If I put a larger lead acid battery onto my diesel van could it cause any damage to anything. I mean a battery of the same construction as the original, but with a higher Amp hour rating, say 20 to 30 Amp hours more than the existing battery?
Z.
Biggest risk is perhaps the bracket if it is heavier.
Generally makers fit vehicles with the smallest battery that provides enough cranking current. Personally I tend to fit the next size up to mine if there is room. Be aware that the wires on the terminals may not reach if the replacement is a different layout. (actually some makers do specify a larger battery for export to colder countries, and if they do for you, this is a useful guide to what will fit.)
In summary one 12V battery is much like another, a larger one will take longer to run flat and longer to charge, but the voltage in use will be much the same. Cars with clever circuits to disable automatic stop-start if there have been too many starts in a short period may behave a bit enthusiastically if the battery capacity is not close to expected, but it will not stop it working normally when you are driving along.
Mike.
Why?
You'd be wasting your money on one of those super-duper stop-start ones. I don't quite see the advantage in a larger capacity, but you certainly won't do any harm. No harm in a higher CCA either. As Mike says, you need to make sure that it will fit, that it can be secured, and the terminals are the correct way round.
I don't know whether I am allowed to say this, but I thoroughly recommend Varta batteries. AFAIK, they make them for M-B. Any road, they last 10 years or more.
well in my case the why is the tendency to use rather more radio gear than the makers expected, and sometimes to be parked up at scout events with the lights on while a tent is pitched or with an inverter running.
Or indeed if you do a lot of stop and start and find yourself having to put the battery on charge regularly - and a slightly oversized battery will be able to loaf along rather than strain every sinew, and should therefore last longer.
If that is worth it depends how close your approach to vehicle ownership is to bangernomics ;-) - if the vehicle only has a couple of years left then a prospective battery life of ten is largely wasted.
Mike.
I wasn't going to buy a fancy stop-start battery. A local supplier had a good quality battery for sale at a discounted price. They said that they would not fit it as it was not the one specified for my vehicle. They used expressions like, cold cranking Amps, Amp hour capacity, vehicle damage, alternator size and loading of the vehicles electrics without really knowing what the frink they were talking about. Even the shop's manger waffled on and became argumentative. " If we fit that and it damages your car you could sue us".
I was just trying to check if I may have missed anything. My vehicle has room for a longer battery with a higher Amp hour capacity.
Z.
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