What battery do you recommend for a 1980 12volt GS Lwt Land Rover?

[LarryH57]

I bought a Ducellier Battery about 15 years ago and it has done very well considering all the use it has had, but I cant seem to find a Ducellier Battery 069 when I search the net, so what do you recommend?

570 amps for a cold start is essential - see the image of the top.

[ruxy]

A  BANNER  'Power Bull'   (made in Austria)  is probably the very best , hence farmers buy them for tractor batteries. .     A Yuasa  'Silver'   5 year warranty  from Halfords  - more than ample (I have their trade card) ,  there are other good  5 yrs. batteries  .  DETA are supposed to be good  (German OEM)  but I had one fail early.

[LarryH57]

Thanks Ruxy.

Out of interest where did you buy your Banner Power Bull battery?

I don't like the idea of paying postage for one delivered from an online purchase.

[ruxy]

Speedo Car Parts , Crook  &  Northallerton Tyre & Battery  - bit remote for you - they have agents all over UK.  Of course - who pays postage if you need to make a warranty claim , that's why Halfords are good .  Their own brand used to be made by Chloride who are very good  - IIRC they made for Unipart 'Samson'   , Halfords ISTR were Bosch but are probably Yuasa now.  Hella were good but I think they were absorbed by Bosch   -  I have  3 qty.  not in regular use - once a month I use a Ultimate  £14 charger from Lidl  for 2 days trickle  and then check them with a  RING charger / analyser - they are between 3 & 10 years old and still hold  100£ capacity  (that's the only true test).   I once had a excellent battery - Continental Tudor  - I think that was actually a Exide.

[LarryH57]

Of course Halfords say on the web that nothing is found for a Series 3 LR - I remember them telling me in person that Series 3 LRs are now too old to list. Even their stock of Carb fuel filters has gone!

[Richard Farrant]

2 hours ago, LarryH57 said:

Of course Halfords say on the web that nothing is found for a Series 3 LR - I remember them telling me in person that Series 3 LRs are now too old to list. Even their stock of Carb fuel filters has gone!

Larry,

According to your earlier post you have a 069 battery, this is a general designation used by battery makers so all you have to do is ask for a battery of that number, the amp/hours, dimensions and terminal layout will be the same.

[ruxy]

Yuasa absorbed Lucas batteries.  If you check your User instructions - you will find the original Lucas 12 volt  & sizes for a pair of batteries for FFR starting.  069 is a British size/mode and was the standard fit for a 90" pet.  You will have loads of extra room on a 12 volt chassis platform , even fitted with a plastic acid-spill tray , I use timber packers.  The platform will accept a standard tractor size battery.   Late civvy 88" were fitted with a Classic Range Rover battery (more CCA)  but its taller and you need to fit the late battery clamp frame + longer J bolts.  There are lots of alternatives - things just get complex.    The  069  is now the accepted 'matched pair' for the FFR tray between seats.  However avoid any so called 069 that has bottom clamp feet because it makes them too big to fit the tray (without hacksawing them off & that would probably infringe warranty).  Battery makers are cheating using near DIN size battery casings and saying they are British ,  btw  -  by British I don't mean BS  (British Standard)  -  IIRC there never was a BS , it was a British Battery makers federation range of physical & CCA sizing.

[Citroman]

Attention there are calcium/calcium batteries on sale, they can give problems as they need higher voltage for loading. (Like modern cars). It works for a good while but if your car isn't used for longer you get starting problems. For loading you need a special charger too. I got back with the batterie to the man who sold it to me. It took him 2 days on the special charger and he could't get more than 80% charged... Next one will be an lead/lead battery.

Edited March 31 by Citroman

[LarryH57]

Interesting, as my knowledge of Land Rover batteries is nil. What type did they fit at the factory?

[ruxy]

3 hours ago, LarryH57 said:

Interesting, as my knowledge of Land Rover batteries is nil. What type did they fit at the factory?

According to S3 1980  User manual + earlier the 12 volt was fitted with a Lucas CB9   ,  51a.h.  (and that is a useless bit of info.)   A 069  is 68 a.h.  capacity at 20 hour rate.  I would think the factory did fit a Lucas manufacture.  The  L.R.  franchise spares network (Unipart) would have supplied a Unipart Activator  (dry charged) circa.  1980   abt.  1985 they would have supplied a Unipart  Samson (blue case  5 years warranty or Red case 3 years warranty).    To leave Solihull , for appearance sake - I would say that the top clamp  577020 would be filled full length as would the plastic acid spill tray.  The LWT tray had no drain pipe facility but was same length as the civvy 624430  tray.   A 069 has a length of 266mm    but IIRC the top clamp is capable of a battery 346mm long.   During this time-line lead-acid batteries had improved in performance and CCA and with a smaller physical size.   I would suspect for renewals in service the MOD would have standardised on  069 for 12 volt & 2x for FFR,  and placed orders from seveal manufacturers  ?  Definative battery info. is a difficult area, I have had all sorts of batteries on Ex-MOD LWT's  but of course if it was heading for auction any good batteries would be removed & a dud fitted , in my experience they were always sulphated but could have stood connected in auction yars for 2+ months..