Battery Marking
Performance
The performance of a car battery is normally expressed as follows:
- Cold cranking amperes, CCA. See the explanation in COLD CRANKING AMPERES
- Reserve capacity, RC. See the explanation in RESERVE CAPACITY, RC
- Capacity, C20 (in certain cases). See the explanation in CAPACITY .
Recommended charge current
The cold cranking amperes according to the SAE and DIN norms and the corresponding capacity and recommended charge current are shown in the table below.
COLD CRANKING AMPERES ACCORDING TO THE SAE NORM AND THE CORRESPONDING CAPACITY AND RECOMMENDED CONSTANT CHARGE CURRENT
| Cold cranking amperes (CCA) according to SAE | Capacity | Recommended constant charge current |
| 420 A | 45 Ah | 4 A |
| 440 A | 50 Ah | 4 A |
| 520 A | 50-60 Ah | 5 A |
| 600 A | 65-70 Ah | 6 A |
| 680 A | 90 Ah | 7 A |
COLD CRANKING AMPERES ACCORDING TO THE DIN NORM AND THE CORRESPONDING CAPACITY AND RECOMMENDED CONSTANT CHARGE CURRENT
| Cold cranking amperes according to DIN | Capacity | Recommended constant charge current |
| 250 A | 45 Ah | 4 A |
| 310 A | 63 Ah | 5 A |
| 420 A | 72 Ah | 7 A |
| 590 A | 60 Ah | 9 A |
Volvo battery labels
The illustrations show an example of how the battery labels may appear.
label items:
- The nominal terminal voltage of the battery (12 V)*
- Capacity (60 Ah)
- Cold cranking amperes, CCA (550 A)
- Reserve capacity, RC (100 min)
- Volvo part number (9459947).
*12 V is the nominal terminal voltage. This means that the battery has a stand-by voltage of 12.72 V when fully charged. Note that a battery with a stand-by voltage of 12 V is only charged to approximately 35% of capacity (see the diagram in ACID DENSITY ).