Best battery, opinons and experiences, please
- Thread starter cousincletus
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Take your time looking over the batteries. I see now that most places put a small sticker on the side that has the date the battery was made (or maybe inspected).
I was in autozone, and looked at two identical batteries with date stickers 6 months different (one was one month old). The sales guy got really annoyed when I pointed it out to him.
I'm amazed how many people have never seem them, I wonder if the sales people pull them off when someone goes to buy one. In the past I'd just walk in to a parts store and ask for a battery - so I never saw these stickers until I started poking around the battery selves.
I was in autozone, and looked at two identical batteries with date stickers 6 months different (one was one month old). The sales guy got really annoyed when I pointed it out to him.
I'm amazed how many people have never seem them, I wonder if the sales people pull them off when someone goes to buy one. In the past I'd just walk in to a parts store and ask for a battery - so I never saw these stickers until I started poking around the battery selves.
To Brandon, I would watch out for chargers like these because my brother has a similar type where he can switch between the 6A and 2A rating. These chargers work on slowly tapering the current off as the battery nears the 14.40V state at which it is considered to be fully charged. His charger puts out only 13.57V at the 2A setting undercharging the battery, at the 6A settings the output is 15.77V which overcharges the battery. I do not know personally about this particular charger, but make sure that is will cut out at the 14.40v rate.
I personally have the Yuasa 1.5A charger which I have verified that it supplies a constant current of 1.5A up to the 14.40V when it cuts off. Mine actually cuts off at the 14.32V stage, but that is more than close enough.
The slow charge takes care of a couple of things, it gives the plates ample time to convert SO4 back to active electrolyte, and ensures that if a battery has been partially charged thus creating higher internal resistance, that it will not generate heat which will further corrode the plates.
I personally have an Exide Orbital similar to your Optima, even though many here say that regular Exides are very bad this one (manufactured in Spain) just keeps going and going (6 years). Had it discharged several tiles to 0, just a couple of weeks ago I left my console light on for the entire 3 day weekend and the car fired right back up without any problems. I have used the 1.5A charger to bring it back to life, took as much as 2 days of continuous charging at 1.5A to bring it back to life.
If I cannot take a battery out of the car I simply hook up the charger over night and let it run. If in the morning I do not have a full battery charge I repeat the same process the next night until the charger states that a battery is at full charge.
Your situation: start the engine, alternator sends a high current to the battery, the plates which have some SO4 crystals (undercharged battery) create internal resistance which causes the voltage on the battery jump to 14.40V, alternator thinks that the battery is charged and tapers off the voltage not knowing that the battery is undercharged. Not all the SO4 crystals are converted back to active electrolyte, SO4 crystals harden over time causing even greater internal resistance, higher internal resistance will cause further undercharging and generate more heat under high current which will damage the plates.
If SO4 crystals are allowed to harden (discharged state for a long time) they expand by nature, they force the plate to expand as well and since the plate it pressed into a battery under pressure to avoid vibration the plate starts to buckle shedding off these crystals which cannot be converted back to H2SO4. Then eventually undercharged battery + high internal resistance (low current flow) + damaged plates will cause harder + slower starts.
I personally have the Yuasa 1.5A charger which I have verified that it supplies a constant current of 1.5A up to the 14.40V when it cuts off. Mine actually cuts off at the 14.32V stage, but that is more than close enough.
The slow charge takes care of a couple of things, it gives the plates ample time to convert SO4 back to active electrolyte, and ensures that if a battery has been partially charged thus creating higher internal resistance, that it will not generate heat which will further corrode the plates.
I personally have an Exide Orbital similar to your Optima, even though many here say that regular Exides are very bad this one (manufactured in Spain) just keeps going and going (6 years). Had it discharged several tiles to 0, just a couple of weeks ago I left my console light on for the entire 3 day weekend and the car fired right back up without any problems. I have used the 1.5A charger to bring it back to life, took as much as 2 days of continuous charging at 1.5A to bring it back to life.
