Battery Questions

[rh77]

At best, I can figure that the batt in the 'Teg is at least 5 years old. I EOC quite a bit, and for safety purposes, I drive with my headlights on whenever driving. The biggest drain is usually the fan blower, often used with the engine off.

Winter is approaching. Some weeks, the car sits for about 4-5 days outdoors before I get back to it (no EBH plug access).

So, with that in mind...

Question 1: What is a good Voltage Reading at engine-off? When does it show signs of giving up? I'll probably wait until it fails, but if that's tomorrow, I'd like to have an idea of what to buy pretty quickly.

Question 2: Is there a good battery folks can recommend? I've heard that Optima brand batts have declined in quality over the last year or so.

Any thoughts of a battery that works well under these conditions?

RH77

[VetteOwner]

uhh any battery pretty much. i use farm and fleet (farm type of store) and havent have any problems. usually the higher the warranty on em th ebetter quality, notice i said usually tho. id avoid walmart batteries tho, i havent had good luck with them at all.

well at voltage off it should read around 12-13V (accross the battery) with it running it should be 14.8V. now i wouldnt worry about letting it sit for 4-5 days. both my car and truck sit outdoors and start up every time in -20*F weather to +100*f.



hehe last winters storms

[Danronian]

I've never had trouble with my store-brand batteries either. I've had unknown used ones in the last few cars I've had, and never had one go bad. I even bought the cheapest battery I could find a few times (walmart cheapest), and never had a problem with them either.

If your battery does drain a lot when EOC, you might want to think about upgrading the size / capacity of the battery.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by rh77

Question 1: What is a good Voltage Reading at engine-off? When does it show signs of giving up?

12.6 minimum after several hours since the car was last run.

Signs aren't always related to voltage. A battery can show 12.6+ resting voltage, but not have the capacity to deliver current for starting, or have enough capacity to restart the car after discharging even for a short time.

The only way to know for sure is a load test.

But my bet is you'll detect the battery's impending demise on your own - slower engine cranking speeds is a giveaway. The colder weather will reveal a dying battery too.

[VetteOwner]

well sometimes its not easy to detect a dying battery, it used to be back in the day because it would take several seconds of cranking to start, now with todays self priming fuel injected stuff it takes less than a second to start. load testing will tell you if a battery is good or not but it puts alot of strain on the battery, so too many load tests will eventually kill a battery too

[cfg83]

Hello -

Can someone post that super-expensive battery option here (like maybe $200+)? I can't find where it is on another battery related thread.

CarloSW2

[rh77]

Thanks for the info...

I'm getting about 12.1 volts across the batt before startup. Probably any day now, but...

Over the past 2 Winters, when it gets below 20*F, the starter sounds labored and slow. But, it keeps firing and off it goes. Vett's right though -- it takes only a couple seconds to crank in the worst of conditions. Many times with EOC, just a quick flick of the key and it fires. Hard to predict...

So, I guess I'll wait for it to fail and go from there. I'll probably go with a larger capacity automotive/farm store brand. Last I recall, CR rated some Sears models pretty highly. I wouldn't take a free batt from Wal-Mart, tho -- just a personal decision.

So I assume, going with a higher cranking amperage means more capacity??? It has to be rated for hot and cold here. -1 to 101*F.

RH77

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by rh77

I'm getting about 12.1 volts across the batt before startup.

Yeah, that's not good. It'll leave you stranded on a cold day.

If you're looking for another starting battery (vs. deep cycle), you want more reserve capacity, not necessarily CCA.

People who do lots of EOC really should be running deep cycle batteries, IMO.

[MnFocus]

Originally Posted by cfg83

Hello -

Can someone post that super-expensive battery option here (like maybe $200+)? I can't find where it is on another battery related thread.

CarloSW2

Well there are many of them .
the Optima is prolly the least expensive spendy type batt
Enersys Odyssey is a great one that I've had excellent luck with . A real dry cell , compact and fairly light.
Any more suggestions from the peanut gallery ?

[rh77]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Yeah, that's not good. It'll leave you stranded on a cold day.

If you're looking for another starting battery (vs. deep cycle), you want more reserve capacity, not necessarily CCA.

People who do lots of EOC really should be running deep cycle batteries, IMO.

With the "new" driving style over the last couple years (EOC), deep cycle looks like a candidate. The ones I remember are much larger than stock, so should I be looking to relocate it to the rear hatch? Not much room there...

Good info, thanks!

-R