Battery geeks on battery life? (1 Viewer)

[REDrum]

So I have a 2015 Sears Diehard deep cycle type 37 battery I never used. I believe it was made by Northstar

While everyone says batteries are only good for 5 to 6 years, I have to assume that is under some sort use cycle. If this battery has zero use on it, what would the expected life be? Perhaps 5 years from when its put to use? Anyone know of a good testing means?

Thnx

 

[Prairie Swamp]

Someone more knowledgeable will probably chime in....but it's my understanding a lead acid battery starts dieing as soon as lead meets acid. Deep discharges, extreme temps, not keeping fully charged in storage accelerate ageing.

Was it kept on a maintainer? What is the voltage now? That is supposed to be a kick ass battery....but you need to know how it's been stored.

 

[e9999]

If you did not charge it regularly while in storage, it is most likely toast, I would think. If you did keep it on a battery tender of some sorts or recharge it periodically, it may have some life left but I would think not as much as if you had started from new.
Hard to tell, so check it. Charge it, check what is happening voltagewise first. If it won't charge, that's likely that. If it seems sort of OK, I would get some sort of incandescent light bulbs, aiming for a C/20 current, and time how long it / they stay lit if you don't have a wattmeter. That will give you a feel for capacity. Or get a cheapo GT Power type wattmeter -will cost less than 30 bucks or so- or better, a decent DC clamp ammeter. That'll give you some numbers. (Note that a few years ago, when I did a bunch of battery testing, I found some large Edison socket 12VDC incandescent bulbs at Home Depot, to my surprise, so I used those for load.) Or, of course, have it tested at some battery place, but what would be the fun in that? (Plus the chances that they would say it's bad are of course rather high, no matter the actual condition of the battery... )

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Likely it's not worth using if it wasn't kept on a maintainer. But if it was, it's likely fine. Even a little discharge starts the sulfation process, so if it isn't kept on a charger, they slowly die.