Relocating battery to boot

[built]

Blew a cooler hose off on the weekend and after taking the battery/tray out to get to it, I decided a bit spur of the moment to relocate the battery to the boot. I've run the cables loosely, and I've bought and prepped the box to put in, so now all I need is a battery.

What I'm interested to know is:

- Who has done this before/which battery do they recommend? At the moment I'm looking at the Optima Yellow Tops(sealed, dry cell), probably just one to suit a commy or something, has anyone had any problems with these?

- How have people run the vent from the box to external? I was thinking just a hose to a grommet in the floor of the boot.

Cheers,
Jack

 

[shadow]

I've bought all the stuff to do the same when i return home. Sounds like the same setup your considering, venting from the box using a tube to a grommet in the spare tyre well, or drilling a new hole. I will also be using an optima yellow top.
Had this battery in the engine bay for about a year now, love them. Wouldn't buy anything else for this car.

Think mine is the 750cca model or something close to that from memory.

Good luck with the install, i'm pretty sure if you do a search, there was an in depth thread with pictures a whlie back showing an install. I'll hopefully do the same thing when i do my overhaul of alarm/stereo/battery wiring.

 

[Michael]

I don't think you need to vent it if you're running a dry cell battery...

 

[oggy]

thats correct, no need to vent a dry cell battery, there is nothing to vent!

I just used a half decent normal battery, and vented it like you have said..... just run a hose from the box through the boot floor

 

[Hypo]

Just make sure it is genuine dry cell battery. I had the pleasure of having a sealed battery crack and vent into the car the other day. Ended up pulling over on the side of the road and throwing the battery out.

 

[evo-gsr]

thats correct, no need to vent a dry cell battery, there is nothing to vent!

I just used a half decent normal battery, and vented it like you have said..... just run a hose from the box through the boot floor

Couldnt have worded that first line better myself!!
One thing to remember is..make sure you have a fairly big CCA rated battery and a nice thick cable, to carry the correct voltage to the front of the car due to the extra length of the wire,otherwise voltage drop may become a problem...especially with cold starts.

 

[Missile]

Cant go past an odyssey at the priced that you can pick them up for these days!

 

[EVOCPE]

I use a GEL cell out of a patient lifter lol havnt had a problem with it yet

 

[86psi]

I use a battery that's ment for a jetski it's fully sealed not big at all can be mounted upside down if it needs to be and I think it only cost $180 from my local battery store

 

[htgsr]

I was told when i put mine in that even tho it was dry cell it still had to be vented by the dude that done the roadworthy, i guess in case it cracks?? I just ran a hose from the batt box down thro the floor where it was clearly visible an he was happy.

 

[EVO-00X]

Ive got an Optima yellow top D34 battery. I know they are supposed to last ages when not in use but its a farce IMO. If I dont start my car for 2 weeks the battery is dead.
I took it to Battery World to test it and they found no issues... working 100%.
Therefore I bought an automatic trickle charger to hook up to the battery when Im not driving the car around to keep the charge up.
With normal calcium batteries etc you could leave the car for weeks and it'll still start... I dunno... they're expensive batteries and in my experience at least, they arent what they are cracked up to be.

 

[khubner1]

the cca shouldn't realy effect the voltage going down the line it's the guage of the wire you realy have to take into consideration there. the cca relate to how many ampers can be sustained as constant draw.

i'd use at a minimum 4 gauge or even 0 gauge.

 

[built]

Hmmm the Optima seems the best value at the moment... I've had a look at a few sites and the cheapest actually seems to be fleabay with a Yellow Top D34 delivered for $295. EVO-00X thanks for the heads up - I'll keep an eye on it, but it's going to be driven pretty regularly so hopefully that shouldn't be a problem.

The cables that I've run are 0 gauge from the boot to a distro block to the bay, 4 gauge to everything from there, two 4 gauge cables for ground in the boot and I'm going to redo the engine bay ground with some fresh 4 gauge.

And I think it can't hurt to vent it - it won't take long to set up and if it makes it more cop friendly I'm happy to do it.

Thanks for the input guys!

 

[evo-gsr]

Any pics of the "distro block" you have? And where did you get it from..just for comparison sakes..I've already done mine ages ago..just want to see what your using...

 

[built]

Any pics of the "distro block" you have? And where did you get it from..just for comparison sakes..I've already done mine ages ago..just want to see what your using...

I think it's this one (or very similar), I'll take some pics tomorrow night.

I'm a bit lucky that I have a mate who works at a store that sells car audio gear - I got the distribution block, 5 metres of 0 gauge, 2 of 4 gauge and lugs for around $60.


http://www.stingerelectronics.com/productDetails.aspx?ProductId=591&CategoryID=13

 

[Hypo]

This is what you need to be careful of.

Thermal Runaway

The operating temperature which is reached in a battery is the result of the ambient temperature augmented by the heat generated by the battery. If a battery is subject to excessive currents the possibility of thermal runaway arises resulting in catastrophic destruction of the battery. This occurs when the rate of heat generation within the battery exceeds its heat dissipation capacity. There are several conditions which can bring this about:

Initially the thermal I2R losses of the charging current flowing through the cell heat up the electrolyte, but the resistance of the electrolyte decreases with temperature, so this will in turn result in a higher current driving the temperature still higher, reinforcing the reaction till a runaway condition is reached.
During charging the charging current induces an exothermic chemical reaction of the chemicals in the cell which reinforces the heat generated by the charging current.
Or during discharging the heat produced by the exothermic chemical action generating the current reinforces the resistive heating due to the current flow within the cell.
The ambient temperature is excessive.
Inadequate cooling
Unless some protective measures are in place the consequences of the thermal runaway could be meltdown of the cell or a build up of pressure resulting an explosion or fire depending on the cell chemistry and construction. See more details in the section on Lithium Battery Failures.

This happened to my AGM battery that was in the cabin of the car. It was caused by the battery having 0 charge and they charging with the alternator.

 

[built]

So dry cells should be trickle charged from flat? Surely that can't be a common issue - have you spoken to the dealer? What sort of battery was it?

It sounds pretty nasty, how did you know it had cracked?

 

[Hypo]

So dry cells should be trickle charged from flat? Surely that can't be a common issue - have you spoken to the dealer? What sort of battery was it?

It sounds pretty nasty, how did you know it had cracked?

The bubbling sound and the smell in the cabin.

He said basically that from now on I have to charge the battery once returning from the track and then disconnect the battery.

 

[milkandoj]

I have a DIN65L MF battery in my boot, its the style of battery some European cars use in their boot, so its sealed and has two vent holes you plug a line the size of a vacuum line in, then you can vent this out behind your rear bumper, its a lead battery so needs venting. Could use something slightly smaller like a DIN5XXX or DIN4XXX series also but i went as big as would fit in a large battery box considering the wires are now much longer.

This would be fine as long as you run the vent tube and only around $200-220 so cheaper that a $400 optima. And wont need to be charged all the time like a tiny oddessy battery.

The one im running is 580CCA so it got plenty of grunt. Im running 0 gauge wire and i prime the oil up after doing a service ect before i start the car by having the CAS plug disconnected so it just cranks and doesn't start, i can crank it for ages and it sounds strong. Connect the CAS plug back up and she fires up nice. This setup you don't need an overly expensive battery, and not always fighting a tiny battery to keep charge.