Small, light battery

Tony D

Contact Per from the magazine about getting an advertising agreement in place.

Since the OP asked about this for an 8V VW, I can volunteer that I have finished 5 full autocross seasons on this

http://www.bigcrank.com/product/ETX-15.html

with my '83 Rabbit GTI.

I'm hoping for the best when I pull it out of storage this year. It wasn't showing any signs of fading last year. Oh yeah, Big Crank (embarrassing name) is made by Deka. Or it least it was when I bought mine...

HTH

Thread theft but relevant, what would work on a larger capacity engine. like a V8?

More of them in parallel..

Flogger00 wrote: Since the OP asked about this for an 8V VW, I can volunteer that I have finished 5 full autocross seasons on this http://www.bigcrank.com/product/ETX-15.html with my '83 Rabbit GTI. I'm hoping for the best when I pull it out of storage this year. It wasn't showing any signs of fading last year. Oh yeah, Big Crank (embarrassing name) is made by Deka. Or it least it was when I bought mine... HTH

Talk about relevant help! Thanks much

Flogger00 wrote: Since the OP asked about this for an 8V VW, I can volunteer that I have finished 5 full autocross seasons on this http://www.bigcrank.com/product/ETX-15.html with my '83 Rabbit GTI. I'm hoping for the best when I pull it out of storage this year. It wasn't showing any signs of fading last year. Oh yeah, Big Crank (embarrassing name) is made by Deka. Or it least it was when I bought mine... HTH

What does it weigh? Unless I missed it, I didn't see that in the specs.

Flogger00 wrote: Oh yeah, Big Crank (embarrassing name) is made by Deka. HTH

I would argue that "big crank" is not at all embarrassing. Now "small crank"--that would be embarrassing.

Zomby woof wrote: You want light? This is the latest technology. A123 cells. A friend is using a 2.3 Ah on his 400 dual sport with no problems, and they're very popular with the KTM crowd. I asked Turntech about using one for my Swift, and he recommended a 5 Ah This is the same thing, but cheaper. I have their 2.3 Ah for my 250, but haven't used it yet. The 6.9 is their biggest, and weighs a little more than 2 lbs.

This is intriguing! I am looking for a new motorcycle battery for my KZ400, and also a lightweight battery candidate for relocation behind the seat in my RX-7. Any issues with charging/overcharging in a stock automobile or motorcycle?

What does it weigh? Unless I missed it, I didn't see that in the specs.

11.0 lbs. per the following page

http://www.bigcrank.com/models.html

It's the 11 lb. Deka.

I also added screw in brass posts so I didn't have to cut up my perfectly good battery cables. I forget where I got them.

The 14 and the 15/15L are almost identical but the 14 can fit in some tighter spaces with the lower height. Irrelevant if you're mounting on a stock tray, but useful other times.

I got my posts through TriStateBattery, whom I also got the Deka from. Good people.

1988RedT2 wrote: Any issues with charging/overcharging in a stock automobile or motorcycle?

Nope.

I have a DEKA in my ABA MkII Golf, it's the same as the "Big Crank" listed above. It's mounted in the conventional battery tray. I had a previous install in the rear, but had some additional weight (5 or 6 pounds) and some voltage drop to deal with. Check Walmart, they have "Power Sport" AGM batteries at competitive prices.

Bumping this up.

Running into some problems.

1) I have NO fab skills.

I was looking at the Dyna-batt stuff again, seems i could get their battery + their side mount bracket for $200.

Then i looked around, and i can get a Deka EXT14 battery for $65, and it weighs almost 6lbs less. But then no side mount bracket.

Unlessss.....

http://www.odysseybatteries.com/accessories/hd680_545.htm

The top one.

Now, my worry. The width isn't QUITE right. Ideas? If it would work, it'd save me $100 and 6lbs.

Not real sure what to do here... trying to go with a sidemount in the engine bay so i have a chance at not having to relocate which scares me for some reason. But part of me wants to relocate because.... RACE CAR!

If you decide to use the Odyssey Side Mount the cheapest place I found them was from a company named TNR Batteries at this website: (http://www.tnrbattery.com/Odyssey/Accessories/hold-downs.html) I purchased one for $25.00 plus shipping they also have them in black for $5.00 more

9

pirate wrote: If you decide to use the Odyssey Side Mount the cheapest place I found them was from a company named TNR Batteries at this website: (http://www.tnrbattery.com/Odyssey/Accessories/hold-downs.html) I purchased one for $25.00 plus shipping they also have them in black for $5.00 more 9

Awesome thank you!

Any recommendations as to which one to try and use with this?

http://www.tristatebattery.com/product_info.php?cPath=36_96_235&products_id=975

Or anyone have a magic link to a side mount that would work well with the Deka?

Can you use a much shorter bolt with your original holddown bracket?

I would put down some soft nonskid material between the tray and battery, shorter bolts, lay the battery on its side, and run it. That is probably what I am going to do when I change out the damaged cable ends and battery in my Dakota.

I could do that.... but i'm trying to move the battery farther to the side of the car for "better" intake routing.

Beginning to think i really should just relocate to the back, but that scares me for some reason. (I'm irrational)

Two of the biggest faults with battery relocation that people run in to are using too small of battery cables and improper GROUNDING.

I relocated the battery in my old Ranger to the back while it still ran. I used 1/0 welding cable with some marine grade battery ends on some marine terminals. I ran the ground cable back to the original location Ford put it. Never a problem, mainly from complete overkill for a piddly old 2.3 4cyl, but a V8 was in its future.

I have seen some run 4ga power wire over a 20' length and expect it to have the juice to turn over a high compression big block with a mega amp starter. They then get mad when it doesn't work or burns their car down. On top of that, they run just a short 2' long ground to the frame and get the same long slow crank. When if they would just run another ground to the front, they wouldn't have a problem.

So I was looking up some info wrt replacing my now dead(ish) battery in my Rabbit and I came across this old thread. I guess I got 8½ + seasons out of my "Big Crank" branded Deka battery. I've been maintaining it on a cheapo trickle charger from Harbor Freight that I got for $5 or $6 on sale a few years ago. I just ordered exactly the same battery to replace it.

mr2peak wrote: I ran a lawnmower battery in my MR2 for 2 years no problems. 2.2L N/A Always wondered why more people didn't pick up on this.

The first time you get your car towed and have to pay $250 to get it out of impound after the tow truck broke one of your taillights because the hazard flashers killed the battery so the police assumed it was an abandoned car, you'll fail to see the value of a tiny battery.

RX-7 has a Group 24. VW is getting one of those gigantic Group 91 things.

Total zombie thread.

Just this weekend I replaced my Miata battery (32 lbs) with the 180 CCA AGM powersport ATV battery from Auto Zone. 12 pounds, worked great for lots of autocross starts and is held down with fancy zip ties!

I'm on to my second AGM power sport. The first I tried was the 6lb and it wasn't really capable of more than a few cranks on the high compression rabbit. I went to the 11lb setup and it's been happy since! All you need are the brass terminals to convert to auto diameter.