Lumpy

My Dad had a 1976 Datsun 610 wagon that died in 91 with the original battery. I guess that it would make it 15yrs old.



His was yellow though. Good running little car.

.

peow130

I think the battery in our boat is original from 1991.
Though i could be wrong.

Matt90V6SR5

Interesting stories guys.I agree optima has gone down hill recently,thats why I went with diehard.Always had good luck with them.Platinum came with 48 months full warranty + 52 months pro-rated,I can live with that for 189$.

camo31_10.50

well since im cheap bastard i buy everstart...and honestly they have been ok for my family..lol

we've had some of their deep cycle boat batteries last as much as 12yrs...or as little as 6months..i believe all batteries nowadays are going to crap...i was lucky enough to get a brand spankin new battery in the runner when i bought it...LOL

crafthorse

My GMC I sold recently that was driven once every couple of weeks had a Autozone Battery (dont remember brand) that was 9 years old. It would crank with authority, and did so when I sold it in Febuary.

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

I picked up a pair of Odyssey batteries for my 4Runner in '97 and recently swapped them out for some new ones and the old ones are still going strong hooked to a solar panel and running a heating fan in my house.

turborich

Out here in the dessert we get about 3, maybe 4 years out of a car battery & that's it. I have NEVER heard of a battery lasting 12 years.

UCBearcat47

I've got a 98 and just last night was the first time I couldn't start the car and had to jump it. Tried convincing my dad it was the original battery and he wouldnt believe me and told me they dont last that long. But it sure is the panasonic with the blue ring maintenance. Im looking at the duralast gold because the price - ratings seems like the best deal

Forgot to mention that it has 145K miles as well.

Black_1985_SR5

iTrader: (1)

my 70 gmc has the motorcraft battery out that came from my moms 02 (got it sept 01) mustang that she wrecked in 05 and its still going strong nine years later and for the last year or so ive only started and ran the gmc every couple months and only at idle for a little while

Lukifer

I had 10 years on my last red top when i sold the truck. never had any issues with it.

Anytime I had any issues with the starter or alternator the shop that looked at it said to replace the red top and I told them to find the problem because I knew it was not the battery :-)

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

I used to hear stories of long battery life 20 and 30 years ago.

In that time vehicles have more and more electrical drain way back when you had starting a very simple ignition system, wipers ,blower motor ,radio and lights if it was really a luxury AC

Have battery makers skimped on materials to try and hold costs down maybe

sb5walker

Battery plates used to be solid metal, but it was discovered that making a plate like a sponge increased surface area and therefore greatly increased the amps you could get out of a given weight of metal. So manufacturers could save money by using less lead, plus the batteries weighed less and so less shipping costs. Now starting batteries have more and thinner plates, all of which are like metal sponges. Gives very high CCA (cold cranking amps) which seems to be what people base their buying decisions on these days. Problem is, that style of plate is somewhat thin and delicate, making it much more vulnerable to corrosion and breakdown - so they don't last as long.

Deep cycle batteries tend to have the thicker, solid, old-style plates. They have more potential amp hours in them, but the amp hours are not available all at once (like they are with starting batteries). When current flows, the electrons flow from the surface of the plate into the electrolyte, causing the voltage of the battery to drop, then it takes time for electrons to migrate from within the center of the plate material to the surface, where they can then provide more current. The same happens in reverse when charging: very quickly the surface of the plates become saturated and the voltage of the battery rises, providing resistance to the charging current. But in time the electrons migrate back into the center of the plate, and the voltage of the battery drops again. That's why deep cycle batts provide less cranking amps, require more time to charge, and cannot take as high amperage charging current as starting batteries of the same size. But thick, solid plate deep cycle batteries will last longer than the thin, porous plate starting batteries. (It IS possible to get high cranking amps from a deep cycle battery, but you need one considerably bigger and heavier than a starting type battery with the same amp rating.)

There are a couple great new features available on batteries that give much better performance and life: AGM construction (absorbed glass mat) and the use of a catalyst in a sealed lead acid battery that recombines the hydrogen and oxygen gasses formed by charging, back into the electrolyte so that virtually no water is lost. That's called VRLA (valve-regulated lead acid). Both of these were developed for very long life deep cycle batteries, but the AGM construction also happens to make a battery much more tolerant of shock and vibration, which of course is great for a vehicle battery.

