Battery

[dalkill]

I'm in need to a new battery, and my dad happens to have a 12V UPS battery.
It's an Exide marathon L12V24. According to exide, I can use the battery in the bakkie.

My only concerns, are these UPS batteries not heavier on the recharge - ie it will bugger up your alternator and thereby bugger up fuel economy - what little I have with lux

[Knersus]

I am not sure how this battery looks but I am sure it will work. I had to change my bakkie battery also last week. It had a Willard battery in it and I replace it with a Dixon. Cost me R422-00 :x The one cell of the willard was dead and the service provider told me that Willard battery's always have the cell that goes dead near to the + or - pole.

Wonder what battery's is the most commen used by the Hi lux guys

[BenHur]

I am not sure but if your UPS battery is a deep cycle battery, its is not a good idea as you need a high cycle (normal battery) to produce the high instant cranking current for your starter. The instantanious current a starter draws will damage a deep cycle in the long run as a deep cycle was not designed to produce bursts of hig current but rather a lower constant current feed.

[dalkill]

that was my concern as well. TO me the UPS batteries are designed for longevity, rather than bursts of power.
I have asked Exide about this...

[dalkill]

replay from exide technical contact....

Your L12V24 Marathon battery will start your vehicle and will not cause any damage to the vehicle electronics or the alternator. This battery will also be charged OK in the vehicle but I cannot guarantee that it will last as long as a standard automotive battery in this application. Please bear in mind that this is a valve regulated battery and as such cannot be charged unless you can limit the voltage on charging to a maximum of 14.40V. The vehicles alternator will do this.



The L12V24 is also a 24Ah battery which would normally be very small for your vehicle. Valve regulated batteries have higher cranking power than standard automotive batteries but even so due to the fact that you should be using a battery of at least 60Ah this battery may not crank your engine as well as it should.