Hi all,
Funny thing about the battery. I used to have massive problems. After
having owned Triumphs which have sat for more than have been driven over the
past 20 years, I finally engaged my brain a few years ago and bought a deep
discharge marine-style battery (and to make sure that Jim feels good, it IS
available at Sears. That's where I got mine. But keep reading Jim.) The
benefits are twofold. First, if you have a slight drain on your system
(which my Dad's TR6 has) that will drain the battery in a week, this can be
recharged far many more times than a normal battery. And secondly, very
important for us, if your storage area is not heated, you must keep in mind
that the fluid in a battery freezes at different temperatures depending on
its charge. A totally dead battery will freeze in the winter (in PA)
whereas a charged battery won't (you got to go to Canada or Alaska for
that). When a water based liquid freezes there are incredible forces
(sufficient to break apart concrete in compression, which is its strong
suit) so a normal battery plate or plastic enclosure will break like a
toothpick being hit by a chainsaw. Then you'll be left with insufficient
voltage, id est- a useless battery, even if the battery is only a week old.
Now, of course Sears will guarantee the normal car batteries and give you a
new one (outright or devalued). And they WON'T guarantee the deep-cycle
marine battery more than something like 30 days, but you have to consider
what is most important for you. A deep-cycle battery can be brought to a
zero charge without having significant adverse affects whereas the same
can't be said for a normal battery. It has been worth it for us. When we
charge the deep-discharge battery up it always works just fine.
And note, when charging up a battery remove the caps so that gasses can be
released. This is especially important when "fast-charging" a batttery. If
the battery doesn't have caps and is sealed it is much healthier to give it
a "slow-charge" regardless of what has been marketed to you. Charging a
battery is an electro-chemical reaction.
I went through countless batteries until this past one that I bought about 2
or 3 years ago. Actually my Dad's TR6 and mine share it (just a testament
to how much we have driven ours over sthe years. Dad's has 30k mi and had
28.5k mi 15 years ago. Mine has 58k mi and hadn't been driven more than 4
miles in the past 17 years.
So now that my TR6 will be on the road again on a regular basis now I will
be buying another deep-cycle battery. Once again, keep in mind the one down
side to this battery: Sears does not offer the same guarantee !!!!! If it
goes bad, it is your responsibility !!!! But so far it has been worth it
for us. And this year, I bought two battery disconnect switches for each of
our cars.
Last note: Sears does offer a deep-cycle battery that fits perfectly in the
TR6. I believe its size is called a Group 27 (but I'm not positive about
that, that's just off the top of my head from 2 or 3 years ago.)
Good luck. Have a happy day.
Sincerely,
Dave Herbert
1969 TR6 and nothing else
>From: Trumpet76TR6@cs.com
>Reply-To: Trumpet76TR6@cs.com
>To: 6pack@autox.team.net
>Subject: Battery Size
>Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 09:57:41 EDT
>
> My 76 TR6 has a tiny battery that is bungie corded in it. I just
>ordered a
>new battery hold down for it. What size battery fits the best.
> Thanks.
> Ken, AZ, 76 TR6
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