Battery questions

[nine_deuce]

I'm looking into getting a new battery, preferably a gel cell battery. I'll have a small system, probably a couple of 10's or 12's. I'll have 2 amps. 1 is rated at 65 watts by 4, the other is rated at 125 watts by 2. I've been looking at the Odyssey PC680 and another battery made by the Deka company. I'm wondering if either of these batteries will stand up to the little bit of a load it'd see? Also, the battery would be mounted in the trunk, with 4 gauge power and ground wire

[visualpoet]

I don't see where they would cause you an issue. The battery is only there to start the car (and to hold memory functions in your HU and/or power the alarm) once the engine is running, the system gets it's electricity from the alternator. You just want to make sure that sucker will crank the car over on cold mornings (which I'm sure it will. The old school way of being sure was one cold cranking amp for every cubic inch)

[loud92CB7]

well if he draws more then 60amps between the normal useage of the cb and the system then the batt will need to be able to stand a good useage. just some food for thought. i have had the same 2 batts for goin on 3 years now and have yet to have issues with them. now my OEM alt finally started to show signs of wear but that was it. i have 2 yellow tops by the way. if i were to change batt it would be to an kenetic. keep in mind if you wanna know system wise what kinda strain i put on my batts just take a look at my MR and count the systems i have had and then read the amount of power i run daily.

[Sarthos]

0 gauge is best when mounting a battery in the trunk.

Also, in addition to a battery being used to start a car, it's also used to keep the voltage regulated and to reduce the workload on the alternator. Try starting your car, disconnecting a battery terminal, then driving it around. You'll notice that when your RPMs go up or down, your voltage changes accordingly. Your lights will dim if your car is parked, your lights will brighten when you start driving, and your car could just plain die if you crank the stereo, heater, and lights all at once.

[nine_deuce]

One more thing I forgot to throw in the mix is, I'll probably have an hid kit for my lows. I don't run my fogs or high beams much. So, I hope this battery works. And thanks for the tips guys. I appreciate it

[lucifer1]

I used the pc680 as the primary in my CRV. it was relocated to the rear with 4g wire. It is too small to start a k motor and run the electronics. You have about 3 attempts to start the car, after that it doesn't have enough left over. You need to drive a fair bit to charge it back up. Alot of starting/stopping and short trips will abuse it.

I changed it out with Kinetik HC600 which has less initial peak output but it has a longer, more stable output. The Kinetik is still too small but I haven't had to worry about if will start like I did with the ODY.

[nine_deuce]

Wow, that Kinetik battery is even cheaper than the Odyssey. I just want something that I can stash, but still be effective with what little bit of stereo I do have. And I do a lot of in town driving, but, traffic isn't bad, so it doesn't require a lot of stop and go driving. Eventually I do take some 3 or 4 hour road trips. I'll look more into the Kinetik battery. Thanks for the heads up.

I was also looking at the Deka ETX14 battery, I was reading about them on a VW forum, and from what I read, they're EXACTLY like the Braille battery, just way cheaper.

Here's the article I was reading about the Deka battery.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2353060

Oh, and I'm not sure if it would matter, but I've got an h22 in my car.

So, you're running JUST the Kinetik battery and no other battery in your CR-V?

[lucifer1]

Yes, just the one battery for the crv.

The stop and go driving I stated is not traffic wise but, short trips from location to location with very short distances inbetween where the battery can't recharge. Like if you drove a couple miles but stopped and had restart 4-5 times in that total distance.

Some of the cheap batteries are cheap for a reason. They may look the same on the outside but internally they are not all the same. Not all of them are just relabeled.

And don't plan on playing the stereo with the car not running. You wil have 10-15 minutes with ODY and about 15 with Kinetik before the car won't start.

The reason I mentioned the K motor is because it seams alot harder to start than my Integra with B series with that size battery. It seems like the K has to crank longer before the ecu lets it starts. I have no idea about a H22.

[nine_deuce]

After reading that article about the Deka battery, its all the same as a Braille battery.

Hmm, I don't play my stereo with the car off often. I'd just like a good alternative to spending 200 dollars on an Optima. But that's sounding like my best bet

[loud92CB7]

i luvs my yellows lol

[Sarthos]

15 minutes? Are you cranking 1000+ watts constantly? Took me around 2 hours with a system of 2100 RMS to kill the battery when I decided to watch a movie in the car. And that was a small Stinger battery.

[DJ metadelic]

Yeah 15 minutes? ouch.

[nine_deuce]

Damn it, decisions, decisions. I was looking at the Stinger batteries last night, they seem to be in the same price range as others I'm looking at, just not as small, or as light as I'd like.

I don't want to spend a bunch of money on a battery only to find it won't start my car after 5 minutes of having my stereo on. Looks like I'll end up getting an Optima, unless I can talk myself into getting something else

[lucifer1]

You have to realize these batteries are sized for motorcycles not cars.

I would strongly suggest to stay away from Optima. Junk products from a very shady company.

[nine_deuce]

Yeah, I've read that those batteries are for motorcycles.

Do you have any other suggestions for a good, gel cell battery?