Wilsons Sandbox

TA TB Batteries and cabling I had an email from a list member asking about the battery cabling and armoring on the TA and TB. On my TB (TB 0476) the armour was only at the "loose" ends by the respective battery and starter terminals, and then the unprotected cable was just clipped to the (outside of?) chassis rails in between. The copper cable core was quite substantial in total diameter, a bit over 3/8 inch, but comprised many very thin strands, so was very flexible too, with a rubber insulation outside, and was also cloth covered over that. Overall the cable was about 5/8 inch diameter. A thin cross section main cable of this length will give quite a serious voltage drop in extreme conditions, so go for a good sized cable to maintain a good powerful 12V kick to the starter. The TC, with the battery up front and with shorter cables, is better in that respect, which is one reason they did it. If you are going for originality then you will fit two of the old style 6V black cased Type 421 batteries at well over 170 on eBay, and over 200 from a street battery depot, but there are now some quite high capacity 12V ones Type B36 of the same size as the single 6V ones which can be fitted, at only about 50, and the second battery carrier can be used as a useful extra spare tool / parts box. They are 175mm x 175mm x 190mm in size and so fit the carriers on the TA/TB. You will have to make up a simple short earthing cable too probably. The older 12V ones of the TA/TB size were of too low capacity at about 36Amp Hour, to be of much real use in poor conditions and could give trouble starting in winter, or if a bit low on charge, but now the Varta Blue Dynamic (and maybe others) is a 44 AmpHour unit and starts the TB well even in sub zero temperatures. There might even be higher AH capacity batteries available by now. I've not started the TB for well over two months (Operation, the dear old Prostate removal, which went wrong afterwards ,so I've been in the midnight express ambulance and lying in hospital beds etc for some weeks more, and that seems like forever!) but this morning, now recovering, prompted by the query email, and with the cars outside well covered in frost, I went into the equally freezing motor house, and the TB started on the first pull of the starter cable. The battery is about a year old, and the never rebuilt old starter motor is probably 40 years after it's best too. I've never had to recharge the single 12V with a charger since fitting it, so with very little use before, and with just standing idle for over 10 weeks it was probably only at about 70% of it's best this morning anyway, if that. The 12V is also much cheaper than even a single 6V battery, You can get them from eBay suppliers at under 50 with free delivery, better than 175 for a pair of 6Vs ! Hope that all helps, Clive [img]https://ec.yimg.com/ec?url=https%3A%2F%2Fipmcdn.avast.com%2Fimages%2Ficons%2Ficon-envelope-tick-round-orange-animated-no-repeat-v1.gif&t=1522511891&sig=UGoMi7x1doH2t6gmiXR14A--~D[/img] Virus-free. www.avast.com