Formula Ford Battery

[MBillings]

I am interested in replacing the battery on my C/M Lola with one that is lighter. I just came from the battery store with more questions than solutions. The battery I have now weighs 24 lbs. and is a "deep cycle" battery. The lighter weight battery, that the store manager considered, is 12 lbs., but not a "deep cycle" battery. He was not sure if the lighter battery would do the job.

The current battery is made by Interstate Batteries and is rated at 33 amphours. I don't remember the rating on the lighter battery. The previous owner of the Lola said he autocrossed the Lola three of four times in 2009 and never had to/chose to recharge the battery (the whole year). I think I have more battery than I need, but don't want to end up with less than I need.

The final issue, for me, is that the battery is located under the front of the seat and can't be removed withou removing the seat. I would be difficult to take the battery to the motel and recharge it between weekends, for example. I want a battery than can last through a National Tour and a Pro Solo in one charging.

I'd appreciate any and all advice.

thanks,
Mike

[HayesCages]

This looks like what you need; http://www.autoanything.com/electric...A4444A0A0.aspx

I used to race Vee's and had a sealed 18AH battery that would go for a whole weekend before requiring a recharge.
If you have a electric fuel pump or a MSD ignition then you may need to take them into consideration also.
I'm sure there's an EE out there that can tell you how to figure your discharge rate by what items your powering and figure the AH that suits your needs.

Lawrence

[na94]

Mike, I run a 13.5lb Genesis battery that I picked up locally from http://www.pdm-racing.com/specials/specials.html

It sits just forward of my knees, but requires a good battery tender.

Just get a generator and you can charge onsite.

Stands up to pros and tours, no problems, but I do charge it for a couple hours after a day of competition.

[JHaydon]

The best solution for battery life is also the biggest pain in the backside -- use a jumper battery. You can save a good 12-14 pounds by using a lighter battery in the car. The battery you have now is perfect for a starter battery (I use the same size for my jumper battery, and mine isn't even a deep-cycle).

The downsides are the extra battery cables and jumper plug (weight, cost, hassle to install, etc), carrying your battery to the staging area, and having to leave it there until you can fetch it after your run. But if you locate the jump plug in the cockpit, you can unplug it yourself instead of relying on a crew member.

As a bonus, you can carry the jumper battery to the hotel for an overnight charge.

[Matt King]

Or a generator and a battery charger.

[thomschoon]

I use these:
\
http://www.odysseybatteries.com/battery/pc680.htm

they are heavy at around 15lbs but will last a weekend, they make several versions including a metal cased, I like them because they last and the weight is the least of my problems.

[AJWALKER]

A lot of the CF/FF's in NE use this Odessy Battery http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ODY-PC680

This will run a entire race weekend including test day with out charging. All morning and cold starts are done with small (garden tractor size, deep cycle)jumper battery. I also use the jumper battery to power a small (350 watt) inverter for interior trailer lights at night or run battery charger off . Generators are expensive, heavy and noisy (not small Honda but big $$).

[Max Power]

I use one of these all-in-one guys. Bought at Home Depot for $100.
http://www.blackanddecker.com/power-tools/VEC026BD.aspx

Use it for:
-Jumper battery (I replaced the alligator clips with a plug for the car)
-Air compressor (takes a little longer to set pressures than an air tank, so I just plan ahead)
-Run the Battery Tender off the A/C plug to charge the on-board battery in between sessions (D/C to A/C to D/C... is this bad?)
-A/C power for misc stuff - charge cell phone, computer, etc

Love it! It's great for a small operation like mine (open trailer, Jeep tow vehicle). I take it home or back to the hotel with me at the end of the day and charge it overnight.

[PCalhoun]

Mike,
There is no need for a battery as large as you are currently carrying. A good, small, deep cycle battery charged will make it thru a two-day event w/ two drivers no problem. If it does not you have something pulling a draw off the battery.

A jump battery is always a good insurance policy to carry in the trailer too.

Pegasus has the battery you need #1170. Normally I'd say call "Mr. Battery" Scott Rubenzer at SBS Battery, but as documented elsewhere on this site he fell off his roof a few weeks back, while cleaning gutters.

Either way under a $100 and you will be set for the next three seasons.

[HayesCages]

Peter,
So does that now make you Mr. FOoHRWCG? (falls off of his roof while cleaning gutters)

I agree with you, a smaller battery would work fine. (18 AH?)

[Hawke]

Use the small Odessy battery on the race car. Connect a wire from the positive terminal of the battery to a terminal on the dash. This allows the battery to be charged without removing the seat.

Take your big deep cycle battery and put it in your trailer. I use a 600 watt inverter, and this can power a battery charger and will just power a small vacuum cleaner, drill etc. Use heavy duty wire from the tow car battery and a 50 Amp Anderson plug to connect to the trailer battery. This allows the battery to be charged on the drive to the track.

We use a bottle of compressed air (I think 10,000 psi) which lasts 3 meetings.

[Dick R.]

Mike,

Since for many autocrossers a "jump battery" is not practical you need a battery that can start and run the car on its own. That said, the type of battery Peter recommends is exactly what I've used since 1992. Mine have been a variety of brands ranging from Yuasa to the last two or three being Panasonic 20 AH weighing about 15 lbs.

The Panasonics do not need a trickle charger and can be charged directly from your tow vehicle. I think this link shows the one I use. http://www.gotbatteries.com/index.ph...h&fID=34L105S6

With any battery it is a good idea to keep it charged at every opportunity. Certainly recharge it after each event since they simply last longer that way.

Since I have an RV with genset (and I'm a cautious guy) I recharge at multiday events such as Pro Solos . . . but only because I can.

Dick
CM 85

[GRMPer]

Maybe you can win one?

