Flooded Battery Experience

[stockrex]

We had a few threads about AGM batteries and which is better etc. I have no intentions to open that discussion. I wanted to share my experience with OEM flooded battery.
I went to honda for oil change on 3/15. my truck in a 07 ridgeline which I took deliv around 7/7. it sat in the lot in lansing mi for about 6 months.
The truck was driven in winter only for the first 3 years of it life and few times the battery drained to 10% charge or less.
few winters back the battery would barely crank the engine and I was about to get a replacement when at walmart I saw a batt charger with (desulfation). it says regen on the button. I have charged and recharged the battery with this charger a few times and then used the regen feature. it took a long time, around 36 hours to complete. THat was 2 years back.

The battery felt strong since then and even at 2F temp, it cranked good this winter.

The new battery is rated at 550 CCA - 01/07
the guys at honda measured 398 CCA - 03/13

So what do you think did charging the battery at high amps and doing the regen cycle help this battery put out a few extra CCA and also make it last longer?
Is my CCA at par with the age of the battery?

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: stockrex
We had a few threads about AGM batteries and which is better etc. I have no intentions to open that discussion. I wanted to share my experience with OEM flooded battery.
I went to honda for oil change on 3/15. my truck in a 07 ridgeline which I took deliv around 7/7. it sat in the lot in lansing mi for about 6 months.
The truck was driven in winter only for the first 3 years of it life and few times the battery drained to 10% charge or less.
few winters back the battery would barely crank the engine and I was about to get a replacement when at walmart I saw a batt charger with (desulfation). it says regen on the button. I have charged and recharged the battery with this charger a few times and then used the regen feature. it took a long time, around 36 hours to complete. THat was 2 years back.

The battery felt strong since then and even at 2F temp, it cranked good this winter.

The new battery is rated at 550 CCA - 01/07
the guys at honda measured 398 CCA - 03/13

So what do you think did charging the battery at high amps and doing the regen cycle help this battery put out a few extra CCA and also make it last longer?
Is my CCA at par with the age of the battery?


Would have loved to see a before and after test of the battery. The REGEN works in some situations but not all. Some feel its more theory than practical.

 

[JHZR2]

Lead acid batteries have very limited cycle life. Life halves every 8 degrees over 75 degrees that the battery lives at.

Real charging helps keep the battery topped up, as alternators don't truly do so.

Chargers with desulfation may or may not help. Soft sulfate crystals can be dissolved with a high voltage temporary charge. Hard sulfate may not be as doable.

Honda batteries are pretty small, so prone to getting hotter, etc.

A good charge can revitalize if not that much sulfuric acid is lost and the impedance didnt rise that much. 150cca is like 25% power loss, so impedance grew pretty well. But not bad for 6 years.

IMO/IME, routine topping helps as does regular float maintenance

 

[raffy]

This is encouraging to hear; it appears Honda put some pretty decent batteries in the Ridgelines. I am still on the original battery on my '08 Ridgeline, which I bought new in 4/08. Not sure how long it stood on the lot before then. But the battery has been fine for the whole time and as far as I know has never been deeply discharged.

Battery desulfation definitely works at least in some situations. Ham radio operators are very fond of the "Battery Tender" or "Battery Minder" chargers and use them to maintain deep cycle batteries for emergency use. Sounds like you probably saved yourself having to replace the battery. I'd be curious to see how long the battery lasts you from now on.

 

[Billy_D]

I don't think charging the battery at high amps, and doing the regen cycle helped your battery last longer. The Motorcraft battery that came with my 2007 truck is rated at 550 CCA. I had it tested 1-2 weeks ago, it measured 511 CCA. They recommended to have it replaced because it's a 7 year old battery.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: stockrex
I went to Honda for oil change on 3/15. my truck in a 07 Ridgeline which I took deliver around 7/7. it sat in the lot in Lansing MI for about 6 months.

The truck was driven in winter only for the first 3 years of it life and few times the battery drained to 10% charge or less.

6 years old and rarely used for the first 3 years so that battery drained to 10% is the time to change.

 

[mechtech2]

What's a 'flooded battery'? I never heard the expression.

 

[andyd]

Anytime I get more than 3 yrs out of a car battery, I'm happy. I have seen telephone battery rooms that last 30 yrs or more. Car batteries would last much longer if they had some way to keep the plates from shorting out in the sediment that is produced .

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Billy007
I don't think charging the battery at high amps, and doing the regen cycle helped your battery last longer. The Motorcraft battery that came with my 2007 truck is rated at 550 CCA. I had it tested 1-2 weeks ago, it measured 511 CCA. They recommended to have it replaced because it's a 7 year old battery.


Generally as a rule, you want to keep temperatures down so low rate charging is good. But Ive seen a number of papers that have done good SEM and capacity work, that have indicated that a better result can be had with a bit higher charge rate, because of the structure of the lead on the grids.

 

[stockrex]

flooded = lead acid (??)
As long as the batt works I am keeping it.
I agree, alternator is not designed to fully charge battery, from what I have read it is good to fully charge battery using an external charger.
I do make long hwy trips for meetings, but truck sees short local trips mostly.
I am going to run another recondition cycle and fully charge the battery and take it back to honda for a CCA test in the next few weeks.

Today, I hooked up my chevy duramax with 2 batts to my charger, yikes, it was down to 12.5 v.

I charged it and let it sit and it came down to 12.5 v again.

I started a regen on the chevy. We will have to wait and see how that goes.

 

[wrcsixeight]

An alternator can be an excellent charging source. The problem is that lead acid batteries take a lot of time to squeeze in the last couple percent.

Also Since it is safer to under charge a battery, and vehicle manufacturers are not concerned with battery longevity, the voltage regulators tend to drop the voltage back into the mid 13's prematurely, when the battery was happier taking more current in the 14's.

I have not found that the regen/desulfation modes to do anything to my batteries, but mine die just due to the number and depth of cycles, not because I let them sit and self discharge and sulfate. Perhaps on ignored batteries, it would be more effective.

 

[stockrex]

Originally Posted By: wrcsixeight
An alternator can be an excellent charging source. The problem is that lead acid batteries take a lot of time to squeeze in the last couple percent.

Also Since it is safer to under charge a battery, and vehicle manufacturers are not concerned with battery longevity, the voltage regulators tend to drop the voltage back into the mid 13's prematurely, when the battery was happier taking more current in the 14's.

I have not found that the regen/desulfation modes to do anything to my batteries, but mine die just due to the number and depth of cycles, not because I let them sit and self discharge and sulfate. Perhaps on ignored batteries, it would be more effective.



that makes sense, unfortunate my harem of vehicles are neglected and don't see much most of the time.
maybe I need to put in one of those solar chargers to keep the battery strong and charged.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: wrcsixeight
An alternator can be an excellent charging source. The problem is that lead acid batteries take a lot of time to squeeze in the last couple percent.

Also Since it is safer to under charge a battery, and vehicle manufacturers are not concerned with battery longevity, the voltage regulators tend to drop the voltage back into the mid 13's prematurely, when the battery was happier taking more current in the 14's.



I cant say that Ive ever seen an alternator drop voltage in association with SOC in any real way. Not even going to a float level on long-term driving in cars with very little electric load.