[Teutonic Speedra...]

I read somewhere that the Hawker battery can't handle too much heat? Has anybody had problems with battery temperatures when road racing or open tracking? Taking another 17 lbs off the front in addition to the glass hood, gutting, etc would be nice.

[slowTA]

I talked with Odyssey today and they said you can NOT trickle charge a battery that only has 5.5 volts left in it. They recommend at least a 7 amp charge at this point. The voltage for charging has to be as follows:

Fast charge voltage= 14.4 to 14.7 volts
Standby charge voltage= 13.6 to 13.8 volts

The current only matters if the battery is dead. So a trickle charger (like the battery tender) should be between 13.6 and 13.8 volts. Not a very big window and the battery tenders fall outside the range at 13.4 volts. There specifications even say that battery tenders shouldn't be used on gel cell batteries.

Right now it looks like I'll borrow a friend's charger and set it at 10 amps for 2 hours (or more) assuming the output voltage is correct. Then I'll get the cheaper $35-ish charger I linked to above to keep it topped off... and cross my fingers!

This post has been edited by slowTA: Mar 13 2006, 11:46 PM