Need a new one for the old Rover. Mainly my fault as it hasn't been used
much this last year due to Covid. And has been left to go nearly flat a
few times.

Most places you go to supply via the reg number. And the Rover is too old
for their data base.

Two batteries fit. 069 and 072. Except that this once common battery code
is no longer universal.

Halfords (I have a trade card) no longer seem to do a suitable size,
either own brand or Yuasa.

The existing is a Bosch S4 027. Which by spec and dimensions is an 072.

Googling for that shows prices from just under £80 to near £200.

EuroCarParts and their off shoot uncompetitive. I could have collected
from them.

So chose a supplier I've heard of on Ebay, at £80 with free carriage.

--
*I started out with nothing... and I still have most of it.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 27/03/2021 16:40, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Need a new one for the old Rover. Mainly my fault as it hasn't been used
much this last year due to Covid. And has been left to go nearly flat a
few times.

Most places you go to supply via the reg number. And the Rover is too old
for their data base.

Two batteries fit. 069 and 072. Except that this once common battery code
is no longer universal.

Halfords (I have a trade card) no longer seem to do a suitable size,
either own brand or Yuasa.

The existing is a Bosch S4 027. Which by spec and dimensions is an 072.

Googling for that shows prices from just under £80 to near £200.

EuroCarParts and their off shoot uncompetitive. I could have collected
from them.

So chose a supplier I've heard of on Ebay, at £80 with free carriage.


JOOI did you look at Tayna? I've been happy with their service & price
but that's on a sample of 3 bog standard batteries over the years. They
have a choice of 69 & 72.

https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/types/072/

They also list "successful battery fitments" of some older cars though
I've no idea if it's accurate, and couldn't recall your precise model to
test it.


--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

Robin wrote:

JOOI did you look at Tayna?

I've been happy with their own-label 'powerline' batteries, my UPS is on
its second set.

In article ,
Robin wrote:
So chose a supplier I've heard of on Ebay, at £80 with free carriage.


JOOI did you look at Tayna? I've been happy with their service & price
but that's on a sample of 3 bog standard batteries over the years. They
have a choice of 69 & 72.

https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/types/072/

They also list "successful battery fitments" of some older cars though
I've no idea if it's accurate, and couldn't recall your precise model to
test it.

Yes - the same price including delivery as the Ebay one.

--
*It was all so different before everything changed.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

It happens that Dave Plowman (News) formulated :
The existing is a Bosch S4 027. Which by spec and dimensions is an 072.

Googling for that shows prices from just under £80 to near £200.

EuroCarParts and their off shoot uncompetitive. I could have collected
from them.

So chose a supplier I've heard of on Ebay, at £80 with free carriage.

Is it a Rover 75?

It will take a slightly taller and higher capacity battery than is
usually suggested for the 75, this Varta Silver 77aH from Tanya will
fit perfectly...


https://www.tayna.co.uk/E44-Varta-Si...078-P7726.html

Top spec., 5 year and only £79.50 delivered, usually next day.

Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote:
It happens that Dave Plowman (News) formulated :
The existing is a Bosch S4 027. Which by spec and dimensions is an 072.

Googling for that shows prices from just under £80 to near £200.

EuroCarParts and their off shoot uncompetitive. I could have collected
from them.

So chose a supplier I've heard of on Ebay, at £80 with free carriage.

Is it a Rover 75?

3.5 L SD1 IIRC...

You must be new here. ;-)

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

Tim+ wrote :
Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote:
Is it a Rover 75?

3.5 L SD1 IIRC...

You must be new here. ;-)


Ta!

How will this new extended low emission zone in London affect these older
vehicles? One assumes the charges are applied via apnpr, in which case I
guess if you stuck a new or modified engine in that would not be recognised.
Brian

--

This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
Harry Bloomfield; "Esq." wrote in message
...
Tim+ wrote :
Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote:
Is it a Rover 75?

3.5 L SD1 IIRC...
You must be new here. ;-)


Ta!

Brian Gaff (Sofa) formulated on Sunday :
How will this new extended low emission zone in London affect these older
vehicles? One assumes the charges are applied via apnpr, in which case I
guess if you stuck a new or modified engine in that would not be recognised.

All they can know, is what it says on the registration for a vehicle,
associated with the registration number. If you change the engine,
colour, or layout of the vehicle, you are supposed to update the
registration with the DVLA.

