Car battery advice needed.

[bubbatime]

They don't give you money for your old battery. They give you the core charge back, which you pay when you buy a battery.

Advance Auto or Autozone (cant remember) will give you a $5 store credit for bringing in a dead battery for recycling. You don't even have to buy a new battery from them. Of course, this is way less than the typical $15-18 core charge that you pay when you buy a new battery.

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: sayjac
At AAP Grp 35 Auto Craft Gold, three year full replacement warranty, $137.99 with core ($18) return. Use online code WD51A(expires 1/10 11:59ET), 35% off $50+, final cost with core return $89.69.

Made by Johnson Controls. Silver ~$20 less but only 2 year warranty. Gold worth the extra imo.


Just bought exact same battery in the Accord this morning (640CCA) using the exact same code. Mine was $93.06 OTD. I'm assuming that your price did not include tax.

My battery was still good (original) but 400CCA wasn't cutting it in below zero weather (even the first year after I purchased it new.) When they were installing it, they wanted to put in a 51, which again would be 400CCA's because the bracket would not fit. After I told them 35 or refund, I showed them how to bend the metal tabs, which were provided to hold the deficient sized battery. There was more than ample room to install the 35 size.

 

[bradepb]

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Originally Posted By: Eosyn
PS: How often should I replace the battery?


That's a regional thing and personal preference. Down here, practically zero batteries last more than 36 months.

On my wife's car, I don't want her to get stranded, so she gets a new battery about every 3 years no matter what. On my car, I have jumper cables and know how to fix things, so I'll run the battery until it gives up the ghost.


Yes, few people realize that the hot weather kills batteries faster than cold climates, they are also region specific. You don't want a battery made for up north in your Arizona car and vice-versa.

 

[Sayjac]

Originally Posted By: Tdbo
Originally Posted By: sayjac
At AAP Grp 35 Auto Craft Gold, three year full replacement warranty, $137.99 with core ($18) return. Use online code WD51A(expires 1/10 11:59ET), 35% off $50+, final cost with core return $89.69.

Made by Johnson Controls. Silver ~$20 less but only 2 year warranty. Gold worth the extra imo.

Just bought exact same battery in the Accord this morning (640CCA) using the exact same code. Mine was $93.06 OTD. I'm assuming that your price did not include tax....

Yes price was before tax.

As for core charge (in this case the battery), AAP's is explained in the link. But these are the highlights.

The part you are purchasing contains a component that is recyclable
The Core Charge deposit is charged at the time of purchase
When the recyclable component from your old part is returned to us, the charge is refunded to you.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/o/corecharge

 

[mclasser]

I've had good luck with AAP batteries. Like a user above said, search for coupon codes and you'll get hefty discounts. They'll install it for you in the parking lot for free.

 

[Rolla07]

Originally Posted By: bradepb

Congratulations on having a battery last 10 years, but they really should be replaced much sooner just to save wear and tear on your electrical system. Less than $100.00 every 4 years or so is cheap compared to replacing failing computers or alternators


This is nonsense. Run your battery til it no longer tests good. I have never had any failures caused by the battery. If it passes the test its still good. No point in spending money for cheap insurance, its wasteful.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Nate1979
Originally Posted By: JHZR2


The AAP pricing was the best bet for our recent battery replacement.

Costco has "interstate" batteries, but I think the jury may be out on them currently, they are not truly interstate batteries.

Ive personally not had great luck with the WM batteries, which is another factor why we went with AAP.

If you can go to AAP and scout out the batteries first, it is good. The important thing, regardless of vendor you go with, is to try to buy the newest battery you can, and they do typically have date stickers on them now... Then, after installing and getting home, Id put a smart charger on it to properly top it off.


Can you explain why people think the Interstate batteries at Costco are not Interstate?


Primarily because the markings on them are different. They aren't off the shelf interstate batteries, I guess.

 

[Eosyn]

Than you everyone for your input. Bought the Autocraft gold from AAP with coupon code but they wouldn't install at the store citing cold weather, which was understandable. The sticker date on it is 9/14. That's quite recent, isn't it?

What is this "topping" off thing before putting it in service? Are you referring to hooking it up to a tester/charger? I've always just installed and use it after purchase. I do have a Die Hard charger/tester that I use for my lawn tractor battery (which states it needs to be charged after adding acid to it). The charger is pretty cool, has a % charge indicator light to it in increments of 25%. Is it best to hook it up and wait till it gets to 100%?

 

[Y_K]

Originally Posted By: Eosyn
What is this "topping" off thing before putting it in service?

