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Defender Wolf batteries

R

rich764089

In Fourth Gear
Hi all,

One of the batteries in my '97 Wolf seems to have died... Won't charge so assume a dead cell?
It's fitted with the EnerSys batteries from the military and just looking for advice on what to replace with.

The original military fitted EnerSys batteries seem very hard to find and very expensive. What's the usual go to for these, and if the EnerSys where is it best to source from.

I'm interested why these are so expensive... How are they better than other batteries this size?

Thanks in advance.
 
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The original batteries were 027H STC3043
I fitted a pair of these https://www.halfords.com/motoring/b...-12v-car-battery-4-year-guarantee-950303.html
Not cheap but they seemed a good fit & came with a 4-year warranty
Still going strong since fitted on 27/10/13 although there has been a price rise of 1p, but that's inflation for you!

When you come to fit normal batteries they need to be vented as hydrogen will build up within the confines of battery storage space under the passenger seat base. When I fitted replacement vehicle batteries I vented them via tubes to a T-piece I fitted to the existing venting system for the radio batteries (that exits to the left side of the body).

There should be two venting holes on each side of the batteries. Venting plugs & pipes were connected to the batteries to feed the radio batteries T-piece. The unused vents on the other side of the batteries need to be plugged over so that hydrogen only leaves via the tubing vents.

IMG_20220831_224145a.thumb.jpg.531c80b33db0e1a93544132c552a48ec.jpg
 
Thanks very much for the helpful reply.

It's a little more involved than I realised! Are you implying that the original military-spec batteries don't release hydrogen in the same way? Presumably hydrogen build-up in the battery compartment is also a problem with non-military Defenders as well then?

I might have to leave the battery compartment open in the short term until I have time to fix this properly?

I wonder what the "real" risk is here, though...I would have thought the hydrogen would dissipate enough as the compartment is not air-tight. Not disputing what you said, just thinking aloud!

Thanks again.
 
The original Wolf vehicle batteries did not need venting, but the radio batteries did need venting, hence the provision of an external vent on manufacture

When I fitted the Halfords batteries as they are provided with vents I thought it prudent to plumb in ventilation. In a normal car with a battery under the bonnet there is usually plenty of ventilation. The vehicle spec provided for radio battery ventilation so this was considered important. I thought it wise that as I am fitting batteries designed to be ventilated that I should provide this.

I am not aware of an incidents of explosions, but I felt that batteries designed to be ventilated should have that ventilation with a degree of certainty that seemed important for the radio batteries.
 
fv1620 said:
The original Wolf vehicle batteries did not need venting, but the radio batteries did need venting, hence the provision of an external vent on manufacture

When I fitted the Halfords batteries as they are provided with vents I thought it prudent to plumb in ventilation. In a normal car with a battery under the bonnet there is usually plenty of ventilation. The vehicle spec provided for radio battery ventilation so this was considered important. I thought it wise that as I am fitting batteries designed to be ventilated that I should provide this.

I am not aware of an incidents of explosions, but I felt that batteries designed to be ventilated should have that ventilation with a degree of certainty that seemed important for the radio batteries.
Click to expand...

Thanks again - I hadn't realised this: The original Wolf vehicle batteries did not need venting, but the radio batteries did need venting, hence the provision of an external vent on manufacture.

Yes, very sensible!
 
rich764089 said:
Hi all,

One of the batteries in my '97 Wolf seems to have died... Won't charge so assume a dead cell?
It's fitted with the EnerSys batteries from the military and just looking for advice on what to replace with.

The original military fitted EnerSys batteries seem very hard to find and very expensive. What's the usual go to for these, and if the EnerSys where is it best to source from.

I'm interested why these are so expensive... How are they better than other batteries this size?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Hi Rich,

I have the same batteries fitted to mine and one had a dead cell. I identified which one it was and revived it by washing the cells out and replacing the fluid, then long charging and discharging many times with improve it's state. Luckily enough it worked for me and its now back in operation.

Just a tip for you... :thumbsup:

Sky..
 
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