What do you do with older but Ok - Batteries ?

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henni

henni

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Dec 28, 2011
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key largo,fl
So, inevitably around 3 years plus or minus, we end up replacing car batteries but sometimes swap (for Core exchance fees) some really old battery (5 plus years) and end up having a 3 year old battery that still tests out fine using the latest CTEK MUS charger

Sometimes I give these out (donation) but have normally not kept even a working battery beyond 4 years

Couple batteries thought to be "bad" tested out completely fine after being connected to this CTEK unit for 3 days
www.amazon.com/CTEK-56-864-Automatic-Battery-Charger/dp/B006G14FK8
 
Keep mine in the basement and run the internet off it and an inverter during power outages when I don't want to bother with a generator.

They don't decay as fast in the basement as they do under a hood.

I find a beater to put them in, eventually.
 
The last battery I replaced was pushing 14 years. I have an 8 year old battery in my Liberty. A 3 year old battery is in the prime of its life to me. LOL
 
Take it to a auto parts place and get it load tested. If it passes the load test, then the battery is fine. I have an AGM battery in my car that's 9 years old, but I'm in the northeast so it's colder here so batteries tend to last longer. They might not last 9 years in your climate, but it's clear they're lasting more than 3 years.
 
Use as spares for generator or take with camping for pump and lights in shower shack.
Donors to family members POS so they can sell.
 
Why would you replace at 3 years? When they go bad you get plenty of warning. Not like they die instantly and leave you stranded, like a CPS might
 
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Id take the new battery, and keep it on a float charge at 75F or colder, and use the old one until it has signs of failure.

Or else, sell the 5 year old battery to a scrap dealer and trade the 3 year old battery, and be done.
 
I keep one 12 volt "good" battery on a maintainer in the winter so that I can jump the 6 volt 2N that I use to plow snow if the battery in it fails. It's only happened once in 20+ years, but it was worth it when all I had to do was grab the spare battery, hook the jumper cables to it and the ground and starter on the tractor and have it fire up.
 
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Why would you replace at 3 years? When they go bad you get plenty of warning. Not like they die instantly and leave you stranded, like a CPS might


The OP is in Florida. You are in Canada. Batteries do not last down here. ANY parts store battery is approaching really dead at 3 years here. OEM batteries seem to last about 5 or so.

I just replaced my mother in laws battery. Lasted 2.5 years from install. Had a 3 year warranty, they replaced it for free. It will last another 2.5 years before I replace it again. Wife's battery lasted 2.5 years. I replaced it a few months ago and on average every 2.5 years on clockwork. My truck battery lasted 3 years. My lawn mower battery lasted 3 years.
 
So OP is in south Florida. I thought warm weather was kind to batteries ? I do recall that some battery makers will sell a certain rated batter in a "Northern" formula vs. a "southern" formula, but I have no idea of the differences. I am in Maryland so it can get ultra hot in the summer, but winters average right around freezing with dips into the teens and below in rare occasions.

I would call Optima tech support and ask their advice on warn climate battery: 3 years just seems too short.
 
Originally Posted By: rubberchicken
So OP is in south Florida. I thought warm weather was kind to batteries ? I do recall that some battery makers will sell a certain rated batter in a "Northern" formula vs. a "southern" formula, but I have no idea of the differences. I am in Maryland so it can get ultra hot in the summer, but winters average right around freezing with dips into the teens and below in rare occasions.

I would call Optima tech support and ask their advice on warn climate battery: 3 years just seems too short.


Heat kills a battery. The cold is actually kind to batteries, they last longer. However electric power is a chemical reaction and the colder it is, the slower things move so you get less power out of a battery than when it's hot. A cold engine takes more power to start than a hot one and a cold battery puts out less power so that's why people think the cold kills a battery, but it really died in the summer, just doesn't really show up til the winter.

Two different things, lifetime and power output.
 
Ideally, a battery meant for the tropics would be filled with Acid with a specific gravity of ~1.260 and one for the far north as high as 1.310.



When Sulfuric acid gets over 120F its ability to eat lead plates increases substantially.

I use my batteries until they are done, then use them as core charges. I would not remove one at 3 years if it still performed OK, then keep it around just to have.

To me that would be droppng the oil at 3k Miles, and holding on to it, when the oild was good for 6K miles, but possibly might have only been good for 5800.

Having to use jumperpacks or jumper cables is hardly a life threatening situation 99.9 percent of the time for most.
 
Originally Posted By: wrcsixeight

I would not remove one at 3 years if it still performed OK, then keep it around just to have.

Having to use jumperpacks or jumper cables is hardly a life threatening situation 99.9 percent of the time for most.


Im with you when it comes to MY car. I can handle being stranded and can take care of it. For the wifes car however, she drives all over the state, and I absolutely do not want her stranded or having to deal with a dead battery. I make sure her car is 100% reliable and not likely to break down, because, well thats what a good loving husband does.
 
A dying battery will not fail abruptly unless a internal lead link melts or shorts which is rare. Your vehicle will turn over slower and slower until one day it will just barely start. I have had batteries fail at 2 years and last as long as 12 years.

If you change as part of a regular maintenance program to keep from being stranded, you may as well replace the fuel pump. CPS, Starter motor and alternator, and these can fail at any time and leave you stranded.
 
I test them in December. If they fail, I replace them. I replaced one of the 5 batteries in my fleet this year. Well ok, tested 3 of the 5, One is out in Seattle where my daughter is living for the year. One was in our brand new Rav4. One tested good, one came backing needing a charge, and one tested bad. I replaced the bad one in the 99 Grand Marquis. I think that's the 2nd battery that car has needed since it was new, maybe 3rd.
 
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I stand by my practice of changing it out every 4 years regardless. Cheap insurance as I'm not doing it with AGM's, just normal Costco or AAP conventionals.
 
Mine do not get replaced until they die. Dead battery goes to AAP where I buy my new battery.
 
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