Need Some Help Deciding on a Battery Please

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Dec 28, 2011
Messages
5,046
I realize there are only a few major players making batteries for the bulk of the market. I'm not anywhere up on the subject. 17 Subaru Outback 3.6H engine. The OEM batters was a major engineering malfunction/cost cutting decision that went WRONG! It's a major issues with them and pretty well known. I have 13k on mine so far and I did leave the tailgate and a door open for a few hours and IT DIED. Not sure why there is not (or why it didn't work if there is one) an auto turn off after XX minutes.

Last battery I bought was a Megatron and it was great. I see a supposed better offering from Interstate...at about $170!! Is Optima still considered one of the best?

Come September I will be heading to about 70 miles outside Quebec City (from about 60 miles north of NYC). And a ton of fall and winter trips to NH and VT and upstate NY on the horizon. Not much help in many of the places I'll be. Love to hear recommendations on a good battery.

Also, are there jump packs that are pretty good and NOT so bulky like they were a few years back?
 
O'reilly Superstart, NAPA, or maybe a Duracell from Batteries Plus/Sams these are made by East Penn I believe.
 
I have had good luck with AutoZone Duralast Gold,

Retailmenot dot com list current sales / specials / coupon codes, last one I bought I got 40% off...

Change your dome light to an LED, more light, less current draw...
Superbrightleds dot com
 
Sorry, I'm not so up to date on which battery brand is best either, but one thing I'd suggest is to try put in a larger battery. Honda puts in a dinky Group 51R battery, so I put in a Group 24F battery in my Element. It's quite a bit larger, so it can put out more current and has a larger reserve capacity. If you can, check the Subaru forums, or just take your own measurements and see if a larger battery will fit.

It's only been 3.5 years on my Costco Kirkland battery (made by Interstate I believe), but I hasn't had any slow starts or any other trouble. It probably doesn't hurt that I put the car on a float charger every once in a while (a little more often in the winter).

If you do a lot of short trips, it's possible you're not replenishing your battery as fast as you're draining it during the starts. If convenient, maybe you can try wire up a float charger?
 
Originally Posted By: mattwithcats
I have had good luck with AutoZone Duralast Gold,

Retailmenot dot com list current sales / specials / coupon codes, last one I bought I got 40% off...

Change your dome light to an LED, more light, less current draw...
Superbrightleds dot com


That's a great suggestion too. I swapped out my dome and map lights with LEDs and they are way brighter, and I have much less concern of a drained battery.
 
Originally Posted By: oilstudent24
O'reilly Superstart, NAPA, or maybe a Duracell from Batteries Plus/Sams these are made by East Penn I believe.


I like all those suggestions. Esp the Batteries Plus one. O'Reillys will give you a $10 gift card for your old battery btw.
 
I like the idea of getting a bigger battery that fits - side benefit is the different, more common size battery, will be less expensive. I also like the idea of the Walmart battery because walmarts are everywhere.
 
My daughter just replaced her 2011 Outback battery. She used Sam's Club since it was cheapest for 3 yr non-prorated warranty. Beat all other pricing that particular day. Understand the battery was made by Deka (Energizer branded, I believe). $90.16 for the needed size.
 
I did a quick search and it sounds like Subaru uses a pretty small Group 25 sized battery, even in the H6 models. I also saw, at least for previous model years, that a Group 34 is a little bigger and is a drop in.

Also saw this one post:

"Per the dealer, the two reasons the battery may die, 1-not starting the car for some time (3 weeks or more) or 2- keeping the push start keyfob closer to 15 feet to the car."

Maybe your key fob is too close?
 
Northstar are great, Advance autoparts gold are a great value.

I usually only avoid EXIDE as every-single-one I have ever had leaked.
 
Originally Posted By: JayhawkRoy
My daughter just replaced her 2011 Outback battery. She used Sam's Club since it was cheapest for 3 yr non-prorated warranty. Beat all other pricing that particular day. Understand the battery was made by Deka (Energizer branded, I believe). $90.16 for the needed size.


Correction: Duracell brand, Group Size 25.
 
Battery longevity is more dependent on the average temperature it sees, and its average state of charge, than who put thier sticker on the casing, or who made it for those who did.

Interstate does not manufacture batteries, they market batteries. Whether they are made any better than the johnson controls starting battery sold at wal mart is an unknown.

A battery killer is the obscene human view that the alternator is an instant free energy source which can and does instantly, or nearly instantly recharge batteries.

