Battery Options

[schmoo]

Very cool.

[mr_hyde]

I'd love to see someone else try it....I'm too chicken

I especially like the idea of pairing it with a small lithium battery but I can't wrap my head around how to wire it.  It seems to me you would need to have a control board with some logic to keep the caps from pulling the battery down.  How would that work with just diodes?  The MSM has dark drain I have never bothered to track down so I use a yellow top and a tender when the car isn't driven.  '90 MSM will sit for weeks without starting but turns right over with a traditional miata battery even after a full winter.  A cap solution would also be cool for a hydra owner using a small battery that sometimes undervolts and keeps the hydra from firing the coils.

[04TitaniumGrayPhilly]

Think I'll just go with a generic replacement from the store with a warranty. WHEN the battery finally gives out. Just doesn't seem worth it to spend the extra money for minimal weight savings. I'd rather just take out my passanger's seat for free.

[msmny]

that capacitor pack is pretty cool, at least would be a great back up, my car also has a "dark current" and I think (hope) it is the ipod interface but as long as I dont let it sit for a more than twoo weeks it starts fine, although not lately according to the wife, we will see once I put it on the road again; but I will look into that pack

[Preluding]

Here is a link to more discussion on the topic...and the possibility of it being fake:
http://hackedgadgets.com/2013/11/13/car-started-with-capacitors/#section3

[slick04msm]

How often are you guys replacing batteries?   I am hesitant to drive it anytime it's under 40 degrees, it barely wants to turn over.  I always keep the tender on it at home though.  Normal activity for a small battery like this?

[mr_hyde]

It's safe to say most of us should be on our second batteries by now.  If a healthy battery is fully charged, it shouldn't have any trouble turning over at reasonable temperatures.

[SilverMiataRacer]

If you have the battery on a tender constantly and the battery terminals are tight and clean it should turn over fine.  If it's not then you probably need a battery.

I've seen OEM batteries that are kept charged last 10 plus years but I've also seen batteries last 2 or 3 years.

[slick04msm]

I work nights so it sits in the cold, 20-30deg all night. Then when I get off at 7am it barely starts. It's a 20m drive and the battery is full charger when I leave the house. I won't drive it till it warms up.

Carfax from po does not show a new battery, he had everything done at the dealer. I found one on battery mart for $94

[Preluding]

I'd love to see someone else try it....I'm too chicken

I especially like the idea of pairing it with a small lithium battery but I can't wrap my head around how to wire it.  It seems to me you would need to have a control board with some logic to keep the caps from pulling the battery down.  How would that work with just diodes?  The MSM has dark drain I have never bothered to track down so I use a yellow top and a tender when the car isn't driven.  '90 MSM will sit for weeks without starting but turns right over with a traditional miata battery even after a full winter.  A cap solution would also be cool for a hydra owner using a small battery that sometimes undervolts and keeps the hydra from firing the coils.

From what I can see in the video...it's simply wired straight in to the capacitors...

[msmny]

So I went to start the car over the weekend, but the battery was not up to the task, when I turned teh switch to hte on position I heard a bunch of clicks adn the lights at the dash dimmed as the clicks went on, but the horn and alarm worked ok, so I measured the battery: 11.4V at the terminals, I went ahead and charged it and brought it to autozone and low and behold the battery is not good, it's an interstate had has a sticker about a warranty of 75 months so I thought of calling but after reading a coulple of reviews online about interstate's warranty, I decided to buy a new battery from Autozone and call it a day. so today I will hook it up and finally read that code I have.

[greenhat]

i just bought the duralast from autozone last week. i looked around and found that the other batteries available were the same battery with different stickers on them, even the mazda dealers 'factory' battery was the same battery. it's not exactly the same size as the panasonic but fits nicely. it is vented (hoses included) and it is AGM.

[04TitaniumGrayPhilly]

Well looks like we started talking about this at a good time. My battery now barely turns my car over (very slowly) and doesn't even have enough juice to lock the doors. The alarm arms, but the actuators dont lock the door. I can see them wiggle, but just not enough grunt.

I'm getting the Duralast from Autozone later today, thanks for everyone's help!

[msmny]

A new battery is a new battery, I've had the duralast for a month now an so far so good, before changing it, I thought I had a phantom current or something because the battery would not hold charge (partially blaming it on the ipod interface that keeps charging the ipod even with the car off, so now I dont leave it connected just in case) but now that I think about it, it might've been the battery just crapping out, last year the wife had to get it towed once and jump started another time because it just did not start after stopping at the shopping center for a few hours, and for the record, she did not have the ipod connected so no phantom current there. Great info here nonetheless...