Steve Causey Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I installed a Varley Red Top 25 battery in August 2010 after getting fed up replacing the standard Banner battery. Seems the Red Top has now given up the ghost and I'm wondering if 3.5 years is about right for it's life expectancy or whether there is some other underlying problem. Car is used mainly for sprinting with little road use but is connected to a CTEK battery conditioner/charger when in the garage. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2GBR Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Very surprised if battery is stuffed already, perhaps a phone call to Varley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birkin S3 ZA. Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I have the Varley 25 just reached 3 years and still as strong as new, it was mounted over the diff for the first two years. Now lives under the bonnet and I hope the heat will not shorten its life. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crumpynut Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I was about to start a thread in this as seem to have yet another dead banner starting bull or whatever the red line battery of choice is. I would guess I end up replacing every 3 years is this normal or do I have some other gremlin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Rothwell Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I am on my second Banner in12 years,always on a conditioner whilst in garage though. DaveR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leadership Team SLR No.77 Posted January 15, 2014 Leadership Team Share Posted January 15, 2014 +1 I've never had an issue with Banners, fitted the first replacement Banner on my first car after around 6 years. Now running an Odyssey 680 on my new car and it's always fully charged without being on a conditioner but I always remove the FIA key after immobilising. I suspect you may have a parasitic load that the battery doesn't like. Stu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoLimits Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Just bought a new PC680 as i just have a feeling the existing one (10 seasons old and realistically for the last 6 has done no more than 200 miles/year and loads of start ups). Its run flat quite a few times and i have simply recharged to bring it back to life. Never ever on an optimizer. I now disconect over the winter thats all. Batteries have a number of cycles they are good for and an optimizer just uses them up in my opinion. Which may or may not be correct. Check out Michael Calverts article in LF from approx 2 years ago. By the way the Red top batteries of various manufacturers are refered to by many as gell type. As MC's article describes -they are not. They are sealed lead acid with some glass matting between the plates so that they can lie down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy couchman Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 My previous Odyssey lasted over ten year and was only replaced because we had a 2,600 mile European tour planned. But it's a crossflow and so when the electric is off, it's off, with no drain to the battery. Maybe that's the difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Lynch Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Currently on Odyssey PC680 (wanted cranking power on old K, and added chunky wire to starter) and that is fine 6 years on and is always on Optimate when in garage. Previous Red Top 20's failed due to other problems i.e. Alternator overcharging (football shaped battery !!!) and FIA switch/capacitor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Causey Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 Thanks all. David can you explain a bit more about the FIA switch/capacitor issue you mentioned? I've got an FIA switch which I turn off when the car is in the garage. Tried to start the car again today, charger had been on as usual over the last few days and indicated the battery was fully charged. First time would only turn over slowly and did not start. Put the charger/conditioner back on. Just a few minutes later the charger again indicated the that the battery was fully charged, tried it again and it started as normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian B Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Quoting Steve Causey: Thanks all. David can you explain a bit more about the FIA switch/capacitor issue you mentioned? I've got an FIA switch which I turn off when the car is in the garage. Tried to start the car again today, charger had been on as usual over the last few days and indicated the battery was fully charged. First time would only turn over slowly and did not start. Put the charger/conditioner back on. Just a few minutes later the charger again indicated the that the battery was fully charged, tried it again and it started as normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Causey Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 Hi Ian, No, today the switch was left on. However, normally when the car is left for long periods on charge the switch is off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian B Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Hmm, If you'd said you'd operated (or just touched?) the FIA switch then I would have suggested the switch was on the way out - they can fail in an intermittent manner. The fact that it suddenly (well relatively quickly) was able to turn it over as normal suggests a loose connection somewhere. Worth undoing, cleaning, and re-tightening the main power connections to the battery, starter, and earth. Edited by - Ian B on 17 Jan 2014 02:04:38 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesG Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 My Red Top 20 has just died, at Xmas, bizarrely after I connected my new CTek charger that Santa brought me! To be fair; the battery was approx 9 years old, so I've probably had my money's worth. I'll be giving Meteor a call this week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesG Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Purchased new Varley Red Top 20 today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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