While it is true that Johnson Controls manufactures batteries under many different brand names, either through private labeling agreements, or through mergers and acquisitions of other battery manufacturers, or carved out portions of other manufacturers business segments, it is not true that most batteries are built by JC.

Here is a list of automotive battery manufactures. When it was last updated in 2009, the list was 63 pages long. Not 63 entries. 63 pages of entries. While there is a lot of cross pollination of brands and manufacturers, there is very clearly a number of major battery manufacturers other than JC.


http://herehydro.weebly.com/uploads/...names_list.pdf

 

Good point. I over simplified.

From you link, it does show Johnson Controls making

Sears Diehard, AutoZone, Motorcraft, Optimum, Walmart and several others.
Which covers most of the brands folks had said they were considering in the above post.

 

But the Sears Diehard that many of us buy is NOT made by Johnson Controls. That is the main point of the research... is to show that not ALL of brand x's batteries are made by the same mfr, even though some are. The current Sears DieHard Gold is actually made be East Penn (not shown in that link, as the East Penn / Sears contract began only a couple of years ago). The Sears DieHard Platinum that many of us on FTE bought was made by Enersys.

The Diehard Platinum is the same battery that Enersys brands as the Odyssey Extreme, and it arguably remains the BEST battery available at ANY price, when longevity (7 years so far in my truck), warranty (8 years), maintenance (none), cleanliness (spotless), corrosion (none... meaning no repainting battery trays), outgassing (none, making it safer, as the gas is reabsorbed internally, and the risk of explosion is greatly nullified), vibration (very tolerant, the same construction is used in the Abrams Tank, Humvees, and fighter jets), all position mounting (it's an AGM), shippability (if Amazon is your thing), reserve capacity (highest # of reserve minutes per cubic inch), cranking amperage (930a), voltage dissipation (two year shelf life without any charging), cycleablility (significantly higher number of recharging cycles), and depth of discharge (significantly lower level of discharge tolerated without ruining the battery) are all considered, never mind price.

Some people would rather put up with corroded terminals, hydrometers, distilled water dispensers, a dead battery once in a while, removing, wire brushing, sanding, and repainting the battery tray every few years, and replacing the batteries every four years... because cheaper batteries are, well, cheaper. And then you have a point. That level of battery is all kind of the same.

But once you get into quality batteries, the differences in manufacturers start to separate themselves a little bit. Caterpillar wet cell batteries are made by East Penn, who claims to be the largest single facility battery manufacturer in the world, and fortunately that facility is in the United States. East Penn also makes their own Deka brand, as well as the best battery that Sears currently sells, called the DieHard Gold.

The Costco batteries used to be made by Johnson Controls, but now Costco sells Interstate. But as that 63 page pdf illustrates, Interstate remarkets batteries from several different manufacturers, not just Johnson Controls. It might depend on the size battery, or the location of the distribution center, or other factors. I don't know. I just know that not all batteries are made by JC, and I have no interest in ANY battery made by JC, because they simply have not proven themselves to be the best, compared to other battery manufacturers out there.

 

Can you still buy the Diehard Platinum? I'm not seeing them for sale anywhere.

 

I always stick with motorcraft replacements. When you weigh price vs. quality they are right in the middle.

Motorcraft replacements can be purchased in auto part stores and I get mine from O Reilly.

I think the replacements are 850 and stock is 750 and I also seem to remember that the replacements don't leak as much. I have to stay on top of mine keeping them cleaned and covered in corrosion resistant spray.

 

Yes and no.

"No" in the sense that you cannot get the battery from Sears, with a Sears label on it anymore. Enersys delivered the last pallet of batteries to Sears sometime in May of 2015 (or was it 2016.. I'm losing track of the years).

"Yes" in the sense that the exact same battery is still available under the Odyssey brand. Be sure to get the "Extreme" version, not the "Performance" version. If you are well connected to the supply chain in the military, or your place of work has a GSA account, you can also buy the exact same battery under the Hawker brand name.

Both Hawker and Odyssey are wholly owned brands of Enersys, and Enersys is the company who actually manufactures these batteries, here in the USA. These batteries aren't just AGM, they are TPPL AGM... Thin Plate Pure Lead. It is the purity of the lead that separates the Odyssey from the Optima. I run across a lot of guys who get the two names confused, or refer to the names interchangeably, because they both are AGM batteries whose names begin with the letter O.

But when Johnson Controls bought out the spiracell making Optima brand and moved production from the USA to Mexico and overseas, they also began using recycled* lead, which doesn't perform as well when the plates are really thin. Making thin plates and having them retain their form isn't easy, which is why the Optima's cells (as well as the copycat Exide Orbital) are wrapped up in a spiral. Note: recent (2019) Optima marketing materials state that Optima is using 99.9% pure lead.

Enersys had an opportunity to approach the difficult task of making thin plates differently, by purchasing a company in England some 15-20 years ago that had developed a unique process for producing thin pure lead plates in rectangular form. Holding the plates in rectangular form enabled more stored energy density per cubic inch within the same form factor of any given BCI group battery size. And there is a bit of battery physics that favors thin plates where very high but brief current demands are called for, such as in SLI batteries.

