Car Battery

[richie00boy]

I left the (side) lights on for about 3 hours yesterday on the wife's car and the battery went flat. Managed to bump start it and drove round for an hour or so, but considering the battery is original and is now over 10 years old I think it would be best to get a new one. It's an 075 size 55Ah 255CCA. I'm amazed it's lasted this long as the wife does mainly short journeys although it does get used as well for longer ones and holidays.

I had a look on Tayna and found the CCA ratings nowadays all seem to be around double what my old one is. I did some digging online and found some people on a boat forum saying that to achieve the high CCA rating the plates are thinner and more of them, but for tolerance to deep discharge (short journeys) you need thicker plates (more lead). With this in mind I selected a Banner Starting Bull battery 62Ah 480CCA which weighs 15kg. A similar priced (£73) Varta silver has 61Ah 600CCA but only weighs 14kg. But the Varta warranty is 5 years against the Banner 2 years.

Am I making the wrong decision to go with the Banner? I've always thought better the battery longer the warranty. I have since found it on another site (Battery Factory / Powerland Battery Centre) for £53. Delivery cost is only a pound more than Tayna.

 

[Kram]

If your old battry has been kept topped up it may last many more years. They degrade quickly when left flat. I'd give it a full charge and see how it goes. Some chargers like my cheap lipo one tell how much charge it takes and can also do a discharge test.
Its work knowing that lead acids are oversized by a factor of 2 or 4 simply to get a decent life out of them when they start to degrade.

My dad has a bad habit of being convinced he needs a new batttery by RAC or shops for unrelated problems, like leaving lights on! I nkw have several spares that I use for garage lighting.

Side lights still consume a reasonable power and its not unexpected to go flat in 3h.

Id argue if the CCA of the old one was adequate, then your better off with durability.

 

[Barking Mat]

A) It's winter.

B) I'd charge it on a charger, my Volvo did that, headlights on, engine not running, needed jump starting, still got another couple of years out of it.

C) Short journeys as you say don't help.

Cross fingers and stick it on charge.

 

[Smallfry]

I have always found that OE batteries ....... the one fitted when the vehicle was new, always last a LOT longer than any replacement.

Bosch, Varta, Yuasa, and probably a few others last better than budget ones though.

The traditional good makes, like Lucas, Exide, Tungstone, etc. are not what they once were.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

I have always found that OE batteries ....... the one fitted when the vehicle was new, always last a LOT longer than any replacement.

Bosch, Varta, Yuasa, and probably a few others last better than budget ones though.

The traditional good makes, like Lucas, Exide, Tungstone, etc. are not what they once were.

I believe the cheaper battery brands are all made by the same company and are then "graded" before having the end distributors labels attached.

 

[J1nx]

I’d go with the Varta personally.

 

[chrismac]

I left the ignition and fan on in my hilux all night, next morning it was dead flat. a 2nd good big battery would not jump start it, charged it up all day and its been fine ever since, that was a few months ago, its on a 10 year old truck with original battery, we have had some hard frost and its been fine,

 

[winchman]

I look for the largest CCA and longest guarantee, usually Yuasa.
But I would charge it at least overnight and have it tested as it may still be ok?

 

[Munkul]

Lion batteries are good...

... For putting on a car you intend to sell within 12 months

 

[Prajna]

I left the (side) lights on for about 3 hours yesterday on the wife's car and the battery went flat. Managed to bump start it and drove round for an hour or so, but considering the battery is original and is now over 10 years old I think it would be best to get a new one. It's an 075 size 55Ah 255CCA. I'm amazed it's lasted this long as the wife does mainly short journeys although it does get used as well for longer ones and holidays.

I had a look on Tayna and found the CCA ratings nowadays all seem to be around double what my old one is. I did some digging online and found some people on a boat forum saying that to achieve the high CCA rating the plates are thinner and more of them, but for tolerance to deep discharge (short journeys) you need thicker plates (more lead). With this in mind I selected a Banner Starting Bull battery 62Ah 480CCA which weighs 15kg. A similar priced (£73) Varta silver has 61Ah 600CCA but only weighs 14kg. But the Varta warranty is 5 years against the Banner 2 years.

Am I making the wrong decision to go with the Banner? I've always thought better the battery longer the warranty. I have since found it on another site (Battery Factory / Powerland Battery Centre) for £53. Delivery cost is only a pound more than Tayna.

You were informed correctly. One of the differences between deep cycle batteries and starter batteries is the plate thickness. A starter battery is required to provide lots of amps for a short period (CCA) and then be quickly recharged and achieves that by having more (and, necessarily, thinner) plates. A leisure/deep cycle battery is designed to provide that same power over a longer period at a lower rate and thus can use thicker plates, which givers it a longer life expectancy. Each time you recharge a lead acid battery a little of the lead paste falls off the plates (less so in an AGM battery because there is glass fiber packed between the plates), so the thicker the plates (absent abuses like leaving it discharged, which leads to sulfation and susceptibility to being frozen) the longer it is likely to last. So you have the formula for choosing: for longevity buy the heaviest one with the lowest CCA. I wouldn't be concerned about the gurantee period; any decent lead acid starting battery should last more than 4 years unless it has a manufacturing defect, which would most likely reveal itself pretty quickly.

 

[bricol]

Lion batteries are good...

... For putting on a car you intend to sell within 12 months

To be fair, the two I bought five years ago are still going well, both on cars used intermittently.

