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New Braille battery

Joined
28 September 2002
Messages
1,462
Location
FL
My battery (Group 35, regular old lead acid battery from The Walmart) died a couple of weeks ago. It was 9.5 yrs old so I can't complain. Wanted to drop some weight so I was looking at the Antigravity 51R-30-RS initially, but after talking to Pegasus Racing and an engineer at Braille I ended up getting a Braille Green-Lite G30 and an Optimate lithium charger/tender straight from Braille. In order to install this, you WILL need to get an adjustable battery hold down as the factory stamped steel angle iron piece will short out across the terminals since the battery is so much smaller. It will also short out because Braille uses small, threaded, recessed terminal blocks on the top front corners of the battery which it would be laying directly on. The actual battery terminal posts bolt into these blocks. Note- the slightly wider one with a smooth ring around it about halfway up is for the positive. It has a knurled areas above & below this smooth ring.

I got a Diehard hold down (# 45164) from Advance Auto parts. It's $10 for what are clearly two 89¢ pieces of plastic that are made in China, but it gets the job done. I strongly recommend setting the width to snugly fit across the battery (left to right direction, not front to back) then use electrical tape or a couple of zip ties to secure the 2 halves of the bracket together. You will also need 2 medium sized washers with holes slightly bigger than the j bolts as the holes in the bracket are almost the same diameter as the nuts. I was worried the nuts might start pulling through over time. Push the battery all the way rearward centered in the battery tray. Then position the bracket somewhere over the center of the battery (front to back dimension) running left to right. Swear repeatedly while trying to tighten the nuts as the j bolts keep falling out of their anchor holes in the edges of the tray. At some point you will get it.

Connect the positive terminal, then the negative. Go start car. Bask in your success, then go drink a beer. :geek:
 
It sounds like that $10 battery holder is overpriced by about $9. :) Looking at it on the web did not engender more confidence. :unsure:

I assume this damning with faint praise is advice to purchase a better quality holder, especially considering the purchase of the $600 Braille, which seems to have a ~75% price premium above the Antigravity offerings, which already seem pricy.
 
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It sounds like that $10 battery holder is overpriced by about $9. Looking at it on the web did not engender more confidence.

I assume this damning with faint praise is advice to purchase a better quality holder, especially considering the purchase of the $600 Braille, which seems to have a ~75% price premium above the Antigravity offerings, which already seem pricy.
The Antigravity is $675 so this was actually a little cheaper. It is very small & light. 5.5 lbs & you can easily pick it up with one hand. There were lead acid tractor batteries a little smaller than this at Advance Auto which were much heavier. I needed a holder quickly since the hurricane was coming & I needed to be able to start & move the car right away, could not wait for something online to show up.

Very few adjustable battery holders are made with sufficient length to cover the width of the battery, most are set up for the narrower front to back dimension. The fixed length ones are all short and designed for front to back as well. My next stop if the Diehard hold down didn't work was going to be alumimum strut rod for closets with holes already in it every inch or so. Cut off a long enough piece for a hold down and use the holes in the rod to run the j bolts through & tighten the nuts against.
 
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That sure makes sense considering your time constraints if you're close to the Braille location in GA.

According to the Braille website, the $569 Braille G-30 weighs 6.4 lbs with a capacity of 15 Ah. Similar Antigravity units would be the ATX-30 at 5.75 lbs (16 Ah) or the ATX-20HD at 5.2 lbs (15 Ah). Both $399. The Antigravity Group 51 units at $659 (24 Ah) and $749 (30 Ah) are much higher capacity (and thus 8.5/11.7 lbs). All would be a big weight savings over the stock 35/24R options (40-45 lbs) or even the OEM 51R in the Zanardi (32 lbs.) The Braille units seem to be very high quality and used by most race teams who cannot afford a failure, but they don't seem cheaper based on weight or energy storage capacity.

That holder still seems jank considering your car's value. If you've got a 3D printer, PM me a couple of pictures, the dimensions, and exactly where those posts are and I'll draft up a custom bracket for you to print. @simonasaur did a pretty neat job with:
 
That sure makes sense considering your time constraints if you're close to the Braille location in GA.

According to the Braille website, the $569 Braille G-30 weighs 6.4 lbs with a capacity of 15 Ah. Similar Antigravity units would be the ATX-30 at 5.75 lbs (16 Ah) or the ATX-20HD at 5.2 lbs (15 Ah). Both $399. The Antigravity Group 51 units at $659 (24 Ah) and $749 (30 Ah) are much higher capacity (and thus 8.5/11.7 lbs). All would be a big weight savings over the stock 35/24R options (40-45 lbs) or even the OEM 51R in the Zanardi (32 lbs.) The Braille units seem to be very high quality and used by most race teams who cannot afford a failure, but they don't seem cheaper based on weight or energy storage capacity.

That holder still seems jank considering your car's value. If you've got a 3D printer, PM me a couple of pictures, the dimensions, and exactly where those posts are and I'll draft up a custom bracket for you to print. @simonasaur did a pretty neat job with:
According to the label on the box it is 5.5 lbs & having handled it, I believe it. The Antigravity I listed above is $675 all day at places that list it but only Pegasus Racing has it in stock. Braille is in Sarasota, my boss picked it up for me since she was going there anyway.
 
Pictures of the label on the box & the battery in the car.
 

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