AGM and VRLA can add a lot to the cost of a battery, but there are two brands that provide them for much less than the ones sold for solar, industrial or marine applications. Those are the Odyssey batteries and the DieHard Platinum (which, according to some, are rebranded Odysseys). Another AGM battery on the market is not recommended: the Optimas, which come in three styles, ranging from thin, porous starting-style plates (red top) to thick, solid deep cycle plates (some of the blue tops), and the yellow top is midway between, a compromise between the high CCA/lower life red and low CCA/long life blue. However there are many reports of premature failure of the Optima batteries. The Odyssey & DieHard Platinum batteries are really nice. The DH Platinum is usually rated the highest for longevity and performance (but the Odyssey's are usually not reviewed - they are equally good). And, Sears backs up the DH Platinum with a 4 year free replacement warranty on the DH Platinum (and 100 month pro-rated).

On the cheaper side, Autozone's Duralast Gold is a good traditional starting battery made by Johnson Controls (in Mexico), but is not AGM nor VRLA. Walmart's Everstart MAXX is also made by Johnson Controls and is apparently of similar quality. Costco Kirkland batteries are also apparently made by Johnson Controls and usually are rated decently. They are great bargains. NAPA's Legend batteries are made in the USA by Deka (East Penn Manufacturing Co.) and are probably a bit better made than the Duralast/Everstart and Kirklands. Interstate batteries have a good rep, but now those are also made by Johnson Controls in Mexico! Now they're probably equivalent to the Duralasts and Everstarts.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/att...ry-ratings.pdf
http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_battery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93acid_battery
http://www.bdbatteries.com/batterycomparison.php
http://www.odysseybatteries.com/index.htm
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...1&blockType=G1
http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/loca...-batteries.htm
http://www.interstatebatteries.com/c...ron_plus_f.asp

When looking at the ratings, be sure to look at the ratings for the group size you will be using. One of the specs I use when comparing batteries is weight, since generally the more lead, the better for longevity. For example compare the Odyssey group 25 battery at 46 pounds to other group 25 batteries: Duralast Gold (36 lbs), Duralast red top (32 lbs), NAPA 84 month (35 lbs), and Interstate Megatron II (36 lbs). The DieHard Platinum group 25 is listed as 50 lbs, but that may be a rounded up figure. There's a fairly direct relationship between more weight and more reserve capacity. But there is a direct measure of "Reserve Capacity" - equal to how many minutes the battery can sustain a 25 amp draw. Another factor is the purity of the lead used in the plates. Generally, the more pure, the better performance, but that spec is usually only mentioned by the manufacturer if the lead is high purity.

One of the things which can kill a battery quick is allowing it to become too discharged (say, below 50% charge, usually around 12.25 volts with no load, at room temperature, after a period of rest) or allowing it to remain discharged for an extended period of time (more than a few hours). Reason is that sulfate crystals will form on the surface of discharged plates, and those crystals provide electrical insulation. Most batteries that won't take a charge have sulfated plates. You can ruin even a new battery that way. To prevent that from happening, try to never allow the battery to become excessively discharged, or if it happens, charge it fully as soon as possible.

It is sometimes possible to recover a sulfated battery by using a special charger that generates high frequency pulses of charge current that cause the sulfate crystals to break down. The process usually takes a few weeks, though. One excellent desulphating charger is VDC Electronics' "BatteryMINDer Plus". I've had one for several years and managed to resurrect a dead Duralast Gold battery and get a few more years of use out of it.
http://www.amazon.com/Electronics-Ba...dp/B000P23HZS/

Another thing that can kill a battery is if plate corrosion materials build up in the bottom of the battery enough to touch the bottom of the plates, which can short out a cell. If that happens there's nothing that can be done but replace the battery. Cheaper batteries are more likely to have this problem, and starting batteries are much more vulnerable than deep cycles. AGM batteries are quite resistant to the problem.

Tkotct

Quite interested about that "oil additive" to preserve the loss of water. But so far have ran a walmart marine grade battery for 3ish years now, just have to keep up on the water levels for steaming off. Michigan can get rather warm in the summer as well! As far as having a 12yr old battery, my old festiva had a (i believe it was eithrr a Napa (but pretty sure it was a silver rated dual post Auto Value battery back 15ish years ago), it did last approx 10-12 yrs, but when it went, it went out stinkin! Had an old megatron battery in the 93 hilux 4wd 5spd, that also lasted a long time (seems that a lot of ot depends on the charging system in the vehicle, & some may not quite be state of the art, but seems like a festiva or this hilux hits those marks flawlessly!).