In article ,
Brian Gaff \(Sofa\) wrote:
How will this new extended low emission zone in London affect these
older vehicles? One assumes the charges are applied via apnpr, in which
case I guess if you stuck a new or modified engine in that would not be
recognised. Brian

Being an injection engine (but before catalytic convertors) it already
produces fewer nasties than many diesel vehicles that were fiddled to pass
the type approval tests. And there are millions of recent vehicles like
that on the roads.

--
*You're never too old to learn something stupid.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 27/03/2021 20:26, Tim+ wrote:
Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote:
It happens that Dave Plowman (News) formulated :
The existing is a Bosch S4 027. Which by spec and dimensions is an 072.

Googling for that shows prices from just under £80 to near £200.

EuroCarParts and their off shoot uncompetitive. I could have collected
from them.

So chose a supplier I've heard of on Ebay, at £80 with free carriage.

Is it a Rover 75?

3.5 L SD1 IIRC...

You must be new here. ;-)

Tim

and you have the cheek to slag off my yank tank......

On 28/03/2021 08:38, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
On 27/03/2021 20:26, Tim+ wrote:
Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote:
It happens that Dave Plowman (News) formulated :
The existing is a Bosch S4 027. Which by spec and dimensions is an 072.

Googling for that shows prices from just under £80 to near £200.

EuroCarParts and their off shoot uncompetitive. I could have collected
from them.

So chose a supplier I've heard of on Ebay, at £80 with free carriage.

Is it a Rover 75?

3.5 L SD1 IIRC...

You must be new here. ;-)

Tim

and you have the cheek to slag off my yank tank......
how many cows died for your leather seats ? ....

"Jim GM4DHJ ..." wrote in message
...
On 28/03/2021 08:38, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
On 27/03/2021 20:26, Tim+ wrote:
Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote:
It happens that Dave Plowman (News) formulated :
The existing is a Bosch S4 027. Which by spec and dimensions is an
072.

Googling for that shows prices from just under £80 to near £200.

EuroCarParts and their off shoot uncompetitive. I could have collected
from them.

So chose a supplier I've heard of on Ebay, at £80 with free carriage.

Is it a Rover 75?

3.5 L SD1 IIRC...

You must be new here. ;-)

and you have the cheek to slag off my yank tank......

how many cows died for your leather seats ? ....

The more the better. Those buggers just **** up the ozone layer with their
fart.

on 28/03/2021, Jim GM4DHJ ... supposed :
how many cows died for your leather seats ? ....

Leather is a by product, not the main product.

On 27/03/2021 16:40, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Need a new one for the old Rover. Mainly my fault as it hasn't been used
much this last year due to Covid. And has been left to go nearly flat a
few times.

Most places you go to supply via the reg number. And the Rover is too old
for their data base.

Two batteries fit. 069 and 072. Except that this once common battery code
is no longer universal.

Halfords (I have a trade card) no longer seem to do a suitable size,
either own brand or Yuasa.

The existing is a Bosch S4 027. Which by spec and dimensions is an 072.

Googling for that shows prices from just under £80 to near £200.

EuroCarParts and their off shoot uncompetitive. I could have collected
from them.

So chose a supplier I've heard of on Ebay, at £80 with free carriage.

I've had success with eBay (choosing firms with large numbers of sales).
Last time I needed one in a hurry I went to the local "independent"
parts shop, they checked the reg number and gave me a battery that I
thought looked slightly too big, luckily I was in the car so checked
straight away. They gave me another with the right dimensions at the top
and later when I tried to fit it it turned out it would not fit in the
tray because it was the type with overhangs at the bottom to engage with
clamps.

Come to think of it, the time before the first battery they gave me had
the opposite handedness, again after a computer check against reg number.

My mate in the trade reckons Euro Car Parts are usually OK.

newshound wrote:
My mate in the trade reckons Euro Car Parts are usually OK.

ECP are nice if you're in the trade because they will deliver same-day,
which is handy when you've got the vehicle in bits on the lift and the
customer is coming at 5 to collect. However the walk-up pricing is no
longer much good unless you catch one of their 40% offers which turn up
regularly. (if you're in the trade you probably get account pricing which
is better)

However they have now spawned carparts4less.co.uk which appears to have the
same stock and better pricing with free delivery, the only issue being you
can't collect from a ECP branch.

Another place is ECP on ebay - I've bought things there which almost
certainly cost more in postage than I paid for the whole item.

Theo

In article ,
Theo wrote:
newshound wrote:
My mate in the trade reckons Euro Car Parts are usually OK.

