Probably a good 34R AGM type battery. I favor the interstate H6 AGM or Oddesy 34R AGM. You will need a battery minder or tender like the CTEK 5.0 and leave it connected when not driving it. It will hold a good enough charge for few days without the tender to start but most folk on the board recommend leaving it connected to the tender or charger when not in use.
Amazon. Search cigarette lighter voltmeter. Recommend red led output. Blue is difficult to read in daylight. Strap was just a polypropylene battery hold down strap that I looped around the battery transversely. Bought it at auto parts store when buying new j hook bolts. It came with a nylon locking buckle. It was a real chore with the j bolt problem I had. Sound like you got it done.
no not really. You can insert the straight pin probes from a VOM that are usually just straight probes into the round receptacles on the connector plug. If by chance you short them it will blow the inline fuse in the charging cable., but it hasn’t been a problem. Just hold probes parallel and insert like you are plugging into the connector holes. It really doesn’t matter which lead you insert the probes as it will read a minus voltage if it is a digital readout VOM and the polarity is reversed. Positive readout if correct polarity. You are just interested in voltage number.
I bought one of these off Ebay a couple years ago. Someone started a thread about it, and I decided to get one. Works fine. Monitors charging voltage, cranking voltage and static voltage and when in range, can send out alerts if voltage drops below a set point. Bluetooth range is pretty short though. Outside the car, range is maybe 25 feet. https://www.ebay.com/itm/164523185458?hash=item264e589532:g:VwMAAOSwpE5ftjBM
I would've bought that one if I knew about it before, if it's F-chatter recommended. Looks like it's the original version of the Antigravity one that I bought, but at 1/2 the price! I'm going to see if I can get the one I installed; working tomorrow. Do you find that it's much of a load / voltage drain on the battery ?
So the voltages given are correct BUT measuring the voltage will tell you very little about the condition of the battery or alternator. To know the condition of a battery or alternator you have to do a load test. Voltage represents potential energy, think a rock sitting on top of a hill. Voltage is how high the hill is relative to your point. BUT you have no idea how much damage the rock can do unless you know how much it weighs AND even then it only does any work when it is rolling down the hill. If you battery is bad it is like a 2 oz pebble up there instead of a 500 lb bolder. Either way when you measure the voltage you see it is at the top of the hill but not the size of the rock. The alternator does the work of pushing the rock up the hill. Measuring with no load you will see the voltage but if it can't source sufficient current it can not move the bolder up the hill. The subjects around engineering, mechanical and electronics, get WAY over simplified and that can lead to incorrect conclusions. I did simplify this a bit but it will get you a lot closer to reality.
Is there a portable tool for conducting load tests easily, & ideally relatively portably ? My purpose would be preemptive in nature. I would like to know that something is about to go; long before it does - to avoid getting stranded.
Not that I know of but many auto parts stores will do load testing for you. Having said that, I also don't worry about it much. AGM batteries are less susceptible to sulfating and growing whiskers than old lead acid batteries so they don't tend to fail all at once. NOTE: the Optima can fail suddenly because the design allows shorting between the plates. You will likely hear somewhat slower cranking an an early clue. Your mechanic should check the alternator and the connections (known weak point) annually when you do fluids. With these two maintenance measures you are not likely to be stranded for a battery, unless you count at home because it has been 6 weeks and you haven't driven the car and forgot to connect the trickle charger
Voltages are a rough indication of the percentage of charge of tHe battery and also serve as an indicator of alternator functioning. A voltage below 13-8 14.2 while running indicates a non functioning alternator ie not charging the battery while engine running.
Fair point. Any idea how long I could go without using my CTEK on a brand new Interstate ? Condo buildings are a bit of a pain in the ass, and there's always at least one moaner with too much time on their hands complaining about the Ferrari plugged in. So, in the off season, do you think I would be ok, plugging the CTEK in once a week for 24 hours ?
