Faqs

Answer Most orders are dispatched same day, unless it says otherwise on the item description.

AnswerWe post to the UK and Ireland only.

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Our main postage provide is Royal Mail & DPD but occasionally we use other couriers depending on location and service required.

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CCA stands for Cold Cranking Amps, which is relevant to the engine starting capability of the battery. CCA measures how well the battery will perform at certain temperatures. Platinum International uses the Society of Automobile Engineers or ‘SAE’ standard, which means the cranking performance of the battery is measured under controlled conditions at a temperature of -18˚C for 30 seconds. For example, if a fully charged battery is rated at 590 amps SAE, it can produce 590 amps for a period of 30 seconds, at a temperature of -18°C. The voltage must drop below 1.2 volts per cell (7.2 volts for a 12 volt battery) during this test.

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No, there are multiple standards for ‘CCA’ used throughout the world. Amongst the others are ‘EN’, ‘DIN’, ‘IEC’, ‘MCA’, and ‘HCA’. These other specifications are either, tested over differing timescales, temperatures or voltages, therefore they cannot be compared to another battery tested at a different standard.

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Ah stands for Ampere Hour, which is a measure of battery capacity or rather, how much energy can be stored in a battery. The higher the Ah rating, the more energy can be stored in the battery. The Ah rating is most relevant for slow drain applications, such as; Caravan & Leisure Vehicles; Marine; or other applications that take a large amount of energy from the battery over a prolonged period of time, these are also known as Deep Cycle applications. Platinum International uses the ’C20’ or ‘20 hour’ standard for its automotive and leisure range. This means that a fully charged battery rated at 100 Ah (C20) can produce 5 amps (100 Ah divided by 20), for a period of 20 hours. Again this procedure is done under strict conditions at a temperature of +25°C, where the voltage must drop below 1.75 volts per cell (10.5 volts for a 12 volt battery). A common misconception is that a 100Ah battery will produce 100 amps for 1 hour, 50 amps for 2 hours, 20 amps for 5 hours, 1 amp for 100 hours……etc. This is absolutely incorrect.

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Yes, the Automotive industry tends to use the C20 standard but industrial applications (Fork Trucks, Access Platforms, Mobility…etc.) use standards such as: C1, C5, C10 & C100. So a fully charged battery rated at 100 Ah (C5) can produce 20 amps (100 (Ah) divided by 5), for a period of 5 hours, at a temperature of +25°C and the voltage must drop below 1.75 volts per cell (10.5 volts for a 12 volt battery).

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RC is Reserve Capacity, which also refers to energy storage capacity of the battery, similar in some ways to Ah, but rated in minutes as opposed to amps. The standard used for this by all manufacturers is 25amps. A battery with a Reserve Capacity of 60 means that a fully charged battery can produce 25amps for a period of 60 minutes, at a temperature of +25°C and the voltage must drop below 1.75 volts per cell (10.5 volts for a 12 volt battery).

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Automotive batteries contain Lead Acid. Calcium is a hardening agent within the plate grids which reduces water loss and increases electrical performance, shelf and service life. This is also needed if the battery is fitted to a vehicle with a ‘smart charge’ system. All Platinum batteries are Calcium/Calcium (both positive and negative plate grid) construction.

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In the late 1990s some manufacturers added a very small amount of silver to the plate grids, the benefit of this was said to be increased performance and resistance to very high, under bonnet, temperatures. This was more of a requirement for certain areas of the USA and other hotter climates, there were no benefits for Northern Europe. This manufacturing process proved expensive and in many cases pointless, so it was discontinued a few years later.

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