How long can a battery last?

[ScoobySchmitty]

I can't believe someone actually made a site for that old old chemical joke! That's just about as bad as aircraft mechanics sending the new guy out for "jet wash" :brolleye:

[Chip Hedrick]

I can vouch for the OEM battery in my '98 OBW. Six years and one month of ownership and 101,200 mi and the battery still allows the engine to crank over strong even in sub-zero weather.

[urabus1995]

While I agree with most of what has been written on this topic, I have to point out a few areas where I beg to differ.

I use somewhere in the region of 12-15 batteries during the course of a year, for all sorts of purposes, including starting vehicles, electric fences, portable PA equipment.

The usage and storage of these batteries varies depending on the month of the year. My cars all need a good working battery almost every day of the year.

I have a Horse transporter 7.5 ton truck, which is used very infrequently, which also has a separate battery to power lights and gadgets in the living area.

I have started to experiment with EDTA over the long term, so that I can maintain and store my batteries without them degrading. I had to pay out a lot ($400 approx) to replace the large truck battery after leaving it on the vehicle uncharged for a few months over the winter. I did not realise that its Tachometer was consuming electricity . Once a battery has been discharged to that degree, it becomes useless.

Treating my batteries with EDTA, then removing the residues and acid, washing with water, then emptying for storage, has allowed me to more than double the life I get from them.

I do the same with my electric fence batteries.

My car batteries have all been treated with EDTA, emptied out and refilled with fresh acid + EDTA.

I have some batteries that are 10, 12, years old which have been rejuvinated and behave like new, even in extreme cold (-25c).

[meep]

urabus,

 

dude you are hard core. Nobody but the solar guys and maybe the navy drains and cleans their batteries-- it's a messy job, but that alone will prolong their life greatly. And in your case, that cleaning makes up for the drawbacks of EDTA (sediment collection).

 

You might consider building/buying an electronic desulfator. With patience, they work well. I've built a couple. do a google search on "desulfator." one of the top results will be one a few levels deep in flex.com.

 

Mike

[intrigueing]

http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/index.htm

[123c]

I'm going on a year with a battery I got at Allied Battery, and no complaints yet. It's never gone dead, and it's got this neat little window that shows when it has a full charge. The best part is that it is completly sealed, for the most part, can't add water to the cells...

 

The one I had in my Mercedes was going on 2 very strong years when i sold it, and it outlasted the 2 die-hards I had in it.

[Ranger83]

According to CR and others there are only three major US manufacturers of batteries: Delphi, Exide, and Johnson Controls. Sometimes major brands switch manufacturers or use different manufacturers in different sizes so it's hard to figure out who is best. The CR recommendation: the long the free replacement period, the better.

 

Delphi has made AC Delco and some WalMart batteries. Exide makes Champion, NAPA, and some for WalMart. Johnson Controls makes some DieHard, Interstate, Kirkland (Costco), Ford, and some WalMart. I bought the same boat starting battery two years in a row from West Marine, and there were two different manufacturers. Check out http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/batbrand.htm

[zyewdall]

Up in the NW, we used to replace the battery in the daily driver truck every 3 years, then the 3 year old one would go in the landrover. Then the 6 year old one would go to the wood hauling truck. So we got 9 years out of them before recylcing them, and still had a new one for the daily driver every 3 years. This was also back when all vehicals took the same battery, or at least had a big enough compartment to accept the same battery.

 

Starter batteries hate being run below 20% DOD (depth of discharge) or so. They have really thin plates to provide lots of current at low temperatures, but the chemical composition of the plates actually changes from lead to lead sulfate as they are discharged. Structurally, this isn't good for a really thin plate -- I believe this is why just leaving the lights on a few times can seriously injure a starter battery. The big deep cycle batteries for off grid homes use really thick plates, with a frame that holds them together, so they can go to 80% DOD before real damage is done. The other thing that happens is that if you leave it at a low state of charge for a while (a day or two), the lead sulfate starts forming larger sized crystals, which won't redissolve in the acid when it's charged again, which permanently decreases capacity. We usually get about 7-10 years on the deep cycle batteries -- or about 2 years on a sears marine battery subjected to deep cycle use. They're not really deep cycle batteries, although they're a little better than starter batteries.

 

The other thing to watch out for is loosing water. If the plates on the battery are ever exposed to air, they oxidize, and you can never use that part of the plate again. You used to have to add water to car batteries every few months. The maintenance free ones you don't have to, but then again, you can't if you need to either... If the voltage regulator is letting the voltage get too high, it'll use more water. Or if it's hot outside, it'll use more water at a given voltage.

 

AGM (Absorbed glass matt) batteries are nice -- I've abused them alot and they hold up alot better. Never tried them for starting batteries, but for deep cycle service I like them alot. Of course, they are twice to three times the price of flooded cell batteries....

 

Z

[1 Lucky Texan]

batteries have such short lives here in N.Central texas I have 'almost' convinced myself to just schedule a new, cheap battery every 2 years instead of waiting to be stranded.

 

 

The 3 year full replacement battery from Autozone is what I have used a coupla times, and actually got a free replacement one! But it is expensive and you still are waiting for failure or other 'issues'. cars need lighter/better batteries or fuel cells or 'something'. where's the technology?

[zyewdall]

batteries have such short lives here in N.Central texas I have 'almost' convinced myself to just schedule a new, cheap battery every 2 years instead of waiting to be stranded.

