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Keith_Haw's avatar
Keith_Haw
Explorer
Aug 17, 2013

Powerhouse PH3100Ri battery

Hello everyone.
Haven't been on here for awhile, we usually don't do much except during the winter. But decided to get away for a few days next week, somewhere cooler.

Anyway, I was out servicing our generator and swapping the battery. It had not been holding a charge and decided to just swap it out. Well that was easier said than done. The battery in there was a LT9ES motorcycle battery. It's not a standard series 9 motorcycle battery, it's only 2.75" deep and most are 3.5". The regular ones at the parts store wont work without rubbing against the motor so had to look all over town to find it. Finally found one at a battery store but, being it wasn't going into a motorcycle as it was designed for there was NO warranty, and it cost $85 on top of that.

So my question is, what type of battery is suppose to be used in the Powerhouse PH3100Ri generator? We got ours used so not sure if the battery in it is original or not. I've looked on line and in the Owners and Maintenance Manuals and all I can find is 12v.

Thanks
Keith
  • So use 10 type E wired in series with 10AWG wire then 8 gauge to a set of positive and negative terminals for the starter to hook to. Sounds easy enough. Probably use a plug setup to connect to the starter I would imagine. I don't think it has a gear reduction starter, but could be wrong. It's just a 6.8hp single cylinder motor. And I think the positive wires are 14 gauge and maybe 16 on the negative side now going to the starter.
  • Get the solder-on tabs kind, use 10AWG wire no longer than four inches battery to battery (tail-to-teakettle) for series connections, but then eight gauge to a junction then six gauge to the starter if necessary. Check and see if your starter motor is the GEAR REDUCTION kind. The dealer will know. To ease the inrush I use a car stereo 2 farad cap stuffed somewhere. It ran circles around my garden tractor battery which is larger than yours.
  • You know MEXICOWANDERER, that's not a bad idea, not bad at all. Going to have to check into that. You say I'll need 10 size E batteries to do it? That shouldn't be that hard.
  • I would pull the ripcord on that sucker and assemble a 12-volt nickel-metal-hydride battery pack in the 14 amp hour range (Size E batteries). It would far and away outlast a made in Vietnam (no joke) lead acid battery. Ten E batteries. 12 volts nominal. 14 volt charge acceptance. Did I mention this battery pack would be slightly smaller than your present battery? Superb CCA.
  • Thanks MEXICOWANDERER but those are passenger car and larger batteries. My portable generator is a motorcycle size battery, group 9. It requires a 6"L x 2.75W to fit. 3" wide might fit but haven't tried it. I know the standard size 9 sold by auto parts stores around here are 3.7/16"w and don't fit.
  • BCI

