Help me pick a new car battery :)

Hello I have been researching best battery designed to fit my 1998 SC Hiace 3.0L TD 4WD (1KZ-TE).

So far these are the ones i found but I am unsure which is better and more reliable long term?

https://overkillperformance.com.au/product/acdelco-s95d31rhd-battery-n70zz/

https://www.johnsonstrucks.com.au/shop/bosch-heavy-duty-t4-battery-95d31r-710-cca/

This is also the same battery that i found in my car but a higher/bigger model https://www.batteriesdirect.com.au/shop/product/13345/mrv70.html

Thanks

I also noticed my current battery says (deep cycle and starting battery) Is that what I need for this time of van? A deep cycle? Or will the ones above suffice? I will add some pictures here.



I plan on turning it into a full time campervan in the future but i think I'll need another battery for that?

The Hiace needs a decent starting battery: in a camper you would be advised to fit a seperate one, so when you flatten it, the van still starts!

GPW wrote:

The Hiace needs a decent starting battery: in a camper you would be advised to fit a separate one, so when you flatten it, the van still starts!

Thank you, I know very little about cars and battery/camping. Still new, could you suggest any one of the 3 I found or do you have something better in mind?

TBH I like a cheap lead acid for starter batteries.
For domestic (camper) batteries, Gel, or Lead carbon are good, just make sure the charging voltage is high enough. AGM is a poor choice, possibly Gel might struggle to.

The alternater voltage is 14.4V in general.
Domestic batteries need whatever: 14.7 for Gel and AGM.

Make sure to include a vent pipe to outside if the battery needs it.
Perhaps combine with a Victron Multi inverter for a bit more flexibility, and an extern hookup (EHU) socket.

GPW wrote:

TBH I like a cheap lead acid for starter batteries.
For domestic (camper) batteries, Gel, or Lead carbon are good, just make sure the charging voltage is high enough. AGM is a poor choice, possibly Gel might struggle to.

The alternater voltage is 14.4V in general.
Domestic batteries need whatever: 14.7 for Gel and AGM.

Make sure to include a vent pipe to outside if the battery needs it.
Perhaps combine with a Victron Multi inverter for a bit more flexibility, and an extern hookup (EHU) socket.

Sorry I don't understand much about cars or battery I feel your messaged only confused me further, especially the last part i did not make any sense for me.
Right now i am in need of a new car battery as it keeps going flat even if I leave a little lamp on at night.

Camper battery is not really the priority now I just noticed the current battery says both (starter and deep cycle) so i was just curious if that would be better than the other two above,
but right now looking for the best/most reliable general car battery.

I know Bosch is good brand, leaning towards it more but unsure. Which battery would you recommend out of the 3 I posted above or if any better ones can provide me a link?

Thanks

So I am currently leaning towards either The Bosch 95D31R, The ACDelco S95D31RHD or Allround MRV70

I do plan to make it full-time camper in the future and getting an additional (deep-cycle) battery but right now I only do
the occasional camping trips several times a year but i don't have solar or any of that stuff yet. I just require Indoor van lights at night for a few hours before bed for reading and charging my phone ect.. via usb car charger.

Due to my situation i was wondering which would suit me best?
Or if you have a even better battery suggestion feel free to share.

Apologies for the multiple questions and comments, I just want to make sure I get the best one for my situation that is compatible with my van because I know close to nothing about this stuff.

Thanks

Cranking batteries don't like be discharged & then recharged over & over again.
They were not designed to do such things. Hence why there are Deep cycle batteries for that purpose.
The whole 'all rounder' can be a crank & a Deep cycle all in 1 i think is abit of bull5hit..

The N70 case size which is what you have linked i reckon isn't needed.
You could easily go with a 80D26 size which a little smaller(cheaper) but still have more than enough to crank the 1KZ..
For the interim before you do get a Deep Cycle battery, i would for sure stop using the cranking battery as a power source..
Ya better of getting either a battery operated torch/lantern & a little phone charger usb bank thing to charge what ya need..

OKJDM wrote:

Cranking batteries don't like be discharged & then recharged over & over again.
They were not designed to do such things. Hence why there are Deep cycle batteries for that purpose.
The whole 'all rounder' can be a crank & a Deep cycle all in 1 i think is abit of bull5hit..

The N70 case size which is what you have linked i reckon isn't needed.
You could easily go with a 80D26 size which a little smaller(cheaper) but still have more than enough to crank the 1KZ..
For the interim before you do get a Deep Cycle battery, i would for sure stop using the cranking battery as a power source..
Ya better of getting either a battery operated torch/lantern & a little phone charger usb bank thing to charge what ya need..

