Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Plus Four battery. Where is it ?

Dave,

That is great thinking; there was me throwing out the water from my 'man-shed' de-humidifier whilst buying de-ionised water for my battery and the iron.

Duh!

Hi Steve

A Cetek XS 3600 charger (about £50) may well rescue your battery for you. The battery I believe is an Odyssey PC925 and would be well over £130 to buy so this is worth trying. Most gel batteries (for example those in golf trolleys, alarms etc) don't like being fully discharged but these Odyssey batteries are designed for deep discharge low maintenance use such as boats and caravans. The Cetek XS 3600 charger (NB not the cheaper one) is clever enough to recognise a deeply discharged battery and charge it accordingly, though it may take 48 hours or more in the first case, and several weeks on standby charge to fully regenerate.

When I bought my 4/4 the battery wasn't great - it had been in storage by the previous owner for a year then charged up just before sale by the dealer. I thought I'd have to replace it as the voltage would drop more than it should under load (lights etc) down to under 12v. However the Cetek rescued it and 2 years later it happily goes weeks without a charge (if I forget to connect the charger or if I go on holiday), it cranks beautifully and voltage drop under load is minimal.

If you're going to use the cig lighter, check it works first (mine wasn't connected!) and also that it works when the ignition is OFF (it should be wired direct to the battery, via a fuse - but some are wired via the ignition switch in the same way as a radio). Recently I replaced the original "el cheapo" socket with a marine one (Sutars) which for a few quid gives a much more secure connection and has a rubber cap to prevent shorts from objects in your glove box. I'm happy to charge via the lighter socket and have done for over 2 years now.

The cetek comes with a quick-disconnect umbilical cable which you can wire direct to the battery - note the cig lighter plug is an extra. As your battery is under the seat you can unscrew the parcel shelf, fit the cable and bring it out so that it's accessible in the back of the car, tucked under a carpet, if you like. I didn't do that because my battery is under the bonnet.

Do you know how long it has been flat? Presumably not when you bought the car?

Good luck - try the Cetek first

Nigel

Hi Dave W - sounds like you may have blown cig lighter fuse at some stage, and I did the same last night........do you know which of the 20 fuses on a 2003 plus 8 it is? (in future I will hard wire my charger with an in-line fuse!)

cheers

Dash module fuse number 4 is likely. This is in the bank of 20 fuses under the dash if you have it.
Are the dash lights also off??? it may be the same fuse.

Supply is also fed by number 6 on the main fusebox under the bonnet. But Morgans differ in so many ways.........just to clarify - fuse boxes move around, as do batteries.

DaveW..........But Morgans differ in so many ways.....NOW THERE'S AN UNDERSTATEMENT! It seems on mine (2003 LHD, NAS) it is on one of the two (?)side light circuits.....by a process of elimination I found them not working and a 15 amp (dark blue) had blown, the small card that came with the fuse puller would have you believe there are two adjacent fuses controlling side lamps, but if so they are not the same rating! Dash lamps are on an ignition controlled circuit. One day I'll figure them all out - it's like a rainbow in my fuse box and the card doesn't seem to correlate at all. Many thanks for suggestion though.

Ok heres a question, which batteries are the longer lasting and best price, what about calcium premium types

My battery in my year 2000 plus 4 is a nova type 015 its 335A / 240A cant find the Nova batteries anywhere. It has to fit under the rear parcel shelf behind the driver any ideas or specs for a good equivalent?

Re: Morgan screwing down the parcel shelf. On the recently aquired Roadster ( a year already) it was both screwed and glued. After several attempts I managed to remove it and sawed it in half lengthways. The rear section is screwed back down but the front it hinged so that I can get to the handbrake mechanism etc.

Might be stating the bleeding obvious here, but when I had a flat battery, because of its inaccessibity, I had to jump start it with the power pack clip attached to the starter motor rather than the positive battery terminal.

Did the job though.

I find the Halfords own brand 015s fit perfectly in my car. They're not expensive and last a reasonable time, I tend to replace them every 5 years or so.

I have also used Halfords with success in the past