Kiwibirdman Posted May 18, 2019 Posted May 18, 2019 I am looking for a small sized but reasonable CCA (500) battery to put into my EJ Holden. The commodore the engine cam out of has a 550 CCA battery so I want to keep close to that but I don't have a lot of space in the engine bay. What have other people used where they are squeezed for space? Quote
h4nd Posted May 18, 2019 Posted May 18, 2019 I haven't personally tried these in a car, but the numbers look good. Anyone tried something like these? https://www.lithiumpros.com/lithium-pros-l1600a-press-release/ Quote
doullama Posted May 18, 2019 Posted May 18, 2019 $1927 seems like a bad number for a battery. What are the dimensions of the battery space available? I moved the radiator of my marina over 30mm to accommodate a 600cca battery, simply due to the fact I have a supply of free 3 year old 600cca batteries. Could always relocate to boot but that should be your last option. If your car has less accessories than the donor you can most likely get away with a smaller battery also. 2 Quote
Bling Posted May 18, 2019 Posted May 18, 2019 I seem to recall @Truenotch mounting a small one under his race car seat, or something similar. Might not be him though... /Ling out Quote
Alfashark Posted May 18, 2019 Posted May 18, 2019 Define small. http://www.exidebatteries.co.nz/battery-range/passenger/Endurance Have a look at that list and check each one's spec out for CCA vs Dimensions. A DIN55 is a smallish battery in my books - 175H x 175W x 242L. 3 Quote
Kiwibirdman Posted May 18, 2019 Author Posted May 18, 2019 14 hours ago, doullama said: $1927 seems like a bad number for a battery. What are the dimensions of the battery space available? I moved the radiator of my marina over 30mm to accommodate a 600cca battery, simply due to the fact I have a supply of free 3 year old 600cca batteries. Could always relocate to boot but that should be your last option. If your car has less accessories than the donor you can most likely get away with a smaller battery also. I was thinking about this, the commodore the motor came out of had everything that opens and shuts, my car has the bare minimum. The big worry for me is having enough grunt to turn it over. Mounting in the boot is an issue being a station wagon, the spare wheel well has gone for the fuel tank. 1 Quote
doullama Posted May 18, 2019 Posted May 18, 2019 also you need a larger battery for boot mounting to overcome the resistance of 5m long leads. Id just get a good quality battery that makes the most use of the available space, don't forget height too. CCA can be a bit misleading, it is unlikely that you'll need to wind the car over for 30 seconds in subzero temps after all. I've used tiny jap car batteries which would be lucky to have 200cca to start ancient v8's, they'll generally wind over fine - just not for very long. With a modern injected engine (or a well tuned carburetted engine) with a modern efficient starter & electronic ignition this won't be an issue. 2 Quote
Truenotch Posted May 19, 2019 Posted May 19, 2019 LiFePO4 all day. I run a small Lithium Iron Phosphate battery in my racecar and it rules. You can leave it for a year or more and it will still start the car (as long as you have no draw / remember to disconnect the battery when not in use. My one is a Shorai, but there are various different brands around such as odyssey. I also know people who have used an aliexpress version with great success. 6 1 Quote
Truenotch Posted May 19, 2019 Posted May 19, 2019 1 hour ago, h4nd said: HOw big is the LiFePo you use @Truenotch ? I'll have to double check, but it's not huge. I think it's rated at about 250cca, but they actually perform much better than a lead acid of the same output, so the CCA ratings can be deceiving. 1 1 Quote
yetchh Posted May 20, 2019 Posted May 20, 2019 3 hours ago, h4nd said: HOw big is the LiFePo you use @Truenotch ? How hard really would it be to make a battery out of a bunch of 18650's?.. 5 Quote
Kiwibirdman Posted May 20, 2019 Author Posted May 20, 2019 On 19/05/2019 at 11:57, doullama said: also you need a larger battery for boot mounting to overcome the resistance of 5m long leads. Id just get a good quality battery that makes the most use of the available space, don't forget height too. CCA can be a bit misleading, it is unlikely that you'll need to wind the car over for 30 seconds in subzero temps after all. I've used tiny jap car batteries which would be lucky to have 200cca to start ancient v8's, they'll generally wind over fine - just not for very long. With a modern injected engine (or a well tuned carburetted engine) with a modern efficient starter & electronic ignition this won't be an issue. Its an injected 5 litre out of a VT commodore. Should start easily.......in theory. At least it doesn't have the fuel evaporation issues that my Firebird has when left to sit for a while. Quote
doullama Posted May 20, 2019 Posted May 20, 2019 I wanna know more about these Lifepo4's now, unlikely to get one as free batteries are hard to beat but they sound pretty interesting - surviving long periods of disuse would be a big plus 4 Quote
Truenotch Posted May 20, 2019 Posted May 20, 2019 5 hours ago, yetchh said: How hard really would it be to make a battery out of a bunch of 18650's?.. Yes, you could, but it wouldn't work as well. LiIon batteries (i.e. 18650s etc) are quite a different formulation to Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) - the Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries work a lot better in automotive environments and can be charged by a charge circuit or any regulated / controlled battery charger. 1 Quote
yetchh Posted May 20, 2019 Posted May 20, 2019 What about all the ev batteries made out 18650's? .. Quote
Truenotch Posted May 20, 2019 Posted May 20, 2019 1 hour ago, yetchh said: What about all the ev batteries made out 18650's? .. Their charge circuits are a bit more sophisticated than a car that only has an alternator and a voltage regulator. LiFePO4 is less volatile than Li ion and less likely to explode if it's exposed to hot conditions or less-ideal charging situations. 1 Quote
yetchh Posted May 21, 2019 Posted May 21, 2019 Just thinking that if they use them battery drills/vapes etc with high drainage they would be suitable for cars.. Specially a big stack of them Quote
UTERUS Posted May 21, 2019 Posted May 21, 2019 No, there are many downsides. Lifepo4 is the business for automotive use. 2 Quote
Roman Posted January 3, 2020 Posted January 3, 2020 Just bumping this thread as have been on the same mission. Was looking at Shorai but mixed reviews. Seems some people have run for ages no worries. Other people blowing them up regularly. Was reccomended EarthX batteries as they have good protection onboard for shorting, low voltage, over charging, cell balancing etc. Expensive but has a 2 year warranty which put my mind at ease compared to other options which were 6 months or a year. https://earthxbatteries.com/our-batteries/lithium-battery-technology 2 Quote
DJZ Posted January 4, 2020 Posted January 4, 2020 We are using these in the cars at work now, but $$$ and you need special chargers for lifepo batteries, we have a couple of the ones they sell and also some Ctek ones. https://www.racetech.co.nz/shop/racing-products/super-b-batteries 3 Quote
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