Good Batteries for Cheap

[AKhan87]

so AAP 50 off 125 or 100 seems like a good deal on a regular basis for batteries.

I prefer the Autocraft Gold because of their CCA and it gets cold enough for it to matter out here in St. Louis.

$126.99(Group Size 24) - 50 = 76.99 + tax, which is a great deal.

Well I went to Walmart to see if they will price match, Rural King Battery! but their excuse was "we can only match the same name brand"...

I tried O'Reilly's and for the second time I got a Group 24 for $64.99 + tax, it seems that they will match Rural King if there is one within a reasonable distance (they let me slide with 25 miles twice). YMMV but it doesn't hurt to save $12 dollars!

O'Reilly's battery has 725 CCA, where as the Autocraft gold has 700 CCA.

Walmart's new 24(F) has 750 CCA, I'm not sure if walmart is stepping up or not.

 

[MetalSlug]

AAP with coupon is the best deal I could find, I been switch all my family cars to autocraft gold.

 

[901Memphis]

The CCA isn't always the best comparison factor. Would be interesting if someone knew the comparison of the plates in the two batteries.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
The CCA isn't always the best comparison factor. Would be interesting if someone knew the comparison of the plates in the two batteries.


+1.

 

[AKhan87]

Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
The CCA isn't always the best comparison factor. Would be interesting if someone knew the comparison of the plates in the two batteries.

I'm clueless about batteries, my 00 civic that I had from 03-10 with 320k had a head gasket failure and only required the battery to be changed once in 04.

All the Duralast batteries the cars in our families had before easily lasted us 6-7 years, and I'm talking about regular Duralast batteries and not their Gold line.

So I figured If I buy the "top of the line" batteries these places have to offer for a reasonable price, I should be good to go for another 6-7 years but from what I have read on the forums here, most people are getting about 4 years now? The quality of batteries changed?

 

[Finz]

I don't understand... Are you referring to the actual mass of the plates?

Would you elaborate please?

 

[JHZR2]

Extracting stored energy is a chemical reaction. Just like combustion where we want our fuel droplets to be as fine as possible for combustion to occur evenly and fully, battery reactions are also related to available surface and the right atoms in the surface in the right oxidation state.

Amps are related in final terms to moles of electrons. So an ampere is like 10^18 electrons, while a mole would be 10^23. But so a cold cranking ampere implies just how many atoms must be in play, and must be able to rapidly react, even in cold conditions when chemical reactions are slower.

So to make more surface, we make more, thinner, parallel plates inside the battery. They give us more surface, so more overall reaction, but they can also be less dimensionally stable. So they can fall apart and break faster under certain conditions, especially as hard sulfate crystals form and the plates shed materials.

So sometimes a thicker plate design, giving up some rate capability that is often not really needed, in the interest of more mass and more robust plates, can be useful...

 

[ronbo]

Interstate distributor. Got a "blem", (return, cosmetic defect, etc.) two years ago for group 35, $40 plus tax, 6 month warranty. $15 core charge so changed it myself on their lot. Have to go to ADVANCE to get it check, as I do yearly.

 

[4wheeldog]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Extracting stored energy is a chemical reaction. Just like combustion where we want our fuel droplets to be as fine as possible for combustion to occur evenly and fully, battery reactions are also related to available surface and the right atoms in the surface in the right oxidation state.

Amps are related in final terms to moles of electrons. So an ampere is like 10^18 electrons, while a mole would be 10^23. But so a cold cranking ampere implies just how many atoms must be in play, and must be able to rapidly react, even in cold conditions when chemical reactions are slower.

So to make more surface, we make more, thinner, parallel plates inside the battery. They give us more surface, so more overall reaction, but they can also be less dimensionally stable. So they can fall apart and break faster under certain conditions, especially as hard sulfate crystals form and the plates shed materials.

So sometimes a thicker plate design, giving up some rate capability that is often not really needed, in the interest of more mass and more robust plates, can be useful...


Translation: When comparing batteries of similar size and type, with similar case construction, the one to buy is the heavier one. More lead = longer before the plates start to fail. Bring a bathroom scale. You will get odd looks......But who that hangs out at BITOG isn't used to that?

 

[Rand]

I have had many bad experiences with exide and none with AAP gold/silver batteries.


Every battery I've had that was a fuzzy terminal grower was an exide.. including the one that came in my used deere 212.

it had so much crud on it I had to scrub it 3x to get all the acid off it.

 

[Bgallagher]

I replaced my OEM battery two years ago with an autozone gold and haven't had any issues. Starts right up during those -12 days we had last winter (including wind chill.) Hopefully it lasts as long as the OEM

 

[901Memphis]

Even the Autocraft gold's probably have more plates than the silver to get the higher CCA, i think the Autocraft silver with coupone code is the sweet spot, but you get the better warranty with the gold which is why i usually go that route.

 

[Joe_H]

My local pullapart always has a good selection of batteries on their shelf for $25. I look for one recently manufactured (1-2 years) and the correct CCA/size I need and have had very good luck with the ones I have picked out. Each one comes with a 30day warranty, so if one doesn't hold a charge, just take it back for a swap out. Doesn't get any cheaper than that.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2


So sometimes a thicker plate design, giving up some rate capability that is often not really needed, in the interest of more mass and more robust plates, can be useful...


Thats exactly why i usually get the biggest physically but lowest amp rating that fits my car.