maintenance free battery or not maintenance free.

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i am approaching 5 yrs. on my current batttery.so far so good. i am looking ahead at a new battery purchase soon. are there any advantages of maintenance free batterys over non maintenance free? do you have a preference? i would imagine most new batteries today would be of the maintenance free design so this may not be a issue. thxs.
 
I do prefer batteries with removable caps so that the electrolyte levels and chemistry can be monitored. Caps do not necessarily imply anything, but it strikes me that modern batteries all have the appropriate Ca/Sb doping to make them "maintenance free".

What maintenance type batteries are you seeing?
 
Originally Posted By: james1950
i am approaching 5 yrs. on my current batttery.so far so good. i am looking ahead at a new battery purchase soon. are there any advantages of maintenance free batterys over non maintenance free? do you have a preference? i would imagine most new batteries today would be of the maintenance free design so this may not be a issue. thxs.


They have not gone 100% to maint. free batteries. Some are, others are low maint.

I prefer to be able to open up the cells and add distilled water or user a hydrometer.

I would suggest a Walmart MAXX assuming the ones available to you are made by JCI?
 
Depends on your car. GMs like maint free as they run slightly higher voltage which coordinates better with the maint free chemistry.

I'd try and find what the factory used and match that.

But I'd also try for a johnson controls battery.

Decisions, decisions.
 
i do like the walmart MAXX batterys.they are jci. i will want the freshest one in stock or see you later!!!!
 
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I'm posting this about batteries so that everyone that has never tried it can take a shot at it and tell me it does not work. Here goes.

I spray and wipe down a car battery with Pledge Furniture Polish with lemon scent including the battery box. I never use grease or something like WD-40 and on the day the battery dies it looks exactly like the day it was installed. My OEM battery in my 03 4Runner lasted 11 years and the previous batter on my 84 Civic lasted 14 years. I'm the original owner of the 84 Civic listed below and I'm also still on the original alternator. I change the brushes every 100K miles and make sure the belt is never too tight. Granted I live in Southern California and we have no weather and that is a contributing factor. It appears that battery life is affected by low level constant discharge that shows as corrosion. With the furniture polish there is nothing but a shiny surface that always looks like new.

Okay, I've posted this and now it's time to tell me I'm stupid and it can't possibly work. Bring it on.....
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
They have not gone 100% to maint. free batteries. Some are, others are low maint.

I prefer to be able to open up the cells and add distilled water or user a hydrometer.

I would suggest a Walmart MAXX assuming the ones available to you are made by JCI?


+1 one as well. I also clean the terminals in October and coat the posts with vaseline (die-electric grease).

I've also read on youtube that if you add epsom salts to batteries about to die, you can get extend the life of them. On a sealed battery there is no way you can do that.

Regards, JC.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
I'm posting this about batteries so that everyone that has never tried it can take a shot at it and tell me it does not work. Here goes.

I spray and wipe down a car battery with Pledge Furniture Polish with lemon scent including the battery box. I never use grease or something like WD-40 and on the day the battery dies it looks exactly like the day it was installed. My OEM battery in my 03 4Runner lasted 11 years and the previous batter on my 84 Civic lasted 14 years. I'm the original owner of the 84 Civic listed below and I'm also still on the original alternator. I change the brushes every 100K miles and make sure the belt is never too tight. Granted I live in Southern California and we have no weather and that is a contributing factor. It appears that battery life is affected by low level constant discharge that shows as corrosion. With the furniture polish there is nothing but a shiny surface that always looks like new.

Okay, I've posted this and now it's time to tell me I'm stupid and it can't possibly work. Bring it on.....

I think of this advice from time to time, and I need to do it...

Is that stuff aerosol?
 
I took this battery out from an Audi. CCA about 185
I think it's supposed to be "maintenance-free".

wklbt5.jpg


Later, I tore off the top label and top-up the cells.
Charge it back up to about 450 cca.

There were debris inside the cells, caused by the low electrolyte.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
I'm posting this about batteries so that everyone that has never tried it can take a shot at it and tell me it does not work. Here goes.

I spray and wipe down a car battery with Pledge Furniture Polish with lemon scent including the battery box. I never use grease or something like WD-40 and on the day the battery dies it looks exactly like the day it was installed. My OEM battery in my 03 4Runner lasted 11 years and the previous batter on my 84 Civic lasted 14 years. I'm the original owner of the 84 Civic listed below and I'm also still on the original alternator. I change the brushes every 100K miles and make sure the belt is never too tight. Granted I live in Southern California and we have no weather and that is a contributing factor. It appears that battery life is affected by low level constant discharge that shows as corrosion. With the furniture polish there is nothing but a shiny surface that always looks like new.

Okay, I've posted this and now it's time to tell me I'm stupid and it can't possibly work. Bring it on.....


Pretty much along the line what I do, sans the furniture polish.

I periodically remove the battery and wash it completely with soap and water. With filth and oils removed, the battery terminals can't 'short' - no path for current between + and - and (very) slowly discharge the battery. The OEM in my Nissan lasted 14 years.

You could probably get away with just washing the top of the battery in situ and that would be good enough.
 
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