ECP are nice if you're in the trade because they will deliver same-day,
which is handy when you've got the vehicle in bits on the lift and the
customer is coming at 5 to collect. However the walk-up pricing is no
longer much good unless you catch one of their 40% offers which turn up
regularly. (if you're in the trade you probably get account pricing which
is better)

However they have now spawned carparts4less.co.uk which appears to have the
same stock and better pricing with free delivery, the only issue being you
can't collect from a ECP branch.

Another place is ECP on ebay - I've bought things there which almost
certainly cost more in postage than I paid for the whole item.

Yes. ECP appear to have different walk in pricing, their own site pricing,
and when they sell via Ebay. I've no objection to a regular trade customer
with an account getting their best price, but I really can't be bothered
with their very odd retail pricing. Sad really, as they once were a very
decent firm.

--
*Elephants are the only mammals that can't jump *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 28/03/2021 14:33, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Theo wrote:
newshound wrote:
My mate in the trade reckons Euro Car Parts are usually OK.

ECP are nice if you're in the trade because they will deliver same-day,
which is handy when you've got the vehicle in bits on the lift and the
customer is coming at 5 to collect. However the walk-up pricing is no
longer much good unless you catch one of their 40% offers which turn up
regularly. (if you're in the trade you probably get account pricing which
is better)

However they have now spawned carparts4less.co.uk which appears to have the
same stock and better pricing with free delivery, the only issue being you
can't collect from a ECP branch.

Another place is ECP on ebay - I've bought things there which almost
certainly cost more in postage than I paid for the whole item.

Yes. ECP appear to have different walk in pricing, their own site pricing,
and when they sell via Ebay. I've no objection to a regular trade customer
with an account getting their best price, but I really can't be bothered
with their very odd retail pricing. Sad really, as they once were a very
decent firm.

I'm also not impressed with them for batteries. Last August my battery
needed replacing urgently - the car was stuck on the drive with one
window open, the boot locked, but loaded and accessible from inside the
car and the car unlocked. I borrowed another car to get to Eurocarparts
(not the closest as that is not open on a Sunday). Bought a battery, got
it home and returned the borrowed car.

I put the new battery on and still couldn't do anything. I checked and
the battery was stone dead - less than 2V!

With hindsight, I should have suspected something, as the "new" battery
was very dusty and had no protective covers on the terminals, so I
suspect that it was a faulty return that had then stood around and got
mixed up with their stock.

I phoned them, explained that my car was stuck open to thieves and
weather, they'd supplied me with a duff battery and the borrowed car was
now out shopping.

Their response was that I was out of area for them to deliver and would
have to contact the local branch the next day. Not very helpful.

I had to wait until I could borrow a car again and use it to provide
power to close the window and lock the doors.

Next day the battery was swapped by the local branch.

6 months later, the new battery died completely (I am wondering if it
was a bad batch), despite fairly regular use and having done a 90 mile
round trip just days before.

Again a Sunday, again the car was unlocked and again the window was
down. This time I had a second car immediately available and tried to
jump start it. The voltage was continuing to drop, despite being hooked
up to another, running car.

It was just starting to rain, so I rushed off to Halfords for a battery
and fitted that, as I already had my trailer hooked up and full of
rubbish for the tip and it was getting too late to get to ECP.

I did manage to get a refund on the ECP battery.

It may just have been bad luck, but I find it a bit odd that they
managed to sell me a branded battery that was totally dead and a
replacement for that that died within 6 months.

On 28/03/2021 17:18, Steve Walker wrote:
On 28/03/2021 14:33, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Â*Â*Â* Theo wrote:
newshound wrote:
My mate in the trade reckons Euro Car Parts are usually OK.

ECP are nice if you're in the trade because they will deliver same-day,
which is handy when you've got the vehicle in bits on the lift and the
customer is coming at 5 to collect.Â* However the walk-up pricing is no
longer much good unless you catch one of their 40% offers which turn up
regularly.Â* (if you're in the trade you probably get account pricing
which
is better)

However they have now spawned carparts4less.co.uk which appears to
have the
same stock and better pricing with free delivery, the only issue
being you
can't collect from a ECP branch.

Another place is ECP on ebay - I've bought things there which almost
certainly cost more in postage than I paid for the whole item.

Yes. ECP appear to have different walk in pricing, their own site
pricing,
and when they sell via Ebay. I've no objection to a regular trade
customer
with an account getting their best price, but I really can't be bothered
with their very odd retail pricing. Sad really, as they once were a very
decent firm.