If I cannot take a battery out of the car I simply hook up the charger over night and let it run. If in the morning I do not have a full battery charge I repeat the same process the next night until the charger states that a battery is at full charge.
Your situation: start the engine, alternator sends a high current to the battery, the plates which have some SO4 crystals (undercharged battery) create internal resistance which causes the voltage on the battery jump to 14.40V, alternator thinks that the battery is charged and tapers off the voltage not knowing that the battery is undercharged. Not all the SO4 crystals are converted back to active electrolyte, SO4 crystals harden over time causing even greater internal resistance, higher internal resistance will cause further undercharging and generate more heat under high current which will damage the plates.
If SO4 crystals are allowed to harden (discharged state for a long time) they expand by nature, they force the plate to expand as well and since the plate it pressed into a battery under pressure to avoid vibration the plate starts to buckle shedding off these crystals which cannot be converted back to H2SO4. Then eventually undercharged battery + high internal resistance (low current flow) + damaged plates will cause harder + slower starts.
Wow, excellent info. I am dropping off my Jeep at my mechanic tomorrow morning and I will make sure I tell him to slowly charge (1.5A) the battery up to 14.4v as well.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Walmart Green batteries are rated as best battery /best buy , consumer reports. That's as it was 3 years ago when tested by them. I run them in every thing i own including my garden tractor. They last for years. Never have had a bad one.Reguardless what you buy always check the manufacture date on the battery you go to buy. You would be surprised how often a battery does not get rotated in stock and this does include walmart right at the top of the list. They sulphate right on the shelf.
Link doesn't work for me.
Well, I got my Jeep back from my mechanic. He load tested my Optima Redtop and it basically went dead. I decided to replace the battery with a brand new one instead of trying to slowly recharge the Optima since it's over 4 years old. Yes, I probably could have tried recharging it and then see how it plays out but I didn't want to take the chance because of the age of the battery (even though it's an Optima and it's supposed to last longer) and especially that winter is around the corner. He installed a new Interstate Megatron(875 CA \ 700 CCA) for $78.00. Jeep starts like new again. I also had the Crank Position Sensor replaced for preventive maintenance (original had 112K miles). Will probably replace the IAC next.
That Megatron will probably last longer than the Optima.
I went thru 3 Exide Batterys years ago in my Jeep CJ7. They each lasted about a year and then went bad and needed replacement. The 4th Battery I decided to stick an AC Delco in there and that battery has been in there for 6 years with no trouble. What I think happened was that I always bought the 900-1000CCA batterys and they give you weaker cell plates and all the Jeep's vibrations and bouncing did the batterys in. The Delco battery was a 650CCA and proved itself as all the battery I need. It was a 60 month battery. As for my Jeep Cherokee (2000 Limited) I replaced it's battery 2 years ago with a Sears Diehard (I think 800CCA) and it's been good for the past 3 years. My other vehicles (06 Sierra Denali Crewcab and 1994 Corvette) all have AC Delcos in them with no issues. Replaced the Corvette's with another Delco for originality last year - so the orig battery lasted 10 yrs.
Yeah, for me I'm also going back to using a conventional battery. I went for the Optima last time because I liked the idea that it's sealed, maintenance free and you can install it in any position. I thought I would get at least 6 years out of it. For the price I paid ($129) it's really not worth it for me. Hopefully this Interstate Megatron will last longer. My original Mopar battery that came with my Jeep lasted 5 years and probably could have lasted longer but I decided to replace it the minute I started having longer crank times during winter. So really the Optima did not last as long as the original Mopar.
Dang near any battery that Johnson Controls puts out is going to last a long time. My original Motorcraft battery lasted 8 or so years before I replaced it with a Wally World Everstart Maxx.
Buy a Interstate battery.They are made by Johnson Controls.I had one in my Powerstroke Diesel.Joe
ive been using an AC delco for 4 years now, no problems at all
Read this month's Consumer Reports for a full report on auto batteries.
That's a little known fact.
