Lightweight batteries

[slngsht]

Anybody use Odyssey batteries? They have a full lineup, but the lightest is this one:



Small 680 cranking amp battery with metal jacket and SAE automotive terminals.

Also available without the metal jacket for low temperature applications.

Battery measures 3.11" wide x 7.27" long x 6.67" tall with the metal jacket and <strong>weighs 15.4 pounds</strong>.

http://www.odysseybatteries.com/battery/pc680mjt_lg.jpg



Recognize that the reserve rating is small, so storage time with computer draw can discharge the battery in a few weeks. Ideal for Street Rods up to 5.7 liter V-8. Can be mounted in the glove box flat on its back - only 3 1/8 inch high.



Excellent starting battery where high reserve capacity is not required.

Great lightweight racing battery for shedding extra pounds.

Can be mounted upright or flat.

[slngsht]

Their other batteries can be found here:

> http://www.odysseybatteries.com/applications/auto.htm#bcigro up (http://www.odysseybatteries.com/applications/auto.htm#bcigroup)

[JohnCh]

<P>I have a PC680 and it works great.&nbsp; No problem doing multiple starts or starting in cold weather (32F).&nbsp; It also has plenty of charge left to fire up the engine after a 3 week layoff, but I have not tried going longer than that without hooking up the battery to the&nbsp;charger (you need a special type of this kind of battery).</P>
<P>This type of battery doesn't like heat, so it is best to mount it away from the exhaust system.&nbsp; I mounted mine in front of the driver's side footwell on the lower chasis rails to keep the center of gravity low&nbsp;(the Duratec exhaust exits on the passenger side of the car)</P>
<P>-John</P>

[slngsht]

John, it's good to know someone else has used them.



My battery is currently mounted on top of the passenger side footwell. Engine is a V8, so I have exhaust on both sides, but it exits with a quick 90 from the manifold, and is very low on the car - hopefully it'll be fine.

[solder_guy]

I ordered my Odyssey 680MJT today and it will be shipped to Dennis Hedges at Short Mountain Enterprises.

I was looking at the EnerSys website about the Odyssey. A special charger is not necessary. They suggest a 6-7A charger which maintains at least 14.2 volts but not more than 15 volts while charging. It must go to trickle after fully charging the battery or be disconnected after 2 hours if using a manual 10A charger.

>Odyssey Charging Information (http://www.enersysreservepower.com/odycharg_b.asp)

Dennis says that this Odyssey 680 is cranking Mazda's V8 really well!

Rob Mitchell

[JohnCh]

I was looking at the EnerSys website about the Odyssey. A special charger is not necessary. They suggest a 6-7A charger which maintains at least 14.2 volts but not more than 15 volts while charging. It must go to trickle after fully charging the battery or be disconnected after 2 hours if using a manual 10A charger&nbsp; Right, so not just <em>any</em> charger.&nbsp; Hence the term "special"&nbsp;&nbsp;http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/smiley2.gif&nbsp;

[slngsht]

I wonder if there is any problem with jumping them.

[JohnCh]

<P>I've never heard of a problem with jumping them, just with using a charger that exceeds 15v.&nbsp; There is a good website on this type of battery located >here (http://www.stealth316.com/2-dynabatt.htm) that is worth reading.</P>
<P>-John</P>

[solder_guy]

In summary, to maximize the life of your sealed lead acid battery do the following:

-Always keep the battery charged.

-Avoid deep discharges of the battery.

-Use the correct charging voltage and current.

-Keep the battery temperature below 77ºF (25ºC).

-Never attempt to remove the top decal cover of the Genesis or Odyssey battery because this will cause the battery to fail.

Well what about the 95ºF heat we have in Atlanta in the summer?? Plus the engine compartment !!

Rob Mitchell

[slngsht]

Rob, that's "Ideal".



I guess I'll find out soon enough if these batteries have a short life. Even if it lasts 2 years, for me it's not too bad.

[solder_guy]

I guess I'll be removing my 680MJT battery during the hottest of days and while gone on summer vacation!



