

| Subject: | Re: Single battery setup using a marine battery |
| From: | Roger Whittaker |
| Date: | Sun, 31 May 2009 19:43:57 -0700 |
Dear Battery complete with large hammer I once had a Canadian tire 1000 amp battery when i lived in Fort Mcmurray i mean it just made sense with the -40 c temperature most of the season after january and well into late february ... it actually melted ... the battery i mean ... the case started to melt later i discovered there had been a recall on the battery ... but oh when i tried to call canadian tire customer service ... what a nightmare those in the store refused to help cause they... (made up excuses) finally i got tired of the games and went to the auto wreckers where a got a very good interstate for 20$ now regarding your installation ... which you describe as very tight well i am no electrical genius by any stretch of the imagination .. i do know that electricity will arch when given the opportunity not to mention over powering spark plugs .. or in your case glow plugs ... anyway good luck .. i am guess you know what you are doing ... i am simply sharing that 1000 amp batteries are not what we would like to think they are (in my experiance) yours On Sun, May 31, 2009 at 6:48 PM, Poppie Jagersand <poppie.jagersand@yahoo.ca > wrote: > Just to update, I did buy a group 27 100Ah marine battery and managed to > squeeze it into the Diesel Westy. It was the biggest I could fit and needed > some modifications as below. A group 31 would be both to tall and to long. A > group 24 would fit with fewer mods, but only give about 70Ah, > and fewer cranking amps. > > 1. I had to take off the dual purpose terminals, as they are too tall. > (seen on the vendor photo on link below). Instead new posts are formed using > the lead stubs sticking up from the batter casing. This gives about 1/4" > clearance to engine lid. I used a holesaw in my drill press with > approximately the right inside diam (note holesaws are marked with outside > diam). I removed the pilot bit, then drilled down and removed the extra > terminals. Then a bit of sanding shaped the remaining stubs into new post > terminals. Note different diam and shape of negative and positive posts. > > 2. I sawed off most of the plastic ridge holding the battery handle to > bring length down to 12" > > 3. To be able to slide battery all the way into the battery tray, I had to > dent the box channel running inside the rear of the engine compartment a > little bit. (It curves slightly forward just above the rear light, and I had > to remove 1" of this forward curve). Was easily done with a hammer. > > 4. Now the battery fits in the box, but that doesn't mean there is a way to > get it in there. Doh! Since the fit is so tight (1/8"), it cannot be lowered > diagonally into the box, but has to slide in from the side. I had to remove > the alternator to do this. > > 5. A slightly longer negative wire was needed to reach the post. > > At an 80A load (glow plugs and blower fan on high) voltage drop was .7V, > about 1/2 that of my previous 50Ah starting battery. > > Martin > > --- On Thu, 5/7/09, Poppie Jagersand <poppie.jagersand@YAHOO.CA> wrote: > > My battery use during camping is > > relatively light, and so far I have > > used regular starting batteries. They seem to die from age > > rather than > > use. I get 5-7 years out of one, and have had just as good > > life with > > inexpensive Walmart batteries as the more expensive Optima > > red top. > > Using a two battery setup seems unnecessary. I would just > > be replacing > > two batteries instead of one every 5-7 years. > > > > Now I'm looking to replace my 2002 Optima red top. A 55Ah > > Optima > > yellow top is relatively affordable at Costco (CAD 160 when > > I last looked). > > However, for less than that I can pick up a marine battery > > with many more > > Ah at Canadian tire. Marine batteries are marketed for > > the use pattern I have (Summer use, mostly starting, and > > some light appliance use) > > Since I have a Diesel, with the battery in the rear I can > > fit a larger > > battery than stock. For instance, 70Ah is $99, 90, $114 and > > 103Ah at $139. > > > http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/5/SportsRec/Marine/MarineBatteries/N~4294966494+24.jsp<http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/5/SportsRec/Marine/MarineBatteries/N%7E4294966494+24.jsp> > > > > These "Motomaster" Canadian tire batteries are made by > > Excide (perhaps > > at their Calgary plant). I have to check fit carefully (I > > think batteries > > are not returnable. Maybe I can negotiate to take one to > > the parking lot > > to try) > > > > Does anyone have experience with the longevity of Excide > > marine batteries? > > Have you used other marine batteries? Any significant > > drawbacks compare to true deep cycle? > > > > Thanks, > > Martin > > > > > > > __________________________________________________________________ > Yahoo! Canada Toolbar: Search from anywhere on the web, and bookmark your > favourite sites. Download it now > http://ca.toolbar.yahoo.com. > -- roger w From Proverbs: Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: a servant who becomes king ... ---------------------------------------------------------- Explore printed work at: http://www.prliving.ca/ View the growing list of video work at: http://revver.com/find/video/?query=LastonLastof&search_on=owners and ... older work at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7135104650374818257 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3259745150182742364
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