Thread: 32 highboy sedan battery mount

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Originally Posted by rspears

Deuce, your mentioning CCA made me look again, and that little dry battery has only 220 CCA. I plan to drive year round, in decent weather, so I may need to re-think using the little Odyssey.

I was politely trying to telling you that the little battery MIGHT not be enough.
I did not want to put anyone else's choices or selections down.
My 3W has Vintage Air ... and air conditioning needs amps. I also have a PowerMaster high amperage alternator.



A/C , along with Halogen Sylvania SilverStar H4 headlights and halogen tail lights ... requires a prety good electrical system. That little battery may work for the other guys ... but not in my car.

CCA are only part of the picture.
PC 680 / PC 680mj Specs:

* 680 cranking amps for 5 seconds
* 595 cranking amps for 10 seconds
* 525 cranking amps for 20 seconds
* Short circuit current over 1800A
* 17Ah
* 25 minute reserve capacity with 25amp load
* CCA - 220 (Is this important?)
* Female brass terminal w/M6 SS bolt

I was very leery when I first heard of these so I called the company. The President of Odyssey told me he is using one of these to start his blown BBC engine with power to spare. Mine has been in the car for 3 years now with absolutely no problems. Conversely, my Son Don has an Optima that he has to keep a trickle charger on at all times or it goes dead after a few weeks. This little Odyssey sits for months sometimes and always cranks it fine.

However, if you do have a lot of accessories like A/C, amplifiers, etc, it might be wise to add a bigger one.

Don

I have that one in my truck. It has a pretty nice stereo in it with a 55 amp alternator and mine is always up. No problems, I drive it 2 or 3 times a week, weather permitting.
You can add up your usage and take the guessing out of it. It's just so nice to work with the small size. I have two wing nuts and it drops down from under my dash.
Ken

Pretty much same here. During even daylight hours I run with my headlights (halogen) on because otherwise my volt meter starts climbing into the 14+ volt range, and these dry batteries are happier at around 13.8 max. The other advantage of the way Ken mounts his batteries is a very short cable run. Mine is in the back, but still cranks fine.

By the way Ken, your new avatar rocks.

Don

Originally Posted by Ken Thurm

I have that one in my truck. It has a pretty nice stereo in it with a 55 amp alternator and mine is always up. No problems, I drive it 2 or 3 times a week, weather permitting.
You can add up your usage and take the guessing out of it. It's just so nice to work with the small size. I have two wing nuts and it drops down from under my dash.
Ken

Ken,
I agree, the battery is there to start the engine, and to supplement in those low rpm times when the alternator output can't handle the load. I have a 100amp alternator, which helps that situation. It is probably shown in a build thread, but did you use bulkhead connectors to pass through the firewall or thread the cables in grommets and then terminate ends? Anything special on mounting for the two wingnut drop out? One of the nice things is that the dry unit can mount in any orientation, upright or flat - right?

Originally Posted by rspears

Ken,
I agree, the battery is there to start the engine, and to supplement in those low rpm times when the alternator output can't handle the load. I have a 100amp alternator, which helps that situation. It is probably shown in a build thread, but did you use bulkhead connectors to pass through the firewall or thread the cables in grommets and then terminate ends? Anything special on mounting for the two wingnut drop out? One of the nice things is that the dry unit can mount in any orientation, upright or flat - right?

I am going out of town till Monday, but if you want I will dig out the photo's on how I did it and post them then.
Ken

Yep, any position except upside down. I would recommend you call Odyssey and run your application by them. They were extremely friendly when I called them and suspect they are still the same.

Here is where I tucked mine in, so as you can see it sits right where it gets wet, etc. Even under those conditions it's been fine.

Don

Don,

I look at that and I don't think I will ever use a old style again. Last year at the SEMA show Mike and Bob took me to a booth where they had lithium battery's that were at least twice the power of conventional stuff and smaller that the one we used, really neat for space saving. That's what I'm going to get for my sedan.
Ken

Originally Posted by Ken Thurm

I am going out of town till Monday, but if you want I will dig out the photo's on how I did it and post them then.
Ken

Ken, that would be great, but I'm also intrigued by your lithium battery reference. Can you point me to a manufacturer that you looked at?

The 6 volt Optimas work great in a sedan. Hook 2 of them up in series end to end behind the back seat.
Tim

Originally Posted by rspears

Ken, that would be great, but I'm also intrigued by your lithium battery reference. Can you point me to a manufacturer that you looked at?

Go to xspowerbatteries.com pretty cool stuff.
Ken