one
Three batteries from new batteries - small, light, with a huge capacity … provided the Pioneer with lighting, heating, motor power … for a continuous fifteen-day transition in underwater position …
G. Adamov. The Mystery of the Two Oceans
It is unlikely that the great science fiction writers of past years expected to fail in a seemingly reliable topic - batteries. Rather, with the lack of the power that they had predicted together. But the tasks of the batteries, which we decided to test in the next annual examination, are much more down to earth: twist starters and help generators. This time we check the "European", which fit into the dimensions of 242 × 175 × 190 mm. Various manufacturers fit into this volume of eight and a few liters declared capacity from 60 to 66 A.h. In total, we purchased 28 batteries in company stores: with checks, guarantees, etc.
It remains to compare their actual power supply. This is where modern fantasy begins …
Judge for yourself: the spread in the original reserve capacity is 17-fold. The weight indicated on the label, for some reason, exceeds the true by kilograms. And five batteries were afraid of the Russian frost at three dozen degrees!
No, science fiction writers were clearly optimistic. But our numbers are real.
The measurements were carried out by specialists of NIIC AT 3 Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of Russia. Test results relate to a specific selection of batteries and are not general criteria for their quality.
HOW DOES THE SCORES PLACE
According to the results of measurements recorded in the protocol, points were assigned: in each type of test, the best and worst results were taken, assigning them 5 points and 1 point, respectively. All other participants received intermediate points according to the position that they occupied between the leader and the outsider. For example, if, when measuring the reserve capacity, the leader showed the result of 124 minutes, and the outsider - 81, then the participant with the result of 105 minutes received 3.23 points. And so - for all five types of tests. The final score is the arithmetic average of five intermediate estimates. We did not begin to introduce weights that increase the significance of one parameter in relation to the other: all parameters were recognized to be equivalent. The figures given by us allow anyone who wants to make their own calculations. It is clear that the arrangement of places will definitely change.
Reserve capacity
Indicates how long a vehicle with a damaged generator lasts. The expert will say differently: in how many minutes the voltage at the terminals of a battery that produces a current of 25 A will decrease to 10.5 V. The measurements are carried out at a temperature of 25 ° C. The higher the result, the better.
The best result was MULTI: 124 min
Worst - avtoSil: 81 min
Reduced start energy declared current
It characterizes the energy of the battery in start-up mode. Verification is carried out at -18 ° C. First, the battery is discharged with the declared cold current Iхп for 30 s, then the voltage U30 is recorded at its terminals. After a pause of 20 s, the battery is discharged with a current equal to 60% of the declared Ihp, until the voltage at the terminals drops to 6.0 V. The discharge time t6 is recorded. The given start-up energy is calculated by the formula:
E = 0.3I xn (U 30 - 6.0) t 6
The higher the total, the better.
Best result - MEDALIST: 28.21 kJ
Worst - “Kursk Battery” 6 ST 60N: 10.37 kJ
Reduced starting energy by single current
Allows you to compare the current characteristics of all batteries in the same conditions, regardless of their passport data. Verification is carried out at -18 ° C. First, the battery is discharged with a current of 450 A for 30 s and the voltage U30 is recorded at its pole terminals. After a pause of 20 s, the battery is discharged with a current of 270 A until the voltage at the terminals drops to 6.0 V. The discharge time t6 is recorded. The given start-up energy is calculated by the formula:
E = 135 (U 30 - 6.0) t 6.
The higher the score, the better.
Best result - MEDALIST: 34.73 kJ
Worst - “Kursk Battery” 6 ST 60N: 6.86 kJ
Reduced starting energy by single current at –29 ° C
Similar to previous tests, the difference is only in temperature. The higher the score, the better.
The best result is VARTA: 8.85 kJ
Worst - “Kursk Battery” 6 ST-60N, START. BAT, "Podolsky battery" 6 CT-62N, ACDelco M62-H3, Energizer PLUS EP60-L2X:
they all surrendered before the end of the test.
