Terminology Ref
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Description
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AGM
Click for Optima and
Varta AGM Batteries
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AGM or Absorbed
Glass
Mat
batteries offer much greater performance as compared to
ordinary Lead Acid Batteries.
Their
internal
design
makes
use
of
several
absorbent
Fiber
Glass
Mat
structures that not only keep
the acid from sloshing around inside the battery case, but also help
the energy transitions inside the battery to work a lot more smoothly
and reliably as compared to ordinary lead-acid car batteries.
AGM Batteries
are spill-proof, can handle sub zero temperatures and are
vibration resistant as well as having a significantly better
performance in sustained power output.
AGM Batteries
are increasingly being used for vehicles that automatically switch off
their engines at standstill in traffic (e.g. 'Start-Stop' technology
used by the 'eco model' variants from Audi, BMW, Ford, Mercedes, FIAT,
Kia etc from 2005 onwards) While the engine is off the battery
power is still being used for much of the in-car equipment.
Ordinary lead-acid batteries cannot handle the extra load and in the
longer term would become unreliable much more quickly if used as a
replacement for an AGM unit.
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Amperage
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See Ampere Hours /
Ah Rating below.
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Ampere
Hours
/
Ah
Rating
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Ampere
Hours
(Ah)
relate
to
the
sustained
electrical
power
of the battery or loosely
speaking its combined stamina and muscle power.
For example - a 1.4 engined Fiesta with standard everyday equipment
such as a radio,
sat-nav, wipers, central locking, driving lights etc may need only 40 -
45 Ampere
Hours. An 063 type battery
with 43, 44 or 45 Ah would be
the right choice.
By contrast a 1.4 engined Fiesta with more electrical equipment such as
a
media center, extra powerful speakers, car spotlights, powered windows,
electric
sunroof, cd changer, heated seats etc etc would need a slightly more
robust /
powerful battery to handle the extra load in the longer term.
Our Varta Silver C6 with 52 Ah in this
case would then be more suitable.
Most vehicles can only take a certain size of battery. Thankfully
a range of matching sized batteries can be chosen from that offer
economy versus performance to suit most needs. If you have more
than average in-car electrical kit / drive a mid to high range
car with lots of built in gadgets then go for the battery option with a
bit more Ah.
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CCA
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Generally
a
3
figure
number
the
'Cold
Cranking
Amps'
are
the
battery's
ability
to
throw
plenty of power into
the starter motor and engine first thing in the morning or otherwise
from 'cold'.
The 'cold' refers to when the engine is started from cold - e.g. the
engine has cooled to below a few degrees celsius whilst the vehicle has
been parked up.
A cold engine, as opposed to one that has just been running at optimum
temperature, will take more energy to start and thus needs plenty of
CCA from the battery. The reason for this is that the moving
parts of the engine when cold encounter more resistance as they move
against one another. Metal (or metal alloy blends), similar to
most materials contract and become physically smaller / tighter when
cold. The amount of contraction may only be a few thousandths of
a millimeter but in a car engine where mechanical tolerances are very
fine - it can make, especially in older vehicle designs, a big
difference to the job the starter motor has to do.
Diesel engines typically need more CCA for example than petrol
equivalents due to them being a much heavier design in general.
Diesel engines require certain parts of the engine to be heavier /
thicker walled than their petrol siblings and need more CCA to crank
them over at startup- especially in winter!
An older car that struggles to start because the engine isn't
as free turning as a newer version simply needs a battery with 5-10%
more CCA than the previous battery! More regular oil servicing
will otherwise no doubt help...
PLEASE NOTE :
Your car can take a new battery with the same or more CCA but NOT less! |
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Charge
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The
charge
that
a
battery
holds
can
be
likened
to
the usable
amount of potential energy it
has.
Similarly - to charge a battery is to increase that amount of energy to
a certain extent so obviously a battery can be full or empty like a cup.
Ordinary Lead Acid batteries
such as car batteries need to be regularly charged and kept topped up
by the
vehicle alternator to keep them working properly. If, for any
reason
the battery's energy levels fall below a certain amount and stay there
for prolonged periods of time - it will become unreliable. By contrast a mismatching
alternator fitted by a bad mechanic will slowly ruin the battery by
overcharging it.
Most types of battery, whilst charging will feel warm to the
touch. This is quite normal. If the battery(ies) start to
feel too hot to touch then there may be a problem. During
charging, lead acid car batteries generate a by product called
oxyhydrogen gas. Oxyhydrogen gas in great quantity in an enclosed
space can explode when exposed to sparks, lit cigarettes and so on.
When most types of battery have overheated the chemical compounds
inside will change due to them having been cooked. Generally the
unit will at best be unusable - at worst will melt, deform or explode,
often into flames. Smoke or vapors from overheated batteries can
also be very toxic. It is generally a good idea to keep the area
around charging batteries well ventilated especially older
technology.
Do not couple up any type of battery charger to a battery unless you
are certain the pair are suited. Some combinations e.g.
using grandads old charger on your AGM battery will probably, if not
definitely cook it.
The same applies to mobile phones and laptops etc etc etc.
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Charger
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Most
ordinary
Lead
Acid batteries degrade quickly in performance if not kept
fully charged. This can happen if your vehicle is used
infrequently / less than once a week. A battery charger /
maintenance unit will keep your battery healthy for a lot longer!
Many manufacturers refuse to honor the guarantee if a lead acid
battery hasn't been used / kept topped up frequently enough!
Similarly - many Golf Battery and Marine / Leisure Vehicle battery
users own a battery charger to keep their batteries in good condition
although deep cycle batteries can remain uncharged for longer without
loss of their overall capacity.
The same mentality should to apply to any vehicle or machine battery
that only has 'seasonal' use. Our Optima Battery Range can take a
good deal of neglect and ill treatment where regular charging is not
practicable.
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Current
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Electrical
Current
(when
combined
with
voltage)
could
be
likened
to
water
pressure
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e.g.
When
your neighborhood is using more water
- your own water supply slows down.
The current that a battery can supply (in Ampere Hours - see above) is
relative to the original design of your vehicle and the amount of
current it typically needs.
If you need more current or more Ampere Hours for additional electrical
equipment then a sturdier battery e.g. a Varta Blue or Silver Label /
Lucas XV would be more practical .
A fuller explanation can be found in the Ampere Hours section above.
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| Cycle |
When the battery is discharged or drained and then recharged it has gone through 1 complete cycle.
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Deep
Cycle
Battery
Click for Motorhome /
Marine Deep Cycle
Batteries
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Deep
Cycle
Batteries
are built to directly
power electric motors, heating elements, winches, compressors, fridges,
information processors and other electrical devices. they are
designed to allow repeated full
'dis-charging' and charging without shortening the lifespan of the
battery.
An ordinary lead-acid car battery is kept topped-up all the time by the
car
alternator and never runs flat. If it does - its life will be
foreshortened significantly as it cannot survive being below 90% charge
for very long. This is a trade-off in the form of CCA power
instead.
Deep Cycle Batteries
by contrast are built with heavier charge and
discharge cycles in mind and can be used up fully / remain uncharged
for longer periods of time with less deterioration and fewer adverse affects on the overall
performance.
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Dis-charging
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Utilising the power
stored in the battery.
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Electrolyte
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The battery contains a mixture of water and
sulphuric acid. This allows the storage of electrical power.
An electrolyte is a substance that contains ions which are electrically
charged particles.
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Element / Plate / Grid
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The elements inside a car battery are rows of positive and negative plates. These are assembled with separators.
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Envelope
Separation
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Each battery element / plate / grid
is separated from the next using envelope separators. The envelope
separators are micro-porous and control the efficiency of energy
conversion.
