All About Batteries

The name says it all. A Maintenance Free Battery requires little to no Maintenance during its normal service life. Water evaporation is minimal, and as such the battery is also less prone to corrosion at the connectors. Conventional batteries require constant "topping up" with battery water and the connectors often become corroded thereby reducing the flow of current to and from your battery.

The answer in one word is no. What makes a battery maintenance free is primarily the materials used in manufacturing the internal components of the battery.

There is no evidence to show that a battery with higher cranking amps than the OE recommended battery will improve performance or life expectancy in standard operating vehicles.

This is not true. The cranking amp rating on a battery only indicates how much current the battery can deliver for a very short period just to start the vehicle. Where additional accessories are concerned your attention should be on the Reserve Capacity / Amp Hour ratings of the battery. These ratings indicate the ability of the battery to provide power for a longer period of time. Depending on the application, a Deep Cycle battery should be considered as these batteries can be discharged repeatedly without sustaining significant damage. Depending on the extent of the aftermarket accessories that are installed in the vehicle, you may need to upgrade your vehicle's charging system.

The BCI Group number on a battery is a universal code that indicates the physical characteristics of the battery. i.e. dimensions and polarity. It does not however have any bearing on the electrical ratings of the battery, therefore you can have two batteries with identical BCI numbers but different current ratings. This number is used mainly on batteries manufactured or distributed in North America.

The Cold Cranking Amp rating on a battery represents the amount of amperage that a battery at 0*F can deliver for 30 seconds while maintaining a voltage of at least 7.2 volts (for a 12V battery).

The Cranking Amp rating on a battery represents the amount of amperage that a battery at 0*C can deliver for 30 seconds while maintaining a voltage of at least 7.2 volts (for a 12V battery).

The Ampere-Hour on a battery is determined by multiplying the current flow in amperes by the time of discharge, in hours, until it drops to a voltage of 10.5V. The ampere-hour rating of a battery is usually based on a 20-hr discharge @80*F. So if a 12V battery 80*F delivers 4 amps for 20 hours before its voltage drops below 10.5 volts, its ampere-hour rating will be 4 amps x 20hrs = 80 Ampere-Hour battery.

Reserve Capacity is similar to Ampere-Hour except that it is rated in minutes and is based on a specific current draw. The reserve capacity rating on a battery is determined by the amount of time (in minutes) a battery at 80*F can deliver 25 amps before its voltage drops below 10.5 Volts.

Deep cycle batteries, commonly used in marine /rv and recreational applications are called upon to deliver many various depths of discharge. In some cases a battery may be drained to zero capacity before it is recharged whereas an automotive battery provides short bursts of power before the alternator of the vehicle takes over. Deep cycle batteries are designed to withstand these repetitive cycles and continue to provide their rated capacity after hundreds of cycles.

A maintenance free battery (or low water loss battery) is a wet cell lead acid battery that does not require routine maintenance (or topping up) during its regular service life under normal working conditions. Because of the reduced evaporation of electrolyte, corrosion levels are also drastically reduced or non existent, making the battery truly maintenance free.