REAL ENERGY CAPACITY OF NEW BATTERIES DIFFERENT BY 17 TIMES. SHAME TO SELLERS
Reduced start-up energy with a single current after vibration test
Vibration resistance is an indicator of the assembly quality of a product.
The batteries are mounted on a wooden pallet at the back of a heavy truck and shaken for 16 hours on a cobblestone. The rms vibration acceleration in the frequency range 0.7–22.4 Hz is 2.77–4.29 m / s².
Measurement of current characteristics is carried out according to the methodology of the previous paragraphs. The higher the score, the better.
Best result - a-mega Innovative Hybrid 6 ST-60-A3: 34.82 kJ
Worst - “Kursk Battery” 6 ST-60N: 9.33 kJ
GOOD FORGOTTEN NEW
A well-known saying takes on a new meaning on battery soil. You pay the seller for a new battery, and then you find out that they sold you a product that had been standing in a dusty warehouse for a long time. With a guarantee and other pieces of paper, but at the same time discharged to indecent. Therefore, before starting the test, we must charge all the batteries! And their reserve capacity at the time of purchase is given in the table for reference only: they say, you know, people, what rubbish you can slip. But this parameter is not involved in the distribution of seats.
And we advise you to definitely charge the purchased batteries - it will not be worse. It’s stupid to put a battery with a reserve capacity on the car … 5 minutes! And we had one.
“ACCORDING TO THE EVALUAL EINSTEIN THEORY”
Vysotsky sang about a change in the course of time, but we observed a change in mass. Almost all samples are much lighter than the label says! The interpretation of this fact is left to the manufacturers. Our option: commonplace saving lead. And those who do not indicate mass were, as it were, not at work. As they say, be silent - you will marry a clever …
WHERE TO FLY FOR THE BATTERY
Fiction is fantastic, but how do you choose a battery? To persistently look for another Zarulevsky winner in the store? If you do not want to contact the service or the seller’s help, the algorithm is as follows. You need to take the one that fits in the niche reserved for her, whether it be the engine compartment, the trunk or something else (it’s silly to miss a couple of centimeters). Along the way, we determine the polarity by looking at the old battery: what is on its right and what is on the left. Of course, if the car is not European, then the terminals themselves can differ from most usual ones both in shape and location. After that, we choose a brand: here we definitely advise you to be guided by the list of our winners of recent years and never give a damn about newcomers or outsiders. Even if they have beautiful labels.
The brand of the battery determines, as a rule, its price. The declared current and capacity will turn out by themselves - based on the dimensions. We charge the battery, connect instead of the old one - and the key to start!
IN PLACES
28th place “Kursk Battery” 6CT-60N
Russia
LLC "Source of current Kursk"
2
Estimated price, rub. 2800
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 60
The declared current, A 420
Weight with electrolyte, kg 13.67
When the mass of the battery is more than three kilos less than promised, you should not expect anything good from it. The result is the last place, and without any attempts at a worthy fight.
27th place avtoSil 6CT-60N
LLC Nest
Kaliningrad region, Nesterov
3
Estimated price, rub. 3100
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 60
The declared current, A 480
Weight with electrolyte, kg 14.07
The inscription “Tested at -58 ° C”, of course, is impressive, but even with a modest -29 ° C the battery was at the bottom of the table. The reserve capacity is the worst, all other estimates are between 1 and 2. And the price is not the smallest.
26th place START. BAT Professional Starter Battery 6CT-62N
Russia
LLC "Source of current Kursk"
four
Estimated price, rub. 2300
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 62
The declared current, A 450
Weight with electrolyte, kg 14.42
The shortage of 2.5 kg of mass affected the frost especially hard: the battery died after 18 s. The claimed current is very modest. In general, everything is bad. Does the price really attract.
25th place "Podolsky battery" 6CT-62N
Kursk
LLC "Source of current Kursk"
five
Estimated price, rub. 2700
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h / min 62/105
The claimed current, A 520
Weight with electrolyte, kg 14.55
This battery seems to have spared on lead plates. The Kursk-Podolsk product did not shine with high indicators anyway, and at –29 ° C it capitulated after 19 s. And this is with a single current, which is more modest than stated. In general, failure.