Yes.
As I reported before, I bought a battery in mid October that was labeled 10/14 and I was surprised to have it on my charger for close to 5 hours before it indicated a full charge. No big risk in installing the way it is and just go, but it may help to top it off.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Y_K
Originally Posted By: Eosyn
What is this "topping" off thing before putting it in service?

Yes.
As I reported before, I bought a battery in mid October that was labeled 10/14 and I was surprised to have it on my charger for close to 5 hours before it indicated a full charge. No big risk in installing the way it is and just go, but it may help to top it off.


A true optimal charge on a lead acid battery, which accounts for equilibrating the chemistry and optimizing charge, does constant current up to a specific voltage point, then constant voltage until the current flow hits another set point. Very specifically controlled.

An alternator may be capable of a lot of current, but it just provides up to a certain amount of current at some regulated voltage, and the impedance of the battery determines how much current flows. It is in no way an optimized charge profile. Further, alternators can have a lot of AC ripple, which is degrading to a battery. Not much we can do about it under use, but just FYI.

Maintaining a battery smartly may add a bit of life and a bit of surety to your battery's operational life.

 

[artbuc]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
A true optimal charge on a lead acid battery, which accounts for equilibrating the chemistry and optimizing charge, does constant current up to a specific voltage point, then constant voltage until the current flow hits another set point. Very specifically controlled.


What charger can the average DIY'er buy to get a optimum charge profile?

 

[andyd]

Isn't that what the higher end battery minders do? JHZR2, I'll accept that AC ripple isn't good for batteries. However, the phone company uses huge banks of wet cells to create "talk battery" -48 DC The cells last 30 yrs or more. Commercial AC power is rectified to keep them charged. Batteries are the ultimate noise filter.

 

[artbuc]

Originally Posted By: andyd
Isn't that what the higher end battery minders do?


I assumed so but was hoping to get a specific recommendation re brand and model.

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: andyd
Isn't that what the higher end battery minders do? JHZR2, I'll accept that AC ripple isn't good for batteries. However, the phone company uses huge banks of wet cells to create "talk battery" -48 DC The cells last 30 yrs or more. Commercial AC power is rectified to keep them charged. Batteries are the ultimate noise filter.


30 years is really pushing it. To get that life from ventilated lead acid batteries, the climate control has to be perfect and the batteries have be used almost never and even then the original batteries probably needed to be DRASTICALLY oversized to account for the loss of life over that time.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: badtlc
Originally Posted By: andyd
Isn't that what the higher end battery minders do? JHZR2, I'll accept that AC ripple isn't good for batteries. However, the phone company uses huge banks of wet cells to create "talk battery" -48 DC The cells last 30 yrs or more. Commercial AC power is rectified to keep them charged. Batteries are the ultimate noise filter.


30 years is really pushing it. To get that life from ventilated lead acid batteries, the climate control has to be perfect and the batteries have be used almost never and even then the original batteries probably needed to be DRASTICALLY oversized to account for the loss of life over that time.


+1.

Maybe some really noisy 6-pulse rectifier is used, but I sort of wonder if even there they did a bit better topology. Look at this:

And absolutely, if the system is way oversized, then the AC ripple for finite charge current is really low compared to the overall capacity.

That's not really the case here, unless were talking about a really small charger like 500-1000mA charger on a 100Ah battery.

Batteries used in float service do spec a max AC ripple for a reason... which doesn't really play into the life cycle of car starter batteries...

And the best mono bloc VRLAs are warrantied to 15-20 years now. Perhaps there are some longer, but I suspect that they are just a more expensive variant to amortize the warranty.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: artbuc
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
A true optimal charge on a lead acid battery, which accounts for equilibrating the chemistry and optimizing charge, does constant current up to a specific voltage point, then constant voltage until the current flow hits another set point. Very specifically controlled.


What charger can the average DIY'er buy to get a optimum charge profile?


You want a smart charger that does a multi-step charge and has a float setting. There are a ton of microprocessor-controlled chargers that do it. I prefer temperature-compensated.

Look at Battery Tender and Battery Minder for some options. Battery Tender is sold even at Walmart and Costco now...

 

[The_Jeff]

If AC ripple is no good for a battery are there 120V AC chargers that "iron this out" without using the battery as the sink? My cheapo "buzz box" transformers surely don't qualify.

Originally Posted By: JHZR2

An alternator may be capable of a lot of current, but it just provides up to a certain amount of current at some regulated voltage, and the impedance of the battery determines how much current flows. It is in no way an optimized charge profile. Further, alternators can have a lot of AC ripple, which is degrading to a battery. Not much we can do about it under use, but just FYI.

Maintaining a battery smartly may add a bit of life and a bit of surety to your battery's operational life.

 

[jacky]

how come nobody mentioned napa batteries? also who makes duracell car batteries?