I run a Red Top 60 battery in my car. In fact I have just installed my third one as they kept dying which is not what was expected. I took the last one down to the factory as they are not too far from me and have learnt a few things that are perhaps worth sharing.
These batteries are more sensitive to charging and environment than you would first think.
Environment - they don't like too much vibration! Odd for a racing battery but that is what the factory told me. Therefore you need to have a thin layer of foam or other cushioning material to absorb vibration. Fortunately I have always had a 1/4 inch peice of dense foam in my car for this purpose.
Charging - this is where my set up fell over! First up, when I bought my first RT60 I was also sold a 0.5 amp charger made by the same people. Therefore it should be fine? Well no, not really! Once the battery was fully charged, using this 0.5 amp charger would only be ok for maintenance charging. The 2.5 amp charger that they also make would be better but the 8 amp charger (the one I now have) is the ideal one to get. Put these batteries on charge after you have used the car for maximum battery life is the message I got from the factory.
The next issue on charging is what your alternator pumps out. Not the ampage although that needs to be ok for the load made upon the battery/alternator by all the goodies on your car, but the charging voltage is absolutely critical. From what I have been told and have read here, you cannot over do the ampage side of the alternator as it has a regulator to give out what is necessary and no more.
But for Red Top batteries the voltage can kill your batteries if it is too low or too high. It needs to be in the range of 14.4 to 14.7 volts. Too much variation from these numbers and the battery will die much sooner than if properly charged. If you measure across the battery terminals when the engine is charging the battey and you get a reading below 14 or 15 volts or more, your battery will die sooner rather than later. I am not an electrical engineer but something like this happens. The reaction by the lead plates in the battery causes them to grow so they basically destroy the innards of the battery. I am now looking for a better alternator!
If you keep hammering your battery and not charging it up fully, this causes it to "sulphate" up internally also leading to damage and loss of performance. It may be possible to recover the battery in this circumstance but not always.
Bear in mind that these batteries can be good for 15 years if properly looked after and as they cost getting close to £300 it may be worth checking the other parts of your electrcial system to see how it is performing.
I would be interested to hear of other owners tales of woe or happiness!
These batteries are more sensitive to charging and environment than you would first think.
Environment - they don't like too much vibration! Odd for a racing battery but that is what the factory told me. Therefore you need to have a thin layer of foam or other cushioning material to absorb vibration. Fortunately I have always had a 1/4 inch peice of dense foam in my car for this purpose.
Charging - this is where my set up fell over! First up, when I bought my first RT60 I was also sold a 0.5 amp charger made by the same people. Therefore it should be fine? Well no, not really! Once the battery was fully charged, using this 0.5 amp charger would only be ok for maintenance charging. The 2.5 amp charger that they also make would be better but the 8 amp charger (the one I now have) is the ideal one to get. Put these batteries on charge after you have used the car for maximum battery life is the message I got from the factory.
The next issue on charging is what your alternator pumps out. Not the ampage although that needs to be ok for the load made upon the battery/alternator by all the goodies on your car, but the charging voltage is absolutely critical. From what I have been told and have read here, you cannot over do the ampage side of the alternator as it has a regulator to give out what is necessary and no more.
But for Red Top batteries the voltage can kill your batteries if it is too low or too high. It needs to be in the range of 14.4 to 14.7 volts. Too much variation from these numbers and the battery will die much sooner than if properly charged. If you measure across the battery terminals when the engine is charging the battey and you get a reading below 14 or 15 volts or more, your battery will die sooner rather than later. I am not an electrical engineer but something like this happens. The reaction by the lead plates in the battery causes them to grow so they basically destroy the innards of the battery. I am now looking for a better alternator!
If you keep hammering your battery and not charging it up fully, this causes it to "sulphate" up internally also leading to damage and loss of performance. It may be possible to recover the battery in this circumstance but not always.
Bear in mind that these batteries can be good for 15 years if properly looked after and as they cost getting close to £300 it may be worth checking the other parts of your electrcial system to see how it is performing.
I would be interested to hear of other owners tales of woe or happiness!