Battery "power"

[Rocky]

Wife mentioned that she felt the start was a bit weak in the Mazda 6 and a new battery was due.
I had not really noticed this until today when it produced a couple of successive weak starts.
It was interesting that the radio was on the first time and the Garmin plugged in for the second - I wouldn't have thought that either of these would have any effect at all.
No idea of battery age as it was in the car when I bought it, but showing green in the "peep-hole".
I went straight in to the nearest battery shop and asked them to test it.
The tester showed 177 hamster-hours out of a possible 550 hamster-hours so I said replace it.
(I forget what the "unit of measurement" was - Cranking Amps maybe? - Anyone know?)
The interesting points for me were:
The 'peep-hole' on the battery still showed a strong green.
The radio and or Garmin draw enough 'current' to affect the starting (confirmed by the guy at the battery shop)
We have almost negative inflation in Australia but the price of common items like batteries has been steadily climbing from about $100. about 10 years ago to $175. now.

[JBT]

The accessories circuit is normally isolated during start so shouldn't really affect the start current.

I found out that our Mazda6 (GH) has to be locked to fully shutdown the electrics. If the car is left unlocked in the garage, the electrical system stays armed and there is sufficient draw to kill the battery after a few weeks of that.

[project.r.racing]

I just replace the battery in the SP23 just before xmas. It was week starting for about 3-4 weeks (extra crank etc), then bang just the normal tick tick tick with the dash going nuts with neddles going 230kph and tacho doing 8000rpm then back to zero when trying to start.

I had one of the century batteries that has the peep hole also. Depending on what way I looked at it. I had a red ring, a green ring,and a red central dot. Either way, the car gave the best diagnosis of the battery. New battery, problem solved.

[project.r.racing]

I found out that our Mazda6 (GH) has to be locked to fully shutdown the electrics. If the car is left unlocked in the garage, the electrical system stays armed and there is sufficient draw to kill the battery after a few weeks of that.

That should only be for the interior dome light. It should brown out in 90 seconds if the car is not touched any further.

[Rocky]

I've had 5 years out of a 'family car' battery but 4 or occasionally 3 is more normal.
My 'family cars' tend to do most of their mileage around town.
I've had a couple fail at home in the garage, but never one stick me up in an underground parking lot or supermarket.
Usually at the first telltale signs I hop in and get a new one.

One thing I was unsure of when I bought the new one today was whether I should stump up an extra $25. for a higher rated battery.
I think the difference was :
Century Hi-power 540 for $175. Vs Yuasa 640 for $200. (I bought the 540 Century)
I have to fight a natural instinct to always go to the next level but I sometimes wonder if this is just a waste of money - bit like extended warranties.

[JBT]

That should only be for the interior dome light. It should brown out in 90 seconds if the car is not touched any further.

No it is a continuous "dark" current. I can't remember how many mA but it was significant.

Even after locking, it still takes about 2 -3 minutes to fully shut down but still runs a very small dark current to arm the anti-theft stuff. I checked with a meter.

[Tony]

I forget what the "unit of measurement" was - Cranking Amps maybe? - Anyone know?

It would be CCA (Cold Cranking Amps).

Many late model cars will give no warning of a crook battery; they seem to be running fine, then suddenly won't kick over - usually in the most inopportune of places.

When the battery on my SE was getting low it would crank the starter OK, but didn't have enough voltage (>9.5V or something like that) to fire the ECU/injectors.

By the way, Century batteries are one of the last batteries still made in Australia - in Brisbane.

[project.r.racing]

That should only be for the interior dome light. It should brown out in 90 seconds if the car is not touched any further.

No it is a continuous "dark" current. I can't remember how many mA but it was significant.

Even after locking, it still takes about 2 -3 minutes to fully shut down but still runs a very small dark current to arm the anti-theft stuff. I checked with a meter.

About 25mA.

I've had 5 years out of a 'family car' battery but 4 or occasionally 3 is more normal.
My 'family cars' tend to do most of their mileage around town.
I've had a couple fail at home in the garage, but never one stick me up in an underground parking lot or supermarket.
Usually at the first telltale signs I hop in and get a new one.

One thing I was unsure of when I bought the new one today was whether I should stump up an extra $25. for a higher rated battery.
I think the difference was :
Century Hi-power 540 for $175. Vs Yuasa 640 for $200. (I bought the 540 Century)
I have to fight a natural instinct to always go to the next level but I sometimes wonder if this is just a waste of money - bit like extended warranties.

I find the cheapest black ones last about 3 years. Ponying up the extra $20 for the Century brand maintenence free ones have outlasted two of my cars at seven years. The have MF or LM on the end of the battery code.

[Rocky]

Tony - I did a bit of research on the net - CCA Vs CA - but couldn't find anything that quoted the sort of numbers that the battery test mentioned - i.e. "550/177".
I have always bought Century for the cars other than my MX5 - I think I must have found out that they were an Aussie product. I always buy the local product if I can (excepting cars)

JB - That's interesting about the permanent accessory drain, however small. Not something I had ever thought about. MX5 is always locked/armed, the family car never.

PRR - the Century was a 55D23L MF - so hopefully will get a decent trot out of it.
I have a mate who has to have the "Premium" product no matter what he buys. Can't ever tolerate the "standard" one. I try to avoid that mindset unless there is a compelling case for the "premium".

[project.r.racing]

PRR - the Century was a 55D23L MF - so hopefully will get a decent trot out of it.
I have a mate who has to have the "Premium" product no matter what he buys. Can't ever tolerate the "standard" one. I try to avoid that mindset unless there is a compelling case for the "premium".

Got the same battery in the SP23. It'll outlast the car.

[JBT]

the Century was a 55D23L MF - so hopefully will get a decent trot out of it.

I got the same three years ago at Bursons for $160 so, $175 now is still a good price.

Our car has only done 20,000 km in that three years. Battery is still hanging in there despite lots of starts and short trips.

[project.r.racing]

I paid $189 at SCA 2 months ago. Grrr!

[StanTheMan]

Just took delivery of a SP25 Astina. First new car in 15 years.
The battery in those looks massive. As in physical size.
But you can understand that....when the car switches off at trafgic lights....all the pheriphials running.....its got to have some staying power.

[bruce]

Yes, auto stop-start requires a bigger alternator and I guess battery.

[Rocky]

Congrats on the new Astina, Stan, nice!
Interesting about the battery, what capacity? Like 650 Heavy Duty?