I don't have any mods..just need a super strong, reliable battery with good warranty.
Need to replace battery? What do you guys use? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter LCMemphis
- Start date
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A quality plain old lead acid is the ticket.
There are tons of options, most boiling down to three manufacturers who put different stickers on them. Optima is a different breed and you can hear loves and hates about them.
I just go to NAPA where they know me.
I just go to NAPA where they know me.
Hoo boy. This is like the debate "who makes the best oil".
Here's what I did:
Here's what I did:
Choose a battery chemistry that is compatible with the stock charging system. That means flooded lead acid.
Anything else will work for an interim, yet will ultimately fail prematurely as the stock charge profile won't match what is optimal and healthy for differing chemistries.
Anything else will work for an interim, yet will ultimately fail prematurely as the stock charge profile won't match what is optimal and healthy for differing chemistries.
Markuson
SILVER Star
In my fiddling with batteries, I really gathered a lot of feedback via review and speaking with battery folk that while Optima used to be the go-to, their quality controls have taken a nose dive in recent years. Not that they don’t work...but that tgey’ve Become hit-and-miss.
Odyssey, OTOH, has really built a solid reputation with both users, suppliers and through my own personal battery torture chamber tests (my truck basically a torture test for batteries—for all it’s power outlets, microwave, coffee maker, constant fridge use along with a zillion always-charging items).
If you are looking for a solid **brand?**
Odyssey is solid.
YMMV...
Odyssey, OTOH, has really built a solid reputation with both users, suppliers and through my own personal battery torture chamber tests (my truck basically a torture test for batteries—for all it’s power outlets, microwave, coffee maker, constant fridge use along with a zillion always-charging items).
If you are looking for a solid **brand?**
Odyssey is solid.
YMMV...
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I've been using an AGM battery on my Audi for the past 10 years and alternator is still the original.
So funny this is brought up as I'm currently trying to reach NOCO about my battery/charger combo.
I have a X2Power SLI31AGMDPM in my truck. It was there when I purchased it. From records it appears to be about 2.5 years old. When I purchased the truck, I immediately hooked it up to my NOCO G3500 charger/maintainer. All was great, battery would charge and go into maintain mode. I was doing this every 3 or 4 weeks to keep the battery "topped off," or so I thought. Starting last month, I can no longer get the charger to indicate fully charged/maintained no matter how long I keep the charger hooked up. It used to take 5 hours max, and now even after 13 hours. No dice. I hook it up and within 10 minutes, it'll show it's somewhere between 75% and 100%, never to deviate.
I've since put the battery on another charger, a slightly "faster" 8amp Schumacher Electrics, and it'll go into maintain mode with it. But that particular charger is not a true smart charger so I'm guessing it's seeing 13.6 volts and then effectively going to sleep.
I'm expecting NOCO to just tell me to step up to the G7200 charger since it has a feature called AGM+ which says it's for charging "advanced AGM batteries" that require additional voltage (Just found this info: AGM+ is 15.5V up to 230Ah versus G3500 AGM mode, 14.8V up to 120Ah.). I'm just a little confused why my G3500 used to work and no longer does... battery degrading over time since it's not getting full charge from alternator? I'll further add that if I put this charger on my other car that has an AGM battery from the factory, it has no issue going into full maintain mode.
@TeCKis300 since you often mention the battery chemistry compatibility and have a lot more electrical knowledge than me, any insight?
Sorry for slight thread derail but if you go AGM and care to maintain the battery, these are the considerations you might need to make.
I have a X2Power SLI31AGMDPM in my truck. It was there when I purchased it. From records it appears to be about 2.5 years old. When I purchased the truck, I immediately hooked it up to my NOCO G3500 charger/maintainer. All was great, battery would charge and go into maintain mode. I was doing this every 3 or 4 weeks to keep the battery "topped off," or so I thought. Starting last month, I can no longer get the charger to indicate fully charged/maintained no matter how long I keep the charger hooked up. It used to take 5 hours max, and now even after 13 hours. No dice. I hook it up and within 10 minutes, it'll show it's somewhere between 75% and 100%, never to deviate.
I've since put the battery on another charger, a slightly "faster" 8amp Schumacher Electrics, and it'll go into maintain mode with it. But that particular charger is not a true smart charger so I'm guessing it's seeing 13.6 volts and then effectively going to sleep.
I'm expecting NOCO to just tell me to step up to the G7200 charger since it has a feature called AGM+ which says it's for charging "advanced AGM batteries" that require additional voltage (Just found this info: AGM+ is 15.5V up to 230Ah versus G3500 AGM mode, 14.8V up to 120Ah.). I'm just a little confused why my G3500 used to work and no longer does... battery degrading over time since it's not getting full charge from alternator? I'll further add that if I put this charger on my other car that has an AGM battery from the factory, it has no issue going into full maintain mode.
@TeCKis300 since you often mention the battery chemistry compatibility and have a lot more electrical knowledge than me, any insight?
Sorry for slight thread derail but if you go AGM and care to maintain the battery, these are the considerations you might need to make.
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Lots of people throw out Optima and Odyssey, and they are above and beyond if you don't need them. I've been putting Duralast Gold's in all my vehicles for the last ten years and they have never disappointed me. I dropped one in the LC about a year ago and fires up strong every time. I also do not have modifications. The Gold has been plenty strong to power the winch on the Tacoma with no problems even now as its approaching the 6-7 year mark. They have 3 yr free replacement, with 2 additional years pro-rated and the LC one was under $200 out the door.
Odyssey Extreme has been the best battery I have ever owned. Definitely worth the money in my opinion. You can get them from Amazon with Prime shipping!
Check the video on how they are made. Virgin lead seems to be key to their longevity.
Check the video on how they are made. Virgin lead seems to be key to their longevity.
Sure. Batteries are more complicated than meets the eye. The main thing to understand is that each battery type/chemistry, and even variations from manufacturers, requires different charge profiles to optimally charge and maintain the battery. At worst, the wrong battery charging profile will lead to a premature depth.
You might be aware that most advanced chargers these days, including your Noco, have many charging stages. There's also many battery modes to support various chemistries. These tailor and change the charging parameters and voltage breakpoints. Some need higher/lower voltages, different breakpoints between stages, temperature compensations, etc.
Your Noco has many battery type modes. The car alternator does not and is already tailored to the specific battery types it comes with - flooded lead acid. Audi's and other German cars do sometimes come stock with AGMs, and their regulators are setup for those batt types.
Another consideration is that AGMs do not like high underhood temps, and should not be charged above something like 120-130* F or will boil and vent. Underhood is most definitely hotter than that, especially when off-road crawling. When German cars come with AGMs, they are located in separate compartments from the engine bay.
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- Thread starter
- #20
Thanks all...I'll most likely shop deals this weekend for lead based battery like Duralast Gold, Duracell, or Everstart Maxx with 3 year replacement warranty.