 

 

The 3 year full replacement battery from Autozone is what I have used a coupla times, and actually got a free replacement one! But it is expensive and you still are waiting for failure or other 'issues'. cars need lighter/better batteries or fuel cells or 'something'. where's the technology?

 

Wow. I thought that cold climates were the worst on batteries, but I've never lived in a warm climate...

 

We have the better technology -- just no will to use it. The battery pack in the Prius and Insight are factory warranteed for 10 years, and that's at a much heavier use than a starter battery ever sees. If they used the NiMH technology for a starter battery, it could last 20 years before needing replacement, no matter what you did you it, and weigh half as much. But it would cost about $400 initially, and why would a manufacturer do that, when they can put in a $40 battery and let it be your problem for the next 25 years....?

[1 Lucky Texan]

Wow. I thought that cold climates were the worst on batteries, but I've never lived in a warm climate...

 

We have the better technology -- just no will to use it. The battery pack in the Prius and Insight are factory warranteed for 10 years, and that's at a much heavier use than a starter battery ever sees. If they used the NiMH technology for a starter battery, it could last 20 years before needing replacement, no matter what you did you it, and weigh half as much. But it would cost about $400 initially, and why would a manufacturer do that, when they can put in a $40 battery and let it be your problem for the next 25 years....?

 

In the north I think you guys need CCA - but in the south we need something called 'reserve capacity'. I saw a map once and it indicated where I live had an average car batt. life of 2-3 years. My personal experience tracks that fairly closely. So maybe I could just throw in a $40 batery every coupla years and maybe never worry about being stranded. Or get a $75 batt. with a 3 year full replacement, maybe 'win' the bet or maybe not - either way it's the 'sword of damacles' waiting to get ya'!

[friendly_jacek]

According to CR and others there are only three major US manufacturers of batteries: Delphi, Exide, and Johnson Controls. Sometimes major brands switch manufacturers or use different manufacturers in different sizes so it's hard to figure out who is best. The CR recommendation: the long the free replacement period, the better.

 

Delphi has made AC Delco and some WalMart batteries. Exide makes Champion, NAPA, and some for WalMart. Johnson Controls makes some DieHard, Interstate, Kirkland (Costco), Ford, and some WalMart. I bought the same boat starting battery two years in a row from West Marine, and there were two different manufacturers. Check out http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/batbrand.htm

For the record, OEM in my 00 was Johnson Controls and the Walmart's replacement was an almost identical Johnson Controls battery. This is south, north is probably different.

[nipper]

Battery life depends upon a few things. Longer life battery have thinner plates and shorter plates then short life batteries. The biggest killer of batteries are the repeated deep cycles of charinging and discharging. Deep cycle batteries for electric vehicals are 6 volts instead of 12 so there can be fewer plates farther apart, thicker, and higher off the bottom of the case. As batteries charge discharge they will with age collect material in the bottom of the cells. This is from sulfation of the eletrolyte. Eventualy this material will touch the bottom of the plates and start to kill off the cell. The other cause for premature battery failure is no hold down. The battery bouncing around can ause the same material to come off the plates and short out cells. Its not unusal to have to replace a battery mid life if the there is a chargingn system failure, again for the same reasons.

 

Here is more then you ever wanted to know about batteries

http://www.batterystuff.com/tutorial_battery.html

nipper

[1 Lucky Texan]

thanx to browsing the above links to other links, I found the map I recalled;

 

 

http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/carfaq12.htm

 

Seems their average for my area is approx. 41 months. I'd say my personal average is a little lower - probably other folks get a better average.

[zyewdall]

Just FYI, I usually get my car batteries from Costco -- their Kirkland brand. They're about 25% cheaper than interstate battery for the same CCA (which is all I ever look at up here), and have a 100 month warrantee (36 month free replacement I think, then prorated after that). I've been pretty happy with them so far.

[swi66]

About 10 years ago I had a LOT of problems with Exide batteries. It came out later that they were knowingly selling bad batteries instead of removing them from stock. I had 2, bought on sale. Lasted barely over a year. When I went to exchange them, the "pro-rated" policy was based on the list price of the battery instead of what I actually paid for them. It was less expensive for me to buy a different battery from a different source. There was also something going on at that time with Sears using Exide as a supplier and someone accepting payoffs to accept the inferior batteries with the Diehard name from Exide........I try and avoid Exide.

 

 

I like interstate, have had luck with those.

 

My 96 Dodge Ram with the heavy duty electrical system had the battery go dead in just under 3 years. Supposedly it was a 5-year battery.......BUT, the truck had only 3 years 36,000 miles warranty so I could have got a mopar pro-rated battery at a cost to me of over $100. I bought a NAPA battery for $49.

 

My 98 Legacy battery lasted 6 years...........pretty good in my book.

 

swi66

[Chris4141]

Congratulations, eight years is exceptional service from a car battery. The Subaru "maintenance required" battery will usually have much longer life than a "maintenance free" battery. You can replace lost water in a Subaru battery, but not with a "maintenance free" battery. A battery....

 

Are all Subaru OEM batteries "maintenance required"? My 02 Legacy battery does not say "maintenance free", but the owner's manual states "It is unnecessary to periodically check the battery fluid or periodically refill with distilled water". Should I be doing this service to my battery?