Well my 4+ year-old stock-type battery didn't take kindly to being hooked up for 5 months in storage and then started up when i took my car out, so i was looking for a replacement. i knew i wanted to go with a smaller battery to save some weight, and i don't drive my car in the winter and i have the stock radio with no power options, so reserve and CCA weren't really an issue.

It was either between a Deka ETX20L or the Odyssey PC680 battery. Both are small AGM batteries with around the same weight. The Deka has slightly more CCA, the Odyssey has a better warranty and a few $ more. The battery shop i went to had both, but the guy talked me into getting the Odyssey.

if you are considering getting a small battery like this, go with either one of those, you won't be disappointed. i did a lot of research and those are the 2 to go with and are the best value.

anyway, I was pleasantly surprised that the PC680 fit snugly into the stock battery tray (width-wise), so then i just fabricated a hold-down using some aluminum/ss home depot racing parts.


14.5lbs vs. ~40lbs






I will hook up the terminals and crank her tomorrow, hopefully that goes well.

 

WOW!!! what a difference in size & weight! I might do something like that. Might be even easier to do a relocation with a small battery like that. & it still cranks good?

Ramses666

 

I love those motomaster batteries.I've fried three myself

 

nice job....im doing the same thing....except mine is mounted in the rear and im striped

 

i haven't cranked it yet, so i hope so!

if you do a search though a lot of the FD guys use this battery with no issues, and most FDs have an alarm that slowly drains the battery when the car is parked.

it is rated at 680 amps max, and the cold cranking amps is 220. it's enough, but this battery won't do much good in cold weather if the car has sat for awhile.

 

is this a wet cell battery or dry?

 

I live in Florida.... If I have to wear pants its really cold!!! like 50 degrees or something terribly cold like that. When my NAPA Gold wears out I might pick one of those up.

Ramses666

 

it is an AGM battery. i guess what most people call "dry", but that term is not technically correct.
anyway, it's why i am able to mount it lying down on its side like that.

 

haha. well if i can use this battery in Canada, you should be able to in Florida.

i will start the car up tommorow and go for a drive and report back here how it went.

oh, and i would not recommend a battery like this if your car has issues starting up. for example if takes 20 seconds of cranking to start your car, this battery isn't going to cut it, heh.

 

hOT ****... YOU wanna tell us how much as a reference?

 

there are 2 versions of the PC680, the one i got usually runs between $90 and $130. i paid about $130, because where i live there is 14% tax (it's stupid). but i wanted to buy it locally so if i had to claim warranty it would not be a hassle.
i also paid a few $ extra for the terminals on the battery, because these batteries just come with no terminals.

 

Very interesting.... would definetly make room for other stuff & less weight for sure.

Ramses666

 

how do these rate against optima batteries? ive got a red top right now, but these look interesting. any idea about batt life? ive heard of some of the smaaler betteries like this (dont remember the name though) only last around a year and a half, although thats not a prob. if you haev insurance.

 

i think this Odyssey is similar to the Optima batteries, just a whole lot smaller and lighter. Optima is a decent choice for a year round car, or if you need that bit extra of reserve capacity.
i personally won't know about the life of this battery yet, but it comes with a full 2 year warranty and that is good enough for me.

i went to start the car today and she fired up just fine! it started much better than my previous battery which was dying.

 

optimas are the worse batteries to have. We use to deal with Optima but dropped them because of way too many returns

 

Did you take the outer cover off?

I have the PC680MJT, and it has a red metal sleeve where your battery is black. This is the reason I cannot fit it in the tray width wise. Does it just come off?

edit: Do you disconnect it every time you park it? How long of a charge does it hold when just parked?

 

i have the p980 i havent used it because it lost charge on me because it was sitting so long

i will try to charge it to see if it works, but my tuner said they are no good if you have a lot of horsepower and electrical parts needing extra power

 

yeah this isn't a battery that you can leave lying around for an extended period of time.

as for what your tuner said, the lots of horsepower bit is not true, but having a lot of electrical stuff might be.

remember people, the battery is mostly just used to START the car, after that the alternator takes over.

 

no, mine didn't come with the metal jacket. it's not needed.

i don't plan on disconnecting it, i'll see how it goes. haven't had any issues yet, probably started it about 6 times now.

 

Im planning on buying the Deka, I originally was drawn to braille batteries before I found out they are just renamed dekas for 3x the price. Yes they do have low cca's but I know 2 guys who use them on daily driven SRT4's w/o problems, so Im not too worried.

 

the Dekas are great.
like i said, only reason i went with the Odyssey is because it had a better warranty.

 

Ever heard of Braille batteries?

 

overpriced re-badged Deka batteries? yup, heard of them.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2353060&page=1

 

I've got the PC1200 in my car, relocated behind the passenger seat. I got that one because of the larger reserve and CCA over the smaller sized one.

If your car has any mechanical issue that keeps it from starting right away you will drain the small one while cranking, I didn't want to take that chance.

 

I have the same battery. MJ is for metal jacket and T if for terminals. I don't think its ment to come off. I have this battery on my FC with a couple of amps and a lt8s and I have no starting issues as of yet. I can drive around at night with the sounds on and the lights up and I get no dimming or blinking of any dash lights. Oh yeah, I have an FD alt. I made a nice battery holder for it I can post some pics tonight.