Hi all, I've finally got round to choosing a battery. The choices I have narrowed it down to are these: Westco AGM MX5 battery (£86), red top 25 (£89), RMD25 from rally designs (£50-60) , or this : Lawn Mower Battery Lucas AGM/GEL 12V 22AH (Replace 17AH 18AH 19AH 20AH 21AH)

It will be used on a 1.25 zetec SE, not regular use but was going to get one of these: Another linky

The eBay one looks a similar spec to the RMD one, and I had good feedback on that last time I asked!!!

ThoughtS?

Thanks

JC

Or one of these

Link

will start a 1.25 Zetec as the day is long & weighs about 1/5 of the lawnmower battery! (700g) & with very low discharge rate you probs won't need the charger!

Would love one Russ but trying to keep cost down!!! I will be in touch again about the brake lines though!

What's the deal with the Li-ion batteries capacity and cranking amps wise? There doesn't seem to be much mention.

And how do they deal with the abuse they'll take during building? y'know, sitting unused for weeks/months.

the look of the ebay battery doesnt quote a cold cranking amps (CCA) which is normally a indication of capacity basis for use to power a starter motor, just a Ah rating which to me looks more to towards a steady output current in say a mobility scooter or golf buggy for a long period rather than sudden bust of power to crank a engine, mind you the rally design ones dont look much different and assume they selling them for starting batteries.
personally if want a smaller battery to mount in any way i would go for the red top type

As above read the blurb it is Deep Cycle Battery not designed for cranking engines.

Also Tayna Batteries sell it cheaper

Something like this would do the job http://www.tayna.co.uk/YTX20L-BS-Numax-Motorbike-Battery-P7555.html

[Edited on 21/11/12 by britishtrident]

I used a Banner 53034 battery (as used in many Caterhams) for my 1.25 Zetec SE install and it started faultlessly every time for the first couple of years. I then updated to the Puma 1.7 engine, and this battery is still starting it over a year later!

http://www.tayna.co.uk/53034-Banner-Caterham-Battery-P8369.html

I've got a couple of CTEK 3600 maintenance battery chargers which I would thoroughly recommend, although they are more expensive than the one you've mentioned.

Ed.

[Edited on 22/11/12 by Madinventions]

I'll second the CTEK, they're very good, i use them on my bikes and they are connected the whole time. The earlier Optimiser and a cheap lidl/aldi one tend to kill batteries if connected for long periods

Is this the one?

Linky

I've got a number of them, but XS 0.8 is probably as good as any, it's only 0.8A so will take a long time to charge a flat battery, but just to keep on topped up it'll be fine. if it's flat just use a 'normal' charger.

http://www.batterymasters.co.uk/Product-Ultramax-NP20-12,-12v-20Ah-Sealed-Lead-Acid-High-Capacity-Battery-(L(mm)-W(mm)-H(mm)-181-76-167)_1382.asp x

These look great value and used by a few of the Caterham guys.

[Edited on 25/11/12 by rdodger]

[Edited on 25/11/12 by rdodger]

Yep, now got one of those coming to me in the post!

It does look VERY similar to the RMD one! Somewhat cheaper though.

Happily it is more or less the same size as Powervamp 25 so I recon it's possible to use their ally mounting bracket.

I guess I will find out.

From Wikipedia

The starting (cranking) or shallow cycle type is designed to deliver large bursts of power for a short time, as is needed to start an engine . Once the engine is started, the battery is recharged by the engine-driven charging system. Starting batteries are intended to have a low depth of discharge on each use. They are constructed of many thin plates with thin separators between the plates, and may have a higher specific gravity electrolyte to reduce internal resistance.[1]

The deep cycle (or motive) type is designed to continuously provide power for long periods of time (for example in a trolling motor for a small boat, auxiliary power for a recreational vehicle, or traction power for a golf cart or other battery electric vehicle) . They can also be used to store energy from a photovoltaic array or a small wind turbine. Deep-cycle batteries have fewer, thicker plates and are intended to have a greater depth of discharge on each cycle, but will not provide as high a current on heavy loads. The thicker plates survive a higher number of charge/discharge cycles.

Data sheet

http://www.ultramaxbatteries.com/ProductDocs/SLAUMXNP20-12-TECH.pdf

I hope it's good enough, there's no mention of cold cranking current in the data sheet. looks more like a leisure type battery then one for starting engines. let us know how you get on with it tho, i need one for mine!

link to discussion on pistonheads

review seems good enough and £32 here with free delivery
Ultramax 12V 20Ah For UPS, Jump Starter, etc NP17-12' NP18-12

Got me one of these too today! My local Aldi had a dozen or so in the clearance bin!!!


[img]
Aldi charger [/img]

As discussed here:Locostbuilders

[Edited on 26/11/12 by JC]