Here's an old thread: http://www.insightcentral.net/forum...et/forums/modifications-technical-issues/9152-12v-battery-voltage-question.html

I'd like to know how these 12 pound Odyssey have worked out for those who've installed them. Would be cool to have a Harley battery in the Insight!

 

Skip going to the Honda dealer and getting another Honda battery. They don't last the full length of the warranty. After having two Honda batteries fail at the 3-3.5 year mark, I ended up with a Sears Diehard maintenance free 100 month warranty battery. It fits nicely in the stock battery tray.

But I like the Hawk 12lb battery retrofit. Nicely done.

 

What is the group size of the original Honda battery? I couldn't find this information anywhere, it looks smaller than the larger group 51 replacements that I all of the battery manufacturers spec to. I've noticed there were a few places with 12 volt AGM motorcycle batteries at decent prices that spec out pretty good cold cranking amps, not quite sure of the exact numbers at the moment but I though there were pretty impressive, if those perform, it would be cheaper than going with one of the Odyssey batteries if you want the lighter weight.

I suppose any decent group 51 should do, in my area they have a group 51 from East Penn for about $60(price varies all over the place sometimes with a discount) with a 36 month free replacement if I remember right, 72 prorated. If you are okay with the Exide batteries, I believe all of the Everstarts at Wally World are Exide. They sell them for $65 there with what I thought was a decent warranty.

I noticed that the cheaper versions, like the 12 month free replacement warranty batteries that usually go for $30-45 don't come in smaller or more uncommon sizes.

 

Looks like I need a new 12 volt battery. Any suggestions on what to buy?

When my small OEM battery died and an exact replacement was not available, I did not want to install a large, heavy Civic battery. So I installed a small Hawker Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) battery (no liquid electrolyte, no corrosive fumes venting, very lightweight). It worked perfectly in my warm climate at that time where 12 v. starts never occur. But when I had IMA problems, Honda blamed my small 12 v. battery and refused to diagnose the real problem until I replaced the battery with a larger one.

So after using the Hawker for only a year, I installed the only small OEM AGM battery that I'm aware of: that for a Mazda Miata. It's bigger than the OEM Insight battery and my Hawker replacement, but smaller and lighter than the Civic battery. My first one lasted for over 5 years. I'm on my second one now.

One consideration with the Miata battery is that its terminals are reversed from those on an Insight or Civic battery. However, the positive cable reaches without modification. The negative cable will reach after its mounting point is moved from the firewall to an available bolt on the battery box front crossmember - no big deal. I cut rigid foam packing to fill the gaps on two sides of the battery and under the hold-down bracket. Works like a charm!

I assume removing the 12v battery from will cause the engine ECU to have to relearn a few things. Is this OK? Or should I keep 12v applied to the cables while changing the battery?

No need to worry. You might want to record your radio presets which will be lost.

 

I ordered the Odyssey 12lb PC545. They had some on-line discounts and the shipped cost was about $99.

 

That's a good price. Where did you get it?

 

Does that include the HD545 hold down box? I couldn't see a price for it.

 

Hehehehe - putting a Harley battery in an Insight.. does that mean it will leak a lot, always produce little power, be outrageously over-priced, but at least make a lot of annoying noise?

 

The $99 is just the battery. After I get the battery, I may try to fabricate my own holddown system. If I determine that I need the HD545, I'll get it later.

 

Leeper,

I think Honda used the PC545 size battery in some of their motorcycles. Gold Wing, Shadow? Others, too, I think.

So, I should be good.

 

Right now, I'm running a 12V lawn mower battery.........(2 year warranty) cost $21.25
Motorcycle batteries are expensive.

Willie

 

Right now, I'm running a 12V lawn mower battery.........(2 year warranty) cost $21.25
Motorcycle batteries are expensive.

Willie

Willie,
1. Where did you buy it?
2. What's the model #?
3. Are terminal adapters needed?
4. Is it smaller / lighter than the Honda Civic / group 51 battery?

I just paid $65 @ Walmart for a group 51... with a two year warranty!

A picture would be very helpful Sir.

 

Juice;

Batteryprice.com

Use discount code ABS15 for an additional 15% off. They are also giving an automatic 10% off, for a total discount of about 25%.

Don't accept the first shipping cost that they generate (unless it is 8.95 or less). Find and click on a link for alternate shipping. They have a flat rate shipping option of $8.95 for items under 18lbs.

 

Juice;
Batteryprice.com
Use discount code ABS15 for an additional 15% off. They are also giving an automatic 10% off, for a total discount of about 25%.

