GearHack: Revision: Installing a Light-Weight Car Battery

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Installing a Light-Weight Car Battery

Back when we were tracking racing our cars, we used to spent nights dreaming of ways to make it go faster. One of that way is to lighten the battery.

But we didn't learn about the additional benefits of having a light-weight battery until after we stopping racing our vehicles.

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Picking a Light-Weight Battery

When we first started looking for light-weight batteries for our cars, we found the Hawker Genesis G16EP battery. It costed about $50 bucks, but has since then drastically increased in price.

It is only 13.8 pounds; About a third of the weight of a regular car battery.

Later, we found a surplus of Hawker Genesis G13EP battery. We were able to pay $25 for each battery. The G13EP is slightly smaller than the G16EP and weighs only 10.7 pounds. We were thrilled with this battery.

The following photo shows the size difference between the Hawker Genesis G13EP and G16EP.

But the surplus stash of Hawker Genesis G13EP didn't last long. With the Hawker Genesis G16EP price sky-rocketing over the roof, we soon started looking for another source of light-weight batteries.

The Universal Battery UB12180 is a good candidate. This battery is about the same size as the Hawker Genesis G16EP. It weighs about the same as well. In fact, if you look at the specs, you'd say it is the same battery. The only difference is the terminal on top of the battery. It has a bladed terminal used for wheel chairs and golf carts. At less than $50 a pop (including shipping), it's an excellent car battery replacement. Sources for this battery are listed in the "Related Links" section below.

After using this battery for about a year or so in three different cars, I can say that it is practically the same as the Hawker Genesis G16EP. Only minor difference is that the Hawker Genesis battery can be mounted in any orientation, the Universal Battery UB12180 has to sit up-right. More detail about this constrain in the next section.

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Converting to Car Battery Post

In this section, We will explain how to convert the battery posts on these light-weight battery to the ones acceptable by your vehicle.

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Hawk Genesis Batteries

The part you will need is the following:

Odyssey 3217-0006 SAE Terminal Conversion Kit (Convert M6 Bolt Terminals to SAE 3/8" Receptacle Terminals)

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Universal Battery UB12180

The part you will need is the following:

Odyssey 3217-0006 SAE Terminal Conversion Kit (Convert M6 Bolt Terminals to SAE 3/8" Receptacle Terminals)

The vertical battery post on the Universal Battery UB12180 makes it difficult to convert to the SAE battery posts. The first bright idea we had was to use golf cart cables. Connect one end of the cable to the vertical battery post blade, while connecting the "Odyssey 3217-0006" post to the other end.

This conversion is good if your existing battery cables doesn't reach. And it allows you to orient the battery the way you like. But after driving with it for a few days, it occurred to me that having moving parts (golf cables wiggling) may not be a good thing in the long term.

The next solutions was to use L-brackets.

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