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Odyssey battery questions (or other light batteries)

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Duane Black

Curbs go brrrppp
567
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5-10 Years
Durham, NC
hey gang - I’ve seen the odyssey battery thrown about as a weight savings measure. My parts store battery has a few years on it so just curious about what works well as i consider its future. I had a few questions. Thank you for any input!

1) how long do these last

2) how do you secure them? Does the factory system work well?

3) are they still suitable for cold weather and daily driver abuse?

4) they save about 20ish lbs?
 

TMSBOSS

Spending my pension on car parts and track fees.
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HPDE
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10-20 Years
Illinois
MH
One of my projects for this summer is to make a battery mount, original location, which will hold a smaller track battery and have room for a pump to circulate transmission lube through a cooler. Is there room to possibly place battery sideways 90 deg and add a small pump?
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
I have Braille B2015 in both cars... I like them so far. Zero problems and one is about 15 months and the other 13 months in the Boss. I keep the GT topped off with ~1A solar charger in the windshield facing SE where I park and the Boss in the garage is on a regulated 13.6V float.

MH
One of my projects for this summer is to make a battery mount, original location, which will hold a smaller track battery and have room for a pump to circulate transmission lube through a cooler. Is there room to possibly place battery sideways 90 deg and add a small pump?
I think there's enough room and stock cable for that. Neg terminal rotated toward the firewall.
 

Duane Black

Curbs go brrrppp
567
401
Exp. Type
Time Attack
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5-10 Years
Durham, NC
I have Braille B2015 in both cars... I like them so far. Zero problems and one is about 15 months and the other 13 months in the Boss. I keep the GT topped off with ~1A solar charger in the windshield facing SE where I park and the Boss in the garage is on a regulated 13.6V float.


I think there's enough room and stock cable for that. Neg terminal rotated toward the firewall.

Grant, how are they secured? Is it necessary to keep them on a tender if it’s driven daily
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
I used the included clamps and J hooks in the kit. My guess is that daily use should be okay with 15-20 minute trips. If it's shorter than that, you should check the voltage or at least take 1 longer drive every week. More often if they're really short like 5-10 minute trips. JMO, but I geek out with electrical testing.

Both my installations (and others) are in here:
https://trackmustangsonline.com/threads/race-lightweight-battery-installations.13120/
 

JDee

Ancient Racer
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20+ Years
5 miles from Mosport
I have a Braille B2015. It will sit into the depression in the bottom of the stock S550 battery box with a little bit of grinder work. The battery cables are so big the thing can't really move, but just for looks I ran some bungies over it. It saves a fair bit of weight, but it does not have much reserve capacity.

Starts the car just fine cold or hot, but if you leave stuff running off it with the engine off you might be surprised how quickly it will go down, even just charging a cell phone can get sketchy. I carry the stock battery to the track "just in case".

In cold weather batteries don't discharge much so if it's not hooked up in the car and it's fully charged it doesn't need to be kept on a maintainer. Mine is sitting at 12.8 volts and it hasn't been on a charger since November.
 

Duane Black

Curbs go brrrppp
567
401
Exp. Type
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5-10 Years
Durham, NC
Thanks for the link.

How long are they lasting now that members have had them for awhile?

My commute to work is 20-ish minutes so I should be good on that. Is there a reason these batteries cant handle frequent short trips?
 

JDee

Ancient Racer
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5 miles from Mosport
Thanks for the link.

How long are they lasting now that members have had them for awhile?

My commute to work is 20-ish minutes so I should be good on that. Is there a reason these batteries cant handle frequent short trips?

I got mine used from my neighbour, he used it for 2 seasons and I have 1 season in it. He wasn't doing any maintenance on it either, just let it sit without checking voltage which is not a good idea, but it seems to be fine.

They can handle any kind of a trip, just remember that there is very high parasitic load on these cars, when you think everything is off it is not. I put a quick disconnect on mine so when I park it in the garage I flip the switch and disconnect the loads, without doing that it will go flat in 2-3 days.
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
The energy to run the starter is hard on *any* battery. Short trips are bad for even the OEM battery but most will survive a couple of years with some 'abuse'. I like OEM batteries to last in the 6-8 year range. Smaller lead acid batteries have even less reserve capacity and any start puts a deeper percentage discharge on the battery. If done enough times in a row, the 'damage' to capacity becomes permanent, faster. I'm shooting for the same 6-8 years for my Brailles, but we'll just have to see. I maintain mine because I don't like disconnecting any car unless necessary. Neither of my cars have been off power since new in 8.5 and 7.5 years respectively.

Based on my tests, one week of sitting is generally fine if you take a continuous ~30 minute drive. And JDee is right, they last quite a while disconnected.
 

Duane Black

Curbs go brrrppp
567
401
Exp. Type
Time Attack
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5-10 Years
Durham, NC
It seems like I’m reading two different experiences. I guess parasitic load is things like oil life, radio presets, steering feel, etc?

Is a cut off switch is used, is it more peace of mind or necessity? It’s crazy that a charging cell phone would drain a battery too.

Grant, I assume not coming off power means you never use a cut off switch, correct? I know many standard car batteries are basically meant to be maintained, and a solid drain killing a battery can be a death nothing comes back from.

It sounds like a braile battery is fine for a daily driver, jusy dont leave your camera charging?
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
It seems like I’m reading two different experiences.
Sure, we're two different people in two different locations and have different uses for the cars. And his is ~3 years old now. That, BTW, sounds really promising to me. Both are good care and maintenance regimens, for our specific needs and use. I've read lots of issues online from various levels of abuse and neglect resulting in only a year or two of life.

I guess parasitic load is things like oil life, radio presets, steering feel, etc?
I don't think oil life or the presets themselves, but yes there are a few computers running even when the car is off. And they all add up. Plus the alarm and PATS stuff...which I think is the main draw when the car is sitting. The load is about 7 mA, which isn't a lot, but over a week, it's over an Amp-hour and the B2015 is only 21 Ah so that's already about 5% drain if it's any less than topped-off. I've tested to two weeks with close/daily monitoring from 'full' and that is absolutely the longest one of these should sit while hooked up, IMO.

Grant, I assume not coming off power means you never use a cut off switch, correct? I know many standard car batteries are basically meant to be maintained, and a solid drain killing a battery can be a death nothing comes back from.
Correct, and agreed.

It sounds like a braile battery is fine for a daily driver, jusy dont leave your camera charging?
I think so. Phones are relatively high draw when they need a charge. 5V 1A is typical. So an hour could be like a 2-3% drain. Equivalent to sitting for 3 days.
 

Mad Hatter

Gotta go Faster
5,237
4,227
Santiago, Chile
Yup.... was left with a flat battery at the track when charging my phone and couple of gopros for too long. I have a feeling that leaving the car unlocked drains the battery faster... is that posible???
 

Mad Hatter

Gotta go Faster
5,237
4,227
Santiago, Chile
MH
One of my projects for this summer is to make a battery mount, original location, which will hold a smaller track battery and have room for a pump to circulate transmission lube through a cooler. Is there room to possibly place battery sideways 90 deg and add a small pump?


Yes I think you can do it. We ended up making a base under the shock tower strut for the tranny cooler pump. But I am pretty sure you would have enough space with one of the Braille units.
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
Made a little foam "nest" Its a fraction of the size of the OEM battery.
Yes I think you can do it. We ended up making a base under the shock tower strut for the tranny cooler pump. But I am pretty sure you would have enough space with one of the Braille units.

^ Don't mean to demand, but pictures would be nice!
 

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