W124 Battery

[Adeinfrance]

The battery on my 300CE won't hold charge now so I assume it's finished. There is currently a 60A on the car but I have a 72A from my crashed 250TD W202. Can anybody advise me if this battery will be ok and can I do any damage by using a battery with too many amps?

 

[trapperjohn]

Not as far as I am aware. I have a 72A on my 124 300D. I think you could even put a 100AH battery on with no worries. All is taken care of by the "voltage regulator" (I think, but I'm no sparky) Pretty forgiving beasts 124s as you know.

 

[DSM10000]

The 60A or 72A rating (technically it is Amp/Hour as it is a discharge rating) is just a measure of the amount of charge the battery can hold, i.e the larger battery you quoted can hold more energy.

They are both rated at 12 volts so there is no problem there. The larger capacity battery will also be likely to have a higher Cold Cranking Amperage (CCA) rating as it was fitted to a diesel.

 

[grober]

The standard battery size for most w124 is actually 74 Ah so nothing to worry about. The other figure which in some ways is more important is the CCA cold cranking current which is a measure of how much peak current the battery can produce a low temperature. More advanced batteries such as ones using the new silver or calcium technology can produce quite high CCA figures without having huge amp hour capacities. VARTA BLUE OR SILVER BATTERIES are a case in point. Unless your old 60Ah battery was one of the new high CCA types its rating was actually a little on the low side for your car.
Batteries are essentially passive devices they don't drive the process they respond to demand. They won't supply more voltage than 6x2.2=13.2 volts and the current they supply is governed by the load demand not battery capacity which is a measure of potential electrical energy stored more than anything else .

dsm1000 beat me to it.

 

[Adeinfrance]

Thanks for that. The car doesn't get used much hence why the other battery gave up but I intend to use a trickle charger in the future. Probably get a solar one if they are any good as the south of France gets a fair bit of sunshine. Chilly today only 29C!

 

[trapperjohn]

The solar charger you will have to run cables to the battery as you cannot do it through the cigar lighter. Well you could not on mine - just a little tip.

 

[GP801]

Thanks for that. The car doesn't get used much hence why the other battery gave up but I intend to use a trickle charger in the future. Probably get a solar one if they are any good as the south of France gets a fair bit of sunshine. Chilly today only 29C!

I use a Ring solar charger on the dash of our 124 in Italy. Keeps it topped up nicely for up to 8-10 weeks. Needs to connect directly to the battery terminals.

 

[Adeinfrance]

Thanks everybody. Excellent information.