Don't accept the first shipping cost that they generate (unless it is 8.95 or less). Find and click on a link for alternate shipping. They have a flat rate shipping option of $8.95 for items under 18lbs.

That is a good deal. Hope it's still good when I need one. Easy way to shave 12# of weight and AGM is vibration resistant and built with a 12 year service design should last at least twice as long as a conventional battery.

 

Sears, Interstate, are two well established brands but see what Consumer reports said.
yes you will need to resetradio stations.

 

Kevin:
1. Walmart
2. Everstart U1-7.(275ca)
3. Yes...post to eyelet (Took the ones off my old Hawker and mounted them horizontal)
4. Smaller and a lot Lighter. (used styrofoam for spaceing)
5. Same battery I have in my (turbocharged infiniti buggy) with Insight EPS system.

Willie

 

Kevin:
1. Walmart
2. Everstart U1-7.(275ca)
3. Yes...post to eyelet (Took the ones off my old Hawker and mounted them horizontal)
4. Smaller and a lot Lighter. (used styrofoam for spaceing)
5. Same battery I have in my (turbocharged infiniti buggy) with Insight EPS system.

Willie

Thanks Willie.
BTW, where can I get the post-to-eyelet adapters?
I'm definately doing this when the battery goes bad.
The old one lasted almost exactly 4 years. So January in of 2014 I'll need another.


Nevermind Willie, I found a link:
http://www.solarseller.com/battery_post_connectors_conversions_adapters_repair.htm

 

My pc545 came on Wednesday. It looks silly sitting in the huge OEM battery box.

The pc545 uses a 6mm bolt to attach the battery cable. I took a hacksaw and cut off the battery posts on my dead group 51 battery. I drilled the center of the two decapitated battery posts and then bolted them on the top of the pc545 using 6mm bolts about 1 1/4 inches long.

The pc545 is sitting in the original battery box, held from moving around by a large hose clamp.

Seems to be working good.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22780444@N05/4352758170/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22780444@N05/4352011905/

 

Those pictures seem to require me to login to a Yahoo account, are they on some sort of private setting?

 

I noticed that you are in California, I thought of doing this same thing with a different car of mine awhile back and this was the 'lawn and garden' battery with the highest CCA that I could find. It is from Fleet Farm under the 'Brite-Start' brand. They have three versions, one that is $18 and only 175 CCA, another that is $20 at 230CCA (275CA I think), and this one at $25 which is 300 CCA. For $25 I could play the risk. I noticed that the Wal Mart batteries have a 3 month free replacement and 1 year prorate so I figure the warranty doesn't mean much for this type of use. The other Fleet Farm batteries have a phone number on them for a warranty(they are East Penn rebranded batteries), this one didn't, although the price tag said '12 MO' but there is nothing on the battery itself about a warranty. They also sell the East Penn rebranded group 51 battery with a 2 year free replacement, 72 month prorate warranty for $57.95 when I checked last week but the prices go up and down often. So if you live in the North Central area of the US, these are a good option. I've got the cheaper 1 year warranty $42 battery in my car and others since they have that in the size of battery that fits other cars of mine and my family that I've serviced, but the group 51 only comes with the better warranty.

Here is a pic of the specs as listed on the battery. It's a U1L(which I think is the same as your U1-7 if I'm not mistaken), left side is positive but since the terminals face the firewall, this would be the correct orientation since it essentially flips it the other way when you do that. It's about the same depth, roughly the same width if I remember right but without the extra height of the group 51 size. I'm not really sure if it saves much weight though.

Kevin, when I was in the battery section of the store, I saw the GM style to 'jump start/charging' posts that screw in, I figure if you find a nut and lock washer to fit the other end of that battery and they fit inside the hole and can be torqued down, you might be able to do that cheaper than getting the Hawker ones shipped to you. That's what I was thinking of doing when I eventually came to the point of needing to replace another battery.

 

Kevin, when I was in the battery section of the store, I saw the GM style to 'jump start/charging' posts that screw in, I figure if you find a nut and lock washer to fit the other end of that battery and they fit inside the hole and can be torqued down, you might be able to do that cheaper than getting the Hawker ones shipped to you.

I did what randerson0248 did when I needed to add posts to a Hawker battery with screw-in terminals. I first drilled a hole in the center of each terminal post of my old battery. The hole size was appropriate for a bolt that would screw into the Hawker screw-in terminal. I then cut the terminal posts off my old battery (they're soft lead, so a hacksaw works fine). I bought stainless steel bolts appropriate for the screw-in terminal and the terminal post height. I then mounted the terminal posts on the new battery using the stainless steel bolts. This cost considerably less than the Hawker screw-in posts and worked flawlessly during the entire life of my Hawker battery.

