Re: The Case of the Petulant Packard

Posted by Jim L. in OR On 2013/1/1 19:02:04

Happy New Year to you, 55PackardGuy, Howard, JW, Pat, ALM, PackardGuy53, Packard1949 and all.

Now for our next electrifying (or not) chapter;

It's 39 degrees and 48 hours since I took the charger off the battery. At 11pm last night it read 6.24v and did so at 3:20pm today after a 26 degree night. Hooked up my remote starter switch, attached the multimeter to the appro posts and pushed the button. Voltage immediately dropped to waver between 4.34-4.5v. Released the starter button and the battery took 1 minute 14 seconds to return to 6.14v. Waited 15 minutes, saw the meter now read 6,09v and hit the button. Voltage dropped to waver between 3.93 and 4.07.

Does anyone here besides me think I've got a battery that's too tired to play anymore?

JW, I looked up TSC and found a 6 volt that will definitely fit in the battery tray with room to spare. It is their Exide COM-1-HC with 750 CCA. The next one up is the Exide T-4 which with a length of 13" it too long for the tray but makes up for it 975 CCA. The COM-1 is $70 and the T-4 is $90.

NAPA has a BCI-1 which has almost the identical dimensions of the OEM battery. It has 640 CCA at 0 degrees - 800 at 32 degrees and is $103.29. It a little smaller than the OEM. One that is very close to OEM dimensions is their BCI-2 which is quite close dimension wise but at 610 & 765 respectively, is a little lower in the CCA department.

Howard that battery tender is an excellent idea. I've thought about it and was going to post a question about that in the near future but now I don't have to. Since I know you research products before you risk your Packards the brand you chose is way ahead of what would be in second place with me. Where did you find it? Also the picture of where you mounted yours is another question you've answered.

Thanks Steve for the offer. I'll certainly give you a shout should the need arise.