Just bought an Odyssey PC680 battery

[Keith Scarfe]

After reading lots of threads on here (and other sites) I decided to go for one of these batteries. It arrived yesterday and I was astonished at how small it was. Although I must have read the dimensions on the spec sheets I guess it didn't register how much smaller than a 'normal' battery it is. I am a bit concerned that it wont be man enough for the job, particularly as my car seems to take a lot of whirling over when starting from cold to get the fuel up. But I will give it a go, everyone seems to say it will be OK.
So onto my question.
How do you mount this little baby into the space of the old one. My car is an S3 so it is in the boot on the left. I was thinking of fabricating a small box and bolting this into the same space using the original mounting holes some how. Has any one done this? What was your solution?
Thanks.
Keith.

[69S4]

I made up a small cradle to hold the battery in the same place as the original. The exact position was chosen to enable the earth lead to connect up

[RichardS]

I bought something similar to this http://www.odysseybatteries.com/accessories/billet.htm and bolted it to the fibreglass tray.
I keep the PC680 on trickle charge.
It's worked fine & packs as good a punch as the big old lead battery!!
Richard

[types26/36]

I have one in my S2, it fits behind the seat in a type 26 but I just knocked together a wooden box which is bolted to the floor, a rubber strap secures the battery in the box. (the white connection is to connect my charger)

[elanner]

Keith,

I pondered the same problem last Summer. I eventually broke down and purchased the expensive PC680 billet mount. A lovely piece of aluminum it is too, wasted in the boot, but whatever.

I made a small platform out of MDF which bolted down onto the standard tray bobbins and up into the billet mount. As piss-ant commented when he saw it, MDF may not be the ideal material due to its tendency to fall apart when wet, but it's what I had to hand at the time. A piece of real wood would be better, or some other material. The battery is so light that it doesn't seem to impose much side load on the platform. It needs to be thick enough to allow the heads of the billet mount bolts to be countersunk into it.

Anyway, here's the result. Seems to work fine. By the way, the battery has no trouble turning the engine over.

Nick

PS: Gee, I like Stuart's clamp. Very neat.

[Keith Scarfe]

Excellent. Thanks for all the ideas. I'll see what I can knock up.

[vernon.taylor]

Salut

Here's mine in my +2. Some of the batteries come with the choice of negative left or right - makes installation easier and neater. Aluminium bar bent to the size of the battery and a bit of non-slip rubber stuck inside made the bracket a tight fit once bolted in:

@+

Vernon

[jono]

Hi Vernon,

You have a plus 2 right?

Which model Odyssey do you have. I need one for my plus 2.

Cheers

Jon

[vernon.taylor]

Salut Jon

I bought a PC925LMJ - MJ means Metal Jacket and L for negative left which made it easier to fit.

Price was 174?.

I thought about a PC680 but thought bigger is better.

@+

Vernon

[Keith Scarfe]

Well I fitted it in there using the bit of wood and a strap method, a bit Heath Robinson but it is quite secure and will look a bit better when (if) I paint the wood matt black.

So testing it. I was surprised and disappointing that it didn't turn the engine over any faster than the old battery, though it did go on much longer cranking where the old one would have died after just a short time. I think (hope) it might just be that it was very cold when I tried it, hopefully better when warmer. I did take some voltage measurements to check the wiring and connections. I measured 0.9v between the earth terminal and the block. Whilst I would hope to measure nothing I don't think this is too bad since it is going through the steel chassis which doesn't conduct electricity as well as copper. What do you think. Should I be measuring less than 0.9v? What do you measure?
From the +ve terminal to the starter I measured 0.6v. Again could be better but not too bad. I will do more checks soon i.e. from the chassis to the battery and to the block to see if I can identify where the volt drop is.
I have obviously checked and cleaned all the high current wires and connections but will continue to look.
Thanks for any comments.
Keith.