Restoration Battery

[Jeff A.]

Re: Restoration Battery

Not sure this will work with a maintenance free.
The inside plates are different, and not easy to remove.
I tried this again myself on one of those dry cell batteries and ended up ruining the outer case.

the wet cell batteries have metal plates inside that were easier to grab and pull out.
Good luck - let me know what you discover.

[Anthony G.]

Re: Restoration Battery

Tony, Your post came up on my email.. I see you have been having problems for a long time. Dont' know why but to answer your question on putting a new battery in an old case.

Jim Kane, Cameron Battery. 814-486-0921.
Ricky Alshire tried this and the case I gave him fell apart in many pieces when Jim tried to take it apart. So it's pot luck on an old battery case. JD

Hey John, good to hear from you again.

I'm thinking that my battery problems should now be solved, having my alternator rebuilt by John Pirkle. I kept on blaming the battery when in fact it was not getting any juice from the alternator. Since I was making mostly short drives (York to Carlisle being the longest), the trickle charger was giving it enough juice to make the trip back and forth, but the regular deep pulls apparently cooked them.

I can't just dump the carcass on Restoration Battery since it is obviously not their fault, but heck, the case is brand new, having picked it up at Corvette Carlisle last year and ruining it in October.

Gets old humping that battery in and out, heck, I even damaged my coolant return tank recently by my inattention.

Fun with old cars, eh?

[Anthony G.]

Re: Restoration Battery

Ah, we'll give it a shot. Nothing to lose really.

I'll let you know how it turns out. There is a Batteries Plus store down the street that seem to advertise they can make anything work...I may give them a shot.

[Jeff A.]

Re: Restoration Battery

the Odyssey battery is going on 4 years now.
Although - I don't think I tried to start the car in almost a year.

Hope the Stabil is still working.

[Kurt B.]

Re: Restoration Battery

I have the same problem.
Paid over $200.00 for a new date coded battery from them and right now it will not hold more than 11.55 volts and will not start my 68.
I use aBattery Tender whne car is not in use and disconnect switch.
Battery never worked right from the day I bought it for my 68 restoration.
Rip off, and when I called them they told me to contact AC Delco.
I bought it form Restoration Battery not from AC Delco.
Will not buy from them again, and I have heard similar stories on the internet form others who bought their battery.
I bought a replacemnt AC Delco and it starts the car everytime, hot or cold.
Restoration Battery was a bad purchase.
Kurt
26406

[Les G.]

Re: Restoration Battery

I can get the automatic battery fillers if anyone wants one send me a PM.
I also purchased a Restoration gel battery for my 70 last year. The problem is that the gel batteries require a different type of charge then the alternator puts out. The gel requires a trickle charge at low amps for an extended period of time, the alternator outputs according to the voltage regulator which is much higher, and faster charging this cooks the gel battery. I would like to find someone that makes a traditional lead acid battery.

[Mike M.]

Re: Restoration Battery

What is a automatic battery filler and how does it work?

[Kevin G.]

Re: Restoration Battery

trickle chargers do not work on maintenance free battery. The Battery will only stay charged a couple of months, without being used. Use a 10 amp charger, no larger or you will fry it, for a couple of hours, and it;s good as new.

This is the recommended method to use according to Restoration Batteries. They have a particular 10 amp. brand that they suggest using but I can't remember at the moment.

[Jeff A.]

Re: Restoration Battery

OK - I guess I should highly recommend the odyssey 925 battery.
The car did not want to start this morning - old gas.
Fortunately the 4 year old battery inside my original DC shell - kept cranking like a champ.

5 gallons of racing fuel, with a blast of starting fluid to help- and she is now purring like a kitten.
(at least until the side pipes roar)

I keep it on a 23 hour cycle with my battery tender.

[Clark K.]

Re: Restoration Battery

guess I'm going to have to spend another $300 again for the Texas meet in October

Bill, there will not be a Texas Regional this year. The next Texas Regional will be in 2011, unless something has changed. This year the closest regional to Texas will be in New Mexico. -Clark

[James H.]

Re: Restoration Battery

The 62 that i just baught has a restoration battery also and had to be jumped to drive it home.. when I took it out of car I discovered the previous owner never filled it. I'm thinking he only put this battery in when he was going to have car judged. Just put that one one the shelf for later use.

[Michael D.]

Re: Restoration Battery

I purchased a "Delco maintenance free" from Restoration Battery in March 2007 for my 1964. I kept a "Battery Minder" trickle charger with desulfation capability on it at all times, and I drive the car maybe once every 10 weeks or so. It failed by September 2009. I called Restoration Battery and he sent me "to the manufacturer" for the warranty issue. The manufacturer was Antique Auto Battery in Ohio. I called them and told them my issue(18 month failure) and they said I did not charge the battery correctly. (I received no charging information from Restoration Battery but only a solicitation for a trickle charger).

Apparently, as I then learned, this is an Optima Battery which requires a 10A Automatic charge for 2.0 hours if your battery falls below 12.8 volts. This was news to me. While trying to get my issue resolved, they became very short with me and asked me question after question, putting me through 3-4 phone calls of tests (tipping over to check for liquid, charging for 2 hours more, etc, etc). I was less than pleased with their attitude but the short of it is they replaced the battery for $153. (Pro rated after 1 year).

Since Sept 09 I kept reasonable care (albeit not perfect) and charged with 10A for 2 hours when low,, in accordance with their instructions. In June 2010 I found it dead. When I charged the battery, it would get to full charge and fall down to near dead after 24 hours. Tried 3x to revive. So I returned to them 2 weeks ago and they charged it and say it is fine. It is in transit to me now.

They claim that they have seen this occasionally, where they charge it and it is OK again while my 10A charger may not get it fully charged. Now it is apparently kicked in the arse and should be fine, and it passes their load test. (My charger showed a constant 8 amps while charging). He mentioned me buying one of "their" chargers which he felt would improve the battery's performance. I chose not to purchase. (I have more chargers than batteries)

While I like the concept of no acid in the car, I need to see better performance from these units before I would buy another. They require a very watchful eye and even then I am not sure if they will hold up. While no battery likes to be stored, these seem to like it less than traditional ones..... That is my experience.

[John D.]

Re: Restoration Battery

What is a automatic battery filler and how does it work?

Mike, I am sure you have seen the so called automatic battery filler. The term is misleading as the battery filler has been around for a century or so.
Bought my an eon ago from Sears or Napa. Fill it up with distilled water.
Place over top of battery hole. Press down on spring loaded filler that stops ouzzzing out fluid when water gets to desired level.
No chance of overfilling battery with water. Yeah rite. Then tend to put in too much water and the water bubbles out easily.
FI Art

[Stuart F.]

Re: Restoration Battery

Battery Filler

Works great if the battery is out of the car (Vette). Have never found a use for mine since I graduated from tri 5's. Now if someone could come up with an extention hose that would work on an installed battery, then we'd have something.

Stu Fox

[Jeff A.]

Re: Restoration Battery

Oh well - the battery has finally failed.
almost 5 years, so I guess that is pretty good value?

going to order another Odyssey 925,
will see how hard it is to get the old one out of the case.

I should drive the car more - LOL - - 5 years or 500 miles