Batteries?

 

Questions?

 

Looking to see what everybody's using. My Optima Redtops are giving up after almost 6 years. Yellowtops have a higher amp hour rating, but slightly less CCA's (750vs. 800). The Interstates have a slightly better rating online and a better warranty. , Costco is said to be selling Costco branded Interstates, but are they the same?

 

I would buy the last two,I prefer just about anything in place of Optima

 

My COSTCO no longer carries the private label batteries, they all have Interstate on them. Interstate also has outlets and will sell direct to public, there is one about 10 miles from me but I have not had to compare pricing yet. I have heard good things about DEKA batteries too but have never tried them. Their factory is about 20 miles from me so they are very available around here, I don't know about other areas of the country.

 

6 yrs you say? Hell, Ill take that anytime. I just swapped back to Motorcraft after 3 sets of Interstates lasting almost exactly 2 yrs each..... I would love to get 6 yrs....

 

We have used DEKA deep cycle batteries several times in various UPS systems, they seem very well built and dependable in this application. We have a system we are running now where the batteries are 7 years old and have only had to replace one in the three strings (120 batteries total) this system contains in that time. The battery we changed wasn't "bad" per se, it had just crossed its 50% internal resistance delta threshold from baseline.

I personally would have no issue replacing my current set (when the time comes) with some of these to see how well they hold up in conditions that our trucks expose them to (dirty, hot and vibration filled as opposed to an air conditioned, humidity controlled, nice quiet and clean space that houses the UPS strings). If what I have seen out of past installations is anything to go by, I would think that they would hold up pretty well.....

 

I used to really like the optima, they held up well and lasted forever in the tractors and other machines, provided you never put more than 14.5 volts to them. It seems good voltage regulation is/was imperative to their longevity. However, they don't seem to last at all anymore.

The interstate mega tron plus batteries have never let me down. I have a couple in tractors that are nearly ten years old, and the set in my 89 IDI has got to be nearly 16 years old now.

But I know there are others here haven't shared that experience.

Irish parts store batteries have consistently let me down, but usually within the warranty. And I feel Walmart batteries are to be avoided, have had two heat and buldge, one I didn't catch in time exploded. Cleaning an entire engine bay down with baking soda isn't my idea of the perfect Saturday.

 

I was planning on looking into different options as well. I've always used the MegaTron batteries, but for the last 8 years (or so), they seem to last less than two years. I have one going out right now in my truck. I'll probably get it replaced under warranty and keep it for a little while, but I'd rather not have to do this once a year. I had five blue tops in my boat that lasted for seven years. I know have five Interstate batteries in the boat, and I replace one every few months. They're always replaced under warranty, so I keep getting free batteries, but it's a pain in the a** having to dig them out of the boat every time I want to go fishing.

 

I have never liked the Optima batteries in a car/truck. AGM is a fantastic technology in the appropriate application - like a boat... but the trade-offs cannot be ignored. In a boating application, amp-hours are the Holy Grail - and AGMs (like the Optima) suck here. The answer on a boat is get a bigger AGM, but the price of that bigger AGM will melt the ol' Buck$Zooka in a hurry.

AGM batteries in our truck is not the best use of that technology, and there is no up-sizing to add amp-hours (reserve power). Because we don't list several degrees to the side for extended periods (like in a sail boat) and our "hulls" don't slap on the waves (we have suspensions), we can get away with batteries that spill or don't like heavy physical shocks. With that, the flooded cell battery is still the most powerful, has the highest reserve capacity, and is the most reliable when you factor in dollars spent vs performance delivered.

I'm in no way saying AGM isn't the right technology for our trucks - I'm saying we are really let down on the what we get for what we pay factor.

If batteries are starting to go bye-bye under your hood, it may be time to look at the electrical system on your vehicle. I just found a corroded battery ground last winter, and I am helping two friends this very weekend with the same symptoms I had - I suspect more corroded grounds.

 

Of all the things in life that I have bad luck with, batteries are not one of them (auto batteries that is). I routinely get more than 5 years out of my batteries and once got 9, when they go at that age I don't complain. I don't know why because I just install and use and rarely, if ever check fluid levels. I leave lights on once in a while and kill 'em dead to the bone. If your batteries are not lasting I would suspect a problem of some sort but I wouldn't know where to begin to look.

 

Installed 2 new Costco batteries in May 2014. So far they crank strong and I've never had an issue.

 

Original Motorcraft went 8 years, current ones still going strong at 6+ years.

 

I just posted a thread about lifetime replacement batteries from Autonation Ford

 

Problem with batteries is, at least for me, they always seem to fail at an inconvenient place, like out in the sticks or midnight in the hood. So I have been replacing my car batteries after 5 years, and that's been working for me. Same with my trailer batteries - 5 years.

However, since I bought the truck in 2007, I have yet to get 5 years out of a battery. One or the other seems to go in 2 or 3 years. I bought my truck with Duralast batteries from Autozone. After 2 shorted out batteries, I went with Costco branded Interstate. Just replaced my Costco battery last year after it shorted out internally (2 years old) with their Interstate brand. Their new warrantee is 3.5 years replacement, and nothing beyond that. So it seems to me that at least on my truck, 3.5 years (or sooner if one quits) is going to be my new replace time.

Further, when one truck battery goes, I try to replace the other as well so they have similar standing voltages and one doesn't pull the other down.