Yeah that makes sense, alright thanks.

Hi, well, I don't know much about the individual batteries, but I would consider a cheap wet lead acid for the van. As said above, 'domestic' batteries are supposed to be more tolerant of deeper discharge, but unless it's 'lead carbon' I'm sceptical of the reality.

For domestic power, have a look at the 'powerboxes' that charge from mains or cigarette lighter, and give you USB and 230V, perhaps that's all you need.

Avoid Gel, AGM and lithium for deomestic use if you go with a split charging solution - the first two will never fully charge, and the lithium needs a current limiter for charging.

Hello.

I agree with all the comments on here but I also can’t really recommend one particular battery over another. I’d hope the adage to buy the best you can afford might apply but a more expensive battery might just have a better warranty that could be hard to claim against.

All these vans need a decent battery and for starting this is usually rated in CCA (cold cranking amps). Starter motors though are rated in kW. Mine’s a 2.7kW starter for example, but I think this is the biggest that Toyota fitted. I have a 3L engine. I also have two starter batteries in the tray area so in theory I have a bit more wiggle room to run audio, exterior lighting etc than with a van with a single motor battery. Bear in mind though that starter batteries, as has been said above, are effectively flat and useless when half their charge has been used and they probably won’t start a cold van even with a bit more charge. This might depend how quickly your van’s engine starts.

I think there’s a lot to be said for maintenance free batteries but for running the vehicle I wouldn’t go any more exotic that this.

I think domestic / leisure batteries have bigger plates and revive better from greater discharge levels but you can soon kill these by taking out too much charge. You also pay for this but starter batteries will deliver more current but ‘expect’ to get charged up quicker too; albeit from a more-full state. Many appliances designed to run off 12V (such as fridges) have the ability to switch off at a designated voltage to save your battery, but your food might spoil instead!

There are very many YT channels dedicated to leisure / domestic electrics in cars, vans, boats etc and the sky’s the limit, but it gets pricey to have a dedicated system that’s underused. When I improve my camper setup I may well go for a powerbox and there are more and more of these on the market to suit a variety of needs, pockets and use cases. I already have alternator charging for the domestic setup and I’d like to add solar, too, but I’ll also add a hookup.

Bear in mind that without good solar and or electrical hookup it’s virtually impossible to run off-grid for any length of time. As an example my fridge is 44 W, which at 12 V is 3.6 A. A 100 Ah battery, which is very big for these campers and if lead acid heavy, would run this for ~14 hours until the battery would be 50% discharged and therefore dead if the fridge’s compressor was running all the time. The duty cycle will depend of course on lots of factors but this simple example shows the difficulty of domestic off-grid power even for moderately power-hungry things.

HTH

Thanks for all the help.  As i said I am currently looking for a strong battery that will last me years.
When i fix my camper for full-time camping I will naturally purchase an additional (deep cycle/carbon) for all my extra electrical/solar needs ect..

I trust Bosch because Germans always make things good and last lifetimes but the MRV70 being a 2 in 1 type battery which is one class bigger than the one I currently have is also calling me.
I been charging my phone with the key in ignition (first turn) as it charges my phone very fast and using lights at night-time for a few hours before bed.

The times it keeps running flat is when i forget and leave lights on all night or headlights and its usually the big middle light which I rarely use anymore. The phone charging has never caused issues i believe.

I just feel since i bought this car 6 months ago, I want to gradually rebuild and buy new and better quality parts. I'm all about quality over quantity.

I also followed this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COJr7OB23Hw And my battery went down to 9.6 on start and showing 12.08 volts on Idle after running lights for 2 mins.

Is it still ok or should I opt a new one?

Not sure about the AC Delco.. I will research more about all those terms (lead acid/carbon, AGM, Gel and Lithium) to get a better Idea on what they...

If the Bosch is out of the question due to my needs, I am left with these two.
https://batteriesdirectglobal.com.au/supercharge-allrounder-mrv70-12v-760cca-105ah-dual-purpose-battery/
https://batteryhq.com.au/products/ac-delco-premium-hcm27smf

Thanks again.

lemonfox91 wrote:

that will last me years...

I trust Bosch because Germans always make...

The best way to make it last a long time, is to keep it fully charged. Lead-acid LOVE that.
Bosch silver top last a long time, even when abused a bit.

Personally I'd sort out a smart charger for the van (or a Victron Multi if you want a inverter), so the batteries stay charged at the correct voltage, and choose a reasonable cheap lead acid, of the correct size.

Avoid AGM and Gel.

People have a lot of faith in spending lots of money on fancy batteries, but it's really how you treat them.