Starter battery - what CCA ?

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davidej

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Am fitting a dedicated starter battery to a VP2030.

Most threads suggest going for a battery which fits a car of similar capacity. For example a Peugeot 206 diesel (which I think is 1.6l) seems to have a 550A CCA. The 2030 is 0.95l but I can't think of a 1l diesel car.

550A seem a bit OTT to me but neither the VP manual or the local dealer could give me an answer.

Would a 330A CCA be enough? That is about pro-rata.

Any suggestions?
 
I don't know what the power of the 2030 starter is, but the 2003 starter is 1.4KW and I would imaging that the 2030 will be similar. This means a maximum draw of around 120 amps, so your suggested 330cca should be ample. A higher capacity battery won't deliver any more amps, but it may go on delivering them longer for that cold, damp winter's day when the engine doesn't want to wake up.

From memory, my starting battery is around 280CCA and it's never let me down (except by my own fault) even though my 2003 takes a lot of churning to get it going.
 
davidej said:
Am fitting a dedicated starter battery to a VP2030.

Most threads suggest going for a battery which fits a car of similar capacity. For example a Peugeot 206 diesel (which I think is 1.6l) seems to have a 550A CCA. The 2030 is 0.95l but I can't think of a 1l diesel car.

550A seem a bit OTT to me but neither the VP manual or the local dealer could give me an answer.

Would a 330A CCA be enough? That is about pro-rata.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

All Yanmar 1, 2,and 3 cylinder engines and maybe more (?) have a starter CCA requirement of 200 A.

I fitted a Red Flash 900 AGM starter battery for my Yanmar 3GM. It's a tiny thing but works fine. I think from memory its CCA delivery was somewhat over 400.
 
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The Volvo owners manual specifies a 70 Ah battery for the MD2030.

Typically 70Ah vehicle starter batteries have a CCA rating in the range 500 to 600 or more.

On that basis you would be well advised to simply stick with Volvo's recommendation and fit an ordinary 70Ah vehicle starter battery or if you are looking at one of the very compact starter batteries choose one with a CCA in the range 500 to 600, and personally i would opt for nearer 600 (or more) than 500


You cannot apply the logic that Stemar is attempting to of calculating the current from the kW rating of the motor,.
For a start it is based on a terminal voltage below 12volts ... around 10volts IIRC.

It is the rating when the motor is freely cranking the engine .. it will draw a higher current initially.

and I think you will find that it may be the mecahical power delivered not the actual power consumed, which will be somewhat greater.
 
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Beta Marine recommends for their 25 hp engine (slightly smaller than yours at 898 cc) a starter battery capacity in the range of 450 – 540 CCA. So perhaps the figure you suggested is just about right for the VP 2030?
 
For what it is worth I have, today, installed a 900 CCA battery to crank my 2500 diesel engine. One of the new miniature batteries with coils and maintenance free gell. 50AH is all it is rated at. Must have a very low internal resistance.

73s de
Johnth
 
I fitted a 65 amp hour one to my Bene 351 with vp2030 engine. It was advertised as suitable for a Transit diesel van
Stu
davidej said:
Am fitting a dedicated starter battery to a VP2030.

Most threads suggest going for a battery which fits a car of similar capacity. For example a Peugeot 206 diesel (which I think is 1.6l) seems to have a 550A CCA. The 2030 is 0.95l but I can't think of a 1l diesel car.

550A seem a bit OTT to me but neither the VP manual or the local dealer could give me an answer.

Would a 330A CCA be enough? That is about pro-rata.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
 
I fitted a 65 amp hour one to my Bene 351 with vp2030 engine. It was advertised as suitable for a Transit diesel van
Click to expand...
A tad on the small size for a transit diesel, the minimum anyway I'd guess.
I find batteries from 70Ah to 80 Ah with CCA ratings ranging from 600A to 780A listed for Transit diesels and prices from £55 to £94 (or £140 for a gel battery) all from the same supplier
But nevertheless a battery for a Transit would probably be a good choice.

For such a popular vehicle it should even be possible to get one from a scrappie.
(Thought I'd get that in before Refueler)
 
(Thought I'd get that in before Refueler)

Ha ha ha. Love it. Great camaraderie. Sorry to be a dipstick but can someone explain what CCA means in this context. I don't do abbreviations.
 
Cold Cranking Amps

but sorry I dont remember the exact definition, but its not difficult to find it

Ampere-hours (A·h) is the product of the time that a battery can deliver a certain amount of current (in hours) times that current (in amperes), for a particular discharge period. This is one indication of the total amount of charge a battery is able to store and deliver at its rated voltage. This rating is rarely stated for automotive batteries, except in Europe where it is required by law.

Cranking amperes (CA), also sometimes referred to as marine cranking amperes (MCA), is the amount of current a battery can provide at 32 °F (0 °C). The rating is defined as the number of amperes a lead-acid battery at that temperature can deliver for 30 seconds and maintain at least 1.2 volts per cell (7.2 volts for a 12 volt battery).

Cold cranking amperes (CCA) is the amount of current a battery can provide at 0 °F (−18 °C). The rating is defined as the current a lead-acid battery at that temperature can deliver for 30 seconds and maintain at least 1.2 volts per cell (7.2 volts for a 12-volt battery). It is a more demanding test than those at higher temperatures.

Hot cranking amperes (HCA) is the amount of current a battery can provide at 80 °F (26.7 °C). The rating is defined as the current a lead-acid battery at that temperature can deliver for 30 seconds and maintain at least 1.2 volts per cell (7.2 volts for a 12-volt battery).

Reserve capacity minutes (RCM), also referred to as reserve capacity (RC), is a battery's ability to sustain a minimum stated electrical load; it is defined as the time (in minutes) that a lead-acid battery at 80 °F (27 °C) will continuously deliver 25 amperes before its voltage drops below 10.5 volts.​
 
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For starter batteries, Ah are not particularly relevant with respect to the battery's ability to start the engine. Given that there are enough amp hours for it to turn for long enough to start, (usually a few seconds), that's all that matters.

600A for say, 10 seconds, is about 2Ah. It won't take the engine long to put 2Ah back, and a 50Ah battery would allow you to try 12 times before its 50% SOC. by that time, I think you'd have decided it wasn't going to start.

I suppose a few Ah are used to run the heaters for 5 or 10 seconds.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you don't need a big battery for starting, so could slot one in a smaller space.
 
I rewired a boat with a twin cylinder Lister 20hp last year and the CCA on that was I think, 350A. The reason I remember this is because it became a real issue as although I supplied all the cabling the owner had supplied the battery isolator switch and the one they bought had a continuous rating of 200A with an instantaneous rating of 300A. Because it was an organisation and not an individual their bean counters were reluctant to a) admit they bought the wrong one, and B) reluctant to stump up £100 for a correct one. Their tech guy somewhere down south insisted that the one he ordered was the correct one and it ended in phone calls back and forth with Lister who backed me. Anyway long story short, I won but only because I refused to fit theirs as my insurance company were unhappy about me knowingly fitting an under rated item despite the fact that the boat is only used in summer and will never see -18°c.

So moral of story is, some small engines have very high CCAs
 
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