Kawi2strokes.com Forum

I need a new battery for the old car....12V 35A. The price of conventional lead acid batteries is crazy, lately. For the same price, (or less) I can get a 12v35a AGM battery for a golf buggy, etc. which is smaller, lighter, and maintenance free. New set of connections, job done. While I have had the car in storage, I would start it (easily) with a 12v10AH AGM battery out of my ZX10. So I am wondering if there are any flaws in my thinking? Why would I use a conventional lead acid battery if a smaller, lighter AGM will do the same job.....? Over to the Electrical Gurus!

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"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching." : anon.

The only possible problem I know of is the sensitivity to overcharging that AGMs have. There's no reservoir of extra acid, it's all absorbed in the glass mats. If it gets overcharged, it will vent excess pressure and lose electrolyte (acid), and it can't lose much or it'll degrade. An automotive charging system, made for flooded batteries, may not be ideal for an AGM, since they generally bring the battery voltage well into the 14 volt range right after starting, and hold it there. You can check the charging requirements of the AGM you're considering, and measure what the charging system does, and go from there.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

Jim,
The optima batteries the hot rod car guys seem to like are AGM.
Run one in my flatbottom, and it goes in my p/u when the boat is parked.
So I just don't know...

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Don

An AGM would work fine in my flat bottom, since it has a total loss system.

('73 Sanger, or maybe a little earlier, what's yours?)

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

We change out wet for agm type all the time on carts and scissor lifts. The chargers for the agm are a little less amps as the wet cell chargers have a tendency to destroy an agm after about a year due to the charger thinking it's not charged and keeps going so we have to change chargers to agm for agm batteries. We have run them in many forklifts and cars without a problem though but as said check the ratings. It's funny that where you are their cheaper than wet cause in ca they are about twice as expensive. Theirs lots of info on the internet about batteries and ratings you just have to search. I will try to find some for Dales very nice resource site.

It's not so much they are cheaper than wets, it is just the price of wets has got stupid! Thanks for the comments guys, appreciated.

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"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching." : anon.

83 Hondo T-Deck

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Don

Very nice. Flat bottoms have been my favorite boats since I was a little kid. Mine needs restoring, but I do plan to get to it. I talked to Mike Brendell about the Hondo flat bottoms once. It was an interesting conversation. Also, there's a rumor that a Hondo was taken out of the mold too soon and the bottom sagged a little, it worked really well, and Sanger made their molds from that one. No idea if that's true or not.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

This is an ex drag boat, ran mid 9's 130mph. I have had it up 83mph, GPS with another 5-600 rpm to go but the water was a little rough and I backed out of it, needs a taller gear after we put the blower on it, same top speed but way quicker. Ya I am a bit of a puss/newbie. The guy I got it from was building a new one so I bought it w/o motor. Installed the motor from my Sanger bubble deck, honestly should have kept the Sanger, but it needed paint and I don't the facilities to do that. Sanger was 19' the Hondo is 17' 10". Fyi the new hull, same just lighter, It broke up on him after the 10th run. Hurt him bad enough that he quit racing.

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Don

Wow, sorry he got hurt. My "Super Sanger" is 17'-10" too. Maybe that's the one that was made from a "bad" Hondo. It's really not in bad shape, but it either needs the gelcoat sanded and polished (huge labor) or a nice coat of a decent paint. I'll probably go with paint. I've had it since I was 17, and my friends were all buying cars. They just didn't understand. It was raced locally by the previous owner in the early '70s, and did about 100 in the quarter. I never minded taking it up that fast, but I learned to check out the water with a slow test pass beforehand. Soon after I got it, I hit a wake near top speed and came really close to flipping it.

If you ever tow yours to the east coast, there's a nice lake here to run it on.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.