New starter batteries for Lister - What to buy?

[anniewhere]

Hi guys,

I'm on my way to halfords to buy a new starter battery. What do I need to look out for? It's for an old Lister SR2. Min. 1000. CCA I was told, anything else?

Cheers 

[rusty69]

That it fits in the box and the terminal layout is the same as your existing one. 

[Robbo]

1000 Cca is quite a lot.  If you hardly charge the starter battery and rarely do start and have limited space a spiral cell battery is a good choice like in the link below...

http://www.battery2u.co.uk/exide-maxxima-em1000-start-agm-battery/

dont be put off by the size, it kicks arse on normal starter batteries twice its size!

Edited April 29, 2017 by Robbo

[rusty69]

4 minutes ago, Robbo said:

1000 Cca is quite a lot.  If you hardly charge the starter battery and rarely do start and have limited space a spiral cell battery is a good choice like in the link below...

http://www.battery2u.co.uk/exide-maxxima-em1000-start-agm-battery/

dont be put off by the size, it kicks arse on normal starter batteries twice its size!

Ouch. It aint cheap, and also AGM. 

[Robbo]

16 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Ouch. It aint cheap, and also AGM. 

It's has good points, might not be relevant to your install but here goes..

low self discharge (good for if rarely used to start or charger)

high CCA (especially for the size)

excepts good range of charging voltage (so can be charged with traction batteries without getting hurt) or for bow thurster batteries when on the end of a long run of cable.   Its AGM but doesn't have the charging voltage issues as it spiral cell.

i use one to start a 4.5ltr John Deere.

Edited April 29, 2017 by Robbo

[Alan de Enfield]

On the K&A do you need to start your engine very often - ?

I note that some boats don't even have engines.

[Muddy Ditch Rich]

You will be paying a lot extra for the same battery you can buy online for £60,  Halfrauds own brand are average quality but packaged and priced to make them look high spec. An SR2 doesn't even need a big battery, a normal car battery will start it. 1000 cca is a ridiculous waste of money for the purpose you described.

[bizzard]

An ordinary 90amp 600 or so cca would be fine. These are heavy engines to turn over and have a large lorry size starter motor. A petrol car battery of around 40 amps would not have much reserve and would soon jack it in.

[Muddy Ditch Rich]

The ST2 starter motor requires 239 CCA.

[MtB]

On 29/04/2017 at 13:43, anniewhere said:

Hi guys,

I'm on my way to halfords to buy a new starter battery. What do I need to look out for? It's for an old Lister SR2. Min. 1000. CCA I was told, anything else?

Cheers 

 

Yes. Find out if your alternator is charging correctly before splurging cash in Halfords on a new battery.

A mistake I've made more than once over the decades....

[Mikexx]

I believe the starter motor is a LRS555 or similar which is a 2.5kW starter. That's around 208 amps at 12V, though not sure of the relationship of power rating and current.

I have read articles that suggest CCA should be 2-3 x starter current. YMMV

The CCA specification is a measure of internal battery resistance which according to Peukert's law will increase as capacity is diminished. Its is specified at -18C where the battery voltage, at spec'd CCA, after 30 seconds has fallen to 7.2V. Such a temperature is very unlikely on a boat!

I've not convinced that buying a named battery is much different from a less well known name. Hence my policy is to fit a 'value name' but most important of all choose the biggest battery that will fit into the battery box/tray.

If you know the dimensions it must fit into, this might help:

https://www.tayna.co.uk/tools/battery-wizard

[alan_fincher]

You certainly will not need anything like a 1000A CCA rating to start an SR2 in reasonable condition consistently and successfully. 

I echo the comments that Halfords batteries will always be very expensive for what they are compared  to those you could buy elsewhere.

[bizzard]

I'm not a fan of Halfords, but, I find that their batteries are reasonably priced, especially the popular car batteries. I've just bought a car battery from them after checking other outlets priced online, including Shields factory shop just up the road from me the slight price differences was not worth bothering about.

[WotEver]

13 minutes ago, bizzard said:

I find that their batteries are reasonably priced, especially the popular car batteries.