24th place UNIFORCE BLACK 6CT-62A3
6
Estimated price, rub. 2200
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 62
The claimed current, A 540
Weight with electrolyte, kg 13.53
The record "weight loss": the actual mass is less than the declared 3.5 kg! It is strange that with such a shortage of lead the battery generally works. And it's better not to think about high rates.
23rd place BARS Silver 6СТ-АP3
Kazakhstan
Kainar-AKB LLP
7
Estimated price, rub. 2000
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 60
The claimed current, A 500
Weight with electrolyte, kg 14.66
Lack of weight during weighing immediately alarming. So it is: all indicators are among the lowest, especially at -29 ° C. But the price was the most attractive.
22nd place VM 6ST-60AP3 (VL)
Kazakhstan
Kainar-AKB LLP
eight
Estimated price, rub. 2800
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 60
The claimed current, A 500
Weight with electrolyte, kg 14.69
Weight per kilogram less than declared. All energy characteristics are rather weak: probably lead was underexposed. The product did not cause delight.
21 place ABSOLUT Art of Power 6СТ-62VL
Russia
9
Estimated price, rub. 3100
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 62
The claimed current, A 540
Weight with electrolyte, kg 14.5
When weighing, we missed one and a half kilograms. We won’t guess what the manufacturer specifically stated, but all the results were very weak. With such a vote for the domestic is not reasonable.
20 place ACDelco M62-H3
Korea
ten
Estimated price, rub. 4200
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h / min 62/100
The claimed current, A 510
Weight with electrolyte, kg 14.38
The most expensive battery in the test disappointed us. In Russia, it is cold in winter and it is necessary to work in the cold, and not give up after 21 seconds, that is, at the first measurement stage. Other results were not impressive either.
19th place Energizer PLUS EP60-L2X
Johnson controls
eleven
Estimated price, rub. 3600
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 60
The claimed current, A 540
Weight with electrolyte, kg 14.31
The expensive battery did not want to catch up even to the middle peasants, frankly refusing to work in the cold. Of the required 30 s with a single current, it lasted only 24 s and did not reach the second stage of the tests.
18th place SZNAJDER PLUS Calcium
Poland
ZAP SZNAJDER BATTERIES
12
Estimated price, rub. 3600
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 60
The claimed current, A 520
Weight with electrolyte, kg 13.9
A rare brand on the market could not demonstrate anything unusual. The results are closer to weak, and at this price they are generally puzzling.
16–17 place ZUBR 6CT-62A3
Belarus, JV LLC
Polesie batteries
13
Estimated price, rub. 3200
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 62
The claimed current, A 540
Weight with electrolyte, kg 14.52
Battery weight - 14.52 kg. And the declared one is 17.1 kg! Savings came sideways: the results are weak.
16–17 place Banner POWER BULL
Austria
14
Estimated price, rub. 3700
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 62
The claimed current, A 540
Weight with electrolyte, kg 15.38
The long-standing lawsuit of an Austrian company with plagiarists near Moscow ended, and Banner got rid of the doubles that drove it out of our market. And there is nothing to say about the battery itself: everything is very average.
15th place BLACK HORSE
Serbia
Sombor
15
Estimated price, rub. 2600
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 62
The claimed current, A 510
Weight with electrolyte, kg 13.76
A fairly lightweight battery and one of the most inexpensive. Perhaps this is its main advantage. She performed without failures, but did not reach for the stars.
14th place GELIOS
Belarus
Polesie batteries
sixteen
Estimated price, rub. 3000
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 60
The claimed current, A 500
Weight with electrolyte, kg 14.67
Note one and a half kilograms of the difference between the declared mass and the real one. Not enough plates? It is very similar, since the battery gave out the declared current with difficulty, showing only the 23rd result. The result is in the middle of the table.
13 place TN TITAN ARCTIC SILVER
Russia
TUBOR Accumulating Energy
17
Estimated price, rub. 2600
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 62
The claimed current, A 575
Weight with electrolyte, kg 15.68
The manufacturer provides a table of battery applicability - from Alfa Romeo to Volkswagen. As for the tests, they were successful, but there were no bright breakthroughs, so I had to finish in the middle.
