Battery Longevity

[jaxs]

I have a nearby Kioti dealer, John Deere dealer, Kubota dealer and O'Reilly Auto Parts. Do any of those have better batteries (reliability & warranty) than the others?

This is a question I've never heard the TBN brain trust weigh in on so I'll take the floor on this one.:detective: O'Reilly probably has the best warranty out of that bunch. Here's how many places rook customers on warranty. Few dealers if any sell batteries at msrp. Places like Oreily's and Wal-Mart sell for retail prices they set for themselves plus routinly run sales at reduced prices. Batteries of equal cold cranking amps might carry a msrp of $150 and sell for $100 at a dealer,have a retail price of $90 and sale price of $75 at Wally World. Joe buy's the battery for $100 from the dealer,Bill pay's $90 at Wally World and Ray come's to Wally World next day and pay's $75 on sale. All three batteries carry 3 year warranty and go bad one year from purchase. Dealer figure's Joe's warranty thus, $150 msrp minus 33% warranty leave's Joe oweing $100 for the replacement. Bill and Ray will owe $60 if battery isn't on sale,$50 if it is on sale. Before buying a battery,read intire warrant carfully. Class is dismissed.

 

[stevem5215]

No one has mentioned the obvious. Test the battery capacity regularly. It's easy to do and fast with a tester like this one.

Amazon.com: Digital 12V Car Battery Tester Pro with AH/CCA Mode Automotive Battery Load Tester and Analyzer of Battery Life Percentage,Voltage, Resistance and CCA Value for Car, Motorcycle, Boat, Vehicle etc: Automotive

This will allow you to test the rated battery CCA/AH compared to what it actually has for capacity at test time. So like in the case of my 9 year old Steiner tractor (automotive size battery) it still has aprox 75% of rated capacity still. That testing allows me to monitor if it needs some help with the charger desulfination system that CTEK offers. I usually do the batteries once a year with it. Believe it. It makes a difference in battery life. 9 years old is nothing to sneeze at. And unless I get a sudden death cell it looks to last a while longer yet. Test and charge (but do not over charge) fill with water if needed (usually 2x a year i check and add). Try it and tell me you aren't a believer in the idea that batteries can last longer.

Steve - Electronics guy since 1977

 

[MF RED in MT]

I bought my Kioti RX7320PC in 2015 and have 216 hours on it. It's been stored in my barn and in the winters I often have a trickle charger on it. Occasionally, regardless of the season, the battery isn't strong enough to start the tractor, like yesterday. I just have to put my 30A - 60A charger on for several minutes and "she" starts right up.

Could the battery be old enough to replace?

Could something in the electrical system be draining the battery charge?

Is you trickle charger always hooked to your battery?

I have found in the past the trickle chargers I purchased will drain my batteries slowly when left connected to the battery and not plugged in.

KC

 

[fried1765]

Is you trickle charger always hooked to your battery?

I have found in the past the trickle chargers I purchased will drain my batteries slowly when left connected to the battery and not plugged in.

KC

Same experience here.
I always make certain that they are plugged in.

 

[Texasmark]

So, a higher voltage is being pumped into a 12 volt battery? Does this not damage the battery in some way?

As the battery fills with energy, the "load" on the charger is decreased. Non-electronic chargers, responding to Ohm's law, have less voltage drop in the circuit resistances because of the lower current. As the battery tops off, the "unloaded" voltage output of the charger is where the battery terminal voltage rides. As the battery recovers from (stabilizes after) the charge (24 hrs is the standard) this voltage will drop down to the regular cell voltage of the battery. 14.5V max is pretty much the standard max output of a "controlled/regulated charger and once the clips are removed from the battery (after charger is turned off prior to removal) the voltage would read around 13.5 and after 24 hrs, on a good, fully charged battery (at STP...standard temp of about 75* and sea level) about 12.7-8. This is of my limited experience!

 

[CJHL]

On all of my bikes, I use a battery tender. I regularly get 5 or so years out of them. Now if I hadn't experienced this first hand myself, I wouldn't believe it to be true. Last February, 2020, I just had to replace the original battery on my 5103 Deere and it is a 2005. We bought the tractor new, so I know for a fact that it was the original. Pretty much 15 years out of it is OK in my book. I never once had a tender hooked to that machine in its entire life. One thing I do know from experience with the smaller batteries is that the way they are brought to life the first time does make a difference in longevity. I always try to buy the brand YUASA for my powersports stuff. They come with the acid not in the battery. I always let it sit for the recommended time before the first charge. It seems like the longer they sit to let the acid absorb into the plates, the better. This doesn't really matter much to tractor batteries, but more of just sharing my experience with things I have seen. Honestly, with any of the larger batteries, I would think mostly any name brand one should give you years of reliable service. I seriously doubt though that I will get 15 years out of the replacement battery in my 5103 though.

 

[LD1]

I have 3 things that use a u1 battery (lawn and garden batteries). Seems Im replacing those all the time. At least one per year on something.

But I see alot of people saying 2-5 years or so on full sized batteries. Maybe its luck.....but I dont seem to have to replace that often.

I usually buy napa 75-month batteries. And 9/10 times I am well out of warranty when one needs replaced.

I have found that setting is death on them. Lots of good advice about using maintainers. But on the vehicles I drive daily....8-10 years is not uncommon at all for battery life.

My old L3400 was bought brand new in Feb of 2006. I sold it to dad ~4 years ago when I upgraded to the MX. (knock on wood) it still has the original battery in it. SO over 14 years now

 

[Grumpycat]

I totally agree on how a lead-acid battery is "broken in" makes all the world of difference in longevity. Once Upon A Time Yuasa has a white paper on proper initialization of a new battery. Have not looked for it lately. In summary they ask to let the acid soak the plates an hour or so then use a relatively low current charger/maintainer for 6 hour minimum before slamming it with high currents from vehicle starter and alternator.

Shelf life is much greater for inactivated dry wet-cell batteries. 45 years ago Japanese motorcycles were shipped to the dealer with dry batteries. The dealer had to purchase bulk battery electrolyte separately.

Car batteries seem to come wet from distributors.

Some motorsport AGM come activated, some not.

 

[ultrarunner]

When working at the antique auto shop all 6 and 8 volt batteries required adding bulk acid...

Maybe it was too much of a hazard for general public as time went on?

 

[JethroB]

I still have the Buck pocket knife scarred by opening a bottle of motorcycle battery acid. Ticked me off. 1978.