Rob Mitchell

[solder_guy]

I just bought a Battery Charger Tender plus SUPERCHARGER 12 V 3 Amp off eBay for my Odyssey 680 Battery. It uses constant current charging instead of tapered charging and is made for the Odyssey and Optima Batteries. It comes with both washer connections and clip connections. The washer connections can be "permanantly" connected to the battery for convenient plug-in charging.



Rob Mitchell

[Mike Rohaley]

I installed the PC680 about a year and a half ago, I have had no problems with it while using the car as a daily driver. After I replaced the original Banner battery the car would fire up quicker with less cranking. Another bonus is that it saves about 9 lbs. (cannot remember exact number)

[Al Navarro]

FWIW, I have one of those little C-TEK "smart" trickle chargers and it works well enough on the battery that came with the Caterham. I bought it after buying one of those big-a$$ schumacher ones that you can get at AutoZone. While I use that to jump start cars still, didn't seem as sophisticated as perhaps the Cat's battery warranted.

[slngsht]

My Ody is holding up fine after a year, despite me completely killing it at least 5 or 6 times by keeping the OBD diagnostic port plugged in. I've just jump started it.

[slomove]

I have the smaller 625 model in the Seven since I bought it (4 years and probably was in there before a while). No issues and I have had it sitting around for 6 months one time. After that it started the engine right away. Drained it a few times unintentionally but a cheap Autozone charger qualified for "deep cycle" batteries brought it back to life.



I know many Se7eners are using this battery type and have heard very few complaints.



Gert<edited><editID>slomove</editID><editDate>2006-10-24 13:25:09</editDate></edited>

[stevet]

I have the 680MJ also - no problems so far http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/thumbsup.gif

[Catie]

I've used Odyssey for years...in a street Miata, in a very high compression Nissan, and in the race prepared Caterham (currently installed is the PC925). No complaints. I do use a special charger made specifically for gel cell batteries.

[solder_guy]

My Odyssey PC680 died after only one season of driving the car. I bought the special charger and it will not fully charge to turn the car over at all.

I am changing to a small lead acid battery that fits in a Civic. Longer warrantee .. but it weighs twice (?) as much.

So I have the two Odyssey auto terminals and the 680 metal jacket up for grabs.

Rob

[pksurveyor]

I used an Extreme Battery AGM battery from Battery Plus for the Caterham. It is half the size and weight of the original Banner lead acid battery. I have it for over two year now. The battery can turn over the Zetec even after sitting still for 3 months without recharging. Take a look at the Battery Plus website.

[Flibbie]

Just returned from Batteries Plus. I bought a MJ680 for my Stalker last March. It sat until October when I finally fired it up for the first time. After a short jaunt around the neighborhood, the battery would be dead the next day. After jumping it and charging it for several months, I gave up. Today, Batteries Plus checked it out, said it was bad, and gave me a new one. No charge. According to the web site there is a 4 yr. warranty. Jimmydz Naples, Fl.

[slngsht]

I had the 680 for about a year, and it had plenty of power to crank over my V8, but it did not like sitting around much. I guess my electronics drew it down too much, resulting in frequent jumps. It eventually gave up the ghost. I now have a 920 in there. We'll see how it goes.

[slomove]

I swapped my 625 Odyssey by mistake because I thought it might have been responsible for the starting problems (but it was the starter motor...). After sitting on the shelf for a while I installed the swapped-out battery (now 7 or 8 years old) last April in my trailer for lighting and the winch. I have not charged it since but it still lights the light and cranks the winch when needed. These are pretty tough batteries, but obviously they will drain to death if there is an ongoing load from some computerized gadgets.

Gert

[Hudson]

I wish one of you rich guys would try this one. A sub 5lb battery is .... well less than 5 pounds...... :)

http://www.voltphreaks.com/index.html

Ed

[pi7ot]

Birkin .
My First PC680 lasted 8 months.

