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Harrris303

Active Member

• Dec 30, 2014

• #1

Hi all, I'm afraid this is a pretty basic thread but I have had a good search through the forum and haven't found a conclusive answer to my question.

I don't know much at all about the electrical side of things but just took the old battery out of my S3 lightweight to a local exhaust/battery place and asked for one the same. For a start the one they gave me was quite a lot smaller than the old one but that didn't worry me too much, but now I've got it home and had a closer look it seems like the specs are a bit different.

The new one is 70AH, and the CCA (Cold crank something?) is 590 amps.

I saw somewhere on here that the standard battery for a 2.25 petrol was 55AH, but going up to 70AH wouldn't do any harm, so I'm not too worried about that.

I'm just wondering if anyone can explain the Cold crank value to me, and whether 590 amps is going to be enough.

Any input will be much appreciated. Cheers, and happy xmas/new year!!

 

Mcclegend

Well-Known Member

• Dec 30, 2014

• #2

Cold cranking amps it the output the battery can deliver for 30 seconds at around -20 degrees Celsius, while maintaining enough voltage to keep the ignition circuit live.

So your 590cca battery will can deliver 590 amps for 30 seconds at -20 degrees and still maintain the ignition circuit.

 

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Harrris303

Active Member

• Dec 30, 2014

• #3

Great thanks for the info. Nice to get a clear and concise explanation!

Unfortunately the old battery didn't have any detail of the CCA written on it so I'm a bit in the dark as to what my engine needs. I don't suppose anyone knows what the minimum CCA is for the 2.25 petrol? I'll go and check the haynes manual but not sure if it's in there or not....

 

dogsbody

Very senior member

• Dec 30, 2014

• #4

Your alternative is to measure the space that you have for a battery and buy the biggest that will fit. Just check that the terminals are on the correct side for your wiring.

 

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Harrris303

Active Member

• Dec 30, 2014

• #5

Haha cheers dogsbody that's my kind of electrical work! So as long as it's a 12V battery then the rest is just bigger = better?

Unfortunately I've already got the smaller one but just taken it for a test drive and it seemed ok. But is the smaller one likely to perform worse in the cold weather?

 

dogsbody

Very senior member

• Dec 30, 2014

• #6

Harrris303 said:

Haha cheers dogsbody that's my kind of electrical work! So as long as it's a 12V battery then the rest is just bigger = better?

Unfortunately I've already got the smaller one but just taken it for a test drive and it seemed ok. But is the smaller one likely to perform worse in the cold weather?

Click to expand...

Not to be rotten but you're not going to need much of a battery for a wee petrol engine so you're probably all right.
Yes, basically bigger is better, ask your missus/girlfriend.
She'll probably agree when it comes to battery power as well. AA batteries are much better than AAA batteries

 

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Harrris303

Active Member

• Dec 30, 2014

• #7

Haha fair point. Just hope the battery doesn't get any smaller in the cold weather!!

 

Mcclegend

Well-Known Member

• Dec 30, 2014

• #8

Battery technology and construction are moving on so quickly over the last few years, I bought a bosh silver 70ah starter battery for my boat last year, this year I bought I second one as a back up and to run the fish finder and plotter off, went into the shop with the same model number and the new battery is 75ah same size same model but they managed to get 5ah more out of it.

The guy in the shop was telling me the moden battery is also a lot more robust over the last few years due to cars having start stop technology and cars need tone started a lot more often.

 

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Harrris303

Active Member

• Dec 30, 2014

• #9

Oh right well that's good to know. Actually when ringing round today to find a good price for the battery, a couple of different people commented on how much they'd gone up in price recently, so maybe the improved performance is part of the reason...