Major Stare
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 posted on 31/7/07 at 08:53 PM |
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Its flat and weighs a ton.......
Car has been of the road for nearly 2yrs and the Mini battery is dead
Need a new battery and cant justify £70+ on a gel battery but dont want a heavy large battery like the currently Mini item.
Do motorbike batteries work,?
Whats smaller than the Mini battery?
1700 X-Flow on GSXR TB's, MegaSquirt.
Cheers 
Jon "FISH"
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RazMan
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| posted on 31/7/07 at 09:08 PM |
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I doubt that a bike battery will give you the cranking power needed. You don't get much smaller than a Mini battery so your next option HAS to
be a gel battery.
Gwan gwan gwan you know you want to 
Cheers,
Raz
When thinking outside the box doesn't work any more, it's time to build a new box
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DIY Si
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| posted on 31/7/07 at 09:18 PM |
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What he said! I don't think you'll get a normal battery much smaller than the mini one. Next step down is a little, but expensive, gel
battery. You could always get a mini one for now and save up for a shiny one.
“Let your plans be dark and as impenetratable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
My new blog: http://spritecave.blogspot.co.uk/
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ken555
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| posted on 31/7/07 at 09:35 PM |
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You can get smaller batteries.
A "028" from a Subaru Justy, fitted to my Impreza
Or
a "895SE" from a Reliant Robin/Fox thats fitted to my GTM.
Ignore the wiring, that was a temp setup to start the car.
The Subaru has standard round tower terminals, where the Reliant was flat bolt on type.
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chriscook
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| posted on 31/7/07 at 10:02 PM |
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I've got a gel type battery that is not destined for a car/bike. I got it from mdsbattery and was suggested by them.
link
About £30 and has been fine - it won't crank for ever but it's not given me a problem. Starts the car (with vauxhall XE engine) on cold
november mornings having been outside all night ok. I do keep it on an optimate when in the garage but thats mainly because I have an alarm fitted.
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SkinnyG
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| posted on 1/8/07 at 04:55 AM |
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I'm using a garden tractor battery. Puts out 300CCA, but if you leave the headlights on for any length of time it's dead.
G
The Lethal Locost
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Major Stare
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| posted on 1/8/07 at 06:39 AM |
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chriscook, cheers for the link
At 17.0Ah, it should crank a x-flow !!!
Jon "FISH"
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bimbleuk
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| posted on 1/8/07 at 06:55 AM |
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I've always used a BMW bike battery with no issue on a high compression 4AGE. Usually around £30 and 19Ah on the side. The car is garaged though
which can help a lot with cold cranking and life span.
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02GF74
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| posted on 1/8/07 at 10:53 AM |
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occassionalyy you see those jump start/carger box things - they should have a battery insdie that should do the job but no idea how long thye will
last.
preety sure maplins had one for sale for about £ 20.
added:
Cheapes gel, pc680 I found is from this geezer (not mee, see the e-mail)
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=61791
[Edited on 1/8/07 by 02GF74]
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 2/8/07 at 12:01 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by 02GF74
occassionalyy you see those jump start/carger box things - they should have a battery insdie that should do the job but no idea how long thye will
last.
They typicaly have 17Ah gel type batteries, like the sort used in burglar alarms etc. They don't tend to last that long as they weren't
designed to suffer the abuse they get starting engines. They are also supposed to be charged with a current limited constant voltage charger (maximum
about 5 Amps), so an alternator would probably screw it up fairly quickly.
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Peteff
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| posted on 3/8/07 at 10:06 AM |
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I've just bought a new Jump Start from Machine Mart. The old one was used for camping, jump starts, power cuts and anything else we could think
of. If the charge is maintained they last ages, mine was at least 8 years old when it expired. They will not charge fully from a vehicle as the rate
is not high enough.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 3/8/07 at 11:11 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Peteff
I've just bought a new Jump Start from Machine Mart.
My Machine Mart one lasted about a year until the battery wouldn't hold a charge. Replaced the battery and it works fine again, except the
insulation on the cables has rotted and is falling off in chunks, not overly safe!
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Major Stare
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| posted on 3/8/07 at 09:55 PM |
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Found a local shop that sells this battery, what does everyone think before i buy it tomorrow??.........
CLICKY, 12V 2Ah
Jon "FISH"
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Macbeast
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| posted on 3/8/07 at 09:59 PM |
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If it's for a golf trolley, it probably isn't designed to give high current needed for starting.
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RichieW
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| posted on 3/8/07 at 10:30 PM |
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I've got oneof the Machine mart jump start boxes too. Its a few years old now as my dad purchased it originally.
I found that it eventually wouldn't charge up using the adaptor supplied but I took it apart and removed the battery and charged the battery
directly using an old standard charger with crocodile clips that my dad must have bought in the sixties or seventies.
When I put it back together the test meter showed a full charge again. It goes to show that you can wring a bit more life out them them than first
seems apparent.
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Major Stare
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| posted on 3/8/07 at 10:37 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Macbeast
If it's for a golf trolley, it probably isn't designed to give high current needed for starting.
So whats the difference between the one i suggested and the one
CHRIS SUGGESTED????????
[Edited on 3/8/07 by Major Stare]
Jon "FISH"
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Major Stare
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| posted on 4/8/07 at 06:40 AM |
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^^^^^^^ Anyone ?
[Edited on 4/8/07 by Major Stare]
Jon "FISH"
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RazMan
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| posted on 4/8/07 at 07:48 AM |
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They are the same type of battery - as already said they might not have the oomph to crank a reluctant engine as they are designed for a constant
drain demanded by electric motors.
A small gel battery is only a few quid more - why take a chance? An Oddyssey PC310 will give you enough cranking power despite being a bike battery
and is only £58.
If you want to know the design differences talk to these guys...
http://www.knightbatteries.com
Personally I would go for a bigger battery (although probably about half the weight of your existing (dead) one. The PS525 is perfect imo.
http://www.hamiltonclassic.co.uk/ProductInformation/BatteryOdyssey.htm
[Edited on 4-8-07 by RazMan]
Cheers,
Raz
When thinking outside the box doesn't work any more, it's time to build a new box
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Major Stare
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| posted on 5/8/07 at 06:57 AM |
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RESULT
Rang my mate yesterday, said i was out and about after a battery.
He has 3 RedTops in his garage with one of them spare. Turns his 2.2ltr Cosworth powered Westfield over no probs, and its mine to borrow to see if it
works, if it does we'll come to some "agreement"
So i now have a nice RedTop Gell 20Ah battery that has only been used twice 
Jon "FISH"
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