6 volt battery

[Tiger]

Can anyone help with best product advise 
My old battery was 77 AH
Regards
            Tim

[Andy Bennett]

Whenever this one comes up the general concensus is always buy as high an Ah as available as gives better longevity/starting/lighting etc. Of course if you are running LEDs and never drive at night you can take a view here.

Then lots of different opinions regarding makes, with everyone having their favourite.

Seems to me that it is more important to keep it correctly charged (trickle or whatever). My current one has been in there nearly 10 years, is kept on trickle and topped up and shows no signs of deterioration.

[Denis Sweeney]

That’s interesting Andy, I had a battery that was not that old that I thought had died prematurely, much less than 10 years, so I took it to my local battery man and having carried out tests, including checking the acid, he confirmed its demise.
The first question he asked was had I been using a trickle charger, I confirmed I had and he told I should not leave the battery on trickle charge for long periods.
So now, unless I am not using Ruby regularly, I only put the battery on a trickle charge for a short periods of time.

[Ian Wegg]

I agree with above, pay attention to the AH. My A7 came with a very heavy-duty looking battery that was almost brand new, but struggled to turn the starter over fast enough. I discovered it was intended for use in a pair on a 12V system, such as the MGB. Very rugged but only 50AH.

Some info here (although a little out-of-date now): Tayna battery

[John Cornforth]

Hi

The Ah capacity will tell you how long the battery can supply a low to medium current. For good starting, it's more important to have a high Cold Cranking Amperes (CCA) rating. To some extent high Ah is associated with high CCA, but not necessarily. Unfortunately, it's hard to get CCA data for classic style batteries.

For charging, "trickle" chargers were traditionally unregulated supplies that delivered 2 or 3 amps for as long as they were connected. Fine for overnight, but not a good idea for permanent connection as they will eventually overcharge the battery. A more modern battery conditioner will charge the battery and then drop back to a float charging voltage of about 6.9 volts for a 6 volt battery, which is safe for longer periods. In my experience however, even this can eventually lead to the electrolyte needing topping up, so my strategy is to use a battery conditioner on a cheap time switch that comes on for just an hour around midday each day.

[andrew34ruby]

..... so my strategy is to use a battery conditioner on a cheap time switch that comes on for just an hour around midday each day.

I also don't like to leave the battery on a conditioner/charger all of the time, but a lot of battery conditioner/chargers will not come back on from a time switch.

Mine needs power switched on at the wall, then a button to be pressed. My habit is it use the charger for 24 hours, about every 3 or 4 weeks.

[Steve kay]

It was suggested to me that CTEK chargers were an excellent modern piece of electrics by numbers of pals. And so it has seemed, the little computery knows what to do and when, and I can share the recommendation for them. They work on an entirely different basis to the old fashioned trickle charger. It was here on the forum that Tayna were first recommended as battery suppliers, again advice I followed and will happily pass on. Their advise on the phone if one is uncertain what to order is most helpful.

[falcott]

It's not authentic, and I can't speak to its longevity, but I've just bought a special and it has two sealed lead acid motorcycle batteries wired in parallel. Seems to get the job done with regards to cranking, etc. The previous owner of the car said that he left a trickle charger (a small wall outlet) connected to it all the time. Again I don't know the amperage of the charger, but it may be 1 amp or less.

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Trickle chargers can overcharge batteries, if left on all the time.

Smart chargers use a controlled/planned charge that is safe and effective.

[Frank Stoll]

Lovely topic... Led to many discussions and interesting conversations with dealers, garage owners and even some high-ranking experts of German car parts suppliers (mainly Swabians... Love their dialect).
Main problem: drastic decrease in quality of car batteries.... not because manufacturers aren't able to produce any better, but because of price pressure (Kostendruck or Swabian: Koschdedrugg).
Second problem: Wrong charging. Saving money at the wrong end.... "I still have an old battery charger, so why spend money on a new one..." 
I bought 2 CTEK chargers for 6 volt batteries (unfortunately they aren't available anymore) and they keep the batteries alive in a very intelligent way.... Very recommendable.
I use Bosch 6 VOLT batteries... No problems. (I wrote two articles about suitable batteries and chargers on my blog (German but AI will solve the problem)
Kind regards 
Frank