Comparison Bi-Power Classic 6CT-225L vs AutoPart Galaxy Silver 6CT-110R

— Motorcycle. Batteries designed for use on motor vehicles. They have small dimensions, which is due, on the one hand, to the relatively small amount of space for their placement and stricter weight requirements than for cars, and on the other hand, to lower loads when starting motorcycle engines, a smaller number of on-board electronics and, accordingly, softer requirements for capacity and a number of other characteristics. Motorcycle batteries are also made as resistant as possible to shaking and overturning. They can have a voltage of 6 V or 12 V.

— Car. Batteries designed for use in cars and light trucks. They are of medium dimensions and have a standard voltage of 12 V, but the capacity can vary significantly; for more details, see "Battery capacity"

— Truck (bus). Batteries designed for use in buses, heavy trucks, tractors, combines and other vehicles of a similar weight category. They have a large capacity (usually at least 100 Ah, for more details see "Battery capacity"), since this class of transport has rather "gluttonous" on-board electronics, and starting the engine is associated with heavy loads and requires significant energy consumption. The voltage in this class can reach 24 V, but today such models have practically gone out of use, and most truck batteries produce traditional 12 V.

— Water transport.... Batteries designed for use on water transport — mainly boats and heavy motorboats. They are distinguished primarily by increased protection against moisture, as well as other negative effects associated with being on water transport — in particular, strong vibrations that can throw off the terminal or damage the battery, as well as tilts (to the point that some models standardly allow installation "on the side", at an angle of 90 °). The terminals themselves, in fact, are often made in a special "boat" format (see below), although there are also options with more traditional contacts.

— Maintainable. Only classic lead-acid batteries (see "Type") can be serviced: they are easy to distinguish even externally — by the presence of removable plugs that provide access to internal containers with electrolyte. The latter is a mixture of sulfuric acid with water, and with each charge, some of this water "boils away" (decomposes into oxygen and hydrogen and evaporates). This happens especially intensively during overcharging or charging at high voltage. Battery maintenance consists of periodically replenishing the water reserves in the electrolyte — without this, a decrease in its level leads to damage to the plates due to contact with air, which irreparably worsens the battery's characteristics. On average, maintenance should be carried out 1-2 times a year (15-20 thousand km of mileage for a passenger car) and these periods usually coincide with the terms of scheduled maintenance. However, this value may vary depending on the characteristics of both the battery itself and its operation; More detailed information is usually contained in the instructions for specific models. "Refilling" should be done exclusively with distilled water, since even a relatively small amount of foreign impurities can damage the plates.

— Maintenance free. As the name suggests, such batteries do not require the maintenance described above; this is achieved in a number of ways, in particular by filling the elect...rolyte with a reserve for the entire service life or using gel (see "Type"). With obvious advantages due to ease of use, maintenance-free batteries at the same time have one drawback: they are much more sensitive to deep discharge (capacity decreases), and, accordingly, tolerate cold and long periods of downtime worse.

The location of the terminals on the battery may vary depending on its purpose (see above) and some other features. Today, the following options may be encountered:

— Long side. The standard arrangement of the terminals is on the top panel of the battery, which is usually a rectangle, along the long side of this rectangle. It is used in all types of batteries ("see "Purpose"), and in batteries for passenger cars it is almost a standard option.

— Short side. In this version, the terminals are usually located on the top cover along the short side of the battery, on the side, if you look at it from the front side - hence the name. Almost all models with this arrangement are designed for trucks and buses (see "Purpose").

— Diagonally. The terminals are located diagonally across the top cover, i.e. in opposite corners of the rectangle. This type of arrangement is quite rare today, most often found in batteries for heavy equipment (see "Purpose").

— Middle. As with the standard arrangement described above, the terminals in this case are located along the long side of the top battery cover. However, they are not located at the edge of the cover, but shifted to the center — hence the name. Such models do not have any fundamental differences from batteries with standard terminals, but for a number of reaso...ns they are relatively rare.

— From the end. In this case, it is implied that the terminals are installed on the front wall of the battery, which is typical for the American form factor (see above). Such terminals can be combined with standard ones on the cover, but even such combined models are still considered to be “end-mounted”.

In this case, polarity refers to the location of the terminals on the battery. Traditionally, it is named according to the location of the "+" terminal when looking at the battery from the front (or, in the case of side terminals, from the side closest to which they are located).

— + left. In relation to passenger cars, such polarity in the CIS countries is often called "direct" or "ours". At the same time, in trucks (see "Purpose") the situation is the opposite - the left "plus" is the European standard.

— + right. In passenger cars, the right "plus" is typical mainly for European models, for which this polarity in the CIS countries received the unofficial name "euro" or "reverse" (as opposed to the domestic "direct"). In batteries for trucks, everything is the other way around.

— + right/ + left. This marking means that this battery model is available with both right and left “plus” (see above), and you can choose the option depending on the car model.

Note that the above division into “direct” and “reverse” polarity is not absolute, and in any case, before purchasing a battery in your car, this parameter should be clarified separately.

The electrical capacity of a battery, in other words, the amount of energy stored by a battery when fully charged. The capacity value is expressed in amp-hours and indicates the number of hours during which a fully charged battery will be discharged to the minimum allowable charge, delivering a current of 1 ampere to the load. For example, a capacity of 40 Ah means that the battery is capable of delivering a current of 1 A for 40 hours, or 2 A for 20 hours, etc. In fact, a more capacious battery gives more attempts to start the engine, and is also able to work longer at a low load (for example, when powering a car audio system).

The capacity requirements for different transport types differ markedly. So, in motorcycle batteries, it rarely exceeds 20 Ah, the average value for passenger cars is 40-80 Ah (but there are options for 100 Ah or more), and for heavy equipment like buses, an acceptable capacity starts somewhere from 100 Ah. The optimal value of the battery capacity is often indicated by the manufacturer in the characteristics of the vehicle, and when choosing a model by capacity, you should focus primarily on these figures.

The starting power of the battery, measured according to the EN standard (the unified standard of the European Union). According to this standard, the starting power is the maximum power that the battery can deliver for 30 seconds at an electrolyte temperature of -18 °C without the voltage dropping below a certain level (for standard 12 V batteries - not lower than 7.2 V). The term "starting" appeared because this operating mode is similar to starting an engine, when the battery has to deliver a high-power power to the starter for a short time.

The recommended starting power value is generally related to the weight category of the vehicle: the heavier it is, the more powerful the power usually needed to start it. And many manufacturers directly indicate the recommended values in the characteristics of a particular vehicle model. If the battery is purchased as a replacement, the general rule is: its starting power should be no less than that of its predecessor.

Note that in practice, starting power designations may be encountered according to 3 more standards: SAE (USA), DIN (Germany) and TU (GOST 959-91). The first is almost identical to EN, and DIN and TU are quite easy to translate into EN and vice versa: they are similar to each other, and each of them gives a number approximately 1.7 times smaller than NE. That is, for example, to replace a 200 A battery according to TU, you should look for a model with a power of at least 340 A (200 * 1.7) according to EN.

Has a charge indicator on the battery.

Such an indicator displays the current charge level and allows you to generally assess the state of the battery literally at a glance, without additional actions and diagnostic equipment. In some models of serviceable batteries, the indicator can signal not only the need for charging, but also the need to add water to the electrolyte (for more details, see "Maintenance").