Batteries ?

G'day Graham,

I know a little about batteries and can chuck in 2c ...

The batteries in my BT are wet cell batteries needing checking for electrolyte levels every two months depending on use. These batteries are no longer fitted to BTs I believe.
They are 80 amp hour deep cycle jobbies.

I believe the new battery fitted is a 100amp deep cycle wet cell but is completely maintainance free. Cant /no need to top up and gives greater capacity. They are the same dimensionally and I think are AC Delco model M27MS. This is what they are out of ....

AGM Batteries or Absorbed Glass Mat have a fibreglass mat in the cell and the electrolyte is absorbed by the mat making it more stable physically ..... off road etc and I think now dont quote me might be better electrically having a lower resistance internally so it can charge faster. They are a sealed maintainance free battery.

Next on the list I'd like (as we go down the list they much more expensive) is a gel battery of a deep cycle/ cranking design .... Can mount in any position (with a small loss in reserve) is maintainance and has a long service life .... maybe six years plus depending how you look after it. Typically these handle 300 discharges in Sonnenschein dry fit sportline brand. I have two in Defender.

Next is a dedicated solar battery in gel ... mount any position and are maintainance free. they can handle 1200 yep 1200 discharge cycles and have a usual life of 8 years. I have two of these in the back my F250 as backups. 75 amps each and run the HF,UHF and ERPS
rust system separately to the start batts. In Sonnenschein these are called dryfit solar block.

All these above have their own charging regimes and you can damage a gel cell battery if you go over about 14.6v as they try to gas.

When my batts fail in BT I'm going to AGM or gels ....
Hope this helps
Anthony

We started off with the same batteries as Anthony has, but after our accident changed to AC Delco Calcium Calcium fully sealed batteries, 105AmpHour and they are working good. The AC Delco dealer in Geralton WA, we got them off said that what Bushtracker were fitting should not be put in a caravan because of the gas fumes they give off. He reckoned that they were not designed for use in enclosed spaces. He also said that what we now have are installed in most 4WD in the Geralton area. It should also be noted that there are 2 AC Delco importers into Australia, and the dealer I went to in Geralton was also one of the importers.Bushtracker use the other importer, so if you really want AC Delco they are probably still available through the other importer.

I would also use the battery Brian has ... sealed/maintenance free. I think these are the batteries BTi uses now .... Brian did you see M27MS on receipt or battery. Last quote I had for M27MS was around $200 and if these are the same as Brians represent a good battery at a good price. Most of the gels are $400 - 500 plus ...
I've heard of a few non sealed wet cells ,like I have, have leaked out through the top through rock and roll with a resultant mess in batt box. Cant wait til mine go PPPhhhhttttt !!! Shame to have to buy them twice .... but we live and learn.

Anthony

Just checked my old specs from BTI and I have 3 calcium-calcium maintenance free batteries. Have been excellent so far, so don't envisage any problems. Jeff

Thanks boy's I'll sleep better now. Graham

Just wondering about battery placement. School of thought that Batts should be in an external box or one that that vents to outside (to avoid fume accumulation affecting things in an acidic way). Not being entirely sure of the BT common practice, however, would appreciate any thoughts. Deeply current Griff

Griff The batteries in my BT have been put under one of the seats, enclosed in their own box and vented with one of those clamshell vents to the outside. I would presume this would be pretty standard in all BT's. Jeff

I think under the seat is their standard fit-up to put the weight over the wheels which is where the seat is in most vans. Ours were there but because of low ball weight we had ours moved to under the bed at the front.