Life of a battery

[gadfly56]

And don't forget the trick of shaking the battery (hard to do when ya get old <G>) and emptying the acid into a plastic tub.

Let the crud settle out overnight, refill and charge. Good for another year sometimes, sometimes all it does is eat hole in your jeans :lol:

Where in the world are you finding non-sealed batteries??? :?

 

[JFletcher]

Here's another maybe helpful tip on getting a battery:

If you have a small car, like a 3-4 cylinder, 1.5L or less engine, a riding mower battery can start it. I've seen lawn and garden batteries for riding mowers as cheap as $20 brand new... far better than $90+ for a car battery if money is super tight. I had a case last year where I yanked the old (5+ years) battery out of my riding mower and started a friend's 90 Mercury Tracer station wagon (1.9L) with it. He drove it to the gas station and bank before the auto store to get a real battery... 3 starts on it. Dunno if it could have done that dead of winter, or if it would last year after year, but it worked.

 

[cpinetree]

Strange things happen with newer vehicles when the battery starts to go bad / needs to be replaced.

Took my 2008 CRV to our mechanic, the AC wasn't working, he checked a few things, said you need a new battery.

I looked at him like he had three heads, but he is great at diagnostic and electrical issues.
I replaced the battery and the AC worked.

Not sure of his exact wording, but he tells me that newer vehicles often have something tied into the battery circuit to give warning that failure is imminent. The boss told me his radio stops working when the battery needs to be replaced.

 

[FionaZuppa]

Where in the world are you finding non-sealed batteries??? :?

all around the World there are maintenance style LA's

most car batts today are sealed LA's and of AGM type, some may be GEL. but this doesnt stop anyone from buying the less $$ maintenance type LA batt for use as a car batt.

research "best battery" :- )

(saw oddesy and others)

if you look harder you'll see there are only a few batt makers here in US.
Odyssy

i always recommend Interstate AGM. they have proven to be workhorse batts in the brutal AZ heat.

but as noted earlier, batts are only as good as the charging (and discharging) system. a bumb batt always means to test alternator too.

 

[gadfly56]

all around the World there are maintenance style LA's

most car batts today are sealed LA's and of AGM type, some may be GEL. but this doesnt stop anyone from buying the less $$ maintenance type LA batt for use as a car batt.

I suppose I might have been more specific as in "Where in the US are you finding non-sealed LA batteries?" I don't think I've seen them on the shelf in 20 years or so. Maybe I'm not paying attention.

 

[FionaZuppa]

I suppose I might have been more specific as in "Where in the US are you finding non-sealed LA batteries?" I don't think I've seen them on the shelf in 20 years or so. Maybe I'm not paying attention.

wall marty, but i would not buy these (or any wall marty brand batt) for longevity/reliability reasons, unless you are on the verge of selling the vehicle and wish to say "just installed new battery".

 

[gadfly56]

wall marty, but i would not buy these (or any wall marty brand batt) for longevity/reliability reasons, unless you are on the verge of selling the vehicle and wish to say "just installed new battery".

Well, I guess the hydrometer sitting on my tool bench isn't entirely useless after all!

 

[Tony S]

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_the_lead_acid_battery

 

[FionaZuppa]

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_the_lead_acid_battery

good info.
but most of that goes out the window when you put batt in car. vehicle batt charging is getting better, but still far away from say my MinnKota MK220PC "smart" charger for keeping my LA's charged (not in car batts). car batt system is crude and disposable, batts are maintenance items like brake pads.

 

[GoldDigger]

all around the World there are maintenance style LA's

most car batts today are sealed LA's and of AGM type, some may be GEL. but this doesnt stop anyone from buying the less $$ maintenance type LA batt for use as a car batt.

Odd. My experience is that except for specialty vehicles like Prius the 12V lead acid batteries are of the "maintenance free" type. They have hard to remove flush vent caps and extra electrolyte volume above the plates, but are not truly sealed batteries like AGM. Odyssey batteries are an exception.
GEL type batteries are not really suited for automotive use because of their strictly limited charging rate.



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[FionaZuppa]

Odd. My experience is that except for specialty vehicles like Prius the 12V lead acid batteries are of the "maintenance free" type. They have hard to remove flush vent caps and extra electrolyte volume above the plates, but are not truly sealed batteries like AGM. Odyssey batteries are an exception.
GEL type batteries are not really suited for automotive use because of their strictly limited charging rate.



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what comes with and what you can buy as COTS, two different things.
cheers.