A little education or advice on battery?

[baylensman]

So i can get a battery with 18 amp hours and 310 CCA or 20 AH and 270 cold cranking amps. They're only about $5.00 difference in prices both are sealed AGM type batteries.

 

I'm leaning to the 20 AH for the larger reserve, its not a high compression bike so I don't think that the extra CCA would even be noticed, and it the cheaper of the two!

 

Am i thinking right or do i need more coffee?

[Flyinfool]

Since you are in FL you do not have to worry about cold cranking, I would opt for the extra AH. Up here in WI I would opt for the better cca for those rides to work in sub freezing temps.

[Rafterd]

Coffee, lots of coffee. I’ll bet if you had both batteries side by side, they would measure the same.

just my 2 cents, please spend it wisely.

[jnc19610]

I worked for a battery company for 20+ years....

 

CCA is measure of short term performance, like a 30 second performance rating. Generally speaking, more CCA means more surface area (more plates, bigger plates). You can also cheat a little on CCA by making plates with a smaller grid, resulting in more oxide, gaining you a couple of CCA.

 

AMP hours, is an older rating. More like long term performance. Amp hours is a discharge over time. the time varies, but is usually 6 or 8 hours to get a maximum rating.

 

Thiner plates, smaller gridsize, makes higher cca.

 

Thicker plates, old fashioned grids, usually makes higher amp hours.

 

I will usually take amp hours over CCA, because the CCA will probably exceed the OEM rating. As long as the CCA is over the OEM rating, then you're good. More cca usually will mean a little faster spin, but 40 cca probably won't make a measureable difference.

 

My opinion..... the 20 amp battery will last longer.

[baylensman]

So i put the battery in. Not a lot of room in the battery box!! had to lift straight up. Need 6 hands to hold everything out of the way to drop it back in. Lots of wires. I mean a lot of wires to both terminals.

 

I'm thinking a rainy weekend project would be to pull the tank and seat and install a remote power bar and ground bar under one of the side covers for all the accessories to be powered. I have relays for Fog lamps LEDs Horn ect. also thinking of moving all the relays to the same location. right now i have them in different places depending on the accessory. Also thinking of replacing a lot of the crimps stye connects with soldered wire and shrink tubing. It means i'll have to rewire almost everything so as to have one long run from the light horn ect to the power bar or relay.

 

So has any one attempted this? Is there a better location? Any other suggestions or comments before I tear it up?

[Flyinfool]

On my 1st gen I did a power and ground strips for connecting accessories. Half of the power strip is switched power that only comes on when the ignition is in run or accy, the other half is direct battery power. all of this is thru a 40A maxifuse. This way there is just the one extra wire and one extra ground wire to the battery. I never frame ground anything if I can help it. I prefer to run real ground wires.

 

Not sure what the similarities are, but I did a power strip on a RSTD and put it next to the battery under the seat. Worked out great.

[camos]

On my 1st gen I did a power and ground strips for connecting accessories. Half of the power strip is switched power that only comes on when the ignition is in run or accy, the other half is direct battery power. all of this is thru a 40A maxifuse. This way there is just the one extra wire and one extra ground wire to the battery. I never frame ground anything if I can help it. I prefer to run real ground wires.

Very good advice.