cborrman
Active Member
So, my 300tdi came with a 68ah toyota battery - nice... and was as low as 12.4 volts on stationary and 13.4 while engine on so clearly needed a new one.
Lot’s of great info here on batteries, so won’t go into the fact that I had shortlisted optima, odyysey, numax and was set on an odyysey 1500 or 1750...
However - in this day and age I was left scratching my head as to why I was going to buy 30kg of lead that was probably mined in Africa by children, shipped to Canada to refine, then shipped back which will inevitably fail, along with all its corrosive acid and glass fibre relic crap in it... when lithium is the future and has been for last 10 years of huge innovation vs. a decades-old lump of poison and acid that drops volts off a cliff and can only drain 50-70% max...
Then there is the fact that lead acid lumps give of gasses, which in a normal car with internal battery is sealed to the cabin and vented outside, with the defender... well it’s gonna end up in the cabin isn’t it!?!?
So, having looked at various options from stupid cost to home-made (not what you want under a seat) I saw a great british company making a 20ah with 630cca and a 30ah with 800cca both lifepo4 (lithium iron phosphate - safe as houses).
They did not have the 30ah in stock, so thought I would try the 20ah as I may end up installing them in a two battery formation, putting the 20ah in another car, etc.
It arrived with 13.1v (there is a natty button on top) though the volt meter in my £5 dual usb thingy said 12.9...
As I have found often with defenders, some monkey had been at it before me with a wrench and over-tightened connector, so the positive connector had been stretched and needed a shim... made one with copper tube (see pic).
In short, she now starts in about 1 second vs 2-3s before, its cheaper than the cheapest odyysey I could find, weighs 2kg, is tiny and now gives me the whole battery bay for storage and will last easily 3 times longer and works from like -50°C to +50°C whereas lead acid does not like really the cold or even warm (anything above about 30°C, which given she spends a lit if time Summer in southern europe is not great either).
There; cat amount pidgeons put
If you want to get more space, less toxic, less weight, much bigger operating temp range, the ability to use nealy 100% vs only 50% of its juice, all at a connstant voltage vs. terrible drop-off, or just be in this century / different there is even a version of the 20ah with an ali braket so you can bolt to front next to alarm or whatever is in the battery box http://www.powerlite-units.com/products/accessories/?page=2
Lot’s of great info here on batteries, so won’t go into the fact that I had shortlisted optima, odyysey, numax and was set on an odyysey 1500 or 1750...
However - in this day and age I was left scratching my head as to why I was going to buy 30kg of lead that was probably mined in Africa by children, shipped to Canada to refine, then shipped back which will inevitably fail, along with all its corrosive acid and glass fibre relic crap in it... when lithium is the future and has been for last 10 years of huge innovation vs. a decades-old lump of poison and acid that drops volts off a cliff and can only drain 50-70% max...
Then there is the fact that lead acid lumps give of gasses, which in a normal car with internal battery is sealed to the cabin and vented outside, with the defender... well it’s gonna end up in the cabin isn’t it!?!?
So, having looked at various options from stupid cost to home-made (not what you want under a seat) I saw a great british company making a 20ah with 630cca and a 30ah with 800cca both lifepo4 (lithium iron phosphate - safe as houses).
They did not have the 30ah in stock, so thought I would try the 20ah as I may end up installing them in a two battery formation, putting the 20ah in another car, etc.
It arrived with 13.1v (there is a natty button on top) though the volt meter in my £5 dual usb thingy said 12.9...
As I have found often with defenders, some monkey had been at it before me with a wrench and over-tightened connector, so the positive connector had been stretched and needed a shim... made one with copper tube (see pic).
In short, she now starts in about 1 second vs 2-3s before, its cheaper than the cheapest odyysey I could find, weighs 2kg, is tiny and now gives me the whole battery bay for storage and will last easily 3 times longer and works from like -50°C to +50°C whereas lead acid does not like really the cold or even warm (anything above about 30°C, which given she spends a lit if time Summer in southern europe is not great either).
There; cat amount pidgeons put
If you want to get more space, less toxic, less weight, much bigger operating temp range, the ability to use nealy 100% vs only 50% of its juice, all at a connstant voltage vs. terrible drop-off, or just be in this century / different there is even a version of the 20ah with an ali braket so you can bolt to front next to alarm or whatever is in the battery box http://www.powerlite-units.com/products/accessories/?page=2
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