Rich has an Odyssey as a primary and a another make in the secondary position. So ask him. I have Varta ( I would have swore blind it was a Bosch) I think it's listed around 780 CCA 77 AH. It also has a 4 or 5 year warranty and at the end of that if I need to replace it I am not bothered as it was under 100. An Odyssey will be over 200 but ask Rich how he gets on with his.

 

this is cheapest ive found so far

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ODYSSEY-34-78 ... 2938wt_986

 

or maybe a package like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Optima-RTS-4- ... 2955wt_986

 

Well speak to Rich about Optima as he says they are now Junk. I used to think they were about the best but according to him they have moved manufacturing base and the quality has suffered badly. I will probably fit a split charge this year and put my Varta in the number 2 slot and buy another battery. Exide do a 850 CCA 100AH for reasonable money so either 1 new super battery ( 200 + ) and my year old Varta or 2 new Exides (106 each) and a split charge (Tmax 80 quidish)

 

I've got the Bosch S4. Slightly bigger than the one needed (got a fair bit of electronics) 4 year or 5 year warranty too...

 

think it hasnt helped me been off work for a while so its not had its regular 70 mile motorway run to keep it charged
just been doing the 5 mile milk and bread run with lights,heater and wippers with this weather

just been reading the tmax split charger info

 

Basically a solenoid which allows a secondary battery to be topped up once the primary is charged to 13.3. Good enough for me as I don't winch nor do I plan one. If your going winching you might want a better system

 

couple of ebay offers on split charge

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Split-Charge- ... 1177wt_970

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/T-Max-Dual-Ba ... 3530wt_733

 

I have used Tmax stuff before, I used to have an Ifor Williams CT177 tilt bed car transporter trailer ( The big one) and I fitted a 9000lb Tmax winch to it. It was the same money for a 9000lb Tmax as it was for something with a brand name at 4-6000lb's. It wasn't hard used but it did fine for the time I had it, so I will give the Tmax one a try

 

Well speak to Rich about Optima as he says they are now Junk. I used to think they were about the best but according to him they have moved manufacturing base and the quality has suffered badly. I will probably fit a split charge this year and put my Varta in the number 2 slot and buy another battery. Exide do a 850 CCA 100AH for reasonable money so either 1 new super battery ( 200 + ) and my year old Varta or 2 new Exides (106 each) and a split charge (Tmax 80 quidish)

I'll have to wait for rich to check the thread
see what his opinion is on the optima and odyssey batteries

hint hint lol

 

Haha sorry mate, biiggg project at work has gone tits up so i've had no free time recently!

Ok, so, as Bobby said, Optima now suck. Some people still rate them if you have a good look, but its 50/50, with lots of other people saying they have failed after 3 to 6 months. They moved manufacturing to Mexico and thats why its gone downhill. You may get a decent battery as some people report, but its a gamble with £150+.

As you said from the 4x4 magazines, all the pro and comp boys are now on Odyssey, optima is pretty much forgotten about.

I haven't really had mine long enough to give a proper review, but it hasn't skipped a beat so far, and it cranks over like a jet engine. I love it and dont regret a thing.

As for split charge, im using the National Luna intelligent battery management system (Intelligent solenoid and battery controller), and it works well. The only thing i would say is beef up your earthing. I've added a 50mm2 strap from engine to chassis and upgraded the existing earths to 50mm2. Then the second battery in the bed is ran in with 50mm2 too. Before upgrading the earths and adding that chassis to engine earth strap, it was pretty hit miss being able to start from the aux battery, now i can start the truck from either and barely notice a difference. Im sure if i had a standard lead acid instead of the Odyssey AGM i wouldn't notice a difference between which battery i was starting from.

The only other thing to mention, providing the Pathy is the same, is that the odyssey has the wrong terminal configuration. So i had to do some rewiring, but photos of that are all in my build thread.

Oh and mine is the PC1500DT.

Rich

 

Cheers. Rich.
had heard different views on the optima range
but yeah the odyssey are getting good reviews in the mags

so the pc1500 is the correct battery out of the range is good news too

I'll have to re read ur thread for the battery wiring info
(See u in 3 days lol )

 

No problem. Haha good luck!

Rich

 

bosch = varta - same battery. ive always recommended varta because my wifes tdi Ibiza (same battery as our trucks E44) is now 10 years old and still working. altho I have charged it a couple times when we had really cold weather last year. never failed to start. YET.

that said my dad Nav has varta silver (like me ) but his has died at 4yrs and he is having difficulty getting the 5yr warranty.

