70 Series Battery (1 Viewer)

[Gun Runner 5]

My Interstate, Group 27 battery gave up the ghost this morning (less than 3 years old).
I’m assuming it had a bad cell and would drop to approximately 9 volts when the starter was engaged. That life span seems very short to me.
Has any other 70 Series owners had the same experience?

 

[FJBen]

My Interstate, Group 27 battery gave up the ghost this morning (less than 3 years old). I’m assuming it had a bad cell and would drop to approximately 9 volts when the starter was engaged. That life span seems very short to me.
Has any other 70 Series owners had the same experience?

I’ve had everstart maxx group 27. Walmart.

First one died a little less than 2 years. Replacement is failing and showing no good..less than 2 years.

Never again

 

[Gun Runner 5]

I’ve had everstart maxx group 27. Walmart.

First one died a little less than 2 years. Replacement is failing and showing no good..less than 2 years.

Never again

At the current price point, I foolishly expected better.

 

[jblueridge]

Same deal with my 2 Interstates.
I bought NAPA “AAA Premium” since they have a 3 year warranty.

 

[FJBen]

I plan on going with a batteries plus AGM northstar X2 power battery. Complete monster.

 

[janyyc]

Costco for warranty?

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Costco for warranty?

I should have, but the nearest Costco is a 2 hour round trip and I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that they would want to pro-rate it anyway.

 

[coldtaco]

Batteries Plus battery

 

[FJBen]

Batteries Plus battery

View attachment 3604467

That’s the battery I’m getting next. If it’s strong enough for the gulag in Canada, it should be fine for me here.

 

[lowenbrau]

I should have, but the nearest Costco is a 2 hour round trip and I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that they would want to pro-rate it anyway.

They don't start to pro rate it until after 3 years IIRC. I'd consider proactively returning them on a schedule. (i.e. in my case every spring after they froze solid in my trail rig) They don't even lift them out of the shopping cart when you bring them in but simply refund your money and send you shopping for a five gallon pail of dill pickles.

 

[Rigster]

At the current price point, I foolishly expected better.

It's the harsh winters you have where you live. They are hard on batteries. I still have the original japanese lead-acid flooded batteries that my cruiser came with. They are over 3 years old now and still going strong.... knock on wood.

 

[LJRay]

...could always move to Costa Rica...

 

[PhillipJFrye]

The conditions here in Panama are brutal on tires and batteries. Very common for normal batteries to last only 2-3 years. I pay a bit more for the Optima yellow top, which mule-kicks the 1HZ to life nicely and lasts a year or two longer.

 

[sodafeld1]

I find regular reconditioning with a ctek very beneficial for battery life. They all die eventually though. If the crank is a bit slow, it is probably the battery, the first sign.

 

[Rigster]

I find regular reconditioning with a ctek very beneficial for battery life. They all die eventually though. If the crank is a bit slow, it is probably the battery, the first sign.

Interesting! My old charger finally packed it in (I repaired it a couple of times) and I replaced it with one of these fancy pants ones with the "battery recondition" options but have only used that once on a couple of batteries, so I have no experience over time with how it works on batteries that start to get a little tired.

Can you share from your experience how often, etc you would run the recondition option to get the most out of your batteries? "experience is the best teacher" as they say... (who are 'THEY'? )

I have to surmise that humidity must play a factor in killing batteries as there are a few folks chiming in from much milder climates than Canada that have batteries not lasting.

 

[jayp2]

My two just gave up the ghost, I think I am going for Mr T brand this time

 

[lowenbrau]

Interesting! My old charger finally packed it in (I repaired it a couple of times) and I replaced it with one of these fancy pants ones with the "battery recondition" options but have only used that once on a couple of batteries, so I have no experience over time with how it works on batteries that start to get a little tired.

Can you share from your experience how often, etc you would run the recondition option to get the most out of your batteries? "experience is the best teacher" as they say... (who are 'THEY'? )

I have to surmise that humidity must play a factor in killing batteries as there are a few folks chiming in from much milder climates than Canada that have batteries not lasting.

