dunkelweizen
Go Kart Newbie
- Location
- Great White North
Resurrecting this thread (thx Diggs) with some cheaper alternatives:
I know there's a real chance of questionable specs and/or quality of these chinese batteries, but for half the price with the same 2years warranty as the Braille, I figured I can give it a shot and maybe other people feel the same.
I'm not 100% sure which spec/model I should be getting, since the Braille G30 is 192Wh/947CCA/15AH, the 3 I listed would be 256WH/750CCA/20Ah, 384Wh/850CCA/22Ah or 360Wh/720CCA/20(?)Ah
(the slightly lower CCA ratings don't really concern me, since they're all overkill for a gas 2L/4cyl)
I know with older alternators (with "dumb" regulators) you could overheat them or burn the diodes if you massively oversize the battery, but in our cars where we have charging settings options specifically for Li-ion in VCDS perhaps that's not a concern anymore..?
Knowledgeable advice would be appreciated.
I'm not particularly knowledgeable, but I can give you my experience so far with lighter than stock AGM battery (similar idea to the LiFeO4 ones you linked - yes, I know they are totally different chemistry). I was all set originally on getting a 15 lb, 20 Ah AGM battery others have mentioned (cuz race car? haha). Then I saw ppl writing that they regularly trickle charge their battery and carry booster packs so they don't get stranded. I'm not driving a race car no matter how much I like to imagine it in my head lol and don't even track anymore, so I decided it was pretty stupid for my DD use to compromise so much on capacity to shave those 20 sprung pounds vs stock.
I ended up getting the Braille B3121 AGM which is 21 lb, 31 Ah about 7 months ago. Compared to the 15lb/20Ah AGMs that most talked about running, I gain 11 Ah at the cost of ~5 lb (which still nets me about 15 lb savings vs stock 60 Ah battery).
I don't trickle charge my battery. The car was parked for 2 full weeks while I was away in November and it fired up totally fine right away. Winter has not been very cold here so far with some slightly below freezing days (high 20s F) and starts up no issue at all, even doing about 6 or 7 starts within an hour of very short trips in the snow. I also regularly have the stereo going with the engine not running and again, starts no problem in the cold.
The usable energy of a Li-ion battery is about double of the equivalent AGM with LiFeO4 a bit less at around 1.5x of AGM, so a 20Ah LiFeO4 = ~30+Ah AGM. In that case, any of the LiFeO4 ones you listed should give you the great weight savings and should not compromise DD use of the car (assuming that's what you use your car for). The only thing I'm not so certain about is whether our charging system can properly handle the LiFeO4 (not listed in Mk7 Gateway battery adaptation) as I don't know if they have different charging requirements compared to Li-ion (listed in Mk7 Gateway battery adaptation). The motorcycle guys seem to all use it no problem (cranks better than regular batteries from what I've read), but we have more parasitic drain than a bike also... If the charge rate and current for LiFeO4 is similar to Li-ion, then we're golden. Maybe someone actually knowledgeable can chime in...
I paid $400 CAD ($300 USD) shipped for my Braille B3121 AGM. When this battery goes, I will definitely look to get the LiFeO4 ones you linked above instead as they are cheaper, lighter, give more capacity and last longer than the Braille AGM I bought (also less flammable than Li-ion ones). And even if you hadn't linked those, I would have gone with a similar capacity Chinese made AGM at half the price next time as I don' t feel the Braille one is so much better that it justifies their price premium. If you do end up getting a LiFeO4 battery, would be very interested to hear how it goes for you. Sorry to semi-jack your post...
Thanks for finding those much more palatable $$-wise LiFeO4 batteries Cheers.