The Century Overlander, one of Australia’s most popular batteries for 4WDs, has undergone a redesign

While most standard 4×4 batteries are purely designed as a starting battery, the Overlander 4×4 – which Century says is now a battery of choice for true heavy duty off-road vehicles – is a sealed maintenance-free dual-purpose battery combining starting and semi-cycling capabilities.
Today’s modern 4WD vehicles demand a lot from the starting battery and in off road conditions we require even more from our battery, especially while driving at low speeds in rough terrain and using essential accessories such as winches. These accessories draw power from the starter battery and as you’re driving slowly, chances are the battery won’t be getting enough charge back from the alternator at these speeds. Ultimately, this will drain the battery, possibly leaving you stranded and causing serious long-term damage to the battery.
The secret behind the Overlander 4×4 battery is the hybrid technology design, incorporating both calcium and antinomy plates producing dependable starting power plus added semi-cycling capabilities. This allows the battery to handle the discharge from additional accessories without damaging the internal components and affecting the overall life of the battery.
Furthermore, 4×4 batteries are subjected to some pretty terrible conditions and not just extreme hot and cold temperatures, but also endless road corrugations and bumps. Century has addressed this with thicker full frame cast plates improving the strength and durability of the battery. Additionally, the Overlander has Century’s exclusive Platelock Technology – an adhesive that binds the battery plates securely together to provide superior vibration and impact resistance. This is a vastly different construction to your normal car battery.
Century states it also has a comprehensive range of batteries to suit road-based 4WD and SUV vehicles, with its Ultra Hi Performance and Hi Performance batteries offering exceptional starting power and improved durability for those who don’t take their vehicles quite as far off the beaten track.

Choosing the right secondary Deep Cycle battery
In situations where high-current draw accessories are being used (such as lighting, fridges, or recharging mobile devices) fitting a secondary Deep Cycle battery is a must to keep the starting battery isolated and at full charge.
Choosing the right Deep Cycle battery is vital, and Century says it has a battery available to suit most situations and requirements.
If it is going under-bonnet, Century says a Flooded Deep Cycle battery offers superior heat tolerance and vibration resistance to ensure it will be able to handle the extreme conditions often experienced within your vehicle’s engine bay. Century’s N70T is a popular choice for 4×4 dual-battery systems located under-bonnet, and offers a maintainable design to allow the electrolyte levels to be topped up for extended battery service life.
For confined spaces such as in the rear of a 4×4 or inside the battery compartment of a caravan, Century says an AGM (Absorbed Glass Matt) battery would be the preferable choice. One such battery is Century’s C12-105XDA, which is an AGM battery offering fast recharging capabilities and long cycle life.
AGM technology acts as a sponge like material to suspend loose electrolyte within highly porous glass fibre mat separators. They’re also sealed maintenance-free and non-spillable, providing greater flexibility with mounting options – even side-mounting on angles up to 90°.
An even more exciting prospect is said to be Century’s new Dual Force+ AGM multi-purpose battery, which is designed to go where no other Deep Cycle AGM battery can – right in your vehicle’s engine bay. This dual-purpose starting and deep-cycling battery features a special polypropylene case which assists with heat dispersion – something essential for the under-bonnet temperatures Aussie 4x4s can get to – along with providing up to 20x greater vibration and impact resistance for extreme off-road conditions.
Regardless of which battery type and mounting location you opt for, keeping your Deep Cycle batteries fully charged when not in use is vital to maximising their service life and future performance.
Deep Cycle batteries are not designed to be kept in a low state-of-charge, and will begin to degrade internally the longer they are left in that state. So, always ensure you recharge your batteries if their open circuit voltage (OCV) drops below 12.5 volts.
To make battery monitoring easier, Century recently released its new BM12V Bluetooth battery monitor tool, providing a live view of how your vehicle’s battery is performing at any given moment. It monitors the battery’s charge percentage, cranking capacity during engine start up, and the amount of charge being put back into the battery once you hit the road. It can also provide warning notifications when your battery is critically low on power, so you can organise a replacement before you are left stranded.
The Century Overlander 4×4 MF and N70T Deep Cycle batteries are both made and engineered in Australia especially for our climate and conditions.

For more information, visit www.centurybatteries.com.au or call 1300 362 287.