There is yet another way to obtain this same TPPL technology in a competitive brand. A while back, the chief scientist at Enersys snuck out the back door of the building with three Enersys executives, looking to start their own thing. They saw an empty lot down the road from the Enersys production plant in Missouri, and inquired about leasing it. Well the guy who owned the lot had just sold another business for $350 million, so he wasn't really hurting to receive a lease payment. He was also a sharp businessman, and right away recognized that he had before him four guys who represented a significant hunk of the brain trust at Enersys. So instead of leasing these turncoats the land, he helped them form a company, and took ownership of it.

That company became Northstar. They started making batteries for telephone companies, a critical battery application because telephones have to still work during power outages, and batteries are how that happens. Northstar then began chipping away at other market segments that Enersys serves, including performance automotive. So you can find a very similar battery at Batteries + Bulbs or Batteries Plus.

I say very similar, because there are small differences. The Northstar version of the battery uses brass posts, which glint in their gold like appearance, stand out far and above the typical lead posts, and look really sexy and high quality... until you learn that the Enersys / Hawker / Odyssey batteries also use brass posts, only you can't see them because they look like lead because the brass is tin plated. Now THAT's cool, because tin plating brass is an added quality step that resists corrosion, just like copper wire is tin plated in marine environments, to maintain a high ampacity, but reduce corrosion.

 

Insignificant and less than useful bit of trivia: My Odyssey battery actually weighed less than the OEM battery that came with my truck. The Odyssey battery had more CCA and a full metal jacket heat shield.

 

This one?
https://www.batteriesplus.com/batter...diesel/heppc65

 

No, that one is actually an Odyssey Extreme battery made by Enersys... the equivalent battery to the former Sears DieHard Platinum. I did not realize that Batteries Plus Bulbs (hereinafter "B+B") sold the Odyssey brand, because my local B+B said "No, we don't carry Odyssey". I try to buy big heavy things that have long warranties locally, which is why I only asked locally. Good for you for finding that.


The Northstar battery that I was referring to that B+B also sells (and the only decent battery my local B+B carries) is branded X2Power. Sorry, I should have stated the brand name earlier, but I don't pay attention to nor remember brand names... as I focus more on the actual battery manufacturer. Here is the battery:





Here is the link:


https://www.batteriesplus.com/batter...sel/sli65agmdp


You will see that the X2Power version of same model of Group 65 SLI Dual Purpose (starting and deep cycle, a unique byproduct feature of all TPPL AGMs) has the same case, same ribs, same handle, same case creases as the functionally equivalent Odyssey extreme. Same 74 amp hour capacity also.


Dig a little deeper into the specs however, and some differences start to emerge. The Northstar X2Power battery has the same 930CCA that my Sears Diehard Platinum and the OLD Odyssey battery USED to have. But the last few Enersys shipments to Sears sported the higher 950CCA, which the new Odyssey Extremes still have. So 930CCA Northstar (X2Power) vs 950CCA Odyssey Extreme.


The Northstar X2Power is also only 52.45 lbs. Now look at the current model Odyessy Extreme specs... over 4 lbs heavier, at 57.65 lbs. Battery weight is an indicator of the density and purity of the lead content. {2019 EDIT: The Odyssey Extreme 65-PC1750T is now 54 lbs per Enersys, the manufacturer of Odyssey batteries. Earlier, it used to be 58 lbs, and the Hawker military equivalent may still be 58 lbs, but the Enersys Odyssey Extreme is 54 lbs, which is still 1.5 lbs heavier than the Northstar, and about 11.5 lbs heavier than the Johnson Controls manufactured AGM in the gray colored case sold under various brand names, depending on wax and oil store selling it.}


We've already talked about the difference between Northstar's (X2 Power) brass posts, which are more impressive than the typical battery's lead posts. But the Enersys Odyssey Extreme takes it a step further and tin plates their brass posts.


Again, I didn't realize that B+B sold Odyssey batteries until your link. While AGM batteries are shippable, I think it is generally to one's best advantage to get batteries locally, from stores that are open on nights and weekends, so time doesn't need to be taken off work just to get basic vehicle maintenance done. This factor alone made Odyssey batteries a difficult sell. In the past, Odyssey batteries were not available in the wax and oil retail chain parts stores, which forced determined and interested consumers to deal with boutique battery specialty stores with their inconvenient 9-5 hours, skeptical and sketchy return policies, and their low volume, high markup prices.


That's why the 2007 deal that Enersys inked with Sears was so great. Finally, a great battery, at a great price, with a great warranty (8 years at the time), but most importantly... available at great business hours for the working man... open in the evenings after work, open on Saturday AND Sunday, with a nationwide network of Sears stores in every community that will honor the warranty. Too good to be true... and so it ended. When consumers win, a company must be losing, and companies don't stick around to lose.


So back to the drawing board for consumers... to find another nationwide network of stores that can manage a large volume of business to leverage the economies of scale to reduce the price and support the product. At $339, B+B isn't quite there yet for me, as the Odyssey Extreme can still be had elsewhere for between $50 to $100 less (depending on the sale), but at least it is a start.

 

Remember, the best battery in the world with the best warranty is useless if the stores are not in the areas your traveling, are closed on week ends and won't replace both if one goes bad.

 

I'm running optima batteries. A buddy of mine who's got a 2004 f250 has had his optima batteries for 8 yrs.