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640 Battery
#1
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jimw
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Anyone have a recommendation for a battery for a 640 Packard?

Posted on: 2021/9/18 15:56
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Re: 640 Battery
#2
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Owen_Dyneto
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A Group 4 Commercial (lead/acid) from NAPA is my recommendation. IIRC a Group 4 was the OEM battery for your car. I've used the NAPA Grp 4 Commercial in my '34 Packard almost forever, gobs of CCA, long-lived, no problems.

Posted on: 2021/9/18 16:58
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Re: 640 Battery
#3
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John Wogec
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I just finished the restoration of the big model 645 straight 8 and used the Optima 6 volt car battery (Optima Batteries OPT8010-044 6V RedTop Starting Battery). It has 800 amps of cranking power and you don't have to worry about corrosion. It cranked those brand new piston rings like nobody's business, but it also cost just over $200. I know guys that use them exclusively and they last about 6 years. It's worth the money for me to not have to worry about the corrosion issue. You can get a really slick trickle charger on ***zon for about $30.00 that also works as a trickle charger for 12 volt batteries. (NOCO GENIUS1, 1-Amp Fully-Automatic Smart Charger, 6V and 12V Battery Charger, Battery Maintainer, Trickle Charger, and Battery Desulfator with Temperature Compensation). That setup has worked well for me

Posted on: 2021/9/18 17:21
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Re: 640 Battery
#4
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Odd Moen
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I`m using 6V lead/acid batteries. Batteries where I have the possibility to refill water and control the status of the battery cells. My batteries last for at least 6 years, and it`s only a question about maintaining the batteries.
I`m using a 165Ah, 6V battery, one of the largest you can get in Europe (EU.165-6V Exide Vintage). They will completely the space of the battery box.
Could start current capacity is 900A.

Posted on: 2021/9/19 3:40
633 Touring
640 Roadster
640 Phaeton
1104 Club Sedan
Odd Moen
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Re: 640 Battery
#5
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jimw
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Thanks for the suggestions. I have a 6V battery I have been using to troubleshoot the electrical system(new restoration) and can't get the starter to turn over. I have had it checked out and have been told it is good. I seems that it should be pretty simple as it is a straight shot from the battery to the starter switch and then the starter. Took the switch apart and cleaned it (again), so that is not the problem.

Posted on: 2021/9/19 17:23
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Re: 640 Battery
#6
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HH56
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If switch is good, how about one of the brushes. I have seen worn brushes that got a tad too short so spring could not move them tightly against the commutator and also brush holders that got jammed for whatever reason and could not move a brush into contact.

Posted on: 2021/9/19 18:25
Howard
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Re: 640 Battery
#7
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John Wogec
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You may want to have that starter examined by a pro. When I restored mine, it turns out that the coil wrappings had frayed so the whole thing was shorting out against the case. A guy in Sacramento went through it and replaced the wrappings and cleaned up the commutator. Works like a charm now, but there are lots of places they can short out, especially after 90 years.

Posted on: 2021/9/20 16:48
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Re: 640 Battery
#8
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1929PackardGuy
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Another vote for the Optima 6 volt dry cell battery here. I'm about to replace the battery in mine and that's what I'm going with. Have used them in several muscle cars before, fantastic batteries, and again, as stated, since they're dry-cell batteries, no corrosion issues, ever.

Also, on all my old cars I put a kill switch somewhere inline so that you can shut off the battery when they car's going to be parked for a few days. This will greatly extend the life of the battery and buy you a lot of peace of mind that you're not going to have an electrical meltdown due to something shorting out in the middle of the night. I had a 440 Six Pack Challenger convertible years ago, and hadn't driven it in days, got home one day decided to take it for a drive and everything was dead - all the wiring around the alternator going back to the firewall was fried - miracle the car hadn't caught fire. I've used those switches ever since!

Posted on: 2021/9/21 9:11
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Re: 640 Battery
#9
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Greenfield
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I bought a Duracell 6V battery from Bulbs and Batteries and found it to be adequate for an 826. Good Luck!

Posted on: 2021/9/21 16:14
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