Bedouin

Question, my research shows these battery options to drop 20-30lbs, but am I missing any...& what are your thoughts? Car is a (CA. -mild temps) weekend driver & I always plug it into my Battery Tender when not in use.


Optima
Shorai
Braille
Deka

I'm leaning toward the 5 lbs. Shorai lithium battery, & thanks for any input y'all may have.

OEM Battery - Delco 90-6YR 36lbs
Braille Lithium Ion 340R 9lbs (-25lbs)
Braille B14115 11lbs (-25lbs)
Braille B2015C 15 lbs (-21lbs)
Deka Sports ETX16L 15.5lbs (-20.5lbs)
Braille B2317 17lbs (-19lbs)

taken19

I've got the Braile B2317 and it fits nicely in the trunk (had to move to fit dry sump tank). I can tell you though that if you leave the car door, hood or trunk open for 30-45 min, the battery will be virtually dead. The capacity is definitely reduced with most lightweight batteries and you may need to be more cognizant of the reduced overall capacity.

Food for thought.

fatbillybob

Everyone wants the expensive braille but I want cheap. In the past I have used sears lawn tractor batteries and PWC batteries from West marine. Cheap low CCA light units in the 13lb range in traditional lead acid design that are plenty strong enough to start your car. Did I say cheap?

naschmitz

Good. If you go the Deka route, the battery won't last two weeks without starting the car. Other than that, it is a great way to go.

brkntrxn

I have an Odyssey PC680 in my car and keep in on the Battery Tender when not in use. Whenever the car is going to sit for a long time away from the charger, I simply hit the master shutoff. This is a race car only, but I have never had any issues with it in the past year.

http://www.odysseybatteries.com/battery/pc680.htm

froggy47

For how you describe the use, I would not put up with the expense & short duration of any of those. They are for track only cars.

2 cents



I use Optima red top about 30 lbs I guess, I never have to trickle it.

MeHurricane

IF you really want to do this, I had good luck with an 8 cell Ballistic Battery for my Miata. A vette might like the 16 cell HD. 500 CCA @ 3.5lbs.
The lithium batteries are high drain, in that if you leave your parking lights on when you go into the store you will need a jump.

All that said, I agree with Froggy that you probably won't gain much from this. I did it in the Miata because I was racing, at a national level, a light low horsepower car and needed the weight savings. I carried a and jumper cables where ever I went. Not fun.

Glen aka MeHurricane

rfn026

I've done a few articles on batteries over the years. Here's an explanation of the three different types of batteries. It's on my blog.

Richard Newton
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Bedouin

Great info gents, & many thanks. I trickle charge my bikes & do the same with the '12 GS. I installed a BTjr. charging pigtail that tucks up above the rear license plate that's easy to plug it in.

The $350 Shorai LFX36A3-BS12, or the $150 Odyssey PC680 have good reviews, but I need to check into the Deka units next.

3 great threads;
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-z...xperiment.html

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...f-the-car.html

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-t...s-battery.html

el es tu

As an update - I still dont have any regrets with the shorai. It has worked well through the winter. I think a lot of folks assume "tiny battery it must be the same as those motorcycle agms that die quickly in cars..." These batteries are lithium and are made to last longer. The only reason they arent recommended for cars is because they havent been through any extensive tests with cars, but several people here have played guinea pig and had great results in their corvettes.

The only downsides I can think of with the battery are: the fact that in really cold weather it supposedly has a harder time starting (although I havent experienced this yet), and the worry that it has to be charged with a tender that doesnt use a desulfation mode (either the shorai brand charger or a battery tender brand) and that someone at a service shop or a family member might use the wrong thing.

You may want to avoid buying it from the manufacturer - amazon currently has the LFX36A3-BS12 for $268.32 and free shipping...

btw the alternate name for the deka is east penn and they are sold at autozone, but youre still going to have less cca and a lot more weight.

69427

On a lark a couple of years ago I grabbed my jumper cables and hooked up my '69 to the (Interstate) battery out of my garden tractor (300 CCA, 365 CA, 17#, $32). The engine cranked well and started right up. I then installed it in the right rear compartment to move some weight off the left side. Been running that same (used) battery in the '69 for a couple years now.
I just recently put an identical battery in my '84 (right rear compartment again). This car has more battery drain during storage than the '69, so I've added a cutoff switch in the event that the car will sit for extended periods without the benefit of a trickle charger.

Bedouin

Great post & many thanks! I'm leaning more & more toward that Shorai LFX36A3-BS12.

I briefly spoke with an engineer at Shorai today & he recommended lining up two battery's instead, the Shorai LFX21- L6 & A6, primarily for their combined CCA power & that you could trickle charge them both intermittantly...not sure I want, or need, to do this based on the real-world results here on CF.

His concern was that starting a big V8 would be too much of a drain on the battery & lead to a shortened life. I didn't mention that the push button start of the vette's are very quick & the draw time minimal...especially compared ot how long my carb'd bike's sometimes take to catch while turning the starter over & over...smaller draw, but 10x longer cranking time.

I think I'll keep the oem battery for long trips & on a BTjr when not in use. it sounds like the Shorai will be perfect for general weekend use. I'll be stoked to drop 30lbs for sure.

Question is if I can use my Batter Tender Jr. to charge the Shorai, or will I need the shorai specific charger?

spdislife

I've run the Deka battery the last 2 years. My advice is to pull it in the winter. There's someone on e bay that sells it for somewhere around 80 or 90 dollars. No issues.

el es tu

I use the tender jr. - its slower than the regular battery tender or the shorai charger, but it works.

btw the tender brand is the only non shorai charger recommended by shorai, however I called up Deltran anyway to make sure and they verified that they do not use a desulfation mode in the battery tender brand units.

Canam

PC680 and I won't use anything else. 14.7 pounds and mount it anywhere. Very good price and they make a realy nice battery holder bracket.

QUIKAG

Can you use the normal CTEK battery tender for the Shorai LI battery or do you need a 'special' tender?

Bedouin

I'll wait for el es tu to answer, as his post sounded like Deltran & Shorai were the only two... I would think the CTEK is the same technology, etc as the Deltran, but I don't know chargers.

Last C5

Ditto on all accounts although I use the Odyssey 925 if I was going to do it over I'd go with the 680. Three years and counting now.

el es tu

the ctek has a desulfation mode so it wouldnt be recommended for a shorai

383

Deca ETX18L here with a battery tender, in the car about a year. Works great.
you cant beat 80 bucks