That's been my experience too. And their 'Pro' tools aren't too badly priced if you wait for a sale, plus they're guaranteed for life. 

[bizzard]

21 minutes ago, WotEver said:

That's been my experience too. And their 'Pro' tools aren't too badly priced if you wait for a sale, plus they're guaranteed for life. 

Precisely, if their prices were not reasonably competitive they'd never sell anything. Anyway, she went to buy one there on Saturday but I suppose she could have gone Anniewhere for one.

[Laurie Booth]

The Halfords in Stroud is terrible.

[WotEver]

Just now, Laurie.Booth said:

The Halfords in Stroud is terrible.

I shall make a point of avoiding it then

The one in Nuneaton ain't bad. 

[Mikexx]

13 hours ago, bizzard said:

I'm not a fan of Halfords, but, I find that their batteries are reasonably priced, especially the popular car batteries. I've just bought a car battery from them after checking other outlets priced online, including Shields factory shop just up the road from me the slight price differences was not worth bothering about.

 

I thought I would make a comparison with a Halfords battery for my vehicle and one from Tayna

  http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs-blades-batteries/car-batteries/halfords-lead-acid-battery-hb334-3-yr-guarantee

and

  https://www.tayna.co.uk/250-Powerline-Car-Battery-P8899.html

Even if you include delivery the Tayna one is £50 cheaper in £102. That's quite a saving.

[WotEver]

7 hours ago, Mikexx said:

 

I thought I would make a comparison with a Halfords battery for my vehicle and one from Tayna

  http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs-blades-batteries/car-batteries/halfords-lead-acid-battery-hb334-3-yr-guarantee

and

  https://www.tayna.co.uk/250-Powerline-Car-Battery-P8899.html

Even if you include delivery the Tayna one is £50 cheaper in £102. That's quite a saving.

They don't appear to be the same battery. 

The Halfrauds one is 700 CCA as opposed to 630 CCA for the Powerline for instance. 

[MtB]

On 01/05/2017 at 11:22, bizzard said:

Precisely, if their prices were not reasonably competitive they'd never sell anything. Anyway, she went to buy one there on Saturday but I suppose she could have gone Anniewhere for one.

 

I see what you did there. You're a one aren't you!! (As mum mum used to say )

[Mikexx]

33 minutes ago, WotEver said:

They don't appear to be the same battery. 

The Halfrauds one is 700 CCA as opposed to 630 CCA for the Powerline for instance. 

I agree, the Powerline has more AH capacity.

Nevertheless they are similar and the price difference isn't justified for an 70A of CCA which in many cases isn't used to full capacity.

Can we beg to differ in terms of value for money?

[MtB]

On 02/05/2017 at 08:30, Mikexx said:

I agree, the Powerline has more AH capacity.

Nevertheless they are similar and the price difference isn't justified for an 70A of CCA which in many cases isn't used to full capacity.

Can we beg to differ in terms of value for money?

 

Dare I say, I'm wondering if you carefully selected the worst possible example of value for money in the Halfords battery range to make your point? 

Other posters seem to think Halords batts are reasonably priced.

[alan_fincher]

7 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Dare I say, I'm wondering if you carefully selected the worst possible example of value for money in the Halfords battery range to make your point? 

Other posters seem to think Halords batts are reasonably priced.

 

Even with £40 taken off the price, a Halfords 115Ah leisure battery is still £95 (was £135).  This is hardly stonking value!

Linky http://www.halfords.com/camping-leisure/caravan-motorhomes/electrical-power/halfords-leisure-battery-115-ah

That has a 2year warranty, although in fairness the battery listed by Mikexx has 3 years - I wonder if the Tayna supplied one was for more than 2 years or not?

I have to say that although I have used allfords batteries in cars, it has always been for convenience only - they have always been relatively expensive, so my experience doesn't echo Bizzard's.

[WotEver]

We appear to be moving the goalposts. I don't believe anyone suggested that Halfords LEISURE batteries are great value for money, simply that their car batteries are reasonably competitively priced. (And for that function CCA is way more important than capacity.)

[WotEver]

44 minutes ago, Mikexx said:

I agree, the Powerline has more AH capacity

Not very relevant for a starter battery though.