Determining The Load On Today’s Batteries
Take Charge And Know Your Power Source
Story By: Aaron Plew
Photos By: Brandon Bunch
Since the introduction of the first UTV decades ago, the sport has presented an exciting way to travel those roads less traveled, and to experience the thrill of speed in the beauty of nature. As the sport grows and innovates, the demands placed on the battery have only increased. From what was once just a basic starting battery application, now includes the addition of radios, winches, GPS, light bars, sound systems, and air systems, and the battery technology has no choice but to keep up. Yet, often the last thing most folks in the UTV community look to upgrade is the battery…until their weekend is interrupted by the very thing they overlooked.
Let’s quickly outline some of the unique challenges UTV’s bring to batteries:
Extreme Heat and Cold – Temperature extremes can wreak havoc on a batteries ability to start and cycle.
Vibration – Off-road environments, by their very nature, will shake the hell out of everything on the vehicle, including the battery.
Poor Charge Systems – Unless the vehicle has been upgraded from the stator to an alternator, the battery is going to be subjected to undercharge. A stator just doesn’t put out very much power.
Accessories – As noted earlier, the introduction of electronics places increased demands on the battery, especially if these electronics are in use when the engine is not running.
Deep Discharge – Light bars and sound systems will often be used while the engine is off, the battery is not receiving the support of the vehicle charging system. A starting battery will fail prematurely in these circumstances.
Inactivity – In many parts of the country, the UTV is put away for several months during less desirable riding seasons. For flooded batteries, this can mean death, unless the battery is hooked up to an external charger.
A battery is a battery, right? For many, the answer is obvious, but for those who would like a little light shed on this subject, let’s take a quick look at the differences between a basic starting battery and the alternatives.
Batteries have been used to start vehicles for over a century now. A simple internet search reveals the technology in a standard starting battery has changed very little since their introduction in a 1912 Cadillac. The world waved bye-bye to those pesky/dangerous engine hand cranks and let an electric motor do the job. A starting battery is designed to deliver a short burst of energy quickly. After doing its job, the battery is immediately charged back up by the vehicle charging system (generator, alternator, or stator). Like most batteries, a starting battery is filled with electrolyte (sulfuric acid) and a series of 2-volt lead plates. The plates in a starting battery are composed of a sponge lead. This composition works very well for doing one thing: starting a vehicle. However, these spongey plates, as one might imagine, can deteriorate quickly when subjected to other factors beyond the scope of starting the engine.
Obviously, the challenges to a battery in a UTV are not going to lessen any time soon. In fact, it’s in our very nature to demand more, go further, and push harder.. So, what is one to do? Fortunately, we have boats to thank for the first innovation in battery technology. Boats need to do two things, turn the engines over and run the house (lighting, navigation, etc.) To this end, the dual-purpose battery was born. A dual-purpose battery has thicker, cast lead plates that can stand up to deep discharge events and recover completely after being charged back up. Unlike a true deep cycle battery, the plates are a little thinner to allow for the fast and efficient energy bursts to start the engine, but not so thin that they fail when cycled down. Dual-purpose batteries solve some of our most essential challenges.
Great! We’re done. Problem solved, right? Not quite. While a dual-purpose battery will perform much better than the traditional starting battery, other issues remain. The dual-purpose battery solves the issue presented by running gizmos and gadgets, but our little list of “challenges” still has some unchecked boxes.
Without getting bogged down in too much detail, suffice it to say the traditional dual-purpose marine battery struggles to crank in temperature extremes, is subject to failure from vibration rich environments, and if stored for more than a 3-4 weeks, will need to be kept on a charge tender. Further, most dual-purpose batteries will require watering. Get out your safety glasses, gloves, acid resistant apron, and turkey baster!
Enter the maintenance-free, high-compression, thin plate, pure lead, AGM battery. These batteries not only address the same issues the once beloved marine battery addresses, but they have some other nifty innovations to tout.
First, like dual-purpose, the plate construction is cast for strength. However, the grids that compose plates are made up of thin strands of lead criss-crossing them. This thin-plate design allows for high rates of charge and discharge, in other words, the batteries can crank hard and charge fast. With the inherently poor charging systems on most UTV’s, the ability to readily absorb charge is critical.
The batteries themselves have very low internal resistance. This equates to a very low rate of self-discharge. Put it away fully charged and come back in 6-8 months. Then there’s the issue with temperature extremes. This is a signature feature of AGM batteries, they are much more tolerant to hot and cold environments than any other battery design or chemistry. Flooded and Lithium faring the most poorly, while gel is very similar to AGM in this regard.
Lastly, that part about “high-compression” needs to be explained. During manufacture of an AGM battery, each cell is packed into the battery case under high-compression. When subjected to vibration, the plates are held in place by the absorbed glass mat surrounding it.
Maybe you aren’t like 90 something percent of UTV’ers. Perhaps your vehicle is stock standard, no frills, gas and go. In this case, you will at least want to consider picking up an external charger to keep that basic battery at the right voltage while the vehicle sits. Then again, there are still reasons to upgrade the factory battery. Behind closed doors, UTV manufacturers quietly acknowledge their biggest pain point in terms of customer satisfaction is the stock vehicle battery. This alone may be cause to consider upgrading that stock black box.
UTVs continues to grow, innovate, and push the envelope. However your rig is set up, if you haven’t yet upgraded from the stock battery, there are plenty of good reasons to consider doing it now. A lot has changed in the last 100 years, spending a couple hundred dollars is a drop in the bucket when compared to how much money you’ve invested just taking it off the dealer lot.
