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Engine starting battery sizing

Standard conditions

To size an engine starting battery, you need to know:

- the total cylinder volume in cubic inches or in liters or the starter‘s power of the engine
- the system voltage

The standard sizing conditions are the following:

- Total cylinder volume in cubic inches or in liters or Starter‘s power
- Engine type: 4-cycle diesel
- Total cranking time: 3*10 seconds
- Battery temperarture: 20-25°C (68-77°F)
- Oil temperature: 20-25°C (68-77°F)
- Oil type: SAE30 or multiviscosity oil
- Starter motor efficiency: 60%
- Battery minimum voltage: 71% of the nominal system voltage (12, 24 or 32 V)
- Battery state of charge: 100%

The base cranking current is determined by Table 1. The engine‘s cylinder volume
must be equal to or smaller than the figure stated in the table.

If the starter‘power is known,

Starter‘s power
Base cranking current =
Battery voltage x Starter efficiency

Then, refer to the cell performance SPH range or SBH range at 30 seconds for a
minimum voltage of 0.85 volt per cell (71% of the nominal system voltage) to determine
the cell size required. The cell type corresponds to a current which is at least equal or
superior to the base cranking current.

Non standard conditions

To select the appropriate battery for conditions other than those listed under standard
conditions, a total correction factor may be applied to the base cranking current to
compensate these conditions.

The total correction factor is the product of all relevant correction factors for each
parameters:
- Engine type ( Table 2 )
- Total cranking time ( Table 3 )
- Battery temperarture ( Table 4 )
- Oil temperature ( Table 5 )
- Starter motor efficiency ( Table 6 )
- Battery state of charge ( Table 7 )
- Battery final voltage ( Table 8 )
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Required cranking current = Total correction factor x Base cranking current

Then, refer to the cell performance SPH range or SBH range at 30 seconds for a
minimum voltage of 0.85 volt per cell (71% of the nominal system voltage) to determine
the cell size required. The cell type corresponds to a current which is at least equal or
superior to the product of the base cranking current and the total correction factor C.

National / International sizing standards

To size a battery in accordance with national or international standards, certain sizing

parameters become fixed. The following table Table9 explains this situation for each of
the standards/methods.

Table9: Sizing parameters for national / international standards

NFPA NFPA NFPA US VA Alternator

Sizing parameters AT & T
20-1996 (3) 99-1996 110-1196 Hospital charging

Charging method Float Float Float Float Float Alternator

Total cranking time 90 sec 45 sec 45 sec 50 sec 60 sec

Battery temperature 4.5°C/40°F 10°C/50°F 10°C/50°F 10°C/50°F 0°C/32°F

(4)

Oil temperature 25°C/77°F 25°C/77°F 25°C/77°F

% of the nominal 70 85% 83%

system voltage (1)

Battery state of charge 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 75%

Number of cell (2) 10/20/26 10/20/26 9/18/24

(1) The nominal system voltage are 12, 24, 32V

(2) The 3 numbers correspond to nominal system voltages of 12, 24,32V, respectively
(3) The battery capacity required for the listed conditions must be doubled to determine
the installed capacity
(4) It‘s allowed to modify the set value
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Table1: Base cranking current in Amperes for 12, 24, 32 volt systems
Based on 3 x 10 second cranks at 20°C to 25°C (68°F to 77°F)

Cylinder Cylinder
Volume Volume 12 Volts 24 Volts 32 Volts
Cubic Inch Liter

50 0.82 128 59
75 1.23 160 78
100 1.64 191 96
125 2.05 224 112
150 2.46 254 127
175 2.87 283 141
200 3.28 310 155
250 4.10 362 181
300 4.92 411 206
350 5.74 458 229
400 6.55 506 251
450 7.37 544 272
500 8.19 586 293
600 9.83 665 333
700 11.47 740 370
800 13.11 812 406
900 14.75 882 441 331
1000 16.39 949 474 356
1200 19.66 1077 538 404
1400 22.94 1199 599 449
1600 26.22 1315 658 493
1800 29.50 1427 714 535
2000 32.77 1536 768 576
2500 40.94 1793 896 672
3000 49.16 2036 1018 763
3500 57.35 2266 1133 850
4000 65.55 2486 1243 932
4500 73.74 1349 1012
5000 81.94 1452 1089
6000 98.32 1648 1236
7000 114.71 1834 1376
8000 131.10 2012 1509
9000 147.48 2184 1638
10000 163.87 2350 1763

Table2: Engine type

Engine type Correction factor

4-cycle diesel 1.00
2-cycle diesel 1.25
4-cycle gas 0.90
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Table3: Battery temperature Table 4: Oil temperature

Temperature Battery temperature factor Oil temperature factor

°F °C SPH SBH SAE 30 SAE 10W SAE 20W SAE 40
77 25 1.00 1.00 1.00 0.89 1.05
68 20 1.00 1.00 1.00 0.89 1.05
65 18 1.01 1.01 1.02 0.90 1.08
60 16 1.01 1.05 1.06 0.94 1.15
55 13 1.02 1.08 1.12 0.90 0.98 1.23
50 10 1.03 1.12 1.20 0.94 1.03 1.31
45 7 1.04 1.17 1.26 0.97 1.09 1.39
40 4 1.06 1.22 1.34 1.01 1.15 1.47
35 2 1.09 1.27 1.42 1.06 1.21 1.55
32 0 1.11 1.31 1.47 1.09 1.24 1.61
30 -1 1.12 1.33 1.50 1.10 1.27 1.65
25 -4 1.16 1.40 1.60 1.15 1.33 1.78
20 -7 1.21 1.47 1.71 1.20 1.41 1.95
15 -9 1.27 1.60 1.84 1.26 1.49 2.20
10 -12 1.34 1.65 2.00 1.32 1.60
5 -15 1.43 1.77 2.20 1.40 1.72
0 -18 1.54 1.90 2.45 1.49 1.88

Table5: Table6: Table7:

Total cranking time Starter motor efficiency Battery state of charge

Total cranking Correction Starter motor Correction Battery Correction

time (second) factor efficiency factor state of factor
charge
30 1.00 55 1.09 45 1.29
40 1.04 56 1.07 50 1.25
50 1.08 57 1.05 55 1.22
60 1.11 58 1.03 60 1.19
70 1.15 59 1.02 65 1.16
80 1.18 60 1.00 70 1.13
90 1.21 61 0.98 75 1.11
100 1.24 62 0.97 80 1.08
110 1.27 63 0.95 85 1.06
120 1.30 64 0.94 90 1..04
180 1.43 65 0.92 95 1.02
300 1.54 66 0.91 100 1.00
67 0.90
68 0.88
69 0.87
70 0.86
71 0.85
72 0.83
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Table 8: Battery final voltage

Batteryfinal voltage in % Correction factor

of nominal system voltage SPH SBH
70 0.98 0.99
71 1.00 1.00
72 1.02 1.02
73 1.07 1.05
74 1.10 1.07
75 1.13 1.09
76 1.16 1.11
77 1.19 1.13
78 1.25 1.18
79 1.29 1.20
80 1.32 1.23
81 1.36 1.26
82 1.40 1.29
83 1.48 1.36
84 1.52 1.39
85 1.56 1.43