Size Matter ? Battery Wise.

[HTSS_TR]

Does size matter how long you can expect the battery to last ? Assuming that they are made by the same company such Johnson Control.

It seems to me larger size battery lasted longer than smaller size. My Honda S2000 has room for smallist size 51, anything longer or wider will not fit.

The OEM battery I believe made by Panasonic in Japan and it lasted 6.5 years. The replacement is Interstate and in service for about 4 years 8 months, it seems getting a little weaker every week/month.

 

[Oil Changer]

Unless you want to keep it stock, put a couple batteries in the back. Problem solved.

 

[Mr Nice]

Panasonic batteries are know for lasting a long time.

 

[bullwinkle]

If it's an AGM Panasonic, they're the longest lasting I've ever seen-the factory one from my xB is in my brother's old '87 Tercel (he needed one & really didn't want to buy new), starts every day-and will be TEN YEARS OLD next month!

 

[Rand]

I had an oem panasonic in my subaru forester, it was extremely undersized/powered for the app and I replaced it as it was under 300CCA in 2.5years.

OEM batteries are designed to the Car manufacturer's spec(s).

Battery life is very usage and climate dependent.

But if you start off with 650CCA Car Battery and only need 300CCA to start the engine.. it will likely provide service longer than a 400CCA Automotive Battery in the same Application

 

[jcwit]

Had a 3 cylinder Metro I put a garden tractor battery in, not sure how long it lasted, I had it on the car for 5 years till I traded it off.

BTW, never had a problem starting even in below 0 winter.

 

[F357]

Yes, a bigger battery will absolutely last longer. That means it doesn't have to work as hard to start your car. It also means it has more storage capacity, so you won't run it down as far if you listen to the radio or something. Every time you pull power from a battery, you are taking away a little bit of it's life. The bigger a battery is, the more power it can give over it's lifetime.

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted By: Rand
But if you start off with 650CCA Car Battery and only need 300CCA to start the engine.. it will likely provide service longer than a 400CCA Automotive Battery in the same Application

My regional Interstate distributor told me different. He said that within a given battery group (size), at some point going too high in CCA can result in a shorter life battery. The reason being that to get the extra high CCA from that size battery, more plates are built in, but they are thinner and have less liquid insulation between them. That makes them more prone to wearing out earlier and/or touching or breaking.

I tend to only go up one notch in CCA. If my car specifies 500CCA, I will probably go up to 600+/-, but not up to the 750+ size.

If you have room to go up in battery size regarding physical dimensions, that is probably a good thing.

 

[Kuato]

IMO yes. Most anything used at less than capacity will last longer than something used to the maximum.

 

[Rand]

Originally Posted By: doitmyself
Originally Posted By: Rand
But if you start off with 650CCA Car Battery and only need 300CCA to start the engine.. it will likely provide service longer than a 400CCA Automotive Battery in the same Application

My regional Interstate distributor told me different. He said that within a given battery group (size), at some point going too high in CCA can result in a shorter life battery. The reason being that to get the extra high CCA from that size battery, more plates are built in, but they are thinner and have less liquid insulation between them. That makes them more prone to wearing out earlier and/or touching or breaking.

I tend to only go up one notch in CCA. If my car specifies 500CCA, I will probably go up to 600+/-, but not up to the 750+ size.

If you have room to go up in battery size regarding physical dimensions, that is probably a good thing.



That isn't arguing my point that's farther clarifying it. I would agree with that to a certain point.

I don't think normal AAP Gold and silver batteries are at that point of inflating CCA at the expense of battery life.

My 2011 forester had a group 35 battery that was 400CCA, it deteriorated in normal use to 280CCA in 2.5 years. It was never run dead. Rarely sat in the car for more than 5min with the radio on. Etc

The replacement AAP silver series weighed almost 10lb more and was (group 26r?) 575CCA IIRC they also had a gold series group 35 that was 650CCA. FWIW the sears diehard platinum was over 10lb heavier than those and 850CCA.

 

[Nick1994]

Probably. With the VW TDIs, if you put in a battery from an auto parts store they don't last. The top of the line O'Reilly's battery lasted 8 months in my car. The dealer batteries last a couple years and don't cost much more at all.

 

[JHZR2]

The things that kill lead acid batteries are being undercharged and being hot.

Heat doubles the degradation rate for every eight or so degrees hotter it gets.

Batteries get hot when operating, but generally starting a car isn't hot enough to do much. It's generally ambient and underhood temperatures.

For a given load (amps), a smaller battery will work harder due to higher impedance (ohms) and less capacity (amp-hours). So a startup will deplete it further, as will standby parasitics and any loads put on it after the engine is shut down. Conversely, it will charge faster once the engine is started, but that's the minority time fraction.

A bigger and smaller battery, sitting on float charge, at the same temperature, should last within statistical values from one another. But practically a smaller battery won't last as long.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: doitmyself
Originally Posted By: Rand
But if you start off with 650CCA Car Battery and only need 300CCA to start the engine.. it will likely provide service longer than a 400CCA Automotive Battery in the same Application

My regional Interstate distributor told me different. He said that within a given battery group (size), at some point going too high in CCA can result in a shorter life battery. The reason being that to get the extra high CCA from that size battery, more plates are built in, but they are thinner and have less liquid insulation between them. That makes them more prone to wearing out earlier and/or touching or breaking.

I tend to only go up one notch in CCA. If my car specifies 500CCA, I will probably go up to 600+/-, but not up to the 750+ size.

If you have room to go up in battery size regarding physical dimensions, that is probably a good thing.



Right. More CCA in same footprint = bad, weaker/thinner plates. Larger footprint with more CCA = good.

 

[wrcsixeight]

Originally Posted By: Donald

Right. More CCA in same footprint = bad, weaker/thinner plates. Larger footprint with more CCA = good.


This applies to flooded/wet batteries.

AGM batteries naturally have less resistance and higher CCA numbers.

If you want maximum CCA for your size 51, Look into an Ody$$ey or North$tar. If you ever deeply cycle or fully drain an Odyssey deeply, they require a minimum of 40% of the amp hour rating in charge current, until 14.7v is reached.

Low and slow chargers are inadequate for Odyssey and NorthStar batteries.

Keeping any lead acid battery as close to 100% charged as possible, will extend battery life. Getting the last 20% of charge into any lead acid battery takes hours, at least 4 at mid 14's voltages, and will take days at 13.6v.

 

[spasm3]

Biggest battery that will fit , with the lowest cca you can get away with.