Thanks for the info, Doc. TonyB, sorry, I missed the backstory on your battery, but then I usually miss something (ask my wife!). This will be very helpful, thanks again guys.

 

Quick update- the Odyssey is doing great, I haven't had any problems with it, works just like it did with the old battery.....just lighter!

 

But one time I was doing MTH stuff, and I left the car on for a couple of hours. Needed a jump....

But I also use the car radio in the driveway for several hours at a time, no jump required ever (so far....)

To tell you the truth, you'll forget it's there. See I even forgot to put it in the sig! (But I am running out of charecters!)

Matt

 

http://www.gotbatteries.com/Productp...ctNum=37L105S5

Hi Matt. This site states the Hawker (PC680) can deep cycle but Helix says it can't. The price is not nearly as high as $120-$195...it's $77. Is this due to the rebranding or am I comparing wrong products

 

Not sure if this helps MSFITOY, but I have the Odyssey PC680 and it's completely drained on me a few time now, my fault, but it recovered no problem.
Would just 2 events like this prove the battery's deepcycling capability???

 

Thanks for the info I drained my OEM battery once too many times during Winter Project 04 and now I can't start the Mini after 10 minutes of leaving my park lamps on

 

Sorry I can't help more....

Matt

 

For about $40 you could just get a Honda-sized battery instead of the Hawker. It would save about half the weight of the OEM battery, and last a few years.

 

I'm late to the party as usual, but I'm thinking that I might like to install either the Braille or Deka battery with the mounting kit from Helix. Sounds like a pretty simple way to shave some pounds off my tubby MCS daily driver and I think I can live with the limitations discussed so far. I'm pretty much a car electrics noob so I do have a few (possibly dumb) questions.

Am I right in assuming that this is a pretty much plug and play operation?

Will the reduced reserve or other design parameters of this battery effect how long my MINI can sit before requiring a jump?

Is it a bad idea to give a jump to a car with one of these installed in my MINI (would think this would be all alternator, but better safe than sorry I guess...)?

Any problems starting at sub-freezing temps?

Any other gotchas you all have run into since installing?

TIA

 

With the Deka or Braille battery and the bracket from Helix Minisports, it is plug and play. The battery can be jumped like other batteries. But the battery won't hold a charge as long as a standard battery, particulary if you have an alarm.

Regarding sub-freezing starts, I don't know how well the battery does. Here is a quote that may help from Helix taken from another thread:

"I am much less enthused about this setup than before: the 11 pound batteries, no matter what brand, have too high a failure rate for day-to-day use. I would estimate that over time the 10-15% of the batteries were not holding a charge, which meant a lot of replaced batteries for us. Somewhere on my dusty list-of-things-that-I-was-supposed-to-have-done-a-long-time-ago, there a note to try the 15 pound battery, to see if it can handle the northeastern winters. Uhhh. Next week. Yeah, next week."

 

Pretty much what Tennis Man said-

Plug and play- yes but only for the MCS not MC due to brackets.
You can make your own but it's easier to buy the Helix one.

I have run the battery down low from letting my MCS sit for as little as 3 to 4 days without running but it may have already been low to start with. Small recharges may not help enough and the battery discharges quickly unless I run my car at least every other day.

So I have a trickle 2 amp charger plugged in and charge my battery overnight or when on longer trips and that seems to work well enough.

Stronger charge could come from removing the battery and putting it on a bench and slow charge or vary 2 vs 10 amp charging for about 3-4 solid days. If this doesn't help then replace the battery.

My braille lasted about 1 year then had charging issues but has always jump started OK, done that about 5 times at least. Now I use the battery charger so I do much better.

Is it worth the hassle for the weight loss? Not really. You loose the weight down low and in the back, if you lost it up front on up high then that would be a bigger improvement.

I can't run my aftermarket stereo for very long or my lights or I will drain the battery so it's not very practical for daily use unless I leave my engine running.

The battery does bounce back well and takes a charge. I do have aftermarket alarm and lots of stereo upgrades (2 amps) so some draining happens from those.

I would not recommend this battery for sub freezing temps- get a big power battery with lots of cold crankling amps.

 

K, thanks for the words of warning.

This looked like a nice relatively inexpensive mod that was probably within my comfort zone of wrench handling ability, but if I'm looking at needing a jump every time I go out of town for a few days, I'll most likely hold off on this until I get some other weight savings from exhaust / pulleys / bars / RCAs / brakes and/or have another car as a DD.

Thanks again