Quote:
Originally Posted by Forrest
If you maintain more than one car and can afford it I’d recommend getting a modern battery tester. I have always suspected they were nowhere near as good as a traditional load tester. However, I watched a (non-advertising) video online about them and decided to get one.
I have got a Yuasa battery in one of my 940s which came with a car I bought in 2011. It has never let me down and I condition it on a Ctek charger periodically so I was minded it would last forever. However, I tested it the other evening and the results have disavowed me of that idea. See picture!
If you can get an 096 type battery in the battery tray then that is certainly a heavy duty option. Personally, I prefer 027 or 075 size batteries as they are easier to manoeuvre into position. I find either nowadays comfortably exceeds the original specification in the owner’s manual.
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The 027 is the standard 9xx battery (except for diseasels that use an 096) and the 096 fits nicely as would a 100 battery (same size as an 096) and the 075 is more or less the same size as an 027.
The reason i recommended the Halfords HB096 is it's the only battery i currently know of that still uses lead-antimony on the plates instead of silver calcium so will work and not be subject to premature sulphation as a result of undercharging.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver...alcium_battery
That mostly explains it although from experience and research i would say calcium batteries need 15.1-14.7V to charge with the 14.7V being the threshold where they actually start charging. Just to really confuse us all, the fully charged voltage remains at 12.7V after letting the battery rest for an hour ish after charging to disperse surplus battery voltage. The higher charging voltage is simply to overcome the silver-calcium coating on the plates in the battery.
As for a battery tester, IMHO there isn't a substitute for the traditional drop-tester as it puts real world loads on the battery to see if it will cope with starting. It's not without risks in use though and for the number of times a home mechanic would use one, even the cheaper traditional ones never mind the new digital varieties that don't put a real load on, difficult to justify in terms of cost.
Each to their own and i must confess i have some "vanity tools" as i call them - tools that are difficult to justify buying in terms of cost Vs use but are handy to have for their occasional use or to boast about saying "I've got one of those!" - hence my term "Vanity tools"!
