Battery Tray Mat
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Pro
Joined: Feb 2007
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From: West Jordan Utah
Battery Tray Mat
With all the concerns about the CPU below the battery, has anyone here put in a Battery Tray Mat? While not a huge fan of automotive dodads on flea bay the description of a battery tray mat makes some sense, and for only 10 bucks................
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Any suggested AGM brands, etc.?
Thread Starter
Pro
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From: West Jordan Utah
Race Director
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From: San Diego CA
Robert,
The old "sky is falling" cry about leaking batteries is not only irrelevant today, but it is also a good source of needless money-spending on batteries that are no longer necessary.
Leaky batteries were last produced in 2000. All batteries made since then are of much higher build quality and robustness, eliminating the threat of acid leaks onto sensitive electronic components. So no, you do NOT have to buy a $120+ battery for your C5. A $60 Costco Kirkland or $75 Walmart MAXX battery will not only perform as well as most AGM batteries, but will also last up to 8 years without ever leaking.
Save your money and ignore the long-irrelevant panic cries that tend to reverberate from a time long ago.
The old "sky is falling" cry about leaking batteries is not only irrelevant today, but it is also a good source of needless money-spending on batteries that are no longer necessary.
Leaky batteries were last produced in 2000. All batteries made since then are of much higher build quality and robustness, eliminating the threat of acid leaks onto sensitive electronic components. So no, you do NOT have to buy a $120+ battery for your C5. A $60 Costco Kirkland or $75 Walmart MAXX battery will not only perform as well as most AGM batteries, but will also last up to 8 years without ever leaking.
Save your money and ignore the long-irrelevant panic cries that tend to reverberate from a time long ago.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 3,011
Likes: 2
From: Greenville SC
St. Jude Donor '10
My battery came with a foam cozy that wrapped around the battery. I just cut it up and laid it in the tray. I doubt the battery will leak but now it has a tempurpedic mattress so it's always happy.
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Pro
Joined: Sep 2007
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From: Clinton Twp. Michigan
I have one in my car.
I have a matt under my battery just to be safe, they are cheap compaired to electronic damage. Even if the battery case is good, and I don't put copper washers under my battery cables so that the cable bolt won't bottom out and pull the battery threaded mounting part away causing a leak like they used to, or maybe my car gets hit and splits or puts a hole in the side of the battery I feel I have done my best, short of relocating the battery to the trunk. I bought some matts here on the Forum a couple years ago, check the Threads. Put one in each car and gave one to a friend. I even put one under each of the 3 batterys in my Lund Pro V . 
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From: Horncastle Lincolnshire, England
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The original AC Delco batteries caused a lot of damage and there were regular threads showing horror stories. I did a poll a while ago to see if there were any original batteries still out there. Safe to say they were nearly all gone.
The issue was a badly designed battery post on the early lead acid AC Delco batteries. If the battery connector was over tightened it could crack the case and allow acid to leak. In 2001 AC Delco redesigned the case and switched to AGM type batteries for a couple of years.
In general terms, AGM batteries are leak free but cost more. They don't like being discharged so if you car is not a daily driver you need a battery tender if you run an AGM. The most recent Lead acid batteries are cheaper and will probably do everything you need.
As to the original question, a battery mat is cheap and even if its unlikely ever to be needed its cheap insurance.
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 3,640
Likes: 83
From: . New York
Robert,
The old "sky is falling" cry about leaking batteries is not only irrelevant today, but it is also a good source of needless money-spending on batteries that are no longer necessary.
Leaky batteries were last produced in 2000. All batteries made since then are of much higher build quality and robustness, eliminating the threat of acid leaks onto sensitive electronic components. So no, you do NOT have to buy a $120+ battery for your C5. A $60 Costco Kirkland or $75 Walmart MAXX battery will not only perform as well as most AGM batteries, but will also last up to 8 years without ever leaking.
Save your money and ignore the long-irrelevant panic cries that tend to reverberate from a time long ago.
The old "sky is falling" cry about leaking batteries is not only irrelevant today, but it is also a good source of needless money-spending on batteries that are no longer necessary.
Leaky batteries were last produced in 2000. All batteries made since then are of much higher build quality and robustness, eliminating the threat of acid leaks onto sensitive electronic components. So no, you do NOT have to buy a $120+ battery for your C5. A $60 Costco Kirkland or $75 Walmart MAXX battery will not only perform as well as most AGM batteries, but will also last up to 8 years without ever leaking.
Save your money and ignore the long-irrelevant panic cries that tend to reverberate from a time long ago.
The original AC Delco batteries caused a lot of damage and there were regular threads showing horror stories. I did a poll a while ago to see if there were any original batteries still out there. Safe to say they were nearly all gone.
The issue was a badly designed battery post on the early lead acid AC Delco batteries. If the battery connector was over tightened it could crack the case and allow acid to leak. In 2001 AC Delco redesigned the case and switched to AGM type batteries for a couple of years.
In general terms, AGM batteries are leak free but cost more. They don't like being discharged so if you car is not a daily driver you need a battery tender if you run an AGM. The most recent Lead acid batteries are cheaper and will probably do everything you need.
As to the original question, a battery mat is cheap and even if its unlikely ever to be needed its cheap insurance.
Dave and Dee Gee summed it up. One thing I would say though is that although many inexpensive batteries will do the job, the original recommendation for a Reserve Capacity of 90 for a battery for the C5 may be a little dated. Many of the problems that pop up (AH/TC issues, Colum Lock issues...etc) can be traced back to the capacity of the electrical system.If you are so inclined, you may want to watch the talk in the video below. The guy is a world class vette certified guy and says basically that if you go with a battery with a Reserve capacity of 100> you may avoid some problems. Just food for thought.
http://vettetube.com/view_video.php?...25f49408d959ca
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I have a matt under my battery just to be safe, they are cheap compaired to electronic damage. Even if the battery case is good, and I don't put copper washers under my battery cables so that the cable bolt won't bottom out and pull the battery threaded mounting part away causing a leak like they used to, or maybe my car gets hit and splits or puts a hole in the side of the battery I feel I have done my best, short of relocating the battery to the trunk. I bought some matts here on the Forum a couple years ago, check the Threads. Put one in each car and gave one to a friend. I even put one under each of the 3 batterys in my Lund Pro V .
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2009
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From: GRAYSLAKE IL
Oldtimer
St. Jude Donor '13
My orginal GM Battery leaked but I found it b-4 it did any damage! Cleaned the mess & put in a battery mat b-4 putting in the new Optima Red Top. The mat is cheap insurance.
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It can't hurt to put a battery mat under the battery - it is good for peace of mind even if the battery never leaks.
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2000
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From: San Diego CA
From what others have posted, the mat needs to be compressed quite a bit before it can be used. Fortunately, the chances of needing a mat are about as great as getting killed in a plane crash - very, very small.
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Drifting
Joined: Apr 2007
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From: somewhere in New Hampshire
I have an Optima yellow top and I still put a battery mat under it, it was less than ten bucks so I figured why not, just for added piece of mind. Besides, the mat was yellow so I had to have it! 
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