Hi all
I am awaiting delivery of an Alton Electric Start kit and would like some advice with regards to battery requirements. I understad that Alton state that the battery should be a 18AH variant, but I have just recently put a brand new 16.5 AH gel battery on my Commando and wondered whether i could get away with using this rather thatn change the battery yet again ?. The battery I fitted is a MOTOBAT Glass Mat Sealed Battery (MBTX14AU)? Battery Capacity: 16.5 Ah? CCA (-18 deg. C): 190 A)
Many thanks for your advice
Best wishes
John
I would have hoped that Al…
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Hi John, I have fitted the…
Hi John, I have fitted the Alton Starter to my 750 and upgraded the battery to a Varta 12N14-3A (14 Amp hour) which fitted in easily. It spins the engine very easily in fact it starts the engine so instantly it hardly turns it a full revolution before it fires onto life. Iâm very impressed. I think your 16 amp hour battery will be fine.I chose to use this size battery because itâs used in loads of different vehicles (not just bikes) so will always be easy to buy anywhere.Regards, Alan
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Previously Chris Grimmett…
Previously Chris Grimmett wrote:
I would have hoped that Alton might also specify the battery requirement in terms of CCA (Cold Cranking Amps). This represents the ability of the battery to dump very high currents e.g. as needed to turn over starter motors, at low temperatures.
In general, a larger capacity battery with a higher Ah rating is likely to have a higher CCA performance and the sealed gel types perform well in this respect.
Your battery at a CCA rating of 190A is a decent one and I would expect it to be able to do the job. The difference between your 16.5 and the 18Ah capacity will mean that with two otherwise identical batteries, yours would run out of power a little earlier than the other. Provided the bike starts quickly and reliably, I would not expect the capacity to be an issue.
Try it and see. If you do have problems it is possible to fit more Ah and CCA into the Commando battery box although this can involve grinding off the front stop and modifying the air filter arrangements.
Hi Chris
Thats great advice. Thanks a lot
Best wishes
John
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Previously Alan Throssell…
Previously Alan Throssell wrote:
Hi John, I have fitted the Alton Starter to my 750 and upgraded the battery to a Varta 12N14-3A (14 Amp hour) which fitted in easily. It spins the engine very easily in fact it starts the engine so instantly it hardly turns it a full revolution before it fires onto life. Iâm very impressed. I think your 16 amp hour battery will be fine.I chose to use this size battery because itâs used in loads of different vehicles (not just bikes) so will always be easy to buy anywhere.Regards, Alan
Hi Alan
If your Alton startsusing your 14AH battery, I think I'll wait and see if my starter kit startson my 16.5AH battery before i start shelling out money on yet another new battery.
Cheers mate
John
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I would have hoped that Alton might also specify the battery requirement in terms of CCA (Cold Cranking Amps). This represents the ability of the battery to dump very high currents e.g. as needed to turn over starter motors, at low temperatures.
In general, a larger capacity battery with a higher Ah rating is likely to have a higher CCA performance and the sealed gel types perform well in this respect.
Your battery at a CCA rating of 190A is a decent one and I would expect it to be able to do the job. The difference between your 16.5 and the 18Ah capacity will mean that with two otherwise identical batteries, yours would run out of power a little earlier than the other. Provided the bike starts quickly and reliably, I would not expect the capacity to be an issue.
Try it and see. If you do have problems it is possible to fit more Ah and CCA into the Commando battery box although this can involve grinding off the front stop and modifying the air filter arrangements.