Battery recommendations?

Hi,

My battery is deader than corduroy and needs replacing.  I'm running a modest head unit, small underseat sub and an alarm.  The battery would frequently die if the car was not used every day, I suspect there may be a drain somewhere but I can't easily diagnose this until I replce the battery.

Any recommendations on a decent, reliable and relatively heavy duty replacement battery?  Are there any clear winners out there?

Once the battery is replaced, I'm going to run some tests on the alternator with a multimeter.  It still has the original unit from when it left the factory so I'm figuring it's probably due for a replacement anyway.  From reading around this forum, it looks like the standard unit for a 1.6 is 65w / 14V.  I did notice that there is a 90W version (for the diesel mk1?).  Can the 90W version be fitted to a 1.6?  and would it give any benefits (ie: better charge)?

Once the battery and alternator have been replaced / upgraded, I'll probably think about replacing the wiring loom between them but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it

At the moment the car is stuck on the drive, I really want to get her running for the summer

Thanks,

Al

If your getting a heavy duty battery, get the alternator to go with it, otherwise don't bother

Personally I would've thought the 65A Alternator and Battery to match is fine for most setups, if you going for anything more than 800W of 'RMS music' then upgrade, thats a constant high output, not just a thump thump of bass thats discluding having lights on at night and such though.

Battery draining can be a couple of things but is *usually* the regulator on the alternator, if it drains in a day, put a fully charged battery on with the alternator disconnected (electrically), come back to it after a period of time it would normally be giving you problems. If its ok then its probably the regulator. If its still not ok then its an ancillory item. You can remove the regulator on some (but not all) alternators, which saves you buying a new complete unit.

Thats the non technical way of doing it, otherwise its scopes and/or test meters time.