Lets talk batterys

wvcab · February 16, 2007, 04:59:25 PM

Quote from: "Crosley"

On the flip side my diehard battery in my lawn tractor has puked. I have a battery tender device on it .

Went to fire the tractor up this eve and the battery is dead as can be. Will not jump with the bad battery hooked up it is so dead.

Guess I will run to Wally World for a new battery for the lawn tractor.

yes what is up with these yard tractors, mine eats a battery every year, and i have a battery tender on it....

phat rat · February 16, 2007, 08:31:01 PM

Wrong kind of tractor?

I've had my Husqvarna for 11 years and only on the second one. Use it year round, I have a snowblower for it also

Crosley.In.AZ · February 16, 2007, 10:18:14 PM

Quote from: "wvcab"
Quote from: "Crosley"

On the flip side my diehard battery in my lawn tractor has puked. I have a battery tender device on it .

Went to fire the tractor up this eve and the battery is dead as can be. Will not jump with the bad battery hooked up it is so dead.

Guess I will run to Wally World for a new battery for the lawn tractor.

yes what is up with these yard tractors, mine eats a battery every year, and i have a battery tender on it....

I was lucky. My lawn tractor battery lasted 4 yrs.

48ford · February 16, 2007, 10:48:27 PM

Lets not forget,If you have a bike you get 2 years,no more.I think they just get shaken apart.
The boat has two batterys and I get one every other year,so one is always "fresh"
Any one notice that the price is up quiet a bit on batterys
Russ

Carps · February 17, 2007, 03:47:52 AM

I recently replaced the battery in my '33 (lives under floor in stock location) with an Oddesy battery. http://www.odysseybatteries.com/ Sucker delivers briliant performance has incredible warranty and comes already installed in a tight fitting steel box. Like the Optima it can be mounted in almost any position except upside down but unlike the optima it is unlikely to break, even in a big crash. I got mine on the recomnndation of four times Aussie Rally Champion Neil Bates who has been using them for years. In fact last season they used up something like four or five cars to win the championship with the four seasons old Oddesy battery being the only item that was used in each. Neil reckons they are indestructible and God nows he's tried real hard.

My old gal now starts first time every time hot, cold or indefferent. The car works pretty good too.

river1 · March 22, 2007, 09:15:35 PM

Quote from: "Crosley"
Quote from: "river1"and, at least at my local costco, you can get an optima battery fpr $99.99

later jim

hmmmmmmmmm , they are 109.99 out here.

:?

and i just looked the other day over here and they are up to $139 :cry:

wish i'd bought one back then

later jim

brti · March 23, 2007, 01:29:03 AM

Back when batteries were stored "dry" their life started when they were filled. Now with the sealed batteries already filled they could easily be two years old before somebody buys them.
Buy your batteries from some outfit who sells ALOT of them and they should be "fresher" than the ones bought elsewhere.
Heavy equipment batteries are still sold "dry" here and not filled till you pick them up. There is alot of junk out there. I've not heard one bad thing about these Optima batteries. Even if they cost more it's worth the pain initially.
Wash them when you wash your car. You can loose 1-2 volts just from the film on the top of the case.

donsrods · March 23, 2007, 03:53:13 AM

Because I have a space problem in the T I am building, I had to start researching small batteries. I came across the Odessey line, and spoke to the factory rep on the phone. The one I ended up getting is only 3 inches wide x 7 x 7 (!) but puts out 680 CCA. I was skeptical, but he told me they use them even on blown BBC, so my 350 should have no trouble.

It really solved a problem for me, and I was able to tuck it into a small spot on the rear frame rail. I only mention this in case someone else has a similar problem and is looking for a solution.

Don

donsrods · March 23, 2007, 03:56:46 AM

That little gray colored box on the rear crossmember is the box I built to hold this battery. Takes up no space whatsoever.

Don

brti · March 24, 2007, 12:52:39 AM

How much are the Odessy batteries, have a "T" issue myself.

donsrods · March 24, 2007, 10:47:52 PM

I paid $ 98. (thereabouts) plus $ 10 for shipping. Came really fast, I bought it from these guys:

www.odysseybatteries.com/

Super guys to deal with, and very imformative. The guy I spoke with evidently knew his stuff, and he gave me the history of these batteries. They were the developers of the Optima batteries, but the design had a flaw. The gap between the circular sections is dead air and contributes nothing to the battery function. They knew that if they could lay up the plates in a tighter configuration they could make a small battery that would do what a big one normally does.

The problem was in handling the plates. For some reason if humans touch the plates it does something to them, so they had to develop robotics to handle that phase. When they got the robotics in place they could then build these.

I may be somewhat off on the facts there, but that is the gist of the story.

I think they also had to wait until the patent rights ran out on the Optimas.

In any event, if this thing does what they say, it will be a great problem solver for us space-limited guys.

Good luck,

DOn

Beck · March 24, 2007, 11:44:43 PM

The battery in my 32 is about toast. I have to charge it to fire the motor if is sits more than 2 weeks. I must have a small drain on it, but can't think of what it would be. It is a small lead acid from Wally. That is the 2nd for it, but I burnt a hole in the top of the 1st during construction. The Optima won't fit where it has to go.
I pulled garden tractors for several years (finally sold out last year). Those batteries are really weak. I shook them to death. I had to put a new one in every year. I couldn't take a chance of it not starting at the pulls. You have a limited time to get to the sled when it's your turn to pull. There wouldn't be enough time to get it jumped.

donsrods · March 24, 2007, 11:57:38 PM

I have no problem with Optimas, either. I worked in the marine industry, and we had go fast boats that couldn't keep a regular wet battery for very long because the pounding killed them. When we started recommending Optimas the customers hardly every had a problem after that.

Don

Crosley.In.AZ · March 25, 2007, 12:05:14 AM

Oddesey battry is real heavy as i recall. Some what small. try and pick the thing up.

I had a customer yrs ago in my shop with an Oddesey batt. It kep going dead slowly..over a few days of driving

I told him 5 - 10 times the stock rebuilt alt on his Bronco was not keeping up with all the stuff he added during the resto - build up. He bought a Powermaster Alt. The batt never went dead again.

Carps · March 25, 2007, 12:56:11 AM

Quote from: "Crosley"Oddesey battry is real heavy as i recall. Some what small. try and pick the thing up.

Mine is about the size of a regular medium duty lead acid battery and I reckon about the same weight, including the full metal body. It's total overkill, but then so is a blown Hemi in a street car, so it kinda fits.

The instructions clearly state that if the car is to sit idle for a period of time the battery should be disconnected from eart, to stop it draining. I'm sure most of us have one of those little red key disconnects on our battery for security if nothing else. Anyhow, I can leave the car sit for weeks and it has more than enough grunt in the battery to pump the fuel up and start as soon as there's fuel in the first cylinder to reach TDC.

Like I said on page 1, I'm a convert and as soon as the Humpy's lead acid battery dies, it too will be fitted with a small Oddesey.