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Sat Mar 24, 2007 8:30 pm

lostinbaja wrote: I have been using the 275 CCA lawn tractor batterys for years. I have never had a time when they wouldn't crank the 2332 in my sandrail or the 1914 in my Manx. For under $20.00 you can't beat them.
With the small size I was able to mount my voltage regulator in the Manx battery compartment too. Yep. I'm running a generator too.
Jerry...

Guys, listen to experience....I did and it worked fine.

If you want infinite mounting positions get an AGM motorcycle battery. The acid is absorbed in the fiberglass and the battery can be mounted in any position.

MURZ

Sun Mar 25, 2007 11:20 am

I thought you need at least 400 CCA to turn the VW engine over. I am surprised wt the MC battery thing.

How does it do at night ?

Sun Mar 25, 2007 11:40 am

Night has nothing to do with anything versus day. It all has to do with how many accesories you are running and what generator or alternator you have to support it. The battery is just a storage facility to provide enough power to start the engine. Once running the alternator or generator replace what is depleted from the battery while maintaining constant power to the running engine and accesories. The only factor that would really merit a battery with huge cranking power is when you are running a winch. That things saps power like no other.

Sun Mar 25, 2007 5:11 pm

So if for some reason you engine doesn't start on the first try are you gonna have enough power to keep cranking the damn thing or will you have alot less.

Sorry for the questions I just like the idea of the cheap and small battery but not sure of a few things. Hate to have battery problems because I didn't use the right one and not make provisions for a larger one. But $20 isn't a bad risk to find out.

Sun Mar 25, 2007 7:14 pm

If you are afraid of venturing up against the cold cranking amps then there is an alternative. You can buy a Mazda Miata battery which is just a small as a lawn and garden battery but you pay four times as much. I think the standard rating is 800cca's. Check it out online or in person at your local autoparts store. This battery was designed to take the abuse as well. People do not realize that the biggest killer of a battery is vibration. The lead plates start to deteriorate with high amounts of vibration. After awhile they lose their ability to generate the required voltage per cell. If you bang a lot with hard jumps you may want to go to a gel cell type battery like the optima.

Sun Mar 25, 2007 7:22 pm

Ran this in my Miata - great battery!

http://www.westcobattery.com/miata.html

bnc

Sun Mar 25, 2007 7:50 pm

Guys, I rep batteries for a living and have toured the plant and all that stuff. The ETX line of motorcycle batteries from CARQUEST (by EAST PENN) is an AGM design. The acid is absorbed under vacuum into fiberglass mats so the design is not a flooded acid like a conventional battery. The advantage to us is that the battery is sealed, can be deep cycled, can be mounted in any position and is the best out there for vibration. Proof....we are OE on Harley Davidison? Don't get much more vibration than that.

As far as the Miata Battery goes, you are right...one bad little bugger. Just make sure that you do get a true AGM design when you buy one. Some manufacturers are making this battery in a flooded cell design.....not what we want.

As for cranking the car, look at this. A vw starter is .8kw. Divide that by 12.65 volts and you get about 63 amps needed to crank the car. Add a buffer and just make it 100 amps to spin the starter and you can see why 250-275 CCA's will do just fine.

As for the odyssey batteries, I think that if you look at their specs the propaganda can be real misleading. Don't look at the 5 second burst, but the industry standard of CCA's. Is it a good battery? yes. More hype than anything though. It is just an AGM like many batteries out there.

Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:22 pm

Elwood wrote: So if for some reason you engine doesn't start on the first try are you gonna have enough power to keep cranking the damn thing or will you have alot less.

You would be very suprised at how long it will actually crank the engine.
Jerry...

Thu Mar 29, 2007 8:51 am

U need too get a dry cell batt that is one of the smallest ones you can get.

Thu Mar 29, 2007 7:19 pm

Two AA's and a two D cell batteries. DRY cell refers to flashlight batteries.

Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:06 pm

You must trust Murzi on this. I installed a AGM battery and have no problems, even with extended cranking.

Sat Mar 31, 2007 4:26 am

Murzi,

You had a link to the site of your battery supplier earlier. Do you still have that kicking around, I can not locate it. I am going to give that ETX East Penn battery a try. Don't know if I will be able to find a supplier up here in Canada because sometimes CarQuest does not carry the same brand lines up here as they do down in the States. If I can't find one would you mind passing along a dealers name?

Thanks,
Jeff........

Sat Mar 31, 2007 9:13 am

Jeff, try this search engine.....http://www.eastpenn-deka.com/default.aspx?pageid=843

Sat Mar 31, 2007 3:05 pm

Murzi,

Local CarQuest list price on the ETX18L $168.85 and only offered wholesale price of $135.00

Seems kind of high dosen't it? The Canadian dollar exchange is only around 17% right now so maybe I will be better off looking South of the Border. Do you have an idea of pricing down there?

Thanks,
Jeff.......

Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:03 pm

Here's what I did. Been working fine for about 2 years..

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Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:39 pm

Guys, I thought I would share some experience with you all. As most of you know I rep a line of batteries from the EAST PENN company and have touted how great our AGM batteries are. Well.....I recently had a jobber that was stocking the Odyssey battery line "because they are so powerful". I argued with him that our were just as good and even did a little test to prove it. I carry with me a OTC 3167 battery tester that shows CCA's at the end of a battery test and tested both our ETX30L and his PC925. The results were 558 CCA's for our ETX30L and 502 CCA's for his "bad ass PC925". He was humbled......I was estatic.

Although not a true test of CCA's it was a direct comparison of two batteries of the same exact size......except East Penn does not exaggerate the CCA claims like Odyssey does.

The bottom line is by design the AGM or absorbed glass mat battery design is one bad motha....no matter whose battery you buy. They are light, rugged, deep cycle capable, and have longer life expectency than a conventional flooded cell battery.

Just know you don't have to buy the most expensive to get the best :roll: :roll: :roll:

Mon Jul 02, 2007 7:03 pm

Im using a Miata battery,but its a "aftermarket" lead acid one.
More CCAs than I need,and its still relatively small.It would swim around in a standard battery box.
Bought a "blem" from a battery distributer for 22 bucks.
Wish it was a AGM..but did I mention the 22 bucks part?

Mon Jul 02, 2007 7:14 pm

Yea the Miata is a good choice too. The CARQUEST version is a true AGM design. Your 22 buck deal would be hard to pass up.

Mon Jul 02, 2007 7:30 pm

Well I work at a car dealer and put in a request for a "blem" that was small. They said they had a Miata Battery and my eyes lit up.
I was hoping for a "real" one as this outfit carries many OEM batteries,but I cant complain about the deal.The guy said it retailed for around 90 bucks...But I couldnt tell you why!
Other than the shape.Its more like that Odyesey battery standing on end than a conventional more "squared" design.

Tue Jul 03, 2007 6:00 am

For Miata batteries, $75-$85 sounds about right... WestCo's pricing online shows $99.95 -

Look at the batteries from Batteries Plus - I believe that they carry a line of
store branded AGM batteries that are less expensive?

b.a.