One my competition car, the other my Lancia. The Lancia gets used a lot for around 7 months of the year, and parked the rest. Batteries given a charge up when I remember.

Admittedly, they have lasted a lot longer than I expected.

 

[Trevorleach]

I have always found that OE batteries ....... the one fitted when the vehicle was new, always last a LOT longer than any replacement.

Bosch, Varta, Yuasa, and probably a few others last better than budget ones though.

The traditional good makes, like Lucas, Exide, Tungstone, etc. are not what they once were.

I have had no luck with Exide on a car, crap from the get go.
Yuasa seem okay on cars, but have a bad name on trucks.

 

[Munkul]

To be fair, the two I bought five years ago are still going well, both on cars used intermittently.

One my competition car, the other my Lancia. The Lancia gets used a lot for around 7 months of the year, and parked the rest. Batteries given a charge up when I remember.

Admittedly, they have lasted a lot longer than I expected.

I've had 3, and all 3 failed within 2 years. To be fair, my alfa 159 had 2 of those, it seemed to be quite hard on batteries.
Aux battery has failed on the xf now, exide is the only option for that, quite cheap at £55. thinking it'll do another 10k miles before chopping in for a newer motor. Just hoping the main battery lasts that long, its £300 to change, even at cheapest trade price

 

[barracuda816]

I believe Bosch are rebadged Varta.

I personally don’t think there is much in it. I would get a cheapish one and keep the receipt.

 

[Colin Barron]

I left the (side) lights on for about 3 hours yesterday on the wife's car and the battery went flat. Managed to bump start it and drove round for an hour or so, but considering the battery is original and is now over 10 years old I think it would be best to get a new one. It's an 075 size 55Ah 255CCA. I'm amazed it's lasted this long as the wife does mainly short journeys although it does get used as well for longer ones and holidays.

I had a look on Tayna and found the CCA ratings nowadays all seem to be around double what my old one is. I did some digging online and found some people on a boat forum saying that to achieve the high CCA rating the plates are thinner and more of them, but for tolerance to deep discharge (short journeys) you need thicker plates (more lead). With this in mind I selected a Banner Starting Bull battery 62Ah 480CCA which weighs 15kg. A similar priced (£73) Varta silver has 61Ah 600CCA but only weighs 14kg. But the Varta warranty is 5 years against the Banner 2 years.

Am I making the wrong decision to go with the Banner? I've always thought better the battery longer the warranty. I have since found it on another site (Battery Factory / Powerland Battery Centre) for £53. Delivery cost is only a pound more than Tayna.

Tayna is a good supplier i have used several times, next day delivery. I had one where the acid was low, they sent a replacement next day delivery. I get 10% discount by being in the Caravan and Motorhome club. I was in the same position as you as to whether to change when the battery appeared to just start it, i changed it and it does start better.

 

[Trevorleach]

Tayna is a good supplier i have used several times, next day delivery. I had one where the acid was low, they sent a replacement next day delivery. I get 10% discount by being in the Caravan and Motorhome club. I was in the same position as you as to whether to change when the battery appeared to just start it, i changed it and it does start better.

Problem with Tayna is, if you have an issue they ask you to send the battery back, not easy or cheap, never buy batteries by post is what I have learnt.

 

[Colin Barron]

Problem with Tayna is, if you have an issue they ask you to send the battery back, not easy or cheap, never buy batteries by post is what I have learnt.

Tayna sent the new replacement battery and picked up the battery being replaced at no cost at the same time. I have had four batteries for cars and the caravan in the past 3 years and have been surprised at the next day delivery, price and they are well packed. ( i have no connection with the company apart from being a retail customer). The Volvo battery was just over £100 from Tayna or locally for the same battery make and spec was £135 to 150.

 

[Colin Barron]

I believe Bosch are rebadged Varta.

I personally don’t think there is much in it. I would get a cheapish one and keep the receipt.

They are made by the same parent company.

 

[Trevorleach]

Tayna sent the new replacement battery and picked up the battery being replaced at no cost at the same time. I have had four batteries for cars and the caravan in the past 3 years and have been surprised at the next day delivery, price and they are well packed. ( i have no connection with the company apart from being a retail customer). The Volvo battery was just over £100 from Tayna or locally for the same battery make and spec was £135 to 150.

They wanted me to send the battery back to them, wont be using them again.
Buy local, then easy to exchange, last one was Halfords, walked in told them my issue (weak cranking) 5 mins later walked out with new one.

 

[richie00boy]

Happy new year and thanks for all the replies.
I wish to buy a new one as being the wife's car it's needed to pick up kids after school immediately upon leaving work and it will be a disaster if the car won't start.

I've found a local battery specialist who is actually listed as a Banner retailer and they advised me they no longer deal with them... They do an Exide Premium 61Ah 600CCA 5yr for just a few pounds more than the Varta Silver from Tayna. Not many places list the weight of batteries they sell so it's extremely difficult to pick out a low CCA high weight one. Most low CCA seem to be cheapo ones.
So probably going to go with this local option.

As it happens, I only found out yesterday that my Astra's battery went flat over the Christmas period. That battery is 5 years old - the second one on the car. The first one failed in exactly the same way at the same time of year at about 5 years old as well. I've had it on charge 24 hours but it started on 6A and was still on 4A this morning, so I reckon that one is gone as well. Started the car OK but no doubt will fail me pretty soon. So looks like buying two batteries now.