Whilst I hadn't had any particular battery problems (the car whinges about low battery if the doors are opened too much, but I think this is normal...), a friend had mentioned he thought the turn over in February was a bit slow. It turns out the battery is the original, date stamped March 2007. That makes it a good 7.5 years old. A varta 400/640, which is probably 50Ah, as specified on the car battery cover. Sites differed on opinion of the replacement type being either a 60 or 70Ah. Now, I'm not known for being cynical, but if you get recommended a bigger battery, doesn't it cost more? So I settled on a 60Ah, a Varta again, for around £50 delivered, 4 year warranty (blue dynamic). Just as well I got the Varta, as the battery cover has to be plugged into a tube running outside the cabin. And the plug fitted the Varta cover just fine.
I tested the old battery. I charged it up and it read 12.4 volts the next day after a rest period. With a 7A load (a lamp) it dropped to 12V immediately, and over the next 4 hours dropped to 11.41V During hour 5 it went to 7.2V This makes its capacity around 30Ah, but presumably its CCA is well down.
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