The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Today’s automotive batteries

Bought a new 12 volt battery about 10 months ago from one of the national parts distributors. The application does not get regular use, maybe once a month. Stays on a battery maintainer when sitting. It’s always been slow cranking since I put it in. The vehicle is a very easy start. This morning it wouldn’t even light up the dash when I turned the key to on. Pulled the battery charger out and after hooking it up it showed a internal short in the battery. So, off to the parts store to drop a chunk of change on a new battery. To my surprise the store manager didn’t even question me about usage or application just walked to the battery rack and gave me a new battery. Entered my phone number and said thanks you’re good to go. No $ and out the door. I guess it does pay to be a regular customer.

I’ve had really good luck dealing with a local “battery specialist” type of shop. They are just as likely to test and tell you things are ok as they are to just sell you a new battery. The batteries aren’t name brand, but price is fair, and I’ve had them last just as long as any other.

My Dad is very brand-loyal to Interstate. I’m too cheap to try one.

I've found that some battery maintainers can definitely cause problems. I've ruined a couple of motorcycle batteries by keeping them on a pretty sophisticated Schumacher battery tender 24/7. Now I hook up the tender once every couple of weeks for a day or two at a time instead of trusting the "automatic" shutoff to work when it senses a full charge situation.
Jerry

When we used Interstate on the fleet, we rarely had any problems. Nowadays, we use some Fleet Pride, some AC Delco and mostly Motorcraft. I make sure the shelf is stocked because we go through them.

.....believer it or not. Sometime ago, maybe a year, Consumer Reports did ratings on batteries, and listed how they did it, and believe it or not Wal Mart was the best buy.(but maybe not for YOUR application) I bought and ran a couple of them and they have lasted well......and you can usually find a wally world if needed after the regular parts store has closed.

.....I've ran Diehard's in my 37 for years and have stayed with them. Now they are carried by Advance Auto. Lucky me I get a discount there so Diehards are still in my 37.

I've had really good luck with "cheap" batteries in my vic's that don't get used much. The last one I swapped out was either 7 or 9 years old... it was a one year Wally mart battery that my father put in his coupe.

I’ve used an expensive tender/charger manufactured by Battery Minder on 12V aircraft gell cell batteries and they have passed the annual 1+ hour rating load tests (30 amp hour battery gets a 30 amp load put on it until it discharges to a min specified voltage) every year for 7 years. The tender has a de-sulfating system that intermittently sends an AC pulse through the battery. Gell cells/glass mat are the way to go, and a de-sulfuring charger will keep the battery healthy for years.. older style wet batteries vent far too much corrosive gas while on a battery tender and eat up the sheet metal…

As HRL mentioned above, some tenders will screw batteries up. I had one that was charging the battery to 14.9 volts- not good!

You used to be able to buy "85 month" batteries that would actually last 7+ years with normal use and without being on a maintainer.

Today it seems you're lucky to get 2 or 3 years out of them. I've read where industry people claim the shortened lifespan of modern batteries is due to the huge amount of electrical accessories found on modern vehicles. The batteries, they say, are the same as they've always been but are just being asked to do more than they used to.

That excuse sounds plausible until you look at someone like me who owns and drives no modern vehicles. The newest vehicle in the fleet is 43 years old. Absolutely no modern batteries in any of my vehicles will last more than a few years unless they're on a maintainer. That pretty much puts the lie to the industry's claim that battery life is shortened because modern cars overtax the battery.

I keep all my vehicles on Battery Tenders since 2019. So far , so good.

As a side note, my mom has a friend with a 1957 Thunderbird that has a battery purchased in 1993. It's been on a Battery Tender since new and never gives him trouble.

As for maintainers, my mom keeps her three vehicles and a tractor on battery maintainers. Two of her Shumacher maintainers have failed in just a couple years while the Battery Tenders soldier on. The dead Shumachers have been replaced with Battery Tenders. Battery Tenders are guaranteed for 10 years.

This is just my own anecdotal experience. Your mileage may vary.

The people who tout the "blame the accessories" idea should visit my place and spend a little time talking to my garden- - - - -it would save me a fortune in fertilizer! A battery does two things- - - -crank the engine and power the fuel pump and the ignition system for a few seconds until the alternator kicks in. After that, the battery is nothing but a shock absorber- - - -the alternator is carrying the load of running the vehicle, powering all those accessories, and using whatever capacity it has left over to replenish the surge current the battery lost on startup. Battery manufacturers are simply doing what every other maker of automobiles, appliances, computers, and even houses are doing- - - -providing the bare minumum they can get away with for the shortest period of time their customers will tolerate, and charging whatever the market will bear for the least possible return.
Jerry

I must be lucky. Bought a new battery when I bought the truck in 2002, cheapest 6 volt Advance Auto had. Had to replace it several years ago, still running today. Sometimes sits a couple months or more in the basement in the wintertime without being started or charged, always starts right up.

The battery on my 2010 Sierra pickup is still going strong after 12 years. I have taken 6 week vacations and it starts up right away - no battery tender used.

The new cars have a built in battery monitor. Funny story about that. A nice lady I worked with bought a new VW. A few months later...

"The battery in my new car died"
"What? It's only a few months old"
"Well, the dealer told me that it has automatic headlights so I don't have to touch the light switch. They seemed to be working automatically but the dealer says I killed the battery"

She had the switch in the ON position when it should have been in the AUTOMATIC position. The battery monitor shut the lights off leaving just enough charge to start the engine. After a few months of this abuse, it croaked.

I use Walmart batteries and think about installing new ones about every 5-7 years. Cheap starting insurance when the temp gets -10 or lower. I have a disconnect switch if I am gone for a few months or so. When I have forgotten to disconnect, it still starts instantly.

I use them in 2 trucks, a car, boat, camper and CPAP backup.