Would you buy a used battery?

[The_Jeff]

Walmart lost a sale to me when I was trying to buy a 96R battery for a Ford Fusion by having inaccurate info on their website. So I skipped looking at them in store and went to NAPA for a black friday sale (that still wasn't as good.)

For now, anyone looking at batteries should look in store to see what they have.

 

[billt460]

I went to Wal-Mart first thing this morning and bought a new battery for my truck. A Group 65 with 750 CCA. It was $130.00. And it's a Everstart made by Johnson Controls. I also bought a 800 Milliamp Battery Tender Jr., and hard wired the leads out to the front grill.

When I got it home it was at 80% charge, (the sticker on the battery was dated 11/21). So I put it on a 15 amp charge until the charger shut down. I then tested it and it showed it to be fully charged, and registered 833 CCA. It spins the engine like a top. With the battery tender plugged in when I'm not driving it, I'm hoping it will last a bit longer.

 

[JHZR2]

I went to Wal-Mart first thing this morning and bought a new battery for my truck. A Group 65 with 750 CCA. It was $130.00. And it's a Everstart made by Johnson Controls. I also bought a 800 Milliamp Battery Tender Jr., and hard wired the leads out to the front grill.

When I got it home it was at 80% charge, (the sticker on the battery was dated 11/21). So I put it on a 15 amp charge until the charger shut down. I then tested it and it showed it to be fully charged, and registered 833 CCA. It spins the engine like a top. With the battery tender plugged in when I'm not driving it, I'm hoping it will last a bit longer.

Your issue is going to be heat... If anything, in the hot months, I might set the minder to turn off during the middle of the day to avoid any more heat generation than you can avoid.

 

[JHZR2]

24F is super cheap. Get one from Walmart for $54.88.

Agree. If that concerned about price, get the value line and take the chance. They can’t be that bad. At least they’re not aged.

To the OP’s question - would I buy a used battery? Sure, if I knew the history and age. But it would have to be reasonably recent history and not that old. Or something that sat indoors on a charger for a long while. And I’d still be looking at the business case for the value.

 

[billt460]

Your issue is going to be heat... If anything, in the hot months, I might set the minder to turn off during the middle of the day to avoid any more heat generation than you can avoid.

I was thinking much the same. My garage is evaporator cooled. And I can keep the temp in the low 90's in the hottest weather, (120+ F). The only thing I was concerned about, (and you would probably know), is if I put it on a timer in the hottest months, to run a few hours during the night, would it place any type of parasitic drain on the battery, by having the Battery Tender hooked up, but dead and not running?

I guess what I'm asking is, would there be any possibility of some type of "reverse flow" of 12 volts from the battery being back fed into the 120 volt socket? Or are these Tender units electronically protected from such things? I know as a general rule batteries don't push current, but this is a bit of an odd set up.

 

[JimPghPA]

Amazon now has the Panlong battery tester for $29.99 , I paid $39.99 for one from Amazon almost a year ago, and still consider it worth it. OP, I suggest you get one of those. With it you can read any batteries actual CCA and that would enable you to check junkyard batteries and select a good one. Also, it will enable you to check any battery you get to see when it needs replaced. It also checks charging systems and will tell you if a starter is drawing too many Amps.

 

[The_Jeff]

I would not store a battery with a tender on it at 90 degrees.

Batteries die via internal chemical reactions, which are sped up by heat.

I'm lucky to have a basement that never exceeds 55-60, even in the summer. This is where my unused batteries camp out. But honestly, the beer fridge or deep freeze would be a great place to stash a clean fully charged battery-- then leave it alone! Being clean means no short circuit between the terminals across the "dust."

Take it out once every six months, thaw it for a couple days, then top it off with a charger.

Batteries work less efficiently when cold, yeah, but you're not asking work of them.

 

[supton]

Walmart lost a sale to me when I was trying to buy a 96R battery for a Ford Fusion by having inaccurate info on their website. So I skipped looking at them in store and went to NAPA for a black friday sale (that still wasn't as good.)

For now, anyone looking at batteries should look in store to see what they have.

I’ve noticed that their inventory hasn’t been well listed lately—says out but I go in and they have whatever. I’m not sure if that is by design or not. You know, go in and just happen to see all the other goodies you didn’t need.

 

[measureman]

There's a couple places here in the Denver area that sell rebuilt car batteries for around $35.00.

 

[cheech279]

No more than I would ever buy a used tire.

 

[zzyzzx]

The battery in my car is 7 years old and is sounding like it’s struggling when cranking. I was looking for a new battery but they can be upwards of $150-200 depending where you purchase. I have seen some used 24f batteries that are maybe 9 months old but have been sitting for $50. What type of issues would I experience from a new battery that has been sitting?

Shopping for a car battery at Home Depot?

 

[y_p_w]

I would not store a battery with a tender on it at 90 degrees.

Batteries die via internal chemical reactions, which are sped up by heat.

I'm lucky to have a basement that never exceeds 55-60, even in the summer. This is where my unused batteries camp out. But honestly, the beer fridge or deep freeze would be a great place to stash a clean fully charged battery-- then leave it alone! Being clean means no short circuit between the terminals across the "dust."

