Tips for maintaining your Odyssey Extreme Racing Battery

These batteries are excellent for racing cars, lightweight and powerful. The Odyssey Extreme is designed primarily for use in racing cars.

Unfortunately these racing batteries are not as tolerant to abuse as a normal car battery, they are not designed to be a consumable product. However they are incredibly reliable, which is why they’re the only ones we stock, and with the correct treatment they will last for many years.

Odyssey Extreme Racing 8, 15, 30 and 40 are manufactured in Newport. A revised internal design means that they now come with top and bottom plate locking, this process uses a rubberised compound along the top and the bottom of the plates and reduces vibration which bring these batteries into line with the other Odyssey batteries; vibration resistant to Military specs; this battery range comes with a two year manufacturing warranty.

Odyssey Extreme Racing 20, 25 and 35 are manufactured in the USA and also come with a two year manufacturing warranty.

See Odyssey Extreme Racing Batteries here https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/c3285

To prevent your battery from external and internal damage, we recommend the following points.

• To protect the battery from external damage, we can supply an aluminium battery bracket to secure the battery to the vehicle. We recommend using a rubber insulator between the battery and the bracket to prevent damage to the battery casing. It’s a good idea to keep the battery away from sources of extreme heat, vibration and also corrosive fluids. The best place to locate it if possible, in a saloon-type car, is inside the cockpit.

See Aluminium Battery Securing Brackets https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/c3213

• Over-discharge of these batteries is very common - it shouldn’t be. For competition and track day cars fitting a battery isolator switch (master switch) when you have installed an Odyssey Extreme racing battery is an excellent idea. This inexpensive item prevents draining of the battery when the engine is not running (and not charging) and therefore prevents the battery going flat. Be warned that there are some really cheap isolators on the market that are known to allow current to be drawn through them when turned off!

See Longacre Weatherproof Battery Isolator Cut Off Switch (as pictured) here https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/p19653

• Charging the Odyssey batteries is easy, and this needs to be done regularly, especially on competition vehicles. Our Numax 10 AMP 3 stage intelligent battery charger is the perfect companion for your Odyssey race battery. These chargers can be left connected to the battery and the mains indefinitely when the vehicle is not in use or is in storage. The Numax charger will keep the battery in its optimum condition, charging in stages and not boost charging and therefore damaging the battery like a generic battery charger would do. There is no real need to disconnect the battery from the vehicle, the charger is supplied with “quick connect” leads that can be attached and left on the battery ready for next time.

See the Numax 3 Stage Battery Charger here https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/p6845

• If you already have a trickle charger, make sure it has a regulated trickle charge voltage between 13.5V and 13.8V (no lower than 13.5V and no higher than 13.8V). Use of chargers that do not meet this specification will cause early failure of the battery and will void the battery’s warranty.

• If your vehicle has an alternator fitted, make sure it’s output is 14.1V to 14.7V. Anything lower than this will not be enough to charge the battery properly. Anything over this will cause damage to it. Use of such alternators that do not have an output of 14.1V to 14.7V will void the Battery’s warranty.

NB - every Odyssey racing battery is supplied with an instruction booklet. This handy little book has lots of information regarding charging and fitting the battery, so worth reading.

The most common cause for battery failure is over-discharge. This is usually because the battery has been left in a discharged state, not recharged and then it fails on the next occasion you want to use it. As a safety precaution, for competition, track day and “weekend use” vehicles, we recommend charging the battery after every use. When the vehicle is put away for storage after your event/weekend, pop the battery on charge. If you have a battery isolator fitted, you should not need to remove the battery from the vehicle to do so. For vehicles without an isolator, remove the battery from the car (or remove the battery leads from the battery) and put the battery on to charge.

Cars that are used everyday do not tend to have as many issues as the battery is charged by the alternator every time the car is used. One thing that will destroy the battery is leaving it connected on a car that has a small current draw. If your vehicle does not have a fully operational battery isolator switch fitted or used, even the smallest current draw will eventually drain the battery. Alarms. Immobilisers, clocks, engine management systems, cameras etc, anything with a constant 12v requirement (even when the ignition is off) is known as a “parasitic load”.

When we talk about “flat”, this is not 0.00 volts. A completely flat Odyssey Extreme battery is anything below 9.00V. Anything below this voltage means your battery will be unrecoverable. You can check when the battery is fully charged by checking the voltage. 12.84V is 100% charged 12.18V is only 50% charged. Even voltage under 11.8V is less than 20% charged! If left in a discharged state the battery will not recover. This will also void the battery’s warranty.

Please bare in mind that these batteries are not a “fit and forget” item like a standard lead acid battery is.

We get lots of questions regarding these batteries and are happy to help so please get in touch on 01249 782101 or email sales@merlinmotorsport.co.uk

See Odyssey Extreme Racing Batteries here https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/c3285

Click here Odyssey Extreme Battery Owners Manual https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/files/transfer/technical/doc/odysseyinfo.pdf