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Need to replace starter battery

Karma Dreams

By Karma Dreams
in Boat Equipment

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Karma Dreams Contributor

Karma Dreams

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Hi guys and gals. My starter battery has died :angry: Still bound to have happened at some point.. Now, where to buy is my question... I know batteries have soared in price (lead) but any pointers much appreciated... the one that's dead was a 644.. whatever that means (got that off the old receipt dated 2004! :lol: )

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grahame r Community Regular

grahame r

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It's a starter battery exactly the same as used in cars and vans. Get the spec from the old one and shop around at automotive outlets, Halfords, Kwikfit, National Tyres etc. Avoid anything and anywhere with MARINE in the name.

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steelaway Influencer

steelaway

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Hi guys and gals. My starter battery has died :angry: Still bound to have happened at some point.. Now, where to buy is my question... I know batteries have soared in price (lead) but any pointers much appreciated... the one that's dead was a 644.. whatever that means (got that off the old receipt dated 2004! :lol: )

 

 

 

If its lasted that long, I would buy the same make of battery.

 

Alex

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

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"644" is a pretty standard battery size. To start a diesel CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) is an important measure - more so than the quoted "Amp Hour" capacity.

 

I don't necessarily agree that a marine outlet will be prohibitive, and you might actually find Halfrauds want more for an equivalent one than some marine suppliers.

 

Things to watch out for include a warranty period. Although a starter battery should not normally fail within the kind of cover they give, it is more likely to within 3 years, which plenty offer than the 2 years that many restrict themselves to.

 

Some will recommend places like Tayna batteries or Man Batt, but in my experience unless you can go and pick one up, will often want at least another tenner for delivery, which can make what looks an attractive price for the battery in its own look rather less so when you add in the extra cost.

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Arthur Brown Influencer

Arthur Brown

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Well the 644 means that it's a 12v 90 - 95 AmpHr battery with that particular terminal arrangement and dimensions so another 644 should fit and do the job. As the old one is about 8 years old I suspect that it was a good choice and another the same number should have a fair service life.

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David Schweizer Veteran II

David Schweizer

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I trawled the net, and phoned all the local depots for a price on a new 644 battery, in the end the tyre depot I normally use came up with the best price for a reputabl;e make. You do not need to give them any details, just tell them you want a replacment 644 (or 643 if the terminals are the other way round) and they will know what you mean. It is an indutry standard truck starting battery.

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Paul C Veteran II

Paul C

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Try Alpha Batteries, they're based in Manchester and do free delivery.

 

http://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/buy-online/index.php?searchStr=644&act=viewCat

 

£84.99 seems to be the price for the cheap one, they also do a higher quality one for £99.99

 

If you say you have a £5 off voucher with the voucher code 356356 they'll give you the discount.

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

Posted
Posted (edited)

I trawled the net, and phoned all the local depots for a price on a new 644 battery, in the end the tyre depot I normally use came up with the best price for a reputabl;e make. You do not need to give them any details, just tell them you want a replacment 644 (or 643 if the terminals are the other way round) and they will know what you mean. It is an indutry standard truck starting battery.

Not everything sold as a 664 battery has the same spec though.

Whilst I'm sure most will be fine for the average boat engine, you'll find different specs for example for CCA (cold cranking amps), so in theory the higher the number the easier that battery will find it to start a big engine "on compression" on a cold day.

Also, as I said, warranties vary, so if you can find a 3 year warranty battery of the same spec and price as a 2 year warranty battery, to me it makes sense to go for it.

 

With the following caveats....

1) If it is not a complete duffer, and you look after it, it should of course last more than three years, but poorly manufactured ones are not completely unknown.

2) Any 664 battery will start all but the most stubborn narrow boat diesel.

 

Try Alpha Batteries, they're based in Manchester and do free delivery.

 

http://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/buy-online/index.php?searchStr=644&act=viewCat

 

£84.99 seems to be the price for the cheap one, they also do a higher quality one for £99.99

This to some degree supports the case I've just made.

 

That's a 600A CCA battery of 90Ah

 

It is easy to find a 750A CCA battery of 110Ah at similar costs.

Edited by alan_fincher
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Paul C Veteran II

Paul C

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Just Googling "664 battery" found several hits for me without really trying......

 

I'd suggest you try a little harder then! I just did the same, but can't match the £79.99 I gave as a lowest price possible. eBay's cheapest is £87.13 once you add the postage (batteries are heavy....) and I've not used that supplier, so I can't recommend it. The rest of the first page of results are all more costly.

 

I HAVE used Alpha batteries, yes they're cheap but they work perfectly fine. My mum's car battery failed (the original one on the car from new, after about 8 years) and I didn't hesistate to recommend Alpha batteries to my mum.

 

If you have a phobia of paying less for products, Alpha has 3 qualities of battery available, so you can spend more money on a recognised brand name if you want.

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Naughty Cal Veteran II

Naughty Cal

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Find a local battery supplier they will more often than not be able to beat any prices you find on the net.

 

We use South Yorkshire Battery Services for all of our batteries and they can not be beaten for price and service. :cheers:

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Naughty Cal Veteran II

Naughty Cal

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Thanks peeps as usual most helpful.... Think batteries have certainly gone up in price since 2004 when I got the last starter battery... almost doubled in price. :blink: Still if the new one lasts as long... ;) I cant grumble

 

Not sure what you last paid for yours but we paid £67 for the Bosch starter battery on NC.

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Karma Dreams Contributor

Karma Dreams

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Not sure what you last paid for yours but we paid £67 for the Bosch starter battery on NC.

 

Actually the invoice says £41.00 !!! Cheap as chips eh :lol: As in marina at mo and on lecky old one still in situ so until it gets dragged out I cant see what make it was as the label is not visible to check.

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

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What do the designations 664 663 644 and 643 mean? Are they only physical sizes and terminal type/layout?

On such evidence as I can find, I would say "yes", it only covers the physical size and layout - you can clearly buy one of a given designation with both a different rating for Amp Hours, and Cold Cranking Amps.

 

I suppose it is possible that in addition to the size and layout there are some minimum electrical ratings they have to reach to comply, but I can't seem to Google up anything that fully explains it.

 

What is very obvious from the specs is that not every 644 battery will be the same, although I concede most will be adequate to start the average narrow boat diesel.

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

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Bit more than that, a 644 and 664 are the same dimensions but different CCA/Ah.

 

http://www.yuasaeurope.com/images/uploads/uk/downloads/YBSU25446_Yuasa_Cat_09_cars__light_vans_complete.pdf

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

So how do you think the designations work then, because this is a 644, and is 90AH and 540 CCA

 

http://www.tayna.co.uk/644-G2-VARTA-PROMOTIVE-BLACK-590041054-P3318.html

 

whereas this is also a 644, but is 94AH and 620CCA

 

http://www.tayna.co.uk/W644BX-Exide-Equivalent-Numax-Commercial-Battery-P4000.html

 

Others I found last night were 750 CCA or (I think!) 110Ah

 

So if AH and CCA come in to it, then there must be a range, not a fixed value.

 

So has anyone got a real definition of what being a 644 battery actually guarantees ?

Edited by alan_fincher
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