another battery install thread

[nineball]

like most, when i got my 911 is had an older lead acid battery that had not been connected to a vent tube. luckily the battery tray was still solid so i just did some cleaning with baking soda and water then sponged it down and dried with my air compressor. i picked up a new kinetik hc800 agm battery (750cca), a box, a cutting board and some hardware and went to town.

old battery next to the new one. i am not exactly sure how much weight was saved but the new battery weighs just under 25lbs and looks to be less than half the size of the old one.








here are the nuts i used to hold the battery box to the cutting board. not sure of the technical name but it's the same stuff we use to mount the plastic windshields on race cars.




board is cut and box is mounted.







next i drilled holes for the hold down. i used my 4" grinder to cut away a recess on the bottom for the brackets to sit into.


battery in box and all together







finally installed back into the car. the positive terminal i used had 2 8g set screws and a bolt on top. i snipped the ends of the 8g wires going to the battery and used the allen bolt holes. i connected the 4g line and the line for my amp to the bolt on top. snapped the plastic cover on, bolted the cutting board into the stock hole and all was right in the world.

[Oh Haha]

Damn fine job, Kris!!!!

The cutting board is a cool idea.

How did you keep the "nutserts" from spinning in the holes?

[moneymanager]

Nice work. Where did you get that classy cover for the positive terminal?

[nineball]

Originally Posted by Oh Haha

Damn fine job, Kris!!!!

The cutting board is a cool idea.

How did you keep the "nutserts" from spinning in the holes?

thanks wayne. it was dumb luck, or maybe the slightly melted plastic around each hole from drilling, but they never moved once. i just started tightening down the screw from the top and never had a problem.

Originally Posted by moneymanager

Nice work. Where did you get that classy cover for the positive terminal?

it is a battery terminal made by kinetik. there are literally hundreds of versions of terminals with almost countless combinations of set screw openings and ring terminal connections. ebay is a good place to see tha variety available, or sonic electronics. one of my favorites is made by a company called knu koncepts and uses a threaded insert to hold the wire in place. it is called the konfused terminal. they sell another style as well but i prefer the konfused due to it's range of available openings. in a situation like a 911 it would be overkill though.

https://www.knukonceptz.com/productMaster.cfm?category=Battery%20Terminals


these are the terminals i used. i got them as part of a package deal a while back in a car audio purchase i made.

Kinetik HCNBC - Battery Terminals - Sonic Electronix


i also bought "fancy" battery posts since they do not come with any when purchased new.

(12.95) KINETIK KHC-TP (KHCTP)
Power Top Post Silver Alloy Brass For Maximum Conductivity

[brads911sc]

Nice job. Looks great. Have to tell us how that battery has held up in a few years.

[grizzfan]

I'll second that you did a fantastic job putting this together.

I googled Kinetik to learn more about them. What is the difference in automobile starter applications and what Kinetik bill themselves for: Audio applications? I presume they work fine, but no reference to automobile applications. I couldn't find any reference to cold cranking amps in their literature. How were you able to determine 750 CCA for the HC800? I wonder what the HC600 has. Some guys are using a small Mazda Miata AGM battery by WestCo that delivers 450 CCA. This is all pretty confusing for me.

I found on the Kinetik site the battery box, but couldn't locate the terminal covers. Great job and any further help would be appreciated.

Tom

[nineball]

there really isn't any difference, it's marketing. i got the specs here:

Audio Warehouse 1-800-388-8720

		Kinetik HC 600 More power than 100-1 farad caps! Extreme power in a small package. Mount near amplifier for 800 amps of power reinforcement. Easily starts a V8 engine! AGM (Absorptive Glass Mat) Technology Sealed Non-Spillable, Mounts In Any Position Ultra Low ESR (Equivalent Series Resistance) More Plates, Stronger Energy Density Providing Higher Voltage Under Load Tightly Packed Cells For Superior Heat & Vibration Resistance Specifications : 14 Lbs. - 850 AMPS - 600 CA Dimensions (L x W x H) 7" x 3" x 6.5"

they are tiny. really tiny. i use one as a second battery in one of my cars and have not had a problem but i don't know if i would want to run it as my only battery. it is roughly half the size of the 800.

i already linked the terminals and the posts in an earlier message.

[nineball]

Originally Posted by brads911sc

Nice job. Looks great. Have to tell us how that battery has held up in a few years.

one year and ~3000 miles later and it still cranks up every time without a problem.

[nineball]

two years later and despite completely draining the battery twice (left the trunk open) and bringing it back to life with my battery tender it cranks up every time.

[86 ssinit]

Great to hear its still holding up. Looked it up online found a lot of the parts. One more ? Do you keep it on a tender when not using car. What is the difference between a battery charger and a tender??

[Joe Bob]

A tender is a low voltage only plugin that will shut off/on so as to maintain an optimal charge.

A battery charger goes from 2-10 amps and doesn't shut down and come back on again.

[nineball]

Originally Posted by 86 ssinit

Great to hear its still holding up. Looked it up online found a lot of the parts. One more ? Do you keep it on a tender when not using car. What is the difference between a battery charger and a tender??

i really only use the tender in the winter (or when i am stupid and leave the trunk open overnight) but occasionally i will throw it on if i am not driving the car for a couple of weeks.

as joe said a charger runs at full power all the time. a tender, also sometimes called a float charger, will only charge the battery when it is below a certain voltage (say under 11.5 or 12). once it is fully charged the tender turns itself off and monitors the battery charge level until it falls to the low point, then kicks on and restarts the cycle.

[86 ssinit]

Took me awhile to get the parts and put it together but came out great thanks for info. Mine didn't come with the battery box.

[nineball]

very nice! one tip - get some washers to go on top of the rubber and under the wing nuts. you will be amazed at how much better the battery is held in place.

[86 ssinit]

Nice how's this

[86 ssinit]

Missed picture here itis

[nineball]

that's it. amazing the difference a couple of little pieces of metal can make.

[theclaw]

I just finished mounting my Odyssey PC925 using some of the ideas here. Instead of grinding a small channel under the cutting board I drilled the holes, then counter sunk them from the bottom. Then I slid the bolt in there and heated it up with a torch just enough to melt the plastic of the cutting board. Then I pressed it into the bottom of the cutting board to make a custom fit and hold the bolt while the bracket is screwed on. I made a bracket out of some aluminum stock from the hardware store.


Before (notice the Gatorade bottle for the vent)






Close up of the seated bolt,












Finished unit before installation,







Final job before connecting the terminals.

[DRACO A5OG]

Nice, got my WestCo sitting ready for install, then re-corner balancing

[nineball]

nice install jeff.

i am happy to say that almost 3 years later after being drained twice, several de events, trips to out of state casinos, 3 trips to hershey and the east coast (philly, jersey, balitmore) and a few runs up to michigan all while powering my 5 channel alpine pdx amp the battery still performs flawlessly.