The second PC680 died last fall after 8 years.
It caused some unusual charging behaviour from the alternator before it was apparent that it, and not the charging system was the culprit.

m

[Kitcat]

Yeah, $1,215 for a new battery is a bit steep! Especially since the small lead acid battery I run only weighs about 12 lbs, just 8 lbs more than this one. Maybe it would be worth it if I were racing my car and every pound was critical?

I am on my second battery. The first one lasted 10 years & 22K miles, so longevity isn't an issue. (I dont know what it is, except both were supplied by Sevens and Elans). It's small enough to be mounted down by the oil filter, so it's both fairly light and low.

Cost $178.

[DB6]

Should this not be listed under the General Tech section;
I see you are very quick to edit and move any listings not of your own or your "friends".

[slomove]

Should this not be listed under the General Tech section;
I see you are very quick to edit and move any listings not of your own or your "friends".

pfffft

http://pics.bikerag.com/Uploads/data/500/258Troll_spray.jpg

[slomove]

Well, maybe I should be more specific......

So far I appreciated this forum because unlike some other typical Porsche, Atom, BMW you name it this was very civilized (and mostly it still is). That means for me you can voice your opinion, have controversies etc but all about subject matter. Very rarely it got personal. Occasionally the brand issue reared its ugly head but quickly put down or maybe the orthodox brand fanatics just left.

Lately I see some posts that challenge people (about their profession or how they run this web site). I suggest for such posters just to leave and find another playground. But then, maybe I am just to old to cope with such typical modern Internet crap behavior. Hope I did not start another flaming competition and I guess I just fell victim to the troll :jester: .

Gert

[slngsht]

In case someone is wondering where their post went... time to dust off the rules again - new one just added

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=2173

:leaving:

[DB6]

In case someone is wondering where their post went... time to dust off the rules again - new one just added

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=2173

:leaving:

So just apply the same rules to all.
How many rules and regulations do we need by the way ?

Oh, I see now, I have studied "New Rule Number 6" Oh Grand Master.

[slomove]

In case someone is wondering where their post went... time to dust off the rules again - new one just added

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=2173

:leaving:

Cool.

[solder_guy]

I sent a message to Odyssey about my PC680 failure. This is the response. I do have a battery cutoff switch and a charger that I used sporatically.

It looks like you left the battery connected in the engine compartment when you put the car in storage in Oct 2007. If so, the battery was subjected to a very small parasitic drain and over time it completely drained the battery to the point where it is today, probably with an open circuit voltage under 6V.

This battery has only about 17-18 amp-hours and it does not take long for even a few milliamps of current to completely drain the battery. As shown in Table 2 on page 11 of the attached Odyssey application manual, the PC680 will get to a fully discharged condition in 41 days with only an 18 milliamp current draw.

Since the battery has been sitting in an overdischarged state for so long it has most likely suffered severe permanent damage and your best option is to replace the battery. I would advise you, however to do one of two things to avoid this type of situation in the future. The first option is to physically disconnect the battery when you are not driving the car for more than a couple of days.

A better option is to use a trickle charger that puts out a steady 13.5-13.8V to keep the battery in a fully charged state, regardless of the duration of the storage. Our Odyssey Ultimizer charger (model OMAX-6A-1B; please see attached brochure) is specifically designed for Odyssey batteries and it has a regulated maintenance charge mode at 13.6V, so you can keep the battery connected indefinitely and not worry about the battery losing its charge due to extended non-use.

Thanks.

[athens7]

What about the Braille batteries? Expensive, but an interesting argument about carbon fiber vs. metal jacketing, especially considering the heat under the bonnet of our cars. Has anyone tried one of these:
http://braillebattery.com/index.php/batteries/b2015c/#

[Ian7]

FWIW, in the interests of "adding lightness", I've used a lawn tractor battery from sears in all my 7's, about half the sizer of a normal car battery.

Most people don't realize that that the 750 or so cranking amps of the big batteries are there to crank over big engines at stupidly low ambient temperatures....

.... which my Caterham never sees.

Sixty bucks, lasts for years. (Your mileage may vary.....)