I was looking to replace the battery in my car and upgrade it with a better one. Seems like every time I go in for service they need to charge my battery, and when I had HIDs in it (which I plan to get again soon) the car would almost stall out when they turned on if it was running.

Since I plan on getting HIDs again soon (projector retrofit with LED strips) and was thinking about putting my sub in, what would be a better option:
1) Getting a higher capacity battery in place of the stock one
2) Getting a higher capacity car audio battery and wiring it in parallel (or series) with the stock battery

My thought is to create a box that holds the extra battery and sub (if I went that route) that I can quick pull out whenever I need to haul stuff, so there would more than likely be connections semi- hard-wired through to the trunk.

 

A lot of VW campers run a second battery for the camping accessories. It is connected in parallel with the vehicle battery when the engine is running, but disconnected (automatically, via a relay) when the engine is off, so accessories can be operated without using the starting battery.

The problem with doing this in a Fit is that the systems that you might want to use in this fashion are so tightly integrated with the vehicle that it is impossible to isolate their power source.

The Fit's motorcycle battery is a major bugaboo with the design of the car. Still, Honda has stuck with it so there aren't sufficient problems in the warranty period to warrant a change.

 

Why is the battery even an issue? The battery is pretty much used to start the car and run stuff when the engine isn't running and its size is driven primarily by how much current it can generate when cold vs. how much it takes to start the cold engine. When the engine is running, the alternator is carrying essentially all the consumptive load as well as having some extra ampacity to charge the battery and put back the amps that the most recent start consumed. If you want to camp in the thing with all your gadgets plugged in and the engine off, then, yes, you may need a bigger battery. If you want to add a lot of electrical load--say the 10kW of subwoofer amps so you can deafen yourself and everybody within 50 yards--and actually drive the car with this load, the alternator is a bigger problem sooner than the battery. Unless you just want to park the car in a parking lot and show off your subwoofers. Then you are back to needing the bigger battery. And plan on a long drive home with the audio off to recharge it.

 

Sure, the battery is mostly just used to start the car, but it is not exactly up to the task of HIDs initially (in my experience, and others), let alone a sub. Even though it isn't a super powerful sub, if the stock battery can't handle the charge of HIDs I have a feeling that it won't take too kindly to adding a sub. Or the other electronics that I have to hook up on a daily basis (delivery light, phone charger, radar detector).

 

Let me reiterate: in the short run, it's not the battery that isn't up to the task of all your added load. It's the alternator. You are wanting to use more current than the alternator is supplying. So the battery is discharging to carry the load that the alternator can't. Putting in a bigger battery will mask this effect for a while. It will not eliminate it. And the bigger battery will also end up discharged with no way to recharge unless you turn off all the extra loads.

 

Let me put it another way so maybe you can understand: in the long haul, the alternator generates all the current the car's loads use. If you try to use more current than the alternator can produce, the battery will discharge with no way to recharge. BTW, your phone charger and radar detector are trivially small loads (< 1 A). Your subs and your HIDs are not. Use the rating of the fuses and the gauge of the wire as a clue.

Think of the battery like a water reservoir. For short periods you can use water faster than it's coming in. But the head pressure--battery voltage--will drop as the water level does and sooner or later you will run out of stored water and will be able to use water no faster than it's coming in.

 

With a conventional battery you have a reasonable reserve capacity so the engine will still start under adverse conditions such as audio and lighting system use with the engine off. It also allows for reduced capacity in cold weather and as the battery ages.

The small stock battery has a bit of reserve, but it goes very quickly. The net strain on the battery is greater so its life will be less than if it were conventionally sized.

Personally, I like to minimize the number of times that I go out in the morning and find the battery not up to the task.

 

Just curious: what's your basis for thinking it's sized "unconventionally" in the Fit?

Is there objective evidence that you can sit in an Accord with the (stock) lights and (stock) radio on and your phone charger in the accessory outlet for, say, a week and still start it, but the Fit won't start after, say, the fourth day under the same conditions?

I would expect that the same 20A subwoofer amp added to the car by the owner would drain the stock battery in a V6 Accord slower than if it would the stock battery in a Fit. I don't think that's a knock on Honda.

 

The fact that it is considerably smaller in both physical size and capacity than comparable vehicles.

Fit: Group 151, 330CCA, reserve capacity 55min
Yaris: Group 26R, 540CCA, reserve capacity 85min
Cube: Group 35, 640CCA, reserve capacity 100min
Golf: Group 48, 760CCA, reserve capacity 120min

All these cars have engines of similar size and therefore similar cranking demands on their batteries. Using a battery that is half the capability of other similar vehicles is certainly unconventional.

Garden Tractor: Group U1R, 340CCA, reserve capacity 40min

Yes, a garden tractor battery is close to the performance of a Fit battery and it costs half as much. Pity that it is the wrong shape!

 

Just leave your headlights on accidentally for 40 minutrs after parking, and you might get a better understanding as you search for a generous soul willing to give you a hot shot.

 

Regarding your HID stalling it has nothing to do with our small battery. It is in fact how you ground the ground wire of the HID kit. I had this problem and had discuss this same issue in another post. Even when I changed my battery the HID lights would stall and in some occasions the car dead in while driving. Finally when I moved the ground wire the problem never came back.

 

do you have before/after locations?
Would be good to know where a "safe" grounding point is (though I'm not sure how any part of the common ground frame is a different grounding point...)

 

Hmmm I understand what you are saying and during the very beginning people on the forum kept saying its the ground and I didnt believe it myself. I also took a test light and tested my ground wire showing that it does complete the circuit but Im guessing that some ground point has weaker contact than others. I didn't do a before and after photo but I can take a photo of the new ground point for reference.

Here is another post regarding HID stalling
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/3rd-...d-install.html

 

Good point. I remember one time I inadvertently left the parking lights of my VW on when I got to work at 7:00AM. I came out at 4:00 and said "oh, ****" when I saw the lights. I got in and, sure enough, the car started! Gotta love a Group 24 battery!

 

I'm wondering if there is any option to replace the stock battery with a better one..Or maybe the alternator with a higher output version. Under the hood is a tight fit for a dual battery set up. I hate to break down so much I would spend some $$$ to lessen the risk of that happening even if I didn't plan on adding L E D's or a inverter. It seems to me it is a weak point in the basic design. So what can be done?

 

On earlier Fits it was just possible to replace the Group 151R battery with a Group 51R battery. You gain a bit in CCA, something like 500 instead of 330. It required a bit of trimming.

On a GK we don't know, until some pioneer gives it a try. People generally don't do this until the OEM battery fails out of warranty.

A larger battery will give more reliable starting, will have a longer life before normal deterioration drops cranking current too low, and will give a little more reserve capacity for running things with the ignition off.

It won't allow you to run more accessories when the engine is running. A 5000W Baja Blazer light bar and Grateful Dead "wall of speakers" sound system will demand more than the alternator will provide and the battery does nothing to prevent this.

 

I updated my fit with a XS Power battery. Perfect Fit.

 

hey SQECLIPSE what else did you order with the battery what type of posts and did you order the battery case ?

 

More details please. There application guide doesn't even go past 2012. Which battery (model number) did you get? Did you buy a lithium? Or one of their starting models? Can you show us pics of the install? Thanks.

Home - XS Power

 

I Installed XS Power S975 using the battery post that came with the battery. I used the OEM battery brace. But the OEM battery is like an inch taller then the XS Power. I had to extend the thread a little more to make it fit. The stock grounding wire fits, but i upgraded with 0 gauge wire.