 

Thanks to all for the information. I look forward to a half price battery next time.:angels9:

 

My first attempt at loading photos form a hosting website didn't work so good.

Here is attempt number two.

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/randerson0248/Odysseybattery2.jpg

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx72/randerson0248/Odysseybattery1.jpg

 

Randerson, it's a shame the Odyssey doesn't fit in the box sideways... I was hoping to fit a battery and a 500mL washer fluid bottle in that battery box. No matter, there's plenty of room elsewhere under the hood.

 

I'm glad to see that some people are getting "creative" in their battery installation. That's the solution, although I got the post adapters from a local battery supplier "free".
If I had to make the adapters, you guys have the right solution and thats the way I would have done it..............

Willie

 

I replaced the OEM battery with an Odyssey AGM battery (I forget the model number) 7 years ago and haven't had any issues. It has lower capacity than the OEM, but much higher CCA.

The theory at the time was that AGM types don't care as much if they never get discharged (since it's not used for starting, the 12V battery pretty much stays fully charged all the time).

 

I usually go with an Odyssey 680, 2 lbs. It doesn't require to drill an hole also.

 

I'm really not happy with the Optima Yellow Top D51R. In addition to being heavier than it needs to be, it doesn't hold up very well to being deep cycled. I've probably done only a dozen cycles to 100% DoD, and hundreds of cycles to a small % DoD. According to the manufacturer, I should have minimal capacity degradation. But no, the battery drops to 9.5V under moderate load (key on + headlights) at 5°F/-15°C. It's basically in need of replacement after 1.5yr in service.

The Odyssey PC680 is 15.4lbs/7kg, according to the datasheet. I like the looks of the 6kg PC625, $99 shipped.

Has anyone here tried a 0°F 12V start with one of these miniature AGM batteries?

 

Why don't you consult Consumer Reports for their testing of batteries. From the hundreds of batteries replaced here the difference is sort of rellated to cost. At least CR has reasons other than opinions.

 

Anyone concerned with the low capacity of a small Odyssey, garden tractor, or motorcycle battery but who values the properties of the Odyssey's absorbent glass mat (AGM) construction (no corrosive liquid electrolyte, no corrosive outgassing, possibly longer life when its charge is kept near full at all times, etc.) might consider a Mazda Miata battery such as this. This is the only OEM AGM battery that I'm aware of. It has a larger capacity than the OEM Insight battery but isn't as large or heavy as a Civic battery.

Its posts are reversed, but the positive cable will reach without modification. The negative cable will reach if its ground connection is moved from the firewall to an available bolt on the battery box frame. I cut rigid packing foam to fill the additional space along the sides and top of the battery so that the battery is firmly mounted in the Insight battery box.

My first Miata battery lasted more than 5 years. I'm on my second one now. Works like a charm.

 

Since I live in Minnesota and although I haven't had the 12 volt battery trigger the conventional starter since I purchased the car(which happens to be after the coldest weather was over), I don't know if my own 12 volt battery, which is a Honda OEM group 51 battery 100 month battery which is likely beyond any free replacement period, even though it doesn't state how long that period is, is capable of starting the car with its current age. As far as I know I can only get it to trigger if I turn off the switch at the HV pack end, right? Would this cause a relearn, I'm trying to avoid a relearn but I might need to have it relearn anyway because I don't know if I can charge this battery at gassing voltage without killing the DC-DC converter because it needs more water, the cell on the negative-most terminal, which has a plastic baffle inside instead of actually seeing the plates is dry and not covered with water and I'd also like to have it gas a little to mix up the cell and stir any stratification in the cell and ensure an equalized charge to make sure it lives out it's full life.

On the other hand, I took a closer look in at the store for an easy way to convert the flag terminals of the smaller(and much cheaper) 365CA 300CCA U1 batteries $24.95 plus tax with core at the Fleet Farm or the U1-7 Everstart 275CA batteries at Walmart. I then ran into flag-style to post-style converters for these batteries and I thought I'd share these with you guys. They are made by Deka and sell for $2.29 plus tax at Fleet Farm. I'm thinking that since the rating for the Honda Insight is 270CCA that these 300CCA batteries should actually do plenty well, at least while they are new but at less than half the cost, I'll take the risk and since the car rarely uses the battery anyway it will likely last longer than half the time of a different battery that costs more than twice as much. With that being said, I will wait until I see signs that I need to swap the battery I already have in there before buying this one, since I don't want to put a good battery to waste(or recycling).

Here is an image of the post adapters. Deka 02033, I couldn't find them for purchase online but for their price plus shipping I'll buy and mail a set if a PM is sent if anyone is interested in going this route.