Mark Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 I have 2 batteries in the lightweight that are marked up Part No: 038 Heavy Duty 265 Amps Are these the correct type can anyone tell me please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Mark the batteries originally specified were a pair of Lucas GV9A. These are no longer available: http://www.lucas-batteries.com/tech_spec/Car_battery_specifications.pdf But the properties were 44 a/h. 038 implies a battery that is 38 a/h http://www.tayna.co.uk/batterygroups/45/038-Car-Batteries-page1.html 265A is the current it can give when cranking a cold engine So I am sure what you have will be alright. More important is the state they are in & whether they can attain their full charge & hold it until needed. You can fiddle around measuring the specific gravity of the battery to assess charge status, but a most useful guide is from a voltmeter that puts a load on the battery like this: http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cvt1-battery-tester/path/battery-chargers-engine-starters-2 Using just a voltmeter gives no indication of battery performance under load. Although a way round this would be to connect your ordinary voltmeter across just one battery crank it over & see if the battery does a reasonable job at keeping the volts up. Then do the same to the second battery. If you found the first battery a bit low just try it again as the first cranking will tend to draw the heavier current. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted December 30, 2008 Author Share Posted December 30, 2008 Clive I have had one battery on charge all morning and it is not doing anything so I can assume that is knackered, the other one seems Ok. I have just made a call and can get 2 45 a/h batteries for £39.71 each these are just a little bit taller and will fit, would these be Ok to use.?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Mark if it doesn't accept a charge it does seem likely to have failed for good. However I started a thread on these lines about 6 months ago. Various suggestions were made like special battery reconditioning tablets, ingenious but complex chargers - commercial & home constructed, a couple of people suggested just leave it on charge for a few days. I had three batteries that seemed to have died. So charging one at a time after a couple of days of being connected they gradually took on a charge, yet for over a day or two, there was no detectable movement of the ammeter needle. What is more all three batteries held their charges for several months when I next tested them with the discharge voltmeter. One is in a tractor, the other in the Shorland & the other is spare. I wouldn't want to use one as part of a 24v set up as there you are relying on the batteries being of equal characteristics. So I think you are right to buy both of those. Not as cheap as you might get at a vehicle show, but you need reliable batteries now. Be mindful that some batteries have terminals & some have bolt on lugs. Also the position of the terminals can vary. These variations are often denoted by a suffix of some sort. But I should think you have some scope for latitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted December 30, 2008 Author Share Posted December 30, 2008 Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Degsy Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Mark the price you have been quoted for 45a/h batteries is quite cheap but do remember with batteries as with many things you get what you pay for, there are a lot of batteries on the market which are made down to a price and quality can suffer. Batteries are now available with 4 and 5 year guarantees but are obviously dearer initially. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted December 30, 2008 Author Share Posted December 30, 2008 Mark the price you have been quoted for 45a/h batteries is quite cheap but do remember with batteries as with many things you get what you pay for, there are a lot of batteries on the market which are made down to a price and quality can suffer. Batteries are now available with 4 and 5 year guarantees but are obviously dearer initially. Cheers Degsy, the ones I am buying tomorrow have a 3 year warranty and from a reputable firm (I hope) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Cubed Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Go for a heavy ( weight ) battery ie more lead or more plates per cell I have judged these in shops before and it seems that the lighter it is the less capable it is. But also goes with the price so cheap might not get you out of trouble when you need to crank it for some time. Use to be CCA cold cranking amps, but this is now given in different measurements SAE, DIN, ect all a bit different. Battery size does not matter with regards to charging, dynamo's or alternator's are all the same, also just because you might have an alternator don't think it will charge the battery better or quicker, it might put the bulk of a discharge back in quite quickly but the last little bit is the important bit which is the point the battery starts gassing, this is the point at which a chemical reaction occures and does its stuff with the lead and acid ( I think) Please correct if I am wrong, never too young to learn......... Best of luck, I try to get the biggest which will fit in the holder and a known manufacturer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Elsdon Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 This is a good bit of kit, it tests the volts and amps of lead acid and sealed lead acid batteries from 1.2A up to 200A capacity, its quite pricey £149 but it does do a very thorough test on your battery state. My workplace is now furnished with one, and will be going off site for testing when required!:-\ http://cpc.farnell.com/act-meters/gold-ibt/sla-battery-tester/dp/IN02529 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 This is a good bit of kit, it tests the volts and amps of lead acid and sealed lead acid batteries from 1.2A up to 200A capacity, its quite pricey £149 but it does do a very thorough test on your battery state. mmm and with VAT £171.35 :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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