Sorry in advance if this is towards the spam end of things. We've got a contest going to win a free Braille ML7 2 lb. battery. All you need to do is sign up here:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/contest/battery/

that's it. Figured I'd tell my CMod friends about the opportunity.

moderator: feel free to edit or delete if it's crossing any sort of line.

Per

[ffrgtm]

Braille batteries are complete garbage. They are literally just re-labled snow mobile batteries. They will not hold a charge at all... all electrical problems on 3 seperate race-cars I've worked on disappeared after we switched to odyssey

[Ken Rozeboom]

I used a PowerSonic AGM 18amp battery in my DB1 for 15 years. PS-12180 NB. Inexpensive and will get you through a weekend.

http://www.power-sonic.com/images/po...10_June_22.pdf Get the NB version with the bolt/nut tab. Replace every three seasons.

That battery wouldn't fit my RF01 (Pinto - no FI, etc to power) so I went with the Odyssey PC545 P.

Buy either at http://www.portablepower.com/
$37.50 for the PowerSonic and <$125 for the Odyssey.

Use a BatteryTender ($50 on Amazon). At the track I use the trailer battery and inverter to power the BatteryTender to charge the racecar battery between sessions.

[Robert J. Alder]

The Odysesy batteries have been my battery of choice for years. They've become somewhat expensive, but they last and last and last. They'll power our FF and SRs for the weekend (plain ol' points and coil, no MSD and no electric fuel pumps) But we always use a generator powered charger in the morning for the initial cold starts. And if there's been more than average number of starts from some reason, we'll top 'em off at lunch with the generator powered charger just be sure they're at full voltage. I've read that while being down on voltage a bit will still run the car seemingly fine, but might rob some power.

A couple of fellows have mentioned running an inverter off of their big 12v onboard trailer battery in order to use 110v Charger to top off the FF''s battery. Out of ignorance, I'm curious about that process. While our little Honda generator is really quiet, I'd love to not have it running, especially during lunch, to charge the race car. My question is, does the bigbatter/invertor/110vCharger routine really charge as well as a generator/110vCharger setup? Seems like some sort of weird alchemy going on to go from 12vDC to 110v and then back to 12v DC from the charger. Pros and cons?

[marshall9]

This one works well, is cheap and withstands the AZ climate.

http://www.batteriesplus.com/product...A12--11NB.aspx

[ChrisInAtlanta]

A couple of fellows have mentioned running an inverter off of their big 12v onboard trailer battery in order to use 110v Charger to top off the FF''s battery. Out of ignorance, I'm curious about that process. While our little Honda generator is really quiet, I'd love to not have it running, especially during lunch, to charge the race car. My question is, does the bigbatter/invertor/110vCharger routine really charge as well as a generator/110vCharger setup? Seems like some sort of weird alchemy going on to go from 12vDC to 110v and then back to 12v DC from the charger. Pros and cons?

I am an autocrosser, using a small battery. I recharge my battery in grid, between runs, using a DC-DC charger. I plug it in to the exposed connector on the car (I changed the charger's banana clips to the plug-in connector), connect it to my big 12V helper battery, push the button a few times to set the charge mode, and the juice is on. It charges at about 15.5 volts, and up to 5 amps. Both values are displayed on the charger's LCD display. Amperage delivered is determined by state of charge, so you can tell if the battery is weak or not.

These things are built for electric RC planes, and there are a variety available. Just be sure it will do 12v, 15-16 volts, and up to so many amps (I went for the max I could find, which five years ago was five). Some of these settings are changeable on some units. Do your research well! It was about $80 new on ebay. About the size of a small AC charger, mine is ribbed extruded aluminum, to cool it I assume (nice looking, anyway!).

Actually, I went another 1/2 lb on my current AGM battery, going from 11 Ah to 14 Ah, and don't really need to charge anymore.

Chris

[Hawke]

Being a tighwad, I wont pay the extra cost of a pit lane garage, and just run out of my trailer.

The on board battery runs a 600 watt 240 V inverter. That can easily power a 12v battery charger, and after every race, gets a top up. The inverter has a low voltage alarm, and makes a noise and ultimalty shuts off if the trailer battery drops off.

I have a 50amp Anderson plug that connects the trailer battery to the tow car, and if things go south, just plug it in and idle the car for 20 minutes.

I'm sure that if you looked at all the ineffecienies, this would be about the worst example of energy loss - but what the heck, I'm saving up to $300 per meeting in not paying for a garage.

By the way, the inverter will run a small vacuum cleaner - great for getting those pesky little rocks out of dark places when you go off - phone chargers, laptops, and will just boil a cup of water - but pulls about 80amps.

[jdp526]

I finished rebuilding a '90 Reynard this past Dec and I am autoxing the car now. I dont have the bodywork refinished yet, thats another project I need to start on soon, but I can run it at local events without it. Eventually I would like to do some time trials and drivers schools.

I did gear the car much lower using an integral first gear so I can launch it off the line easily. I have only run the car at three events so I am still learning to drive it, but its been a blast. I have Hoosier R35s on the car for now. I think they will work ok in the summer here in Texas where the temps average in the high 90s during the day with asphalt temps around 120-140.

I was using a Panasonic battery but I couldnt start the car without using a jumper battery. So I did some research on here and found that most people with battery issues are running the Odyssey brand.

I put the Odyssey PC680 in my car before my last event this past weekend. It was a perfect fit for the original battery compartment. Engine spins over much faster now than it did before with the Panasonic/jumper battery combo. I should have measured the voltage at the end of the day but I was still using a jumper battery in the grid. I probably could run all day without the jumper as quick and easy the engine starts now. So I am very pleased with the quality and power of this battery.