Battery Change Time. . . - Page 6

Delboy · #51 17th February 2015, 07:48 PM

After the car sitting for two months and starting I can't complain, I also did tests in the car when I first got the battery and deliberately tried to run it down while I monitored the battery manager with vcds, with the stereo on(b&o) seat heating on full whack engine not running I got bored after 30 odd mins when it hadn't dropped enough to reach the first step of the power saving so seems like there's plenty in reserve if your interested it was a Varta silver series AGM I bought.

Architex_mA8tey · #52 17th February 2015, 09:12 PM

Yuasa is now an Audi OEM battery as well according to TPS

tintin · #53 17th February 2015, 11:24 PM

Mine is probably on it's last legs too: I don't think I've ever changed it in the 7 years I've had the car, and after 3 solid days on trickle, the charger indicator is still showing red..

.

Mind you, it starts ok now, but I'll need to change it before my European road trip in the Spring.

I've been looking at these -
http://www.gsfcarparts.com/971aa0191
and
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/p/ac...0176&0&cc5_999

plus I've got Kwikfit looking for me for one for about the same price (i.e.about £100).

Norretal · #54 18th February 2015, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Architex_mA8tey

Yuasa is now an Audi OEM battery as well according to TPS

That's good to know Neil

Just fitted a Yuasa to mine a few weeks ago (coincidentally, didn't know they're now OEM) and it's solved a few niggles and uncertainties that started to occur as the original battery slowly died.

£102 from a local spares retailer

Adrian E · #55 18th February 2015, 07:18 AM

I take it that wasn't an AGM battery at that price?

What I've found so far is a Bosch S5 (95Ah, 850CCA)for £98.75 from just car batteries (euro car parts web shop is only slightly dearer at £102.93 and you can collect from local store and avoid postage cost)

The S6 (100Ah, 830CCA) AGM batteries I can't find for less than £158

The Yuasa Silver option has slightly higher specs (100Ah, 900CCA) and can be had for just under £100 from thebatteryshop.co.uk

You have to watch the Bosch handbook for specs - it's wrong for late UK spec batteries, as it suggests the monster battery that Sergey has fitted is standard fit! You'd get a bit of a surprise trying to squeeze that in there unprepared!

Norretal · #56 18th February 2015, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adrian E

The Yuasa Silver option has slightly higher specs (100Ah, 900CCA) and can be had for just under £100 from thebatteryshop.co.uk

That's the fella Adrian. I prefer to buy from someone I can talk, rather than buy online, then if anything goes wrong it's easier to sort. I also like to think I'm doing my bit to keep a small local business afloat rather than frequent Halfrauds and the like

Adrian E · #57 18th February 2015, 08:10 AM

I'd love to be able to buy from a local factor, but we've only got the conglomerates around these parts! rents are too pricey in this corner of the world

Can now get the S6 battery from ECP for £151.20 but not sure it's worth the 50% markup on the S5

for my kind of use it would probably be a better choice, as supposedly they lose the sort of % charge over a month that a regular battery will lose in a week, plus they supposedly don't have issues with deep discharge cycling.

ainarssems · #58 18th February 2015, 08:39 AM

Main and in my mind only benefit for AGM battery is that it will not spill electrolyte when fractured or turned upside down. They need higher charging voltage around 14.8V instead of normal 14-14.4V so it might get undercharged in car that was not designed to be used with AGM batteries from factory which will lead to shortened life.

Difference between S5, S4 and other silver and calcium batteries is that they have small they have small amount of silver, calcium or other exotic metals to reduce electrolysis of water and catalyze water recovery which help to extend battery life by prevention of water loss but have little or no effect to aging due to sulphation. It is hard or next to impossible to open and check electrolyte level in many of these no-maintenance batteries without damage. I prefer low maintenance low cost batteries that do have removable covers for electrolyte level inspection and water top up. These are usually a lot cheaper and come with 2 or 3 year warranty but will last just as long or even longer if you regularly check level and top up.

Norretal · #59 18th February 2015, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adrian E

I'd love to be able to buy from a local factor, but we've only got the conglomerates around these parts! rents are too pricey in this corner of the world

This place has to be seen to be believed, think Arkwright, then more eccentric. The various advertising is 1980's at latest but it's a real gem of a place for car parts, he's rarely beaten on price. It actually looks like it hasn't been open since the 80's from the outside if I'm honest

Adrian E · #60 18th February 2015, 08:48 AM

Cheers for the explanation - think I'll stick with the original battery type in that case.

I'll stick with the known 'brands' as that's the easiest to find round here and if it does go duff I've got a chance of getting it swapped if necessary. This car may be one of very few where I keep it long enough to require more than 1 battery in my ownership

I don't know anyone with a Halfords trade card, as I suspect that'd make the Yuasa option considerably cheaper!