battery size

O

outoftheblueintothenight

Member
Morning all

Well the cold snap has hit us here in not so sunny but quite snowy Lancashire, Saturday morning was for me the coldest its been for a while......

Soooo I tried to start Pootle when it was cold yesterday and the old battery just did not have enough juice in it to get her going, having a look at the battery currently fitted and whilst it looks "reasonable new" it looks quite small "size wise"

Got me thinking - whats the correct size needed? I have space to fit a longer / slightly wider battery but is it the "amps" I should be interested in finding

Any help would be great and I am sure I will have a few more "odd" questions to follow as I start getting my head around her and getting ready for the start of the camping season (mine starts in February)

Cheers Craig
 
The original battery was either a Lucas BT7A (38 amp hr) which seems a bit weedy, or a Lucas STX13A (75 amp hr) which was probably for the diesel engine. But basically get the biggest one you can in the space provided making sure the post are the same polarity positions as the old one.
But before you shell out on a new one give the one you've got a good charging and see how it performs over a couple of days. Great to hear Pootle is going to see some early camping action:)
 
mine has a 36ah now but I will install a 72ah ,I have the space to do it ,and besides
my comer has a ford OHC 2L engine so the dynamo is better at charging a heavy batt.
also I will install a Webasto heater ,a radio ,some electrical charging points and in the summer I always have cooler in the van ,for food and drinks ..... so I need the extra big batt .
 
Fit yourself a "100" battery if you go in your local factors etc and ask for a 100 they should know what you mean. All batteries have a number code ie 063 is for your average fiesta etc 075 is for your average vw golf size engine and a 100 is for a transit/ larger audi or if you want a humongous battery then go for an 019
 
Great news!!! I "only" have a dead battery... Kept failing on me... trickle fed to 13.15V and "full".... Left in the kitchen this time to test fully isolated.... three hours later down to 12.95, and 12 hours later this morning down to 12.76. So I'm right that there's no drain on the van itself.

So is it time to buy a new battery... Mine was an 013 for a 1.5 petrol (with new alternator and a few electrics - including stereo...) same again or bigger?
 
I'm afraid the only way to be sure is to test it under load. You local motor factors should have a device for doing it and it only takes a few seconds, try ringing round to see if anyone can do it for you.
 
Credit where it's due. After charging battery and watching it die in a night in the kitchen the motorshop starting with H have duly replaced. So hopefully tomorrow morning I'll have a happy van again!
 
Hopefully that will sort it out. Did they test the old battery or just take your word for it?
 
Think The Colonel is going to have a nice new battery ! Not been starting well,...if at all on charge & dead in days he has never had a brand new one in my care so will be a real treat.
 
Excellent, like you said - credit where it's due, even a spotty teenager can use a battery tester - properly trained of course:)
 
Now we're talking Chris is that an agm battery? (Alfa glass mat) there a very deep cycle battery for stop start systems on the latest euro boxes that people call cars!
 
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