12th place SUPER PRESIDENT
Korea
18
Estimated price, rub. 2900
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h / min 60/110
The claimed current, And 560
Weight with electrolyte, kg 14.71
The big name is not supported by equally impressive performance. The battery passed the tests, but it is difficult to note obvious advantages.
11th place Vortex 6CT-62A3 (0)
Ukraine
Westa Corporation
nineteen
Estimated price, rub. 2800
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h / min 62/105
The claimed current, A 570
Weight with electrolyte, kg 15.83
The usual results from the middle of the table: there’s nothing to praise or scold. But why did the battery not get as much as a kilogram to the declared mass?
10th place FORSE 65 6CT-65A (0)
Ukraine, Westa Corporation
Made for europe
20
Estimated price, rub. 3400
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h / min 65/110
The declared current, A 640
Weight with electrolyte, kg 16.2
Second place in reserve capacity - excellent! But at –29 ° C only the 22nd result. However, in the all-around all the indicators were successfully summed up and brought a place in the top ten.
9th place MULTI
Serbia
Sombor
21
Estimated price, rub. 3000
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 63
The claimed current, A 540
Weight with electrolyte, kg 14.37
By the category of pleasant surprises, we take the first place in the tests for reserve capacity. In the remaining measurements, everything is also good. But I do not want to praise for the outward resemblance to the most popular Turkish battery.
8th place TYUMEN BATTERY 6CT-62L
Tyumen
22
Estimated price, rub. 3000
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 62
The claimed current, A 500
Weight with electrolyte, kg 16.76
The heaviest battery in our test, as always, did not disappoint, confidently crowding out two dozen competitors. Fifth place in reserve capacity, confident performance in the cold - in general, everything is fine. It is a pity that the habitually low Tyumen price is a thing of the past.
7th place BOSCH SILVER PLUS S5
Germany
23
Estimated price, rub. 3800
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 63
The claimed current, A 610
Weight with electrolyte, kg 14.92
Usually boshevsky batteries declare modest currents, and here - 610 A! During this test, fourth place was won - very good. Moreover, the battery is quite light. In general, the performance is typical of the brand: the place is quite high, but not a prize.
4–6 place AKTEX class SLI-PRO 6CT-64L3 (R)
Russia, Svirsk
24
Estimated price, rub. 3200
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 64
The declared current, A 550
Weight with electrolyte, kg 15.66
Sibiryachka became the third in testing the reserve capacity and the fifth in the test with the declared current. Very good. One thing is not clear: why did the kilogram of the promised mass fail to count when weighing? Maybe he wasn’t enough to be in the top three winners?
4th – 6th place EXIDE Premium EA640
Poland
25
Estimated price, rub. 3100
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 64
The declared current, A 640
Weight with electrolyte, 15.3 kg
The promise of the battery manufacturers was slightly higher than its actual capabilities. She issued the declared currents, becoming in this test only the ninth. However, everything went well in the all-around: the division of high places with Ukrainian and Siberian competitors.
4th – 6th place a-mega Innovative Hybrid 6CT-60-A3
Ukraine
26
Estimated price, rub. 3200
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 60
The claimed current, A 540
Weight with electrolyte, 15.85 kg
This is not the first year that the Ukrainian brand has been confidently in the group of leaders. In this examination, the battery turned out to be the best after tests for vibration resistance, and in terms of total scored the same number of points with EXIDE and ACTEX. Note that the claimed mass of 700 g more than the actual …
3rd place topla ENERGY
27
Estimated price, rub. 4000
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 66
The claimed current, A 570
Weight with electrolyte, kg 15.65
The batteries of this brand have long gained well-deserved popularity, but did not get to the pedestal. And now - it happened: excellent energy characteristics are reflected in the test report. The only comment to the bronze medalist is his price tag: to put it mildly, a little expensive …
2nd place MEDALIST Premium Battery
Delkor corporation
28
Estimated price, rub. 3300
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 62
The claimed current, A 600
Weight with electrolyte, kg 15.16
This battery, as always, fought only for gold, but … Summed up the reserve capacity - only the seventh result. As a result, even the usual victories in the trials with declared and unified currents did not help to ascend to the top of the podium again. But the top class of the brand is confirmed: "Medalist" is the vice champion!
