Sealed Batteries

[Phatboy]

Hey guys

For those of you like me who have the battery in the boot apparently we need sealed batteries or ones with the vents.

wrxhoon has been selling some from sydney in the group buy section for a few years. The code for the battery is SB1692 as you can see from his photos. I can't be assed organising my own group buy, as it means I have to go to the PO and post batteries around Melbourne, as well as dealing with crappy warranty issues as they come up. I found an online shop based in Melb with the same battery that is cheaper than the $220 delivered wrxhoon is advertising. The shop is Soanar Ecotech SB1692., and it's basically about $130-157 delivered depending on whether you buy 1, 3 or 5.

I am not sabotaging wrxhoon, nor am I promoting this seller. However, after I found the site when looking for a Vic distributor, I felt I needed to let everyone know about the better deal. I find it ridiculous that I have to pay $150 at Supercheap Auto to get a home-brand non-sealed heavy-as shit battery with lower amps. I emailed the Soanar guy and he said it comes with 12 month warranty. Has anyone had any experience with Soanar Ecotech?

The specs are

BATT SLA 12V 40AH

40 Amp Hour 12 Volt

• Size: 197 (L) x 166 (W) x 170 (H) mm

  
  

• Charge current: 4A for 10 to 14 hours

  
  

• Discharge Current: 2A for 20 hours

  
  

Capacity:

• 20hr rate: (2A) 40.0AH

  
  

• 10hr rate: (3.8A) 38.0AH

  
  

• 5 hr rate: (6.8A) 34.0AH

  
  

• 1 hr rate: (24A) 24.0AH

  
  

• Int resistance - fully charged: 10m.

  
  

Constant Voltage Charge

Initial Charging current: < 12A

Cycle:

• Voltage: 14.40V ~ 15.00V @ 20°C

  
  

• Temp coefficient: -30mV/ °C

  
  

Standby:

• Voltage: 13.50 ~ 13.80V @ 20°C

  
  

• Temp Coefficient: -20mV/ °C

  
  

• Weight: 14.0kg

  
  

[frozenpod]

The company I work for buys parts from Soanar all the time, they are good to deal with and generally ok priced.

This battery appears to be a generic chinese sealed battery which we use something very similar for our UPS backup systems, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with this battery but I don't think this battery is design to supply large starting currents.

I would suggest looking at the automotive sealed units such as (from memory) Pulse branded ones that come from the same factory as very expensive Oddysee.

[krzysztof]

nope, plenty of ppl here use pulse which are probably best bang for buck but i spent 300bux and bought an optima yellowtop battery instead..

[shanusr33]

nope, plenty of ppl here use pulse which are probably best bang for buck but i spent 300bux and bought an optima yellowtop battery instead..

i've got a yellow top too, and in need of a new one after 5 years. i got quoted 350. where'd you pick yours up from for 300?

[bluejeans]

ive always wondered if having a battery which vents into the rear of the car where the battery is, is it dangerous!?

[llama_au]

I love my Pulse dry cell. Keeps charge very well, sits sideways in my engine bay and is pretty light as far as batteries go.

[BeEnAr]

this is not even in the same class as an Optima. This is just a sealed Lead Acid battery, it will weigh the same as your normal Exide you buy at K-Mart but this one is not made for cars. It is for a UPS, Solar station etc. hence the reason it has no CCA (cold cranking amps) rating on it.

For a battery to be legal in the boot it has to be a sealed Gel type (optima) or a euro vented type lead acid. This one doesn't show a vent but I bet it has one because a lead acid battery of any type will need to vent excess gasses that are created, this is the reason that if you have a lead acid battery in your boot it needs to vent outside of the car or it can possibly cause a fire if the gasses ignite.

IMO, save your money a little longer and buy a yellow top.

[Phatboy]

Hmm... ok

Not sure WTH wrxhoon is selling then, because I am sure this is identical.

My sound system doesn't need to run while the engine is off, and I don't power a fridge either with my battery. To save money shouldn't I just get a cranking battery like a red-top, instead of a crank/deep cycle hybrid like the yellowtop?

And does anyone know which optima models fit into an R34 GTR without having to modify anything?

Thanks heaps

[frozenpod]

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Se...es-t311699.html

Looks to be the same battery but different colour casing.

This could be related/important as the cream colour could be suited for high current discharge.

[BeEnAr]

problem is that if this battery is not designed for a car tehn you ,ay run into issues with road vibrations etc making the plates come loose. I'd stick with a known and trusted over a cheapo any day of the week.

[Phatboy]

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Se...es-t311699.html

Looks to be the same battery but different colour casing.

This could be related/important as the cream colour could be suited for high current discharge.

Ummm. ... the black one in the pic is the Odyssey car batter. The cream one is the one he is selling.

But I take your point.

[frozenpod]

The black battery I was refering to was the black DiaMec that you have posted the specs to in this thread not the Oddyssey.

I had a look on the manufactures website couldn't find anything about cream vs black look to be the same to me.

http://www.diamec.com/e/default_home.asp

Listed as having maximum discharge current of 600A for 5 seconds.

Could be ok and given the information in the other thread (assuming the cream DiaMec and black DiaMec are the same) probably worth the risk, if you use it let us know how it goes.

[llama_au]

F*ck, I take back what I said about Pulse. My dry cell just died after only two years. Cock

[benl1981]

Just for info I have had the diamec SB1692 in my R33 for 5 years.

It started to loose charge so I took out the black plastic covers at the top (2) and there are 6 small plugs that you can pry out with small screwdriver. Where some goggles in case it spits acid at you (not likely but good to be careful).

I added a small amount of INOX battery conditioner to each cell (about 10ml) and some tap water (probably another 20ml).

I then put it on charge overnight (best to leave the plugs out whilst charging), place a rag underneath it and do this in a VENTED area.

Check charge on battery (should be around 12.5v and install in vehicle.

Its now back better than ever.

Real test will be after a week without driving it to see if it still has charge.

Battery world were surprised it even worked when it was the wrong style of battery for cranking.

However smaller SLAs similar to this are used in all the battery boosters!