Technical Do Duracell Make Batteries For Panda's? ['cos I want one]

[panda panda]

Simple one this,

Fizzle's['93 1000 fire fuel injected] battery is flat as a fart this morning, charger is nowhere to be found [oh the joys of moving home just keep on giving] so as the battery is a few years old and of unknown brand and age I've decided to change it.

I doubt Fizzle's got the correct battery fitted to her so I'm asking :

1. correct battery type

2. recommend a battery brand

3. ditto where to buy

I can just about manage to fit it myself though

While we're at it can anyone recommend a cheap battery charger too?

Messed up buying alloy wheels for Twizzle so thought I'd ask first this time :bang::bang::bang:

 

[panda panda]

Bosch S4 Battery 063 4 Year Guarantee Bosch S4 car batteries are a high quality, premium replacement for you original car battery. The Bosch S4 range has up to 15% more 'Cold Cracking' power than the original equivilent, and up to 20% longer service life thanks to Bosch's inovitive 'Power Frame' technology. All Bosch S4 batteries are maintance free meaning you do not need to top up, or change the water. Bosch S4 car batteries are ideal for moden vehicles which require a higher quality battery Amp Hours: (Ah): 45AhCold Cranking Amp: (CCA): 420Length: 212mmWidth: 175mmHeight: 175mm

on euro parts, with the discount comes out at £37 any good?

Not sure about the cold cracking though

 

[JamieK]

I think sir will find it's Cold Cranking!

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Bosch are the only batteries I use - I normally go for the Silver range - 5 year warrentee. Your's sounds a good price though, but not sure on cranking power myself. Just check it matches or exceeds your current battery

 

[panda panda]

Bosch are the only batteries I use - I normally go for the Silver range - 5 year warrentee. Your's sounds a good price though, but not sure on cranking power myself. Just check it matches or exceeds your current battery

those ones work out at just over £61.

the battery fitted is a no brand cheapy, too dark to check it's specs now but I'd bet either bosch will surpass it.

Thanks for the info

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

At £61 better off with your £37 one lol.

 

[panda panda]

At £61 better off with your £37 one lol.

Yep, will pick one up on monday. Tuesday I will find battery charger

 

[Liquid Knight]

My brother has been having the same trouble with his BMW so I got him one of these for Jesus's birthday...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360472348367?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

...works a treat.


I think it's Jesus's birthday this month, could be Harry Potter anyway some bloke who does magic in a book.

 

[panda panda]

Don't you need the yellow thing in the sky to be on for it to work?

BTW it's Sir Isaac Newtons birthday on 25th, which is why our parents used to get apples in there socks on that day

 

[panda panda]

found bosch battery for less than £35 delivered so being a lazy bargain hunter went for that option instead. Will let you know how I get on....

 

[firecolour]

"Cold cranking power" will be related to the internal resistance of the battery (ie the voltage doesn't drop too much when presented with the high load of a starter motor).

As for the charger, I doubt those solar ones are any good, better to invest in an intelligent charger like CTEK. I use one on my Triumph TR5 to continuously keep it topped up. It has a function to re-energise old batteries and won't overcharge.

Not sure about the Bosch claim of never having to change the water? You should never "change" the water in a battery, it's sulphuric acid that is only ever topped up with deionised water.

Anyhow, I wouldn't worry too much about compatibility, simply find a decent branded "sealed for life" one that fits the physical space & connectors. The more A/Hr the better. Oh, and don't use a rapid charger on sealed batteries.

A quick look at Bosch and something from the S3 or S4 range will be fine depending on your budget.

S3 Datasheet here so you can check physical fit.

 

[Dragon Man]

yes. dont stick loads of amps into a sealed battery.
results are quite explosive - i have the scars to prove it. (it was only a 33Ah 12v SLA)

bit OT, but i have 2 really nice 100Ah ex telecom SLA's. i'd love to have them in my car for when i go camping in the summer, run my inverter off them and my ham radio gear. i just need to make some kind of amp regulating circuit so i dont get explosions big enough to take the back end of the car out! maybe i could do it with a large PWM.. i love those

 

[Liquid Knight]

Don't you need the yellow thing in the sky to be on for it to work?

Even on crap days there's still enough UV Radiation for it to work. In this morning's overcast sky and fog it was making 11.2V

 

[firecolour]

it was making 11.2V

LK, was that under load or just the open circuit voltage? A flat battery drops to 11v or less so you need more than that to charge it. A car battery is typically 40 to 50AHr capacity whereas the solar charger states it's a 2 watt device. At 12v that's one sixth of an amp. To charge a battery the voltage would need to be around 12-14v (towards the higher amount as the battery became more charged). To fully charge would take around 300 hours of sunshine (a whole month in the summer!).

I'd be interested to know the actual voltage and what the voltage drop would be if you tried to draw 2 watts from those solar things in broad daylight.

 

[urchin]

I have solar chargers on both my silver panda and my red cinquecento sporting they keep them charged up fine providing the battery is healthy in the first place dont expect them to charge a flat battery but they do keep them topped up through normal drainage of the clock alarm etc.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

I have solar chargers on both my silver panda and my red cinquecento sporting they keep them charged up fine providing the battery is healthy in the first place dont expect them to charge a flat battery but they do keep them topped up through normal drainage of the clock alarm etc.

:yeahthat:

I've four, one in the 750L, and one on each of the spare batteries I've got in the garage. Made a little bracket for them to sit in the garage window which is south facing

 

[Dragon Man]

oh man, i could type out an epic story on all the amount of solar work i have done... hmm maybe just one..

my ham radio shack (when i had one) was totally solar powered (given i only used it twice a week) used broken solar panels i got from the local scrap yard, free too. just solder loads together till i got around 20 to 30v (and the rest to cover the roof in parallel for the amps), ran them through a buck boost converter and then into a battery bank that ran an inverter.

sold all that though to buy the cinquecento.

wish the panda roof rack was good, i'd stick a few on top of that temporary just to keep the battery topped up as its only lasting a few weeks before it goes flat.

 

[Liquid Knight]

It's gone now but on a Summer's day the one my ex' uses on her electric fence makes 18V

She has one to power the fence during the day and one to keep the battery trickle charged during the Winter I think she uses both for the battery.

There's a little wind turbine keeping the LED security lights charged.

 

[panda panda]

Unfortunately the car is parked on a north facing drive, good for detailing in the summer but useless for solar battery chargers especially as house blocks any direct sunlight
Maybe a small wind turbine on the garage roof though?

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Maplin do small wind trickle chargers