Gel battery?

Hi,

My '69 Ghia sits a lot because it's mainly a hobby car. As a result, it eats a lot of batteries, because they never get fully charged. (Generator and voltage regulator are O.K., the issue is infrequent use of the car) For a variety of reasons, using a trickle charger isn't practical at the place I'm living. I tried a solar charger, but it didn't seem to work that well.

Has anybody tried a gel battery in an air-cooled VW? I think there is a gel battery sold under the "Optima" brand, or something similar, but when I looked at their website some time back, it indicated that no battery was available for a '69 Ghia or Beetle. Has anybody found a gel battery that fits? Will a gel battery be more durable than a regular lead-acid one for infrequent use purposes?

I was also wondering whether a deep cycle battery, often used for marine applications, would work better for me, because they are designed to be deeply discharged on a regular basis without being damaged.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks. Richard Addinall

Reply to
R. Addinall
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I use a battery charger with a rejuvinator/desulphator setting.It uses a high frequency pulse to clean the battery plates that get coated due to long term storage. Google battery desulphator for info. I bought a charger desulphator as Sam's Club for 59.00 (US). 12 volt only, not much help with my 50 Studebaker.

Freddy

R. Add> Hi,

Reply to
Freddy Badgett

Bring the battery inside somewhere convenient and put a trickle-charger on it. It's not more of a hassle than buying a new battery every year.

Reply to
j

I'm not sure if this will help you since I don't know where you live....

I live in Japan and Optima here carries a small battery for some of the small Japanese sub-compact cars. The model # is RT-925S. The dimensions are: W=170mm x L=237mm x H=191mm. The RT-925S-L has reversed posts (proper for the VW) but is listed as 4mm taller. This battery is smaller than the orginal Type1 66amp Bosch battery so should fit under the seat. It is actually listed here as a replacement for all VW 12v aircooled cars (RT-925S-L). It is a popular battery sold at most of the aircooled VW shops here in Japan.

Not sure you can get one where you live. I looked on the US and European Optima sites and neither lists this model or anything in this size.

Here is the link to model on the Japanese site:

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AshMan

Reply to
AshMan

Gel batteries drain just like any other battery. The OP's problem is that he doesn't maintain his battery and quite possibly has an electrical leak. Fix the problem.

Reply to
j

Thanks to everybody for their replies. The information about the desulphator and the gel battery in Japan was very interesting.

j, there is no electrical leak, but you are right that the battery is not maintained. As I said in the original post, it is difficult for me to use a charger at the place I live. That's why I was looking for a battery that could withstand being deeply discharged better than a regular lead-acid battery. It may be that I will just have to put up with replacing the battery regularly. Either that, or drive the car more!

R. Addinall

Reply to
R. Addinall

I use Dry Cell Batteries in my VW's now. They handle the infrequent use much better than traditional or gel batteries. Plus they are lighter as well.

-Craig

Reply to
Craig Schaepe

On Mon, 18 Sep 2006 07:56:12 -0500, "j" scribbled this interesting note:

That may be, but the 6V in the '59 out back sometimes sees no use for a month or three at a time, yet it starts up just right every time. The thing I love about these batteries is they don't leak at all no matter which direction they are installed. Mine is on its side since it is taller than conventional 6V batteries used in Beetles. No worries.

BTW, j, how are things with you?

-- John Willis snipped-for-privacy@airmail.net (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

Reply to
John Willis

Optima batteries are not "gel", they are normal lead-acid batteries sealed and configured differently.

sounds like your only option is to remove the battery and keep it on a charger. I reccomend a "Battery Tender Jr".

I've had a Optima yellow-top in my '64 Westy for almost 10 years now, no signs of it dying yet. I also keep Battery Tenders on all my motorcycles, and have gotten about 4-5 years out of those when typically m/c batteries are lucky to last 2 years.

Or of course option 2: DRIVE MORE!

-Brian

Reply to
StL_Stadtroller

Hi Craig,

I did a search on dry cell batteries, and they look really impressive. The long storage life and ability to be deeply discharged seem to fit my needs. It looks as if an Odyssey PC925 might be a good fit. Do you prefer a particular brand/model number of dry cell?

Richard

Reply to
R. Addinall

I also have had a optima yellow top battery in my Ford van now for over 8 years, and its still starts fine every morning! I have had other batteries in that thing and they last for like maybe 3-5 years before they die.

dw

Reply to
dragenwagen

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