Batteries with envelope separation usually have improved performance and a longer service life.
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GEL
Battery
Click for Sonnenschein
Gel
Batteries
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A
GEL
Battery
is a modification on the original Sealed
Lead
Acid
Battery
design. Instead of just a mix of water and acid - additives form
a more stable GEL around the
lead plates inside the battery
casing.
GEL Batteries
are much safer as they do not need vents to allow
expanding gases to escape.
A GEL Battery can be tipped on
its side without any spillage and is the
obvious choice of Golfers!
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| Height |
Where vehicle
batteries are concerned the height measurement includes the terminals
(where not otherwise stated)
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Lead
Acid
Battery
Click for Lead Acid
Batteries
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A
Lead
Acid
Battery
is a plastic box full of water, acid and lead plates. These are
the most common design, are cheap to make, and for most applications
they suit their purpose.
Ordinary 'Wet' Lead Acid Batteries
have small 'breather' holes on the
top to allow expanding gases to escape safely.
This happens when the battery is being worked hard for example your
Stereo, Amplifier, Lights, Wipers, SAT-NAV, Spotlights, Heated Seats
and so on are switched on all at the same time while you drive down the
motorway. Whilst on one hand the power is being drained -
on the other the car continues to recharge its battery.
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Length
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Length,
where
vehicle
batteries
are
concerned,
relates
to
across
the
front
main
sticker side
of the
Battery and unless stated does not include the ridge around the top.
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Silver Calcium
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Silver Calcium Batteries work by using internal components that have been coated with calcium silver alloy.
The benefits or silver calcium batteries are improved CCA performance
(better starting power), greater resistance to degeneration via
corrosion, reduced electrolyte loss (another form of degeneration) with
longer product lifespan as a result.
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SLA
Battery
Click for Motorhome SLA
Batteries
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SLA
means Sealed
Lead Acid. Many GEL
Batteries and AGM Batteries
fall under this
description as they contain lead and acid similar to ordinary car
batteries. Being sealed allows the battery to be operated
on its side, even upside down where ordinary non-sealed / 'wet'
batteries would leak.
SLA batteries are used for Golfing,
Mobility and many other applications.
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'Starting'
Battery
Click for Starting
Batteries
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A
Battery
designed
to
have
plenty
of
CCA
at
start-up.
Many Leisure and Marine pursuits make use of combination Deep Cycle
and Starting Batteries.
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Sulphation
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Suplhation is one of the most common causes of battery failure.
Suplhation happens when a battery is left to stand for a period of time in a partially charged state.
Common symptoms are an egg-like sulphur smell whilst charging and cloudy electrolyte.
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Terminals
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The
stumpy
metal
pegs
/
lugs
pointing
out
of
the
top
of
the
battery.
European Standard (19.5mm positive terminal diameter)
Japanese International Standard (14.7mm positive terminal)
The majority of
consumer batteries have only 2 terminals - Positive and Negative.
Exceptions being Dual Terminal
Batteries where the 'spare' pair of
terminals can be connected to for example a winch or spotlights and so
on. |
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Voltage
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The
batteries
that
we
sell
(other
than
our
industrial
batteries)
are
usually
12
Volts
(around
99%) the exception being 6 Volt units.
Voltage is essentially what pushes the current around.
The voltage between two ends of a path is the total energy required to
move a small electric charge along that path, divided by the magnitude
of the charge.
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VRLA
Battery
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Valve
Reglated
Lead
Acid (VRLA) Batteries have the means to safely release
any internal pressure that builds up during normal use. A VRLA
Battery has 'breather' holes situated on the top.
ALL VRLA Batteries need to be
kept upright and not exposed to high
levels of vibration. This is very important for safe usage as
corrosive battery acid can get through the open vents.
See Lead Acid Battery and SLA Batteries above.
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Width
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From the front sticker side of
the battery to the back (people have
asked!)
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