I'm not clear on the science but I think inducing some frequency on the DC cleans the sulfate off the plates and revives the battery. I had a very inexpensive Aliexpress smart charger that seemed to breath life back into bad batteries until I killed it trying to charge a 170a/h AGM battery. It might be the reason I still have an 12 year old Costco battery on the bench that I use to boost stuff. I thought it was dead but it came back and is working fine whenever I need it.

It isn't humidity that kills batteries but heat. Lots of southern folks go through batteries more regularly than those of us who get frigid temps. I managed battery backup systems for an ISP for years and the batteries that were in outdoor cabinets lasted longer than those that were in the data closets. They just didn't have the runtime when they were very cold.

 

[Rigster]

I'm not clear on the science but I think inducing some frequency on the DC cleans the sulfate off the plates and revives the battery. I had a very inexpensive Aliexpress smart charger that seemed to breath life back into bad batteries until I killed it trying to charge a 170a/h AGM battery. It might be the reason I still have an 12 year old Costco battery on the bench that I use to boost stuff. I thought it was dead but it came back and is working fine whenever I need it.

It isn't humidity that kills batteries but heat. Lots of southern folks go through batteries more regularly than those of us who get frigid temps. I managed battery backup systems for an ISP for years and the batteries that were in outdoor cabinets lasted longer than those that were in the data closets. They just didn't have the runtime when they were very cold.

Hey thanks for the input. If I am honest, I had my doubts on these new chargers, 1/4 size and $30 left me doubtful but hopeful. So far over the winter I have used it on 3 semi batteries and ran the repair on a few others but that is it. Interesting observation on the heat. We can get over 40C here sometimes. My experience has been never let the charge get low when it is cold, then the battery will freeze and never be the same.

Have you had any luck with restoring a battery that has been frozen?

 

[sodafeld1]

there is a fair bit of information about knocking the sulfates off the plates by flood charging on a smart charger if you google it. The ctek runs for a period at peak load, something like 14.3v for a period on recondition setting. I have no experience with the chinese versions, of which anything chinese and recently made I am dubious.
The asian economic tigers all went through a period of making lots of cheap throw away stuff for a period (Japan, hong kong, malaysia, taiwan, korea..china) until the economy prospered, then quality came. Even Japanese stuff after the war was not well made, but it was the precursor for companies like tojo and honda to become more focused on quality.

Once a month I recondition unless I have consciously de charged the battery running something else. I do the normal charge on the ctek at the drop of the hat as it is totally regulated. The first year or two of a battery is pretty safe, but they do die and have to. Heat kills them, in the cold they have to crank harder to start so stresses them in another way.
I go remote, 50 km from anyone, every week for half the week. I use a regulated solar trickle charger when bush, hardkore brand,it has been ok, it has been very much exposed to the elements for 4 years now. Often there are parasitic drains on batteries, from the car, that also kills them.

It makes you question if they are saving the world with batteries. Just look how quickly phone batteries degrade, and we charge them all the time.

Battery companies appear to change ownership fairly often, so they are not always the same quality over the years, unfortunately. In oz optima and century have been better than supercharge from my experience. I have also found the dual purpose batteries of crank and amp hours have been a bit better like yellow tops or marine batteries. Some folks swear by caterpillar batteries. A good guide is getting the most cca, cold crank amps, biggest battery that fits. Look for the longest warranty, fwiw. 42 months is the best I can see at a glance. For 100 bucks more over 3 year time period, probably worth it. But I don't hear people saying the battery lasted 10 years like they use to say.

 

[sodafeld1]

I would also add upon batteries and diesels, 2h for me, that the el cheapo cig lighter volt meters are quite a handy gauge.
When I glow with my wilson switch my volts drop from 12.7-8 to 11.3v on a healthy battery, volts rise again as the volts rise. Crank has good kick.
My current el cheapo battery, a supercharge which was on special (I knew it was not going to be good as shops put them on sale rather than recondition them all in store, got it because it was cheap, instant and needed right away) . After 2 years, when I glow coming into colder season here, not as cold as you guys, the volts drop from 12.7v (even after reconditioning) to 10.3v rises back up to 10.8v, the crank has little gusto.
A sure sign I need a new crank battery coming soon. I am going to give endurant a go, made in usa, 42 month warranty 810 cca. Often feel it is a leap of faith.

I also deeply suspect, maybe wrong, that an unhealthy battery can not be good for the starter.