Take it out once every six months, thaw it for a couple days, then top it off with a charger.

Batteries work less efficiently when cold, yeah, but you're not asking work of them.

That's not how most of the newer style maintainers work though. They top it off, stop charging, monitor the charge, and then start charging again at a certain point. It's certainly no worse than driving every day where the battery is sufficiently charged up. I'm not sure if the temperature really matters that much with a low power (0.5 to 3 A) charger that will stop charging when full and go into maintain mode.

 

[y_p_w]

You'd want to weigh your size to see if there's a difference between options.

The conspiracy theorists think the value batteries are similar to or the same as the expensive ones with a lesser warranty.

And when you think about it, how would the assembly line stop a process then do a slightly cheaper process that still has to turn out a useable product?

I'd think customization isn't all that difficult. There's already customization in terms of color of the case There's already different construction for the same size. For some reason Clarios (formerly JCI) can make a Honda Group 51 battery with a 425 CCA rating, while a retail equivalent is likely going to be 500 CCA.

Besides that, aren't many batteries just made unfilled where they don't exactly expire? I hear some are transported to the customer, which then fills it with acid. Batteries like that can probably be made and then warehoused for piecemeal distribution.

That being said, the VP batteries I've seen at Walmart are usually labelled as being made in Korea, so they're clearly not made on the same assembly line as the ones made by EP or Clarios in the US or Mexico.

 

[hank2]

There's a couple places here in the Denver area that sell rebuilt car batteries for around $35.00.

I live fairly close to the main Deka (East Penn) battery plant. Way back in the 70's they used to sell "rebuilt" batteries at their retail outlet. I suppose that scrap batteries didn't have a big value as they do today. I believe the cost was something like $9. They came with a 30-day warranty as I recall. Most people got as much as a year out of them. The "blem" batteries sold there then had more than cosmetic problems in my experience.

 

[dlundblad]

You'd want to weigh your size to see if there's a difference between options.

The conspiracy theorists think the value batteries are similar to or the same as the expensive ones with a lesser warranty.

And when you think about it, how would the assembly line stop a process then do a slightly cheaper process that still has to turn out a useable product?

I could be wrong, but I believe some of Walmart’s top tier batteries have different countries of origin than their value starts.

Places like AZ have like 3 different levels of batteries. I’m not sure which of those compare to what Walmart has.

 

[billt460]

That's not how most of the newer style maintainers work though. They top it off, stop charging, monitor the charge, and then start charging again at a certain point. It's certainly no worse than driving every day where the battery is sufficiently charged up. I'm not sure if the temperature really matters that much with a low power (0.5 to 3 A) charger that will stop charging when full and go into maintain mode.

I am beginning to think much the same thing. As I said in an above post, when I bought the new battery and brought it home, I tested it before I put it in the vehicle. It showed only an 80% charge. (The sticker on the battery was dated 11/21). So it had been sitting for at least a couple of months.

I hooked it up to my charger, and gave it a 15 amp charge until the charger shut down. I then tested it, and it tested to a 100% charge, with 833 cold cranking amps. (The battery is rated at 750 CCA).

After I got everything installed and all hooked up, I drove the truck back to Wal-Mart to get my core charge credited. (About 15 miles round trip). I then hooked up the Battery Tender Jr. and the green light blinked for about 20 minutes, (signaling above 80% charge). Then it went solid green. (Indicating a fully charged battery in, "Float Mode").

I haven't run it today. But when I started it after installing the new, fully charged battery, it spun over like a top. The old battery tested bad, and cranked the engine very slowly. It was a 650 CCA rated battery. But it only tested to 333 CCA.... Definitely a dying battery.

And having it all but constantly charging every time I ran the truck, is hard on the electronic guts of the alternator. Especially with high under the hood temperatures. The Battery Tender puts almost zero strain on the battery to maintain it, and no strain what so ever on the charging system. And that can't help but increase the life of the vehicles charging system as well as the life of the battery. Especially on a vehicle that is driven infrequently.

 

[measureman]

I could be wrong, but I believe some of Walmart’s top tier batteries have different countries of origin than their value starts.

Places like AZ have like 3 different levels of batteries. I’m not sure which of those compare to what Walmart has.

I bought one at Walmart a few years ago that was made in Spain.

 

[Duffyjr]

I don't think the Value and Maxx are the same at least in a group 78. My wally only carries the JC batteries so it was a no go for me. Here are the specs for the 78N

Maxx 800 CCA - $129.84 with 3 years free replacement and weighs 37.3.
Value 600 CCA - $54.88 with 1 year free replacement and weighs 41.6.

Not sure why the Value weighs more unless it's not correct.

 

[Jake_J]

All car batteries have date codes that you can read if you know what you're looking for so there's nothing wrong with getting a year old big group 94R battery for under $30 rather than paying over $200 for a new one. I bought a few used batteries and they've all turned out great.

 

[atikovi]

Value 600 CCA - $54.88 with 1 year free replacement and weighs 41.6.

Are the Value batteries still $55? Somebody reported here recently they went up to $65?