Lightweight Battery
Turbo Mini Forums

I'm looking for a new lightweight battery. I had a Varley RedTop 15 for the last 4 years but its now dead. Its for a motorsport mini which doesn't get much use. I thought the RedTop would last a bit longer so am not that impressed with it.

Has anyone any suggestions of a battery that's not too expensive. I'm not actually all that worried about weight but it needs to be fairly small to fit.

Ive read a few threads on here but I don't see any definitive answer. Has anyone found any good solutions recently?

a varley redtop is as good as any leadacid, I've had ones last a long time and others not, never sure why.

You could try a Lithium battery, this is a good read.

http://www.dmstech.co.uk/downloads/DMS_myths_of_lithium.pdf

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

www.twin-turbo.co.uk

I just typed 'ytx-14 lithium' in on eBay and bought the cheapest one with a charge indication light on the top. JMT one at £65.99 is what I have at the moment. Had it for a year now, no issues. Sat in a single skin garage with not much use all winter.

I've had two and I killed the last one short circuiting it by mistake.

Edited by jonny f on 9th May, 2017.

Thank guys.

Any opinions on this? Seems like a good spec for the price but I'm no expert.

https://www.rapidonline.com/electrical-powe...296454d863bf7aa

It's a bit on the weighty side?

The lithium one I said is around 900g. Cracking cost/weight saving.

Looking to buy one asap.. this the one you got jonny?? Ebay- 331905042785 Do u need a different type of charger to be able to charge it?

Edited by D4VE on 10th May, 2017.

You need lithium mate. Redtops and all those other 'lightweight' lead acid batteries are out dated tech now and have zero benefit really. We use the 9ah lithium ion batteries on all our race cars now, they have been faultless over two years. As Johnny says 900g for 9ah and plenty to start a race car from cold in webers which takes a bit of cranking sometimes!!

And no special charger needed, the only thing with them is manufacturers data says don't charge at over 20a iirc. Normal charger on trickle or fast charge will be fine but be careful using start chargers or jump leads. I did wonder whether running them with a 40amp alternator was asking for trouble but it doesn't seem to be I've even jump started before with no issue. They have internal circuitry to regulate the charging current and make we sure the actual cells dont see too much.

Yes that's the one.

They're all pretty similar though.

Thanks for the advise guys. Lithium definitely seems to be the way to go.