So just to round things off with the recent work I've had to replace the battery on the Croma. I've always thought it was problematic as it seemed to be leaing acid, causing a white deposit in the battery box. I put a pipe and catch bottle on the vent but it made no difference. Battery was a Halfords Calcium 096 that was in it when I bought the car. It has lasted two year and voltage has been OK but I was worried about capacity. Anyway a few starts and short runs durng recent work and leving it idle for a weekend resulted in a short turnover and then dead on Monday morning. So I've been using the battery from the fastest car in the world as a jump pack (battery is over 20 years old and still going strong) to keep me going while getting a new battery. I settled on a Duracell from ECP. Battery box will take a 110 size but it does not really need it except perhaps for the 5 cylinder diesel, so I stuck with th 096. Duracell don't make car batteries and some research shows that it's a branded Banner made in Austria. Appears to be a slight variation (no extra lid) of their Power Bull P7412. Banner are a respected manufacturer. Anyway with current discounts it was £62.24 for a 74AH 680CCA battery with a 5 year warranty. Plus £3 back for the old one. Seems like a bargain to me.
Close expection of the old Halfords battery indicates it's leaking from under the lid.

Robert G8RPI.

20 year old battery? how

also you can get more than 3 squid for your old battery if you sell it, croma got quite heavy battery, dunno prices per kg there for car batteries but more than 3 squid for sure

g8rpi said:

So I've been using the battery from the fastest car in the world as a jump pack (battery is over 20 years old and still going strong) to keep me going while getting a new battery.
Robert G8RPI.

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Would that be a GEL battery by any chance. Gels have an incredible life span if not abused.

s130 said:

Would that be a GEL battery by any chance. Gels have an incredible life span if not abused.

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Hi,
The one with 20 years and a supersonic record isn't a gel, it's a absorbed glass mat (AGM), Hawker SBS40 designed for aircraft use. The Duracell is an enhanced wet acid type with a porous plastic pocket over the plates to control shedding. This gives longer life.


Robert G8RPi.

flisko said:

20 year old battery? how

also you can get more than 3 squid for your old battery if you sell it, croma got quite heavy battery, dunno prices per kg there for car batteries but more than 3 squid for sure

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Hi,
Well the battery was supplied new sometime in 1995, I fitted it in the car early 1996. Car was run in UK and Jordan in 1996, Jordan and Black Rock USA in 1997 this included a number of complete discharges, and 5 supersonic runs. I removed the battery from the car early 1998 and purchased it (and the other "emergency" battery) at auction in 1998. Since then it has been used as a jump start pack, start my small jet engines, run emergency radios and has also sat unused for long periods. It's still going strong. Will happily start a big commercial vehicle diesel. cranking current is over 2000A


Scrap battery prices are around 40p a kilo at the moment so would probably get about £6 from the scrappy but it's a lot of hassle for one item these days.

got pic of that battery?

flisko said:

got pic of that battery?

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Yes indeed,
I was wrong on the removal and auction dates, it was late '97 not '98. Even as a team member who supplied lots of kit FOC I still had to bid for it at auction. I did keep one of the keys (Andy has the other one) and the Machmeter is mine but is kept in the car. The grey "AA" bag was for a mobile phone that only called the AA or 999. needless to they didn't catch on and I'd bought some of the bags as new surplus years before. Just happened the battery fits perfectly.









Robert G8RPI.

how the hell this battery still works, they must be expensive

flisko said:

how the hell this battery still works, they must be expensive

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Hi,
Quality materials and construction. I have a couple that are even older but have not been supersonic. Current price (non-aircraft approved from Farnell) is £260.95 plus VAT = £313. They are used by a lot of race teams and there is a cheaper variant branded Odyessy, about 1/2 the price but I don't think they are the same quality.

Robert G8RPI.

just fit this battery to croma

Took old Croma battery (096) to scrappy and got £5.70 for it. So a bit better than ECPs £3. The scrappy (non car) is on the same road as ECP so no difference in the milage.

Robert G8RPI.