Good battery upgrade?

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The pro rated battery warranty is well on its way out. Thanks to Walmart, Menards and O’Really’s etc, it’s down to a straight two or three year replacement warranty with no extended pro rated period. And even as prices have doubled or tripled, it’s harder to find those batteries built to that spec and marked the fair, but more complicated way.
Here are three year warranty AC Delco batteries, and they were the best deal I found in town last time. Are they the same line as the 7 year ones you use?


No. I do not believe that they are. The 7-year battery is a construction thing and not just a sticker or warranty thing. More plates and plate surface area, more reserve capacity, longer life in general (i.e. takes longer for twice as many plates to oxidize). They also cost a bit more but replacing 3-year batteries every (or every other) winter under warranty costs even more.

I'll refrain from saying what I [really] think of El-Cheapo batteries (3-year part store batts).
 
No. I do not believe that they are. The 7-year battery is a construction thing and not just a sticker or warranty thing. More plates and plate surface area, more reserve capacity, longer life in general (i.e. takes longer for twice as many plates to oxidize). They also cost a bit more but replacing 3-year batteries every (or every other) winter under warranty costs even more.

I'll refrain from saying what I [really] think of El-Cheapo batteries (3-year part store batts).
These have a higher CCA than the standard and AGM 2 year batteries.
I will not repeat what I thought when my last 84 month battery died at almost exactly 120 months, and two years were about it in town.
 
These AC Delco batteries have a higher CCA than the standard, cheap 2 year warranty batteries and (Absorbed glass matt) AGM 2 year warranty batteries.
Edited for clarity
I will not repeat what I thought when my last 7 year, pro rated warranty battery died at almost exactly 10 years, and about all I could find in town we’re two year warranty batteries. The brand and model I had was no longer available, and Optima batteries are frightenly priced.
Fixed.
 
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Yeah, I wasn't sure where you went just there. :D

Post up whatever ur drinking and I included a [short] article about basic battery construction for 7-year batteries.


Ain t no 7 year batteries here in the desert( Nevada)
This reminds me that I will [never] again purchase an Optima battery for use in cold climates. :notnice: They have coils. As it turns out, those coils aren't so :poo: hot when it gets really cold. They tend to break.

On the warm climate thing, I used to live in 29 Palms (military). They have many [old] batteries in their equipment. Some much older than 10 years. They also tend to be pretty stringent about their maintenance intervals too. :D Application and use also have a lot to do with it.

To be clear: I've had 7-year batteries that were junk too. It's just less often and if I replace them when I buy a vehicle (new vehicles are the exception, of course) then I at least know the history is for that unit.

The (what I think is) original battery that I took out of my Caddy when I bought it, is still alive and well. The Caddy is a 2012 so figure Spring of 11.. It's part of a small solar power grid now.
 
Yeah, I wasn't sure where you went just there. :D

Post up whatever ur drinking and I included a [short] article about basic battery construction for 7-year batteries.



This reminds me that I will [never] again purchase an Optima battery for use in cold climates. :notnice: They have coils. As it turns out, those coils aren't so :poo: hot when it gets really cold. They tend to break.

On the warm climate thing, I used to live in 29 Palms (military). They have many [old] batteries in their equipment. Some much older than 10 years. They also tend to be pretty stringent about their maintenance intervals too. :D Application and use also have a lot to do with it.

To be clear: I've had 7-year batteries that were junk too. It's just less often and if I replace them when I buy a vehicle (new vehicles are the exception, of course) then I at least know the history is for that unit.

The (what I think is) original battery that I took out of my Caddy when I bought it, is still alive and well. It's part of a small solar power grid now.
True about Optima in the cold. Amazon reviews are bad, and they wont replace them
 
Yeah, I wasn't sure where you went just there. :D

Post up whatever ur drinking and I included a [short] article about basic battery construction for 7-year batteries.
I was drinking Sprite Zero and Low Sodium V-8, (not mixed) with supper after a long day.
I sold enough car and truck batteries over the years that their warranties in months are still stuck in my head, as is the PTSD of explaining pro rating warranties to customers with batteries that “Died Hard” near the end of the warranty period.

I know enough about standard lead acid battery construction, and thought I did about Optima batteries, too. That they break in the cold is not something they shared in the training videos and materials. I know the regular batteries are made differently for hot and cold climates, (but an not sure which should be shipped here). I’d like to know how the other brands of AGM batteries are made and how they do in different temperatures. The price point and short warranties probably tell us enough.




This reminds me that I will [never] again purchase an Optima battery for use in cold climates. :notnice: They have coils. As it turns out, those coils aren't so :poo: hot when it gets really cold. They tend to break.
 
Don't forget the quality of materials between a 36-month battery and others.

It reminds me of the lightbulb pact. They [can] make bulbs that last pretty much ever but... they don't. :O_o: They are designed to expire.

Now, there are lead-acid batteries that can last nearly forever in the aircraft insudstry. Some are [way] older than I am. These, of course, are rebuilt periodically. Not something I recommend most folks attempt in their garage. :O_o:
 
Don't forget the quality of materials between a 36-month battery and others.

It reminds me of the lightbulb pact. They [can] make bulbs that last pretty much ever but... they don't. :O_o: They are designed to expire.

Now, there are lead-acid batteries that can last nearly forever in the aircraft insudstry. Some are [way] older than I am. These, of course, are rebuilt periodically. Not something I recommend most folks attempt in their garage. :O_o:
Yes, be careful when using acid. Just brushing against the outside of a battery will make holes in work clothes.
 
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