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MG MGB Technical - Best Battery?

My mother has a 78 Roadster which gets very little use.
Battery is knackered and wondering if anyone could advise HD replacement (12v).
Steve

Steve-
I've found that Interstate batteries are excellent. I won't buy anything else. Price and availability are pretty good, too.
Steve S.

Like Steve, I also have been quite happy with my Interstate battery. May I also suggest that she invest in a small maintenance battery charger. I use a BatteryMinder myself:
http://www.vdcelectronics.com/batteryminder.htm
It has a quick disconnect so I can just plug or unplug without having to pop the top on the battery compartment cover. I take a bus to work all week, so I just plug mine in when the weekend is over. It turns itself off when the battery is fully charged.

Regards,
Jerry
Jerry Causey

Steve, third recommendation for interstate. I don't know if you have the 12v or 2 6v's, but either way Interatate is a good choice, not the cheapeat but good quality.

Andy
Andy Preston

In this country, the UNIPART Samson batteries have one unique feature that makes them ideal for use in a vehicle which only gets used intermittently.
When you take it back to them, dead as a doornail, they *will* change it for you if you've kept the registration card and can prove you still own the relevant car! Lifetime guarantee means lifetime guarantee on this one. I've seen one 10 years old taken back and it was swapped without so much as a raised eyebrow...
I assume they work on the principal that 99.999% of the time, nobody keeps the car that long...
Tim Cuthill

Sears Diehard. My previous Diehard lasted 9.5 years and 2 MGs.

My brand new Dodge's dealer installed battery (in 1998) lasted 2 years. Replacment battery (free from the dealer under warrenty) lasted only 1.5 years before I finally called it quits and bought a Diehard.

The Dodge was well checked out BTW, no electrical gremlins, just bad batteries. Dodge Durangos, BTW cannot be jumpstarted with cables after loosing battery power. The only way to get it back on the road was to put a new battery in it. According to the dealer its part of the new car system computer thingy.

I love cars without computers.
Luis

Having been an Interstate retailer, I can say that there were rarely, if any, warranty issues, and most were due to faulty alts. When an Interstate battery would longer hold a charge and was turned in as a core, it was usually long past its warranty date. The Interstate battery in my Trooper came out of a Beamer that had been hit and damaged the case but didn;t crack it. That was 4 years ago and the battery was a couple years old then. It's been killed stone dead several times since, but still bounces right back after a booster start and shows no sign of getting old. They are a bit pricey but factoring service life into total cost makes them a better deal than the lower priced batteries from parts houses.

Speaking of batteries, has anyone read the tech tidbits article in a recent Road and Track about the lifespan of the Panasonic Adsorption GlassMat (not a gel cell) Miata battery? Many first-year Miatas still have their orig battery, and the average service life has been a shade over 6 years. US miatas still come with the Panasonic battery, which costs between $120 and 140,and a repop aftermarket unit runs about $90 from Moss. The only problem that these batterys present is that they require a special low current charging circuit, and can't be jumpstarted or quick charged.
Mark Childers

This thread was discussed between 07/08/2002 and 10/08/2002

MG MGB Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGB Technical BBS is active now.