Race battery life.

[MarkM]

Had my Red Top 25 fitted for 14 months and it appears to be knackered.

Car wouldnt start this morning, it was turning over very slowly. Put some jump leads on and it fired straight into life.

I dont think I can really justify £90 for a new battery every year for the sake of a 6kg weight saving. They dont claim to be designed for road cars and its a pain in the arse if you have to leave it standing for more then a couple of days you have to disconnect the battery.

Other possibility is a Red Top30 which has more capacity and cranking current but costs £160. You only save 3kgs with these!

Only other problem is because it is inside the car in the boot I want something as light and robust as possible which is what the red tops are designed to be.

Is it knackered or should I buy a charger (you need a 'special' one for these!) and give that a go?

 

[Monkey_beast_182]

You been using it for every day use? Are you running a stereo in your car, or is it a stripped out shell. The race batteries are designed SOLEY for starting a car, and will not last long if you continualy charge and discharge it through using electrical devises in the car. That's the point of having a larger, more durable stock battery.

Unfortunatly mate, to sacrifice weight, you also sacrifice battery life.

Look for a higher amp hour battery for better life.

 

[ben_p]

i have a redtop 30 you can have if you buy me a 25 LOL

 

[avstar1]

I think you need to get a trickle feed to the battery for when its not in use this will prolong the life of your battery. I think they are about 60quid odd. I'm looking at fitting a red top 25 battery under the passenger seat from VIS in Cov. The guy seems to know his stuff...

 

[MarkM]

i have a redtop 30 you can have if you buy me a 25 LOL

I have a used 25 if you want to do a swap?

I think I will go for something a bit more robust this time round its not really worth the hassle in an everyday road car. Optima do sealed batterys so will probably go for one of these.

 

[ben_p]

LOL is it propper fucked?

mine is about 2 weeks "used"

 

[avstar1]

Was thinking of getting one of these to connect when the car is in the garage...

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/products/ProductDetail.asp?cls=MSPORT&pcode=GAASOLAR1

 

[Paul J]

The red-tops are aircraft batteries which neatly sale quite well in the race car market, they will not cope with everyday use a car will put them through.

Keeping them on constant float charge is a good idea. A bike charger is ideal, little loom and connector down by front bumper and just clip in when car is not being used.

 

[avstar1]

I was told that the battery is only required to start the car... once started its no longer in use. Therefore the problem here is to get the battery topped up when not in use.

 

[MarkM]

Was thinking of getting one of these to connect when the car is in the garage...

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/products/ProductDetail.asp?cls=MSPORT&pcode=GAASOLAR1

It is alot of hassle for a little gain IMO. I think if I had got a couple of years out of it I would buy another.

ben - it didnt have enough charge to start the car this morning.

 

[Paul J]

The battery should float at 13.68v so its possible the altenator is damaging these batteries by overcharging by keeping them at 14.4

 

[Fred@BTM]

never had a problem with our redtop 20, but then when the car is parked up the electrics are disconnected via a kill switch

plus we haven't got much in terms of accessories!

 

[Paul J]

They are fantastic batteries, we use them where we can but clients bulk at the cost. In the right conditions they last far longer than any other sealed lead acid battery, mainly due to the solid lead plates. iirc we are changing some in a couple weeks that are over 10years in service.

 

[MarkM]

never had a problem with our redtop 20, but then when the car is parked up the electrics are disconnected via a kill switch

plus we haven't got much in terms of accessories!

But if the battery is only used for starting the car then it doesnt matter about air con, radios etc does it?

My car has never stood for more then a day with the battery attached and 99% of the time I travel for half an hour between starts so it should get fully recharged.

As far as I was told as long as you dont discharge them too much they should be fine.

Maybe its the alternator like Paul J is saying.

 

[Monkey_beast_182]

It's sertainly worth checking - stick a voltmeter across your terminals while you're engine is running and see what voltage you've got.

 

[mini-valver]

This is why I'm abit septical about buying one. £100+ is alot of money to be bump starting it every couple of days.....

 

[GordonD]

Here's the situation. You've taken a car that the manufacturer has decided needs a 47 Ah battery, and replaced it with a 16 Ah battery. One third of the capacity. And not just any 16 Ah battery but one that the manufacturer specifically warns is not suitable for deep cycling, ie, using more than a small part of its capacity on each discharge-charge cycle. That if you deep cycle it that rapidly uses up the paste in it.

Because of its different construction the Red Top 25 has the cranking current ability of a much larger capacity car battery, but it just can't take deep cycling. That makes it great as a race car battery. But not for a road car filled up with accessories and electronics that use current 24 hours a day.

If Renault thought a Clio Sport could get by on a 16 Ah battery they wouldn't have fitted a 47 Ah battery. If you want to run a 16 Ah battery you're going to have to put it on some sort of trickle charger.

 

[mini-valver]

Here's the situation. You've taken a car that the manufacturer has decided needs a 47 Ah battery, and replaced it with a 16 Ah battery. One third of the capacity. And not just any 16 Ah battery but one that the manufacturer specifically warns is not suitable for deep cycling, ie, using more than a small part of its capacity on each discharge-charge cycle. That if you deep cycle it that rapidly uses up the paste in it.

Because of its different construction the Red Top 25 has the cranking current ability of a much larger capacity car battery, but it just can't take deep cycling. That makes it great as a race car battery. But not for a road car filled up with accessories and electronics that use current 24 hours a day.

If Renault thought a Clio Sport could get by on a 16 Ah battery they wouldn't have fitted a 47 Ah battery. If you want to run a 16 Ah battery you're going to have to put it on some sort of trickle charger.

Elaborate....

 

[Rich]

http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/...facturerId=4&gclid=CKutme2VoI8CFQIwlAod4HeXVw

http://www.ctek.com/EN-GB/

Is what I use on my little used 182 ! Would be ideal.