I'm also not impressed with them for batteries.

Thanks all for the warnings! I mostly leave car jobs up to my mate these
days.

In article ,
newshound wrote:
On 27/03/2021 16:40, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Need a new one for the old Rover. Mainly my fault as it hasn't been used
much this last year due to Covid. And has been left to go nearly flat a
few times.

Most places you go to supply via the reg number. And the Rover is too old
for their data base.

Two batteries fit. 069 and 072. Except that this once common battery code
is no longer universal.

Halfords (I have a trade card) no longer seem to do a suitable size,
either own brand or Yuasa.

The existing is a Bosch S4 027. Which by spec and dimensions is an 072.

Googling for that shows prices from just under £80 to near £200.

EuroCarParts and their off shoot uncompetitive. I could have collected
from them.

So chose a supplier I've heard of on Ebay, at £80 with free carriage.

I've had success with eBay (choosing firms with large numbers of sales).
Last time I needed one in a hurry I went to the local "independent"
parts shop, they checked the reg number and gave me a battery that I
thought looked slightly too big, luckily I was in the car so checked
straight away. They gave me another with the right dimensions at the top
and later when I tried to fit it it turned out it would not fit in the
tray because it was the type with overhangs at the bottom to engage with
clamps.

On this car there is some tollerance for the battery length - hence 069
and 072 being OK, but not for height as the bonnet comes rather close to
the terminals.

Come to think of it, the time before the first battery they gave me had
the opposite handedness, again after a computer check against reg number.

My mate in the trade reckons Euro Car Parts are usually OK.

I looked at their site as I could collect from them. Twice the Ebay price
for the same battery. They seem to work on discount codes and other
nonsense. I'd far rather deal with a 'straight' supplier.

--
*If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 27/03/2021 16:40, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

So chose a supplier I've heard of on Ebay, at £80 with free carriage.


How long will delivery take?

Problem is, when my car battery is diagnosed as failed, It's an
emergency purchase at Halfords. Nothing else "delivers" faster.

A bit like all my trips to B&Q.


Couriers, "this way up" and lead acid batteries, sounds like a good
recipe for burns & tears ...


--
Adrian C

Adrian Caspersz formulated the question :
Couriers, "this way up" and lead acid batteries, sounds like a good recipe
for burns & tears ...

Any reputable supplier, will ensure they are capped, then sealed in an
acid tight bag, then padded and boxed.

Tanya is amongst the best for safety, their batteries arrive vacuum
sealed in a bag.

On 28/03/2021 10:19, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Adrian Caspersz formulated the question :

Couriers, "this way up" and lead acid batteries, sounds like a good
recipe for burns & tears ...

Any reputable supplier, will ensure they are capped, then sealed in an
acid tight bag, then padded and boxed.

Tanya is amongst the best for safety, their batteries arrive vacuum
sealed in a bag.

I bought a "dry charged" battery from Halfords once, with the acid in
separate plastic bottles. Filled it up, fitted it, started the engine
and went for a spin to refresh the charge. Job done.

--
Max Demian

Max Demian pretended :
I bought a "dry charged" battery from Halfords once, with the acid in
separate plastic bottles. Filled it up, fitted it, started the engine and
went for a spin to refresh the charge. Job done.

They are (almost) all sealed these days, you cannot top them up.

On Sun, 28 Mar 2021 13:01:58 +0100, Harry Bloomfield, Esq.
wrote:

Max Demian pretended :
I bought a "dry charged" battery from Halfords once, with the acid in
separate plastic bottles. Filled it up, fitted it, started the engine and
went for a spin to refresh the charge. Job done.

They are (almost) all sealed these days, you cannot top them up.

Strangely, motorcycle batteries and especially some brands, often
(still) come dry charged and with a (joined) bank of bottles, each
containing the right quantity of acid for the cell.

You remove the cover strip over the filling holes, invert the bank of
bottles and press them down into the cells where their individual foil
'lids' are perorated by special spikes in the top of each cell and the
cells slowly filled.

Once complete, you are supposed to leave the battery for some time
till the initial excess gassing has reduced and most the bubbles
dispersed. It is recommended (in the instructions) you apply a bench
charge before finally fitting the sealing strip / cover (or individual
cell caps (less often these days)) and fitting / using the battery.

In many cases the bike shop will do all this for you (especially if
they are also fitting the battery) and they may be prohibited in
selling the kits for d-i-y filling due to restrictions of the carrying
of sulphuric acid in any case?

