Not happy with Autocraft Gold...

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For many vehicles I believe an AGM battery IS NOT a good thing.

There's something about how the battery takes a charge or how the vehicle's electronics need to be of the type tailored to AGM's.

Sorry I can't verify this or cite my source.
 
I've been recommending the $50 walmart special of late. They have a 1 year warranty but seem to last around 2 years from what I have seen. So dollar to dollar they seem to be the best bang for the buck. That is if you can change yourself and do not live in a really cold area.
 
Originally Posted by Kira
For many vehicles I believe an AGM battery IS NOT a good thing.

There's something about how the battery takes a charge or how the vehicle's electronics need to be of the type tailored to AGM's.

Sorry I can't verify this or cite my source.

I have read about that as well, but have not researched into detail about it (something about AMG requiring a higher (or was it lower) charge rate than flooded.
Need to read into it more since I really am thinking about an AGM for my Santa Fe in a few years. If not, I will be getting a DEKA made for it.

Originally Posted by Jimzz
I've been recommending the $50 walmart special of late. They have a 1 year warranty but seem to last around 2 years from what I have seen. So dollar to dollar they seem to be the best bang for the buck. That is if you can change yourself and do not live in a really cold area.

I tried one of those on my truck, got 16 months out of it. Took a gamble and lost (well, I got my year and a little more). Not planning on doing it again, bought a Everstart Maxx for it as well.
 
My experience with (N)everstart has been with motorcycle batteries and they were not good ones. Are the auto batteries actually better than Interstate, etc.?
 
Originally Posted by bbhero
Keep in mind the following...

1) Biggest issue .. how long that battery may have sat on the shelf prior to you buying it. And that a regular flooded battery loses 5-12 percent of it's charge per month just sitting there... That kills battery capacity and longevity. Always check that date of manufacture.

2) Newer vehicles do not fully charge a battery... They in fact tend to keep a battery at or around 80-85 percent of full charge. Saving gas mileage by not charging the battery while driving down the road. Add to that fun stuff.... Newer Vehicles as compared to older vehicles have so much more draw on the battery while just sitting there... Security, ECM functions etc etc... And 50 milliamps per hour do add up over time... Especially when the cars alternator is.not programmed to truly charge that battery.



This ^^^, possibly. Is her car a newer vehicle?

I know this slaps "bitog" all over my polo shirt, but I just installed a 50W PV panel on the shell of my truck, specifically because I've consistently measured the battery as incompletely charged. I've gone outside a few times to watch it - and it reaches 13.7V (the controller's set point) after about 5 hours of full sun, every day. It pushes .9 amps in cool, full sun, and then rolls off with less current after that.

Even with the oversized battery (H8 in an H6 application), it spins faster. Battery is over 3 years old, when the PV was added. It'll be neat to see if it makes a difference, or if heat remains the bigger factor in aging.

We had an AAP gold quit right inside of warranty, and a silver quit right outside of warranty. Switched to JCI AGMs across the street at AZ, but also just warrantied a 2 year old AGM after it tested weak. It was 6mo old when we bought it, being the only one in stock. There's a lot changing and too many variables to just draw a simple conclusion.

-m
 
Originally Posted by meep

This ^^^, possibly. Is her car a newer vehicle?

...

Depends on your definition of newer, it is a 2012 Scion xB.
Nothing all that fancy on it.
OEM battery lasted from 12/2012 (we bought the vehicle straight off the deliver truck on 12/28/2012, battery was a month old by the date code I decipered off it) and it lasted right at 4 years.
This one lasted 1 year less.

As I said, I top off charge all my vehicles every 4-6 months, and none ever test low when I check them.
This one gave no indication of its upcoming death.
 
My car is older a 2008... Yet it does not charge the battery like old school alternators used too... It does have typical ECM stuff and security running while I am not in the car... Bet your daughters vehicle was and is just like mine. Thus is keeps battery less than ideally charged and draws on the battery all the time to varying degrees.

I do believe it was cruddy that the battery died as soon as it did... Especially being a group 24f.
 
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Originally Posted by blupupher
Originally Posted by meep

This ^^^, possibly. Is her car a newer vehicle?

...


... This one lasted 1 year less. ...




Yeah- that's not a charge deficiency - that's just a bad battery.
 
Originally Posted by Donald
Walmart has a couple of suppliers for the WM Everstart. Probably by a large geographic area.

The WM Everstart made by East Penn has a serial number that starts with EP. If its not a East Penn WM Everstart I would pass.


I keep hearing East Penn is better than Johnson Controls. But it is not always the case.

Especially when you have good warranty at Walmart and Costco.
 
Ahh East Penn batteries that are AGM have a 4 yr Free replacement warranty through Batteries Plus Bulbs.... And in many instances the batteries at Costco are Duracell aka made by East Penn... And in fact all of the Walmart stores near me all of the batteries are made by East Penn.. and the AGM batteries sold there have a 5 year free replacement warranty...
 
What is the vehicle and what group size battery? There's a few vehicles that tend to eat batteries in about 3 or so years no matter what you put in.
 
Originally Posted by Chris142
Originally Posted by FA_WRX
Project Farm just did a battery test on his YouTube channel. The WM everstart for thr price looked like a real contender.

He didn't mention how fast those batteries corroded up the terminals. I hate corroded terminals.

The accelerated corrosion is due to gas leaks around the post. Poor seals and case design allow the hydrogen to slip on out.
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I'm starting year number 4 on mine. I bought it in December 2016, still rocking it December 2019.

Originally Posted by Jimzz
I've been recommending the $50 walmart special of late. They have a 1 year warranty but seem to last around 2 years from what I have seen. So dollar to dollar they seem to be the best bang for the buck. That is if you can change yourself and do not live in a really cold area.
 
Originally Posted by javacontour
I'm starting year number 4 on mine. I bought it in December 2016, still rocking it December 2019.

Originally Posted by Jimzz
I've been recommending the $50 walmart special of late. They have a 1 year warranty but seem to last around 2 years from what I have seen. So dollar to dollar they seem to be the best bang for the buck. That is if you can change yourself and do not live in a really cold area.




What size ?? And what manufacturer ??

East Penn Valuepower batteries at Walmart in the group 24f size are actually their mid level battery... The 624fmf battery. Which has a 3 year free replacement warranty from Federated Auto parts... Or a 2 year free replacement warranty from O Reilly's... Now.. that is getting a lot of value for little money.
 
Group 65 for the 99 Mercury Grand Marquis

I believe it's a Johnson Controls battery. The car is only driven about 5k miles / year, so it sits quite a bit. Driven a few times a week.

I throw the battery charger on it a few times a year, when I think about it. Usually when I'm doing an oil change on one of the other cars.

I think I posted the video of it starting the car back in January of this year when it was something like -5 out.





Originally Posted by bbhero



What size ?? And what manufacturer ??

East Penn Valuepower batteries at Walmart in the group 24f size are actually their mid level battery... The 624fmf battery. Which has a 3 year free replacement warranty from Federated Auto parts... Or a 2 year free replacement warranty from O Reilly's... Now.. that is getting a lot of value for little money.
 
Well that makes sense... A group 65 is a hoss of a battery... The one from O Reilly's Superstart one has 850 CCA and 150 minutes of reserve capacity
shocked2.gif


That is quite a tough battery.. and the one you have is likely a decent one that has been charged and cared for. So it makes sense it is still kicking around going in 4 years.
 
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