Johnson Controls bought out the automotive battery operations of Hoppecke, Varta, Bosch, Grupo IMSA and Delphi. They make Interstate, most Diehard, Optima, and numerous store brands.
Exide makes GNB-Champion, Orbital, Nascar, Eveready, and numerous store brands.
East Penn makes the Carquest batteries as well as Deka.
Go off-shore and you find several additional companies. If you look into deep cycle, power supply, and power equipment batteries you turn up a few more.
The safety and pollution problems of dealing with lead in manufacturing and the foreign competition have left darned few American battery companies, and Johnson Controls have a lot of their manufacturing in Mexico.
Exide absorbed
The Interstate 'Megatron Police' battery in the older car ended up weeping too much acid for my taste, so I replaced it at around 7 years of life. Since an Optima red cost about the same I bought one of those to try it out. Great battery, when you drive down the road you hear Led Zepplin playing, good looking women are always making passes, I win at blackjack all the time now.... :^)
The OEM battery is still holding up in the 99 Taurus, just needs a bit of water once in awhile, and when it goes I'll put the Optima in it and probably get a Costco group 65 battery for the older Taurus.
For the truck I'll get something robust when it needs it, as the diesel can be hard on the thinner plates in the higher output batteries.
The OEM battery is still holding up in the 99 Taurus, just needs a bit of water once in awhile, and when it goes I'll put the Optima in it and probably get a Costco group 65 battery for the older Taurus.
For the truck I'll get something robust when it needs it, as the diesel can be hard on the thinner plates in the higher output batteries.
I don't see the need for some of the overly priced fancy batteries. Some are not as good as the hype. I've also seen the pretty 'colored' tops not last too long at all.
I'll second the Motorcraft. Changed a tired(7 year old) Motorcraft battery and tossed it into another car for 2 years(smaller engine). That Motorcraft battery was one of the longest lasting batteries that I've ever owned.
Currently using a couple of $30 walmart batteries. Both are approaching 3 years old, without any issues. They have no problem jumpstarting anyone.
My favorites are the Interstate Megatrons and Diehard Golds. I've never seen either strand anyone. But, at the time of my last battery purchase, co$t was the determining factor and also had to consider the 'life' of the vehicle.
I do recommend that anyone buying a battery look at the manufacture date. Do not buy a dusty old batteries that been sitting around forever. Match the batteries to your weather. When you buy online, you never know what you are getting.
If you don't drive much, get a battery tender. If you don't want to run an extension cord, use one of the solar trickle chargers.
I'll second the Motorcraft. Changed a tired(7 year old) Motorcraft battery and tossed it into another car for 2 years(smaller engine). That Motorcraft battery was one of the longest lasting batteries that I've ever owned.
Currently using a couple of $30 walmart batteries. Both are approaching 3 years old, without any issues. They have no problem jumpstarting anyone.
My favorites are the Interstate Megatrons and Diehard Golds. I've never seen either strand anyone. But, at the time of my last battery purchase, co$t was the determining factor and also had to consider the 'life' of the vehicle.
I do recommend that anyone buying a battery look at the manufacture date. Do not buy a dusty old batteries that been sitting around forever. Match the batteries to your weather. When you buy online, you never know what you are getting.
If you don't drive much, get a battery tender. If you don't want to run an extension cord, use one of the solar trickle chargers.
I had an Auto-Zone battery that lasted 6 years and 3 months in my '90 Sunbird. It finally went bad two weeks ago. I went and bought another one buddy! It had an 8 year pro-rated warranty, so I was able to get the new one for about 59 bucks or so!
I was forced to buy a Wal-Mart battery for my wife's GTP. It died on a Sunday night, and Wal-Mart was the only thing open of course. She had to have her car the next day, so I had no choice. I got the MAXX version, which is a heck of a deal for 59 bucks. I hate Wally-World,but at least they're all over the country. No problem finding a replacement if needed.
I'm working on 4 years on the Oreilly Super Start battery in my Formula. The original Delco lasted 8 years!
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