MG Car Club of South Australia
MGC NEWS
MGC conversations by Richard Mixture, May 2019
H
ello, it’s Richard here again with a
story about cold cranking power.
Now, when that nice old Queenslander
went to pick up his brand new MGC at
the Brissie docks in his home state of
Queensland, the batteries were new but
totally dry. He extracted them from the
car and went off to his local Century bat-
tery shop to get them filled and charged
overnight. When Bruce went back and
picked up the batteries there was no
charge. He’s been buying Century bat-
teries ever since.
Bunnings have to offer with straps.
My first 12-volt battery was a Century
M9612 (300 CCA) and I could not be-
lieve how the starter ran after the old
twin 6-volt units with only 270 CCA. 410
CCA should start the car easily on any
cold winter’s day.
Cheers, Bruce.”
Automotive batteries are designed to
deliver maximum current or amperes for
a short period of time. Now, many years
ago I wondered what CCA actually
stood for and was it important? Bruce
mentions the original batteries were 270
CCA and the new one is 410 CCA. For
those people who did not do well at pri-
mary school arithmetic that’s a 140 CCA
increase, which is over 50%. Quite a
difference!
Anyway, Bruce sent me a little note the
other day saying he had bought a new
battery, yes only one this time and not
two. He says;
“As my old Century will be 8 years old in
2 weeks time, I decided to buy the new
NS40ZLSX MF (410 CCA and 40 month
warranty) to replace the excellent
DIN44L MF (370 CCA), as Auto Barn
were having a 30% off batteries week-
end.
But what does CCA mean?
“Cold
Cranking Amps” (I said amps not ants)
is a rating used in the battery industry to
define a battery's ability to start an en-
gine in cold temperatures. The rating
refers to the number of amps a 12-volt
battery can deliver at 0°F for 30 seconds
while maintaining a voltage of at least
7.2 volts.
The battery cost was $118-30 after dis-
count. List is $166.xx something. Bat-
tery World, the official franchise dealer
for Century-Yuasa, retail price was
$189.00 but with Seniors discount was
$170.10, so I felt well pleased to get a
new battery before Winter.
CA or Cranking Amps are different and
are the numbers of amperes a lead-acid
battery at 32 degrees F (0 degrees C)
can deliver for 30 seconds and maintain
at least 1.2 volts per cell (7.2 volts for a
12-volt battery). In other words, CA de-
termine how much power you have to
start your car in most climates.
This new battery fits directly into the bat-
tery boxes without modification, a little
bit narrower with no lugs on the bottom
and much less deep, it fits exactly be-
tween the factory mounting rubbers. It is
taller, about the same as the factory 6-
volt Lucas batteries.
Many engines in cars today tend to have
less resistance from being turned by the
starter motor, i.e. they have less friction,
but modern cars do have higher com-
I will make a pad to sit the battery on
and strap it down with a couple of ad-
justable straps after seeing what
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