Battery Longevity

[Grumpycat]

My understanding of a trickle charger is a low amp charger with minimal circuitry that only keeps voltage high enough to maintain the low amp flow. They were basically what was available for cheap, back in the good ole days. They were supposed to be used intermittently, so they didn't damage your battery.

Traditionally a trickle charger is little more than a small transformer and single diode half-wave rectifier sourcing little more than 100 mA. The theory is this trickle overcomes self-discharge yet will not boil out the battery electrolyte. This is usually safe for simple low tech automobile size wet lead acid batteries for a month or so. No attention paid to voltage or anything, is as dumb and stupid as anything electronic can be.

A modern maintainer will cycle the battery sometimes with more current, sometimes less. In "lithium" mode the maintainer will shut down, monitoring until certain conditions are met, then cycles on.

 

[ultrarunner]

Had a little Western Auto trickle charger for the boat battery... would leave it on for a couple of weeks before spring and all was good.

Still remember lifting the battery over the side to get it in the boat... maybe 9 at the time.

It tipped a little and unknown to me some of the water spilled...

Called in for lunch and Mom said what happened to your shirt... I look down and it was in tatters... the entire front holes everywhere...

I said I didn't know and then Dad asked what I had been doing and I told him I put the battery in the boat and got it hooked up and secured...

Then he said how did I do that... and said I tipped it over the side... and this is how I learned about battery acid!

Had to stand in the driveway to get hosed down and then to the shower... my pants had holes too!

 

[crazyal]

Here's some information on higher CCA batteries. If two batteries are the same physical size but one has a higher CCA then that means the plates inside are bigger. What this generally means is the plates are closer to the bottom of the cell and are more likely to get shorted out down the road as the battery ages.

 

[Cougsfan]

Here's some information on higher CCA batteries. If two batteries are the same physical size but one has a higher CCA then that means the plates inside are bigger. What this generally means is the plates are closer to the bottom of the cell and are more likely to get shorted out down the road as the battery ages.

Do I translate that to hear you say the higher the CCA rating for a given size battery, the shorter the life of the battery will have?

 

[Oaktree]

Adjusting the third brush on the generator adjusts charging amps...

Lots of night driving with lights increase amps to compensate... no night driving but regular driving decrease... no tools required on a Model A Ford.

Amazed at just how engineering from a 100 years simply worked as evidenced by the number of these cars still around.

Are you saying that where you live people are using Model A's for daily drivers??? The number that I've seen that weren't restored collector's cars at car shows is zero. Not sure what you mean by "third brush"...is this some sort of Model A thing?

 

[crazyal]

Do I translate that to hear you say the higher the CCA rating for a given size battery, the shorter the life of the battery will have?

Basically yes. There's only so much room inside the battery so to get extra cranking amps the plates either have to be longer and subject to shorting out sooner or the plates have to be thinner which means less lead and will degrade sooner. This is what an Interstate battery tech told me when I was looking to replace the battery in my truck. They listed multiple different CCA for the given physical size of the battery. He said they try to cheat a little by making the battery slightly bigger in some cases but for the most part it's just different size plates inside the battery. It was only an extra $10 or $20 bucks to get the largest CCA they had (800 CCA)but he talked me into getting the 710 CCA battery saying it was more than enough battery to meet my needs (no extra lights, winch, plow, etc) and would most likely last longer.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I would say, I never had much luck or got any extra anything, for buying the biggest battery you could stuff into something. Just wasted money.

Hard to judge what's what, but I would go for a smaller high quality battery over a bigger battery that wasn't as good.

 

[ultrarunner]

Are you saying that where you live people are using Model A's for daily drivers??? The number that I've seen that weren't restored collector's cars at car shows is zero. Not sure what you mean by "third brush"...is this some sort of Model A thing?

There are a few of us... my first car 1929 Model A but I drove 31 Coupe quite a bit and often to work before my hours changed to 4am clock in from 25 years clicking in at 9 am...

Batteries are my nemesis... no matter what you do battery replacement is unavoidable given enough time.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I still never will underatand why OEM vehicle and tractor batteries always last forever, compared to what you put in next. People have all kinds of explanations, many that I just don't accept. Some say OEMs get the best batteries. That to me, would be about the only possible explanation. But consistantly?

 

[user.69169]

OEM battery gotta last as long as you got payments to make on de wreck. Banker sure don't want it back.
Manufacturer got lot full of junk he can't sell so he don't want it back either.

Battery factory, only 3 in US gonna make exactly what buyer wants. Buyer wants sump, he gets sump to collect drywall falls out of screen plate. Put strong flashlight against case you can see sump. Get good idea how long battery gonna last too. No sump dey doin you a favor, you spend $$ on battery instead of hotdog dat make you fat.