How old are your batteries and how to keep them in good shape?

[DieselMonk]

Last year I ended up needing new batteries for just about everything. Generator, tractor, dozer, car etc. By the time I counted it all togeter it was like 1200$ to get new ones. I had everything from a 3 month old battery to a 7 year old battery that showed signes. Worst ones were the ones from Walmart. Best ones were original equipment battery from NH and Catarpillar.

It is very common around here for the batteries not lasting long, due to sulphation (everything is white in the battery). Anyone else has problems like this? I swear some batts are already sulphated around here sitting on the store shelf.

I heard all kinds of tricks to desulphate batteries. From an electric wire fence spiker, to some other very crude methods and then some commerical ones.

What works and what doesn't? I am doing some tests myself and the outcome will hopefully be interesting.

 

[brokenknee]

Last year I ended up needing new batteries for just about everything. Generator, tractor, dozer, car etc. By the time I counted it all togeter it was like 1200$ to get new ones. I had everything from a 3 month old battery to a 7 year old battery that showed signes. Worst ones were the ones from Walmart. Best ones were original equipment battery from NH and Catarpillar.

It is very common around here for the batteries not lasting long, due to sulphation (everything is white in the battery). Anyone else has problems like this? I swear some batts are already sulphated around here sitting on the store shelf.

I heard all kinds of tricks to desulphate batteries. From an electric wire fence spiker, to some other very crude methods and then some commerical ones.

What works and what doesn't? I am doing some tests myself and the outcome will hopefully be interesting.

I am just going to replace the battery in my 2002 F150 truck. The battery is original battery when purchased new. I can get two to three years in my mower (replaced last year). The Polaris ranger that was good for four years. My tractor battery, not sure have had the tractor four years now and it is still good (hope fully didn't jinx myself).

 

[RandyT]

There are three grades of batteries. Wet charge/wet ship, wet charge/dry ship, and dry charge/dry ship. Most batteries are wet charge/wet ship, those are the batteries at walmart and farm stores. They have to be put into service within 90 days of manufacture. Wet charge/dry ship I don't think I have even seen. They have to be put into service with 6-12 months of manufacture. The dry charge/dry ship are the top of the line batteries, and most expensive. those are the ones that you have to add the acid to after purchase. Have a shelf life of 5 years providing the acid is not added until sale, then must be put into service with 6 months.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

My 2004 Ford Ranger has the original battery at 153,000 miles and no hints of getting weaker. When the battery does go, I will go to a Ford dealer for it's replacement.

 

[whistlepig]

I'm not an expert on batteries but for some reason I think a battery should last at least 5 years. They have always lasted that long on my pickup trucks. For the other equipment it seems that if I take them out and put them in my attached garage (which always stays a little above freezing) and charge them once a month they last a couple of years longer.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

There are three grades of batteries. Wet charge/wet ship, wet charge/dry ship, and dry charge/dry ship. Most batteries are wet charge/wet ship, those are the batteries at walmart and farm stores. They have to be put into service within 90 days of manufacture. Wet charge/dry ship I don't think I have even seen. They have to be put into service with 6-12 months of manufacture. The dry charge/dry ship are the top of the line batteries, and most expensive. those are the ones that you have to add the acid to after purchase. Have a shelf life of 5 years providing the acid is not added until sale, then must be put into service with 6 months.

To add to the above... for sure on all new batteries I buy I always check the "freshness" date. You want to buy fresh batteries from a place with big turnover to ensure battery did not sit and discharge and sulfate prior to you getting it.

Not uncommon but probably average 7-8 years on my batteries but I really look after them well. Disconnect when going to sit for extended period of time, store on non conductive surfaces (usually wooden 2*6) store in cool places away from excess heat or cold (floor of my garages are never too cold in winter or too hot in summer) put the volt gauge on them regularly and trickle charge every few months or more often if not in use depending on whther voltage has dropped.

Killers are excess heat, excess cold, leaving hooked up when their is a parasitic drain on the circuit, storing on conductive surfaces, voltage drop during storage, etc..

 

[tallyho8]

I just bought a new battery for my Yanmar tractor today. Went to start it after a 2 month layup and it was dead. First time it went dead. I took it out to charge it and saw the date on it. It was 12 years old so I just bought a new one.

This one and the new one are both Walmart batteries with the 3 year replacement guarantee.

 

[whistlepig]

Maybe it's just me but it seems back in the old days the batteries would give you little warning before they went dead. The starter would begin getting sluggish when the battery was starting to fail. Seems like the batteries these days are fine one day and dead as doornail the next day. My truck has an alarm that tells me when my tires are low on pressure. Does it tell me anything about my battery going dead? No it doesn't. Engineering gone horribly wrong here. I just won't trust a truck battery after 5 years. I replace them at 5 years regardless.

 

[crazyal]

I got a desulphator for a gift a few years ago. I tried it on a battery that was pretty much dead. I left it on for over a week and guess what, the battery was still dead. Kind of put the charger on the back burner and figured I'd juse it as a trickle charger since it only had 3 settings, 2amp, 4amp, and 8amp.

This past fall it seamed like I had the same thing happen, had 3 batteries all of a sudden no longer want to hold a charge. No matter how long I tried to charge them they would start out great then quickly drain themselves out and not start the engines, kind of like trying to use a garden tractor battery to start a large diesel engine.

After coming across the BatteryMinder sitting in a box I tried it out on the middle sized battery of the three and left it for over a week (actually I forgot about it). Once I remembered it I put it in my plow truck, an International with a 446 gas engine, air brakes, and an electric pump for the plow. The truck started better than a new battery in single digits temps. So I put it on the largest battery, a large 1400 cca battery and left it for a week plus. It also brought the battery back to life.

The final battery is in my GF winter vehicle. It was able to start it OK but it felt weak. Even that one, a no name brand seams to be as good as new. Until this winter I wasn't sold but now I'm going to use it to desuphate all my batteries once a year. I'm doing the garden tractor batteries now.

 

[yelbike]

Storage is never really a good thing. Batteries need use or at least trickle charge. The worst thing for a lead-acid battery is a complete discharge, they don't seem to be the same after that.:confused3: