct on,hence why you can only buy a certain few batteries for each make model of vehicle.

[commsirac]

Turns out as they go smaller they get more expensive. So I just got the one above.
.

Are you saying that the price for a supercharge ns50z or ns50zl was quoted higher than $195, that is ridiculous.....Id of thought $110 tops.

Just a point that was perhaps hinted at. There is an idea that putting batteries further away from the starter requires a battery with higher CCA's, ie it will be able to pump more amps through.
No.
The most important thing to get the necessary current to the starter is to have low resistance/thick cables to prevent voltage drop along the wire.......this is going to happen no matter what CCA the battery is. (yes a high cca battery may experience slightly less voltage drop at its terminals when drawing 100A or so required for a 173, but its the cables that will be the big factor) However, the only thing that will push more current along the wire is for the battery voltage to be increased significantly......but they are all 12V) If the wires are four times longer than the standard setup, youll need connecting leads that are four times the cross sectional area to achieve the same voltage at the starter. Running a 3m lead from the -ve of the battery to the engine block isnt as good as actually using the body of the car......good connections to the chassis rails will save you some copper and voltage.

Sorry, just picked it up, there is no great value in running a wire direct from the alternator to the battery here, just run a slightly thicker than normal wire from the alternator to the +ve terminal on the starter. In fact you'd end up with possibly too much voltage drop at the front of the car for headlights etc, as the current from the alternator would be going from one end of the car and back again.

[DANNY8]

The guy I bought most of the wiring off of was using one 4ga and one 8ga cable going from the battery in the back to the starter. He said it started ok but not the best. So I thought I'd try 2 4ga.

I only looked at the AllRounder batteries coz I wanted a deep cycle battery, which the ns50z isn't. They had the 600CCA Gold's for about $140, but again it wasn't deep cycle.

I was originally gonna just run a 4ga cable from the alternator to the starter, but I was told not to coz the the car accessories might take the charge from it, instead of going back to the battery.

I've got a bettery box for the battery, got one thrown in for an extra few dollars. The battery was $189, and the battery box was about $21, but they did them both combined for $194.

I realise I might have made a few mistake in regards to the battery choice and main wiring....but I guess I'll learn from my mistakes. If it sucks bad I can easilly lay down some welding cable or get another battery. This s just a learning curve.

[commsirac]

but again it wasn't deep cycle.

I was originally gonna just run a 4ga cable from the alternator to the starter, but I was told not to coz the the car accessories might take the charge from it, instead of going back to the battery.

:

Whats the attraction of deep cycle for your car?

I was originally gonna just run a 4ga cable from the alternator to the starter, but I was told not to coz the the car accessories might take the charge from it, instead of going back to the battery.

:

Best not totally rely on electrical advice from this source in future!

If you use the accessories they will take available power from the alternator regardless of whether the alternator is connected to starter or direct to battery. At the risk of over simplifying: the battery(if needing charging) gets whatever is left over between the alternator maximum output(at the rpm it is doing) and car electrical/accessory load.

[Bilbs]

I have a supercharge gold battery in my ute, 600CCA, i cant tell you the reserve capacity, as im not looking at it, but it took my lights left on high beam ( 100/90w high/low and 100w driving) about 5 hours before i couldnt start the car (if only i had gone to the shop that day for lunch, i woulda realised in time lol)

[DANNY8]

Whats the attraction of deep cycle for your car?

Their ability to go flat and be charged a lot more times then a standard battery.

Best not totally rely on electrical advice from this source in future!

If you use the accessories they will take available power from the alternator regardless of whether the alternator is connected to starter or direct to battery. At the risk of over simplifying: the battery(if needing charging) gets whatever is left over between the alternator maximum output(at the rpm it is doing) and car electrical/accessory load.

So instead of running 2 4ga cables from the battery in the boot to the starter, and one from the battery to the alternator, it would be better to have all 3 running to the starter, then one running from the starter to the alternator, and have the car get it's power from the starter as well? If ya know wat I mean...

[commsirac]

Yes, just make the +ve terminal of the starter your common terminal.

Have a look at:American Wire Gauge table and AWG Electrical Current Load Limits

I dont think 2 x 4AG is a good choice.

Standard batt cable on a holden straight six is ~5-6mm. If you look on the link youll see the resistance/1000ft for 5-6mm is ~0.2 Ohm. Youll be increasing your cable by a factor of at least four in length, so youll need cable with 1/4 the resistance, which would put it at ~10mm cable(000 gauge)

[DANNY8]

Ok cheers mate. I might go do some wiring 2day.....haven't got much to do b4 I can start the motor for the first time

[Just_a_stocker]

I work for century batteries you can't go past a ultra high performance one should last you a while.

Ultra high performance ?

Im guessing I dipped out then buying the heavy duty.

thats stands on a massive 12.5 volts, personally I expected it to sit above 12.7 for the $160.00 it cost me.

Trojan deep cycle are good batteries , but they cost about $250.00 for a standard size.

cheers

[Silver surfer]

batteries are cheap to me.

[commsirac]

thats stands on a massive 12.5 volts, personally I expected it to sit above 12.7 for the $160.00 it cost me.


cheers

All lead acid batteries should sit at exactly the same voltage when fully charged no matter what size they are. About 2.10 to 2.13V per cell, 12.6 to 12.8V
12.5 V and the battery works fine?(possibly a small impurity in one cell), not anything to base anything on at all may be 12.6V depending on the accuracy of your voltmeter.

[wrx884]

I work for century batteries you can't go past a ultra high performance one should last you a while.

Ive got 1 of these in the VT had it 4 a few years now and its handling the sound system quite nicely pitty batteries have gone up in price lately back then i got it 4 $90 lol

[Silver surfer]

All lead acid batteries should sit at exactly the same voltage when fully charged no matter what size they are. About 2.10 to 2.13V per cell, 12.6 to 12.8V
12.5 V and the battery works fine?(possibly a small impurity in one cell), not anything to base anything on at all may be 12.6V depending on the accuracy of your voltmeter.

If there is a slight imperfection in any cell then it will collapse, the battery will go flat and be rendered as F####D


The price of lead has sky rocketed lately hence the high prices. it has started to drop down again but i would say that it will be much like fuel the price hasn't gone down even though oil is cheap.

[DANNY8]

I guess that's the reason u get more for stuffed batteries as well then. I scrapped about 10-15 batteries and got about $50 for them.

[Silver surfer]

yep sounds about right