I have a Sam's club Duracell 65 series made by East Penn. occasionally I get a low battery warning on my radio. I have a Noco Genius battery charger 3500 that I have used to help charge it up, but it never gets to 100% charge where the green light should go solid. I had an auto parts store do a test, and sams did a midtronics test showing 795 out of 850 CCA with a battery temp of 89 degrees F on a 28 degree day. The voltage showed 12.4 which I think is kind of low. Is this normal for an 8 month old battery? Alternator tests good as well. Both tests passed.
Sam’s Battery test question
- Thread starter oilstudent24
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maybe not but charging in cold weather is harder for some chargers + likely it will test lower. my C-tech 4.3 MUS has a cold weather charging setting for 40F + lower. read where after a charger shows good shut it off a bit + reconnect + you will see a lower level. winter driving with everything on + especially todays stop-start is hard keeping a battery up unless you do long drives or use a charger frequently IMO
That makes sense. I use the cold weather setting and had a long drive a couple days before testing as well as frequent charging.
JHZR2
Staff member
Battery temp of 89 on a 28 degree day? Huh?
That to me says that the battery has high internal resistance, though their cca value implies otherwise.
12.4 is too low for a disconnect3d, fully charged battery.
That to me says that the battery has high internal resistance, though their cca value implies otherwise.
12.4 is too low for a disconnect3d, fully charged battery.
Kinda what I'm thinking. I'm sure the under hood temps were warmer after a drive.
12.4 is low, should be (at least) 12.6 when fully charged. Might be working on a weak cell, a hydrometer might tell you more, IF the battery cell caps are removable. I think I would try for a warranty replacement.
I was hoping for a warranty replacement, but without a bad test I'm out of luck. The battery does not appear to have any open caps. It's a flat type of no maint one made by east penn.
Originally Posted by oilstudent24
I was hoping for a warranty replacement, but without a bad test I'm out of luck. The battery does not appear to have any open caps. It's a flat type of no maint one made by east penn.
This happened to me recently. I have a duralast gold in my truck that is chronically showing 12.4 no matter what. It starts the truck but theres some strain to my ear. Autozone tested it as good. I think its marginal.
I was hoping for a warranty replacement, but without a bad test I'm out of luck. The battery does not appear to have any open caps. It's a flat type of no maint one made by east penn.
This happened to me recently. I have a duralast gold in my truck that is chronically showing 12.4 no matter what. It starts the truck but theres some strain to my ear. Autozone tested it as good. I think its marginal.
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted by E150GT
Originally Posted by oilstudent24
I was hoping for a warranty replacement, but without a bad test I'm out of luck. The battery does not appear to have any open caps. It's a flat type of no maint one made by east penn.
This happened to me recently. I have a duralast gold in my truck that is chronically showing 12.4 no matter what. It starts the truck but theres some strain to my ear. Autozone tested it as good. I think its marginal.
Same thing I'm tracking on my truck with an autocraft silver battery. Another JCI variant fwiw.
Originally Posted by bullwinkle
12.4 is low, should be (at least) 12.6 when fully charged. Might be working on a weak cell, a hydrometer might tell you more, IF the battery cell caps are removable. I think I would try for a warranty replacement.
For general awareness, the value of 12.63V indicating 100%SOC is specific to a 77F "standard" condition.
The 100% SOC value varies with temperature, and is lower when colder (eg 100% at 27F is 12.53), and higher when hotter (e.g. 100% at 87F is 12.65).
If the Walmart tester didn't measure a suitable SOC for their identified internal temperature (iirc OP stated 89F), then it should have at least raised a flag of the need to charge it.
Originally Posted by oilstudent24
I was hoping for a warranty replacement, but without a bad test I'm out of luck. The battery does not appear to have any open caps. It's a flat type of no maint one made by east penn.
This happened to me recently. I have a duralast gold in my truck that is chronically showing 12.4 no matter what. It starts the truck but theres some strain to my ear. Autozone tested it as good. I think its marginal.
Same thing I'm tracking on my truck with an autocraft silver battery. Another JCI variant fwiw.
Originally Posted by bullwinkle
12.4 is low, should be (at least) 12.6 when fully charged. Might be working on a weak cell, a hydrometer might tell you more, IF the battery cell caps are removable. I think I would try for a warranty replacement.
For general awareness, the value of 12.63V indicating 100%SOC is specific to a 77F "standard" condition.
The 100% SOC value varies with temperature, and is lower when colder (eg 100% at 27F is 12.53), and higher when hotter (e.g. 100% at 87F is 12.65).
If the Walmart tester didn't measure a suitable SOC for their identified internal temperature (iirc OP stated 89F), then it should have at least raised a flag of the need to charge it.
That's what is so surprising. Both times the battery had been charged one way or another. I looked at the temperature charts and knew the voltage was low. I thought the auto parts place I didn't buy from might have failed it. I have bought batteries at that store too.
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