    Group

    Number
    Maximum Overall Dimensions footnote
    Millimeters Inches
    L W H L W H
    PASSENGER CAR AND LIGHT COMMERCIAL_BATTERIES 12-VOLT (6 CELLS)
    21 208 173 222 8 3/16 6 13/16 8 3/4
    22F 241 175 211 9 1/2 6 7/8 8 5/16
    22HF 241 175 229 9 1/2 6 7/8 9
    22NF 240 140 227 9 7/16 5 1/2 8 15/16
    22R 229 175 211 9 6 7/8 8 5/16
    24 260 173 225 10 1/4 6 13/16 8 7/8
    24F 273 173 229 10 3/4 6 13/16 9
    24H 260 173 238 10 1/4 6 13/16 9 3/8
    24R 260 173 229 10 1/4 6 13/16 9
    24T 260 173 248 10 1/4 6 13/16 9 3/4
    25 230 175 225 9 1/16 6 7/8 8 7/8
    26 208 173 197 8 3/16 6 13/16 7 3/4
    26R 208 173 197 8 3/16 6 13/16 7 3/4
    27 306 173 225 12 1/16 6 13/16 8 7/8
    27F 318 173 227 12 1/2 6 13/16 8 15/16
    27H 298 173 235 11 3/4 6 13/16 9 1/4
    29NF 330 140 227 13 5 1/2 8 15/16
    33 338 173 238 13 5/16 6 13/16 9 3/8
    34 260 173 200 10 1/4 6 13/16 7 7/8
    34R 260 173 200 10 1/4 6 13/16 7 7/8
    35 230 175 225 9 1/16 6 7/8 8 7/8
    36R 263 183 206 10 3/8 7 1/4 8 1/8
    40R 277 175 175 10 15/16 6 7/8 6 7/8
    41 293 175 175 11 3/16 6 7/8 6 7/8
    42 243 173 173 9 5/16 6 13/16 6 13/16
    43 334 175 205 13 1/8 6 7/8 8 1/16
    45 240 140 227 9 7/16 5 1/2 8 15/16
    46 273 173 229 10 3/4 6 13/16 9
    47 246 175 190 9 11/16 6 7/8 7 1/2
    48 306 175 192 12 1/16 6 7/8 7 9/16
    49 381 175 192 15 6 7/8 7 3/16
    50 343 127 254 13 1/2 5 10
    51 238 129 223 9 3/8 5 1/16 8 13/16
    51R 238 129 223 9 3/8 5 1/16 8 13/16
    52 186 147 210 7 5/16 5 13/16 8 1/4
    53 330 119 210 13 4 11/16 8 1/4
    54 186 154 212 7 5/16 6 1/16 8 3/8
    55 218 154 212 8 5/8 6 1/16 8 3/8
    56 254 154 212 10 6 1/16 8 3/8
    57 205 183 177 8 1/16 7 3/16 6 15/16
    58 255 183 177 10 1/16 7 3/16 6 15/16
    58R 255 183 177 10 1/16 7 3/16 6 15/16
    59 255 193 196 10 1/16 7 5/8 7 3/4
    60 332 160 225 13 1/16 6 5/16 8 7/8
    61 192 162 225 7 9/16 6 3/8 8 7/8
    62 225 162 225 8 7/8 6 3/8 8 7/8
    63 258 162 225 10 3/16 6 3/8 8 7/8
    64 296 162 225 11 11/16 6 3/8 8 7/8
    65 306 190 192 12 1/16 7 1/2 7 9/16
    70 208 179 196 8 3/16 7 1/16 7 11/16
    71 208 179 216 8 3/16 7 1/16 8 1/2
    72 230 179 210 9 1/16 7 1/16 8 1/4
    73 230 179 216 9 1/16 7 1/16 8 1/2
    74 260 184 222 10 1/4 7 1/4 8 3/4
    75 230 179 196 9 1/16 7 1/16 7 11/16
    76 334 179 216 13 1/8 7 1/16 8 1/2
    78 260 179 196 10 1/4 7 1/16 7 11/16
    85 230 173 203 9 1/16 6 13/16 8
    86 230 173 203 9 1/16 6 13/16 8
    90 246 175 175 9 11/16 6 7/8 6 7/8
    91 280 175 175 11 6 7/8 6 7/8
    92 317 175 175 12 1/2 6 7/8 6 7/8
    93 354 175 175 15 6 7/8 6 7/8
    95R 394 175 190 15 9/16 6 7/8 7 1/2
    96R 242 173 175 9 9/16 6 13/16 6 7/8
    97R 252 175 190 9 15/16 6 7/8 7 1/2
    98R 283 175 190 11 3/16 6 7/8 7 1/2
    PASSENGER CAR AND LIGHT COMMERCIAL BATTERIES 6-VOLT(3 CELLS)
    1 232 181 238 9 1/8 7 1/8 9 3/8
    2 264 181 238 10 3/8 7 1/8 9 3/8
    2E 492 105 232 19 7/16 4 1/8 9 1/8
    2N 254 141 227 10 5 9/16 8 15/16
    17HF 187 175 229 7 3/8 6 7/8 9
    HEAVY-DUTY COMMERCIAL BATTERIES 12-VOLT (6 CELLS)
    4D 527 222 250 20 3/4 8 3/4 9 7/8
    6D 527 254 260 20 3/4 10 10 1/4
    8D 527 283 250 20 3/4 11 1/8 9 7/8
    28 261 173 240 10 5/16 6 13/16 9 7/16
    29H 334 171 232 13 1/8 6 3/4 9 1/8 10
    30H 343 173 235 13 1/2 6 13/16 9 1/4 10
    31 330 173 240 13 6 13/18 9 7/16

    ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERIES 6-VOLT (3CELLS)
    GC2 264 183 270 10 3/8 7 3/16 10 5/8
    GC2H 264 183 295 10 3/8 7 3/16 11 5/8
  • Thanks Don, that's not a bad idea.
    But still would like to find out what the original battery type/model was on this thing.
  • Hi Keith,

    I'd add some external leads and use the house battery to assist the genny battery.

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