In the old days they would have a carboy of the right SG sulphuric
acid for dry-charged batteries with a rubber hose and tap on the end
and fill the batteries from that (and I have, many times over the
years at my local bike shop). ;-)

Cheers, T i m

On Sun, 28 Mar 2021 12:42:12 +0100, Max Demian
wrote:

On 28/03/2021 10:19, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Adrian Caspersz formulated the question :

Couriers, "this way up" and lead acid batteries, sounds like a good
recipe for burns & tears ...

Any reputable supplier, will ensure they are capped, then sealed in an
acid tight bag, then padded and boxed.

Tanya is amongst the best for safety, their batteries arrive vacuum
sealed in a bag.

I bought a "dry charged" battery from Halfords once, with the acid in
separate plastic bottles. Filled it up,

Many motorcycle batteries still come like that, saves them 'going bad'
on the shelf.

fitted it, started the engine

Whist you can typically do that (the 'charge' being pre set by the
chemistry of the lead paste in the plates), it's recommended to at
least leave them for a while, and / or bench charging them first (to
reduce stratification).

and went for a spin to refresh the charge.

Whilst that would 'work', it would still be best done the next day
once the charge had equalised and the plates fully saturated.

Cheers, T i m

On 28/03/2021 12:42, Max Demian wrote:
On 28/03/2021 10:19, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Adrian Caspersz formulated the question :

Couriers, "this way up" and lead acid batteries, sounds like a good
recipe for burns & tears ...

Any reputable supplier, will ensure they are capped, then sealed in an
acid tight bag, then padded and boxed.

Tanya is amongst the best for safety, their batteries arrive vacuum
sealed in a bag.

I bought a "dry charged" battery from Halfords once, with the acid in
separate plastic bottles. Filled it up, fitted it, started the engine
and went for a spin to refresh the charge. Job done.

I don't think you can buy them like that now - it has become a problem
for motorbike batteries that were often sold that way. All part of
restricting acid sales to prevent people using it as a weapon.

On Sun, 28 Mar 2021 17:20:13 +0100, Steve Walker
wrote:

On 28/03/2021 12:42, Max Demian wrote:
On 28/03/2021 10:19, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Adrian Caspersz formulated the question :

Couriers, "this way up" and lead acid batteries, sounds like a good
recipe for burns & tears ...

Any reputable supplier, will ensure they are capped, then sealed in an
acid tight bag, then padded and boxed.

Tanya is amongst the best for safety, their batteries arrive vacuum
sealed in a bag.

I bought a "dry charged" battery from Halfords once, with the acid in
separate plastic bottles. Filled it up, fitted it, started the engine
and went for a spin to refresh the charge. Job done.

I don't think you can buy them like that now -

OOI I'll ask at the shop if *they* still get batteries that way (even
if they can't (officially) pass them to us that way), or if the one
they got for me (not that long ago) could have been old stock from the
supplier (I think it was a Yuasa)?

it has become a problem
for motorbike batteries that were often sold that way. All part of
restricting acid sales to prevent people using it as a weapon.

Understood.

Cheers, T i m

"Max Demian" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 28/03/2021 10:19, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Adrian Caspersz formulated the question :

Couriers, "this way up" and lead acid batteries, sounds like a good
recipe for burns & tears ...

Any reputable supplier, will ensure they are capped, then sealed in an
acid tight bag, then padded and boxed.

Tanya is amongst the best for safety, their batteries arrive vacuum
sealed in a bag.

I bought a "dry charged" battery from Halfords once, with the acid in
separate plastic bottles. Filled it up, fitted it, started the engine and
went for a spin to refresh the charge. Job done.

So did I decades ago but it isnt possible now with modern sealed batterys.

In article ,
Adrian Caspersz wrote:
On 27/03/2021 16:40, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

So chose a supplier I've heard of on Ebay, at £80 with free carriage.


How long will delivery take?

Says 48 hours. I expect it Tuesday, this being the weekend.

Problem is, when my car battery is diagnosed as failed, It's an
emergency purchase at Halfords. Nothing else "delivers" faster.

It's not so urgent not being my everyday car. But Halfords don't seem to
list a suitable battery. And I'm not going to pay double at ECP for the
sake of a couple of days.

A bit like all my trips to B&Q.


Couriers, "this way up" and lead acid batteries, sounds like a good
recipe for burns & tears ...

At one time they sent the acid in a separate bottle and you filled it
yourself. I assume a modern battery is spill proof enough to take the
journey.


-

--
*I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.