Battery talk

[jcp123]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

Fleet farm has plug in / bolt on battery adapters of all types along with knob style battery disconnects

I would still go for the $15 battery, given your circumstances even a lithium battery could overdischarge becoming an overpriced boat anchor, Franks solar trickle charger idea is a good one

For a 4 banger the little lawn and garden batteries pack a punch

Good luck

Hmmm, now you have my attention. I can't recall offhand - are the battery posts on the L&G batteries smaller diameter than standard automotive terminals?

Any recs on a good solar charger? I had one but it only lasted about two months. Can't recall the brand.

[brucepick]

I don't know about lawn and garden batteries BUT I've learned the hard way that apparently a few years ago they started making all the battery posts a slightly smaller diameter. So older cars (like our '04 Accord) have original battery clamps that are bigger than the posts on the stock size replacement batteries I've bought.

Solutions:
1) Ignore the poor contact of large-diameter battery clamps. At your peril.
2) Get little lead shims that are made to fit between the post and the clamp. Some are flat squares of thin lead, some are shaped like a thimble to slip over the post. That's a nice easy, low cost solution.
3) Replace the clamps on the ends of your car's battery cables. Sometimes you'll need to replace the cable.

I've put little trickle chargers under the hoods of my son's two unregistered cars that now live in our driveway. That way the batteries stay fully charged, even though they rarely run. I got the chargers for about $15 each at a big box parts store.

[jcp123]

Plug in charger won't work. I'm parked at a dirt outside lot with no outlets for 3-4 weeks at a time while I'm out trucking. I either disconnect the battery or charge via solar, or carry a little portable jump starter...which I may want to do anyway.

I'd forgotten about the thimble adaptors though. Something to file away for the future. I should know better, I used to work parts.

[stovie]

I'd see about just converting your current battery to using alum(aluminum sulfate) like in this video!!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Supe1a3LW2U

[teoman]

I had seen that video before. What advantage does that have?

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by teoman

I had seen that video before. What advantage does that have?

Once the battery is fully sulphated (worn out) you can rejuvenate it using alum, alum batteries are more resistant to high dod but are "saggier"

Making a new alum battery would be a waste of a good battery.

One guy on this forum ran worn fla batteries he converted to alum got from a scrapper in his ev, cheap but definitely a tinkers setup.

[stovie]

It allows you to get a bit more life out of your battery!! I think they said that the amp hours drop by 15-20%, but it still gave enough amps to crank the motor over!!

And like rmay says, don't do it to a new battery or one that's still giving the proper cranking amps for a good amount of time!!

[jcp123]

Interesting but sounds a bit far out considering it looks like I'll be able to find lightly used croup 51's on CL for ~$40 or so, and can recoup a bit of that selling my current battery to the scrappers. I think that's the route I will take.