1st place VARTA BLUE dynamic D43
Johnson controls
29th
Estimated price, rub. 3600
The claimed capacity, And ∙ h 60
The claimed current, A 540
Weight with electrolyte, kg 14.51
Despite the sixth place in reserve capacity, the battery very confidently withstood tests with high currents, winning at -29 ° C, and eventually took a clean first place. It is these results that consumers expect from big names. Our congratulations!
QUESTION ANSWER
Why do the batteries during the test give out the declared current for so short? If the capacity is 60 Ah, then arithmetic tells you: a current of 600 A should be given out in about 0.1 hours, or 6 minutes. But the real score is only tens of seconds …
- The fact is that with this current, the battery capacity is no longer 60 Ah, but much less: about 20–25. The inscription “60 Ah” says only that within 20 hours at a temperature of 25 ºС you can discharge your battery with a current of 3 A (60:20), and no more. At the same time, at the end of the discharge, the voltage at the battery terminals should not drop below 10.5 V.
Estimating capacity in ampere-hours is very inconvenient. And to measure it in these units is simply illiterate: the product of current and time gives not capacity, but the amount of electricity, which is also called a charge. The unit of quantity of electricity is the pendant. 1 C = 1 A · s. Accordingly, 1 A · h = 3600 C. The term “reserve capacity” is much clearer, showing how many minutes the battery will last on a car that the generator has failed.
Is it true that when installing a battery with a larger capacity than the regular one, it will be uncharged, and the starter will fail due to excessive current?
- Not true. What will prevent the battery from being fully charged? Here's an analogy for you: if you scooped up a glass of water from a bucket or barrel, then to restore the original level of liquid, you will need to add the same glass from the tap - both in a bucket and in a barrel. As for the expected breakdown of the starter, its current consumption will not change, even if the battery capacity grows once every hundred or a thousand. Ohm's law does not depend on ampere hours.
Talk about upcoming breakdowns is only appropriate for extreme people who are used to getting out of the swamp on the starter. At the same time, the latter, of course, gets very hot, and therefore a low-capacity battery can save it from fatal overheating by dying the first … But this is a hypothetical case.
IN BATTERIES IN PLANTS UNDERSTANDING LEAD. WHO IS GUILTY?
Is it possible to assess the condition of the battery by the voltage at the terminals?
- Approximately possible. At room temperature, a fully charged battery disconnected from the loads should output at least 12.6–12.7 V.
What is hidden behind the term "calcium battery"?
- The Ca icon (or even Ca-Ca) on batteries today is increasingly present. We are talking about very small (fractions or units of a percent) calcium additives in the alloy from which the plates are made. If it is added to both positive and negative electrodes, then Ca-Ca is obtained. Such batteries, all other things being equal, are more difficult to boil, which is important for maintenance-free batteries. They have less self-storage. Therefore, batteries with additives of traditional antimony (they are usually indicated by the presence of plugs) are hardly ever found on sale today.
FIVE BATTERIES WERE NOT SUPPORTED FROST
Why choose a battery with the declared current, say, 600 A, if the real need is half as much?
- The declared current is also an indirect indicator of the quality of the battery: the higher it is, the lower its internal resistance. Moreover, in severe frost, the oil thickens and the current rises.
Which is better - maintenance-free batteries or maintenance-free?
“The batteries that left access to the banks are leaving.” Such products - let's call them serviced - are best suited for older machines with unstable mains voltage, in whose batteries water can boil away. For a modern car, this is superfluous: they just put the new battery under the hood and forget about it for several years. Note that in a new car, nothing costs ruining the battery in a week. Night winter starts, a full set of included energy consumers, short runs in traffic jams - under such conditions, she does not have time to recharge from the generator and slowly dies.