 

I have had a 4yr full warenty but its at 5yrs and looks to be on way out

suprised with the odyssey for all the waffle they but out about deep charge etc they only give 2 yrs warranty
bit poor on 200 plus quid battery

 

I am thinking later on in the year I will refit my ally tool box and put a split charge and two batteries in it. I was looking at 2 Exide 100 ah 850 CCA lead acid's. I don't winch and think that I don't really need deep discharge batteries and with a secondary battery in place I could save a couple of hundred quid on 2 jelly batteries

 

Get a Varta E44 battery from Tayna Batteries for £70.95 Inc vat and delivery with a 5yr guarantee!

Link:
http://www.tayna.co.uk/E44-Varta-Silver ... P7726.html

Perfect fit in the D40 / Pathy

Got mine from them and was excellent fast service.
I also got a small discount just by liking their Facebook page!

 

Get a Varta E44 battery from Tayna Batteries for £70.95 Inc vat and delivery with a 5yr guarantee!

Link:
http://www.tayna.co.uk/E44-Varta-Silver ... P7726.html

Perfect fit in the D40 / Pathy

Got mine from them and was excellent fast service.
I also got a small discount just by liking their Facebook page!

and print the webpage showing the warranty@5years and staple it to the receipt! is my advice, ive looked all over the Varta site and see no reference to warranty periods at all. .

 

I've spent a lot of time researching batteries, although I do not profess to be an expert, I have picked up lots of info over the years and through work I probably purchase in excess of 1000 batteries per annum for many different vehicles. We regularly order Odyssey, Optima, Sonneschein, Varta, Numax, Lucas, MK- you name it. Our firm does a lot of work with a garage based in Cambridgeshire that are shall we say 'endorsed by the biggest lease company in the uk'. Their main man, (the owner) is one of the most knowledgeable auto electricians that I have had the pleasure to meet in 20+ years in the automotive industry, and is the go-to man for this particular lease company for any electrical issues that may arise of an 'unusual' nature.

He has repeatedly informed me that when you look at the 'top brand' batteries, they are all good, all have pros and cons, and all have MASSIVE price tags. The Odyssey listed earlier probably carries at least a 50% or more markup, same as Optima. (cant get the exact 'cost' price as I haven't got my price lists at home)

Optima are quite good- especially the YTS (Yellow Top Starting) batteries, especially for heavy starting load /cyclic situations. However, the Bosch S6 batteries do take a lot of beating pound for pound.

I currently have a Bosch S4 fitted to my 06 Nav, simply as it was a cancelled order. I would have quite probably fitted a Numax if I did not have this battery to hand.

So far, I cannot fault it. Good starting power (even with a 'poor' alternator) and on a deep charge / discharge cycle test the Bosch range perform the best I've seen for a long time off the shelf.

If you are in need of a battery, pm me the model number and make and I'll let you know what price they can be got for if required.

 

and print the webpage showing the warranty@5years and staple it to the receipt! is my advice, ive looked all over the Varta site and see no reference to warranty periods at all. .

Funny how EVERY retailer of these batteries offers the 5yr warranty that these have, and the paperwork I received when I bought mine also states the 5yr warranty period.
From past experiences with Varta batteries, I doubt I will ever have the need to test the warranty!

You may also notice that the Varta silver top range of batteries are the exact same battery as the Bosch but with a different brand label, that's because they are the same!

 

I've finally got my price lists out- Optima RTS 4.2 is about £125+VAT. The Odyssey PC1500DT (Dual Terminal so any auxiliary feeds have their own supply) is about £155+VAT trade....

The Numax Premium 249H is about £55+VAT. (the price list is October 2013 so they may have gone up a small amount...)

Oh, and the CTEK MXS 3.6 Charger is about £35+VAT trade- (I'd go for the MXS25 that is £125+VAT as its far more capable of the job in hand)


So :happy0071 Roll Up! :happy0071 Roll Up!

Get your battery orders in!

 

Varta E44 £56+VAT so £70.95 is a cracking deal...

 

I've finally got my price lists out- Optima RTS 4.2 is about £125+VAT. The Odyssey PC1500DT (Dual Terminal so any auxiliary feeds have their own supply) is about £155+VAT trade....

The Numax Premium 249H is about £55+VAT. (the price list is October 2013 so they may have gone up a small amount...)

Oh, and the CTEK MXS 3.6 Charger is about £35+VAT trade- (I'd go for the MXS25 that is £125+VAT as its far more capable of the job in hand)


So :happy0071 Roll Up! :happy0071 Roll Up!

Get your battery orders in!

you may live to regret that when I do my split charge thing in a couple of months.

 

No Worries, bearing in mind they are cost prices- as long as I get a couple of quid for my trouble I'm happy- bearing in mind though it will look a bit suss if I suddenly order 200 Odyssey batteries!!!!!!!

I've asked for a new trade price list but I don't think they will have increased that much.

 

Can you deliver?