Odyssey PC-680 with hi tq. starter?

[Brent 930]

Can you use the PC-680 battery if you have the hi torque starter? The hi tq. starter will draw approx. 700 Amps which will max out that battery and I talked with Odyssey and they said the battery rating is 680 CCA's for 5 sec. then afterwords will go down to 220 CCA's. In a way the hi tq. could be better since it will start the engine faster but 5 sec. is a very long time to start an engine.

Thanks

[Lukesportsman]

Is the CCA loss due to actual power loss or heat? That seems to be a large drop and I've definitely spent more than 5 sec's (if not at one interval) to start a cold attitude race engine before. Can you/them clarify the power loss? Isn't it true to not provide the necessary amps needed is hard on the "appliance"? I'm not a EE so no rants, just asking for clarification.

How long of a recovery period is this for the battery? I don't expect you to have all the answers, Brent, just posing them for the board.

[911pcars]

According to http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/carfaq7.htm#cca

"CCA is the discharge load measured in amps that a new, fully charged battery, operating at 0° F (-17.8° C), can deliver for 30 seconds and while maintaining the voltage above 7.2 volts."

It sounds as if Odyssey is playing with words when they describe their 220 CCA battery as having the capacity of a 680 CCA battery for 5 seconds. I'd think a lot of 220 CCA batteries could meet that spec for 5 seconds; but don't look for any comparable specs with that 5 second disclaimer. That's why they have CCAs, CA, MCA and HCA ratings - they're all standard ratings one can use to compare different batteries.

That said, the 220 CCA Odyssey will probably work fine in a moderate climate even with your hi-torque starter. BTW, your starter might have a 700 amp spec but shouldn't draw nearly that much in normal cranking. Typically, it's only around 200-250 or so. You haven't converted the engine to diesel ignition have you? :-)

Sherwood

[Brent 930]

Luke, you now have me thinking. I'm a tech in the field of electronics so I understand some of this but not an engineer though I work with them. Trying to understand the V,I and P when you first turn the key could be complex. Without a doubt when you first turn the key to activate the starter the current spike will be HUGE and the voltage should drop some but the power draw should be the same if the battery can deliver. A battery will regulate voltage to x amount of resistance before slowly dropping and the current capacity will only last so long. The larger the motor with higher compression the larger the load on the starter and thus on the battery. The starter will have a derating value to heat and I suspect will only cause more of a strain on the battery as it needs to be on longer. This is where the info Sherwood provided is usefull. That is why depending on the motor will depend on the battery size. BUT, if you don't need the extra RC then you can go with a smaller battery if the CA and CCA's are good enough for the motor. Though I don't know the electrical spec.s of the stock starter and the hi torque one, the hi tq. one will pull more current. I guess I'm just talking myself through this as I try to understand it better.

Good info Sherwood and I was wrong about the current draw from the starter all along, it was ft./lbs. not Amps, OPPS. The PC-680 is rated for 680 CA but the lady told me that value held true for CCA's for 5 seconds??? My engine needs 268 CCA's which means I'm good for -22 deg. based on 680 CA's. After the 5 sec. then you have approx. 27 sec. left (she also told me this) so the battery has a RC of 32 seconds which I can believe being so small (just don't leave your lights on or crank up your thousand watt stereo). The amp ratings have nothing to do with capacity but of course there will be x amount of capacity in order to deliver x amount of current. The starter will draw whatever current it needs which will vary from starter to starter. The hi torque starter will draw more current, hence the name hi tq. starter and turn faster vs. the stock one which was designed for the spec. of the engine and probably a little more. With that said and after reading your link I believe the CCA's should be 544 at 32 deg. and 220 is at approx. -40 deg. I think the hi torque starter won't be a problem. If this is true then we could go with even a smaller battery if you don't need much reserve and your car starts OK.

[Brent 930]

Again I made a mistake about the RC time. I meant the starting time and the reserve time is 27 min. from what Elephant Racing says. My stock battery is approx. 41 pounds with 875 CA's or 700 CCA's which apparently is overkill. So if you don't need the extra reserve the PC-680 should be good for the street as well.

[Brent 930]

Now I'm not sure if there is a CCA rating for a dry cell battery? Will have to do some more research.