A healthy battery drained to the point it needs a jumpstart, cannot be recharged fully, to a true 100% state of charge in less than 6.5 hours. Tjhose 6.5 hoours assume a rather beefy high amperage charging source which will seek 14.5 ish volts, and then hold that voltage until the battery is fully charged. Sounds easy right. Like any smart charger can and will do this.

Sad truth is few can or do.

Sadder truth is the vehicles voltage regulator will never allow 14.5 ish volts to be held for the 6.5 hours required to get a battery depleted to the point it needed a jumpstart, back to 100% full charge.

Now some might say theat 1005 state of charge is not required, and this is true, a healthy battery at 30% charged can still start most vehicles in mild temperatures, but a battery is degrading and degrading faster, losing capaity and cold cranking amps the lower state of charge it sits and the longer it sits there.

So the world worst manufactured battery barring defect, kept fully charged, will outlast and outperform the worlds best lead acid battery kept chronically undercharged.

So much of this 'who makes the best battery' is horse hockey. The battery longevity is determined by how well it is recharged to as near a 100% state f charge as possible, and the average temperature it is subjected to.

Keep em cool, keep em fully charged, and one will ge excellent service from almost any brand of battery out there, even the much reviled Exide.

Keeping them cool and fully charged, well that was not a consideration by the automaker, 99% of the time. Batteries relocated out of the engine compartment seem to do so not for heat, but lack of space or weight distribution.

And the Vehicles voltage regulator is NOT concerned with fully charging a battery, they are designed to not Overcharge a battery, which means the voltages will drop to the mid 13 range fairly quickly.

About 1/3 the amount of amps flow at 13.7v compared to 14.7v. So subject a battery that required a jumpstart to short bursts of 14v+ then only 13.7v there after, and the battery has no chance of ever getting fully charged, will decline in capacity rapidly, and die a premature death.

Any time a battery requires a jumpstart, put it on a charger overnight, and if it is just a 'trickle' charger, put it on the battery the next night too, and perhaps the night after that one too.

The goal is to get the battery to 100%^ state of charge, anything less is detrimental. 100% state of charge takes time, no matter how powerful the charging source might be, as the last 20% can't be forced in any faster, even at higher electrical pressure(voltage).

And as far as batteries growing green or white fuzz on their terminals, often this is caused by overtightening the post clamps by whomever installed it, and breaking the rather weak seal from battery plastic to the post sticking out of it. These clamps require very little torque, yet most people act otherwise.

And about battery warranties, well I'd hate to be a battery retailer. What other product could be killed/destroyed through sheer ignorance/ abuse, yet be replaced free of charge.

Gee I drove my new car into the lake, I want a new one for free.
Gee I drained my battery to 9 volts, jumpstarted it, and 3 weeks later it failed to start my car and failed to 'take a charge' completely, Gimme a new one.

Same thing.

If someone really wants a bragging rights battery, one which can be drained deep and still start the car in cold temperatures, AGMS by Odyssey and Northstar have very high CCA figures, but they are NOT immune to chronic undercharging, and are likely even more negatively affected by it. These AGMS really require high amps to high voltages and full recharges whenever they are depleted to 65% or less. the deeper the discharge the more important it is that these AGMS get high amp recharged.

Throw out Grandpa's 'trickle charge it' mentality out with the old wives tales when it comes to deeply discharged AGM batteries.

Northstar and Odyssey are about 3x as expensive as a wally world starting battery, and could be killed just as easily, and perhaps more easily, through the ignorance of lead acid battery wants and needs.

They want to be fully charged at all times. Anything less is detrimental. Achieving full charge requires time. Lots of it. The lower the voltage the longer it takes.

Expecting your vehicle will quickly recharge a battery that required a jumpstart to full, is unwise in the extreme. Friend's don't let friends be unwise.
 
I prefer EAST Penn Deka batteries like those from BATTERIES PLUS or other Deka sources. I also trickle charge new batteries at ~ 1 amp on any new battery to get it up to 100% if possible. Ed
 
Originally Posted By: BISCUT

Also, are there jump packs that are pretty good and NOT so bulky like they were a few years back?


The Noco Genius boost are good but pricey if you want a higher amp model. I have a first generation model and it still works but not on everything I've tried it on.

The GB70 is very nice and fairly small but will set you back $200

Anything lithium ion based under $100 is most likely going to be dollar store like junk
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top