I have one of these...it was a relabled version sold by Griot's Garage. But they discontinued it. You can find it for less online https://usatoolsinc.com/solar-100-1200cca-electronic-battery-and-system-tester-ba7/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwweyFBhDvARIsAA67M738wxqjfiq_4g3z7YlUi5rd_R5YSaylXRr9BTcPxXPnBxlYL3FcwFcaApW3EALw_wcB I wouldn't rush to buy this....again, the battery monitor you have should have a cranking test that gives voltage during cranking with a graphical display that is like a load test and tells you if it passes or not.
The one I have claims 1ma draw (.001 amp) , which is very low. Since I put my car on a battery tender anytime it is not going to be driven in the following week or two, I have never really checked. But that kind of draw is less than the draw for a clock or maintaining radio presets. Make sure you connect it solidly to the battery terminal nuts. I was careless in the initial installation and the device read a few tenths voltage lower than expected against my digital battery load tester. Once I made up the connections better (and cleaned everything up) they voltages matched within .1 volt + or -.
That's interesting. Now that you mention it, When I charged my new Interstate before putting it in, I used my newly purchased Optima 1200 charger with alligator clips directly to the battery. The charger has an the LCD screen using that shows voltage and amperage digitally while charging, and I noticed that it was showing a 13.2 - 13.4V when I tested it with my Voltmeter using the prongs on the terminal it was about .2 -.4 less. Perhaps this was the connection issue as you mention. I'm going to go see if I can go and get my bluetooth one working and compare it to my volt meter reading.
The true resting voltage of a battery should be tested at least an hour or so after disconnecting the charger/tender to allow dissipation of surface charge. Voltage drop while cranking should read 10V at least. If you drive your car regularly you prob could get by without a tender for awhile and be just fine. If the battery is kept/stored in a fully charged state they tend to last longer.
Can't seem to get the Antigravity battery tracker to work. I ordered a few because I thought this would be a really helpful tool, but couldn't get a second one to work on another battery either. I've downloaded both their apps and they don't seem to connect to it. I've emailed them, and we'll see what their support is like. Anyone else use it, and have any tricks to getting it working ?
Should the charge read about the same an hour after disconnecting and 12-24 hours later? yes, if there is no or minimal parasitic draw. It is the parasitic draw that eventually discharges/ shortens life of the battery. If you follow the resting voltages and alternator output drive it often and use a tender when able the battery should last at least 5 years or so if it is never allowed to fully discharge. That seems to shorten the life of the battery after that event in my experience.from which they never seem to recover.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Ford AGM. Zero issues: Optima I will not use. Too many bad stories. Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
Made by East Penn...also sold under Duracell, Napa Legend, Champion....East Penn private labels for a lot of brands. Great reputation.
I bought a digital load tester like this and it seems to help. I've also bought a third Battery minder/saver type unit that I saw at Oshkosh this week and am giving it a try. It charges faster than the CTEK and Battery minder types that I already have, and has gauges that show charging amps and resting/charging voltages. It determines automatically AGM wet Cell 6-12V etc. It also has a pulse desulfating mode. I personally like seeing the resting voltage and full charge light illuminated when getting into the car. It is totally automatic. Plug it in and connect to the battery charging cable you use. I am going to run comparison tests on all 3 of my chargers/maintainers and see which gives the best resting voltages after sitting awhile while connected after a drive. My go-to one will be the one that leaves the battery in the best state of charge. So far the Interstate battery has been exemplary and no more spurious OBD codes that used to pop up when starting with the older battery. I think the CPU's scramble when the starting voltage drops below 10V or so when cranking the engine. The new battery drops to 11.8V momentarily when cranking the engine so it has eliminated a lot of issues that I was having. FWIW https://www.batterysaver.com/store/p78/2365-lcd.html Digital load tester. https://www.amazon.com/ANCEL-BA101-Professional-Automotive-Motorcycle/dp/B01M0ARG3X/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=digital+battery+tester&qid=1627795033&sr=8-6
