The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Battery replacement

Getting close to needing to replace a 72 month old battery. In checking the FLAPS used before and subsequently their competitors I'm finding none apparently sell a 72 month warranty battery anymore. But, they all are happy to sell one with half or less the warranty coverage for the same and often more money paid before.

Silly me, I thought battery technology was or has been improving.

So now the questions: What are you guys using lately? Cost? Warranty?

I am excluding Optima from my search because I want to stay close to original appearance.

Thanks in advance.

6v or 12v

What year/make/size truck?

Original appearance would be a "soft" top (poly-tar) and screw-in fillers?

This is a 12 volt. It's for a '37 Chevy 1/2 ton.

The battery to be replaced will apparently fit 12 volt Chevy trucks up to 1972, based on the FLAPS part number and application.

Guess nobody here has bought a new battery lately, regardless of year application?

Maybe no one has a recommendation for what you asked-for:
"I want to stay close to original appearance."

12v and original appearance.
Original appearance would be a "soft" top (poly-tar) and screw-in fillers?

Do you want original appearance 12v "soft" top (poly-tar) and screw-in fillers?

Not necessarily. Just prefer not to have the rows of cylinders or side mount type cables. But, given the bit of searching done so far and the apparent industry new mindset with cost and warranty, I likely need to reconsider and be more open minded.

I can relate to your hesitation. I plan on going with an Optima because I hear they have the best batteries and using better technology. I cannot prove this. What they need to make is a battery cover that has three fill holes and has Delco on it.

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/battery-topper
http://www.tartopper.com/
http://www.batterytoppers.com/products/

vintage battery cover

There you go! Cool! Even though I remember when batteries used to cost that, for a nice 37 like yours that may be the answer?

Wow!
Had no idea these covers were out there. Thanks!

Now, if there is a solution to the warranty, now 36 months or less vs the 72 months offered as recently as 2010 at an inflation adjusted similar cost I'd be smilin. But, as indicated earlier the FLAPS majors and others checked so far, all charge about $100 and only offer 36 months or less for a warranty.

If they changed it, one could speculate they took a real bath on the warranty. I feel your pain. I go to the local Tractor Supply to get a 6 volt battery since nobody else carries them around here, and the max warranty they offer is two years. So because I dont drive my 6v trucks but a few times a year, I get about 6-8 trips around town out of them. And sure enough, almost to the month, the battery lasts two years! I could get an 8v Tractor Battery for 3 years! Im sorry to say, there probably is no solution to the warranty.

The changes in battery warrantees is an industry wide phenomenon. It's pretty much what Deve has stated, it's to cut down on warrantee claims. Basically, you get the "free replacement" part of the warrantee, and that's it. Most of the problem is the cost of the batteries in the first place. In order to make a profit, they had to cut the warrantees down to eliminate losses from replacing batteries.

I recently bought an externally blemished Interstate battery from the local Interstate store for $45 plus the core. All black, no logo or writing on the outside of the battery. Either top posts or side terminals were available.
Only a 6 month warranty but the guy said it would last as long as a non blem one. I'll report back on how long it actually lasts..

Thanks guys!

There is a place not far away that sells blemished batteries, I'd forgotten about. I need to look into that option. That and one of the covers mentioned above could be the way to go.

Blain's Farm & Fleet, it's only a 6v but was installed in
October 2008 and used to, well lets just say----- it's still
taking a licking and keeps on ticking!

Just took some voltage readings that were posted for a recent
thread:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/160427600

dg

I just bought a 850 CCA Interstate battery from Costco and it has a 36 mos. warranty. Guy said that if anything went wrong with it in the warranty period they would replace it with a new one no questions asked. It's a replacement warranty and not a pro-rated one like all the manufacturers used to offer. I'm pleased.

That is worth checking into at Costco---thanks.
I'll find out how many replacements are covered; I'm sure there is a set limit of replacements you can get.

Brad

Our Interstate Batteries rep has been telling us for the past year or so that warranties on batteries are going away. Large-draw electronics being the chief culprit on today's cars.

Not to scare anybody, but the mileage warranties on tires have changed recently too...

I think it has to do with regulation being on the forefront. Companies like VW, etc, can no longer survive hornswaggling, flimflamming and hoodwinking the normally completely unaware government. Now they have to be government honest. (what does that mean in the day of lobbyists?) The problem with that is, who is watching the government who creates nothing and doesnt have a clue what goes into technology. Its litigation that is influencing these decisions. These companies can't afford to be sued at every whim. I don't blame them. It doesnt change the quality of the battery. Interstate has been a mainstay for me here in Kansas. Great batteries. I am looking at Optima for my old trucks. I wont go with unknown brands. There are two reasons they are unknown, one is they just haven't caught on yet. The other is they HAVE caught on.

Most batteries on the market are manufactured by only a few companies, regardless whose name is on them. Johnson Controls Inc. and Exide are the two big players, with Johnson Controls being the top dog. JCI produces batteries for Autozone, O'Reillys, Advance Auto, Wal-Mart, Sears, Interstate, AC Delco, plus oem batteries for the Big 3. They also own Optima. Exide makes TSC and Napa. Pretty much all lead/acid battery manufacturing has moved to Mexico, due to EPA regulations, though some specialty batteries are being made in the US again (Optima, Enersys).

It's been the same way with tires for a long time. Back in the early 1980's when I worked as a curing press maintenance man for Armstrong Rubber in Madison Tennessee, we made 5 or 6 different brands of tires from the same molds, same rubber compounds etc. by simply switching labels in the molds. The "house brand" tires for Western Auto, some Sears models, and several others were all identical. "The names have been changed to protect the guilty"!

China seems to be the primary source for tires these days, particularly for big truck tires.
Jerry

46Sparky, I switch sometime ago to Sears Die Hard for my '37 and have never looked back. Watch for them on sale. I have also "ask" for a discount vs buying one somewhere else and the manager has given me a discount.
Oh, the warrantee on the ones I got are for 100 months. I have forgotten about the free replacement but I think its at least 3 maybe 4 years.
I got tired of taking the other Flaps batteries back.

...by the way, sometime ago K-Mart carried the AC DELCO batteries. Do they still carry them? I used them for a long time without any sad results.

The warrantee on the Diehard has changed. They'll still honor it for batteries purchased before the change, but now it's just the 3 year replacement. As far as the battery itself, it's the same thing anyone else carrying JCI made batteries are, just more expensive. As much as I hate to say this, Wal-Mart has the best price, and it's the same thing as the Die Hard, just a different color case and a different sticker.
Most K-Mart stores no longer carry batteries, they refer anyone wanting batteries to the nearest Sears store.