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4LW starter battery size


swift1894

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Gardner's recommendation is that 100 ampere-hours at the 10 hour rate is sufficient for starting purposes.

 

I used 110 ampere-hours battery on a 12 volt system for many years, now use 2 X 110 ampere-hours battery's on 24V system.

 

Steve

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I have 2 off 110Ah 12V batteries with a 12V starter on a 3LW. I suspect the batteries are completely shot in reality as the domestics which were the same age (about 8 years) and type were down to about 15Ah capacity when I tested them last year (and then scrapped them). I realise the duty is entirely different so the comparison has limited value but I do doubt here is much life left in these starter batts. Howver starting requires current for a very short period so they seem OK still. Not sure this will help your decision really?

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Gardner's recommendation is that 100 ampere-hours at the 10 hour rate is sufficient for starting purposes.

 

I used 110 ampere-hours battery on a 12 volt system for many years, now use 2 X 110 ampere-hours battery's on 24V system.

 

Steve

That small!!??

Sounds OK if Gardner says so.

Must say the 4LW is pretty easy to hand start so there's not a lot of resistance for the battery.........whereas my old Lister JP4 (which I loved) was..........erm..........not easy to hand start.

Edited by swift1894
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  • 1 year later...
On 02/07/2016 at 13:10, Split Pin said:

Gardner's recommendation is that 100 ampere-hours at the 10 hour rate is sufficient for starting purposes.

 

I used 110 ampere-hours battery on a 12 volt system for many years, now use 2 X 110 ampere-hours battery's on 24V system.

 

Steve

I’m still hand starting, but just read my Gardner oil engine manual and it states “4, 5 and 6LW ..........148 ampere-hours at 10 hour rate”

(100 ampere-hours is for the 2 and 3LWs)

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Depends on which manual you look at. My quote is from No 67, (which I believe is the last version published) it does mention that it my need to refining depending on the amount of electrics on the vehicle.
Not normally an issue for a dedicated start battery on a boat. It does only give one size

Steve

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1 hour ago, Split Pin said:

Depends on which manual you look at. My quote is from No 67, (which I believe is the last version published) it does mention that it my need to refining depending on the amount of electrics on the vehicle.
Not normally an issue for a dedicated start battery on a boat. It does only give one size

Steve

My manual is No 56 (August 1954)

I don’t have any electrics running off the engine, apart from the alternator so maybe the 100 Ah battery would be OK.

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Despite what any manual might say, Amp Hours ism't the most important measure when considering a battery to start a boat diesel. 

If it starts as it should you will use a tiny fraction of 1 amp hour, so there is absolutely no need for hundreds of the things.

More significant is Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) - a measure of the maximum current it can deliver if it really has to.

That said, for any diesel you can hand start, (presumably by taking it off compression), then a starter motor asked to do the same isn't exactly going to be drawing really massive currents, so provided you don't skimp completely, I can't really see it ever being an issue.

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12 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

for any diesel you can hand start, (presumably by taking it off compression), then a starter motor asked to do the same isn't exactly going to be drawing really massive currents, so provided you don't skimp completely, I can't really see it ever being an issue.

Good point.

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  • 5 weeks later...
On 20/12/2017 at 21:46, alan_fincher said:

Despite what any manual might say, Amp Hours ism't the most important measure when considering a battery to start a boat diesel. 

If it starts as it should you will use a tiny fraction of 1 amp hour, so there is absolutely no need for hundreds of the things.

More significant is Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) - a measure of the maximum current it can deliver if it really has to.

That said, for any diesel you can hand start, (presumably by taking it off compression), then a starter motor asked to do the same isn't exactly going to be drawing really massive currents, so provided you don't skimp completely, I can't really see it ever being an issue.

 

2 starter batteries. Is the 1000A better than the 800A, even though the Ah is lower?

Starter battery 12V 140Ah 800A

Starter battery 12V 120Ah 1000A

 

Edited by jenevers
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On 1/19/2018 at 13:42, jenevers said:

 

2 starter batteries. Is the 1000A better than the 800A, even though the Ah is lower?

Starter battery 12V 140Ah 800A

Starter battery 12V 120Ah 1000A

 

If identical in all other respects, then I would say as a starter battery "yes".

Are both supplied by the same mafufacturer with no other differences?  What is the cost of each?
 

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35 minutes ago, jenevers said:

Same manufacturer same price.

As I said, my personal view is that all other things being equal CCA is more important than Ah in a battery used purely for starting.  No way in the world do you actually need 100 Ah plus for a battery dedicated to starting a narrow boat engine.

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12 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

As I said, my personal view is that all other things being equal CCA is more important than Ah in a battery used purely for starting.  No way in the world do you actually need 100 Ah plus for a battery dedicated to starting a narrow boat engine.

I’ll bear that in mind when it’s time to replace my starter battery.

Edited by jenevers
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