Dead battery

[seville009]

I have a Noco Genius charger; have used it on many batteries and it has worked great.

Had a truck with wiring issues back around 2018; drained my AGM battery at least three times. Recharged it with the Noco, and the battery is still running strong.

When I replace a battery (auto, generator, equipment, etc), I usually keep the old one as a spare and just hook it to yhe Noco to keep it in shape.

Was well worth the cost.

 

[Williy]

Usually when the battery gets aged the lead plates
crumble and I don't care what you say you will not
be able to recharge when this happens
You see ad's never purchase a new battery. Its only
a matter of time before the plates crumble
I have used the harbor freight small solar panel to
keep my batteries that I don't use very much to keep
fully charged and my batteries usually last almost
twice as long

willy

 

[ultrarunner]

Usually when the battery gets aged the lead plates
crumble and I don't care what you say you will not
be able to recharge when this happens
You see ad's never purchase a new battery. Its only
a matter of time before the plates crumble
I have used the harbor freight small solar panel to
keep my batteries that I don't use very much to keep
fully charged and my batteries usually last almost
twice as long

willy

There was a time when Lifetime battery warranties were a thing...

Was able to ride that train for a very longtime...

 

[WranglerX]

To me and dead battery is a dead battery, IF is does not come back to life in a 12 hour charge from old school 6 amp charger, it really dead....

 

[bmg88201]

Battery maintainers work for me, plus I take my mower battery in the house in the winter and put a maintainer on it. Freezing cold weather will do them in too. I‘m on my 5th year with my mower battery. I think that’s pretty good.

 

[5030]

Actually, the most 'foolproof' way to insure a battery in a seldom used piece of equipment or one that sits over the winter is to make sure it's fully charged before putting the equipment away and then disconnect the NEGATIVE terminal on the battery and let it sit. A fully charged battery is good to 40 below zero (f) and a typical flooded cell starting battery only looses under 10% of it's total charge per month sitting with no parasitic draw on it. All my tractors as well as my diesel pickup truck have battery isolation switches (disconnects) on the NEGATIVE terminals and after sitting all winter not used, all I have to do is open the hood, engage the isolation switches and crank them up. Easy peasy. Having said that, all flooded cell batteries will succumb to sulfation over time. The plates shed lead sulfate which drops into the bottom and eventually shorts the plates. As a rule, I replace all my Group 31 starting batteries every 3-4 years anyway as I consider them a consumable item. Don't matter if I have a battery maintainer on them or not and I keep all my terminals clean and shiny all the time plus I coat the terminals with anti corrosion spray.

 

[5030]

Additionally, I only run Delphi starting batteries or Interstates and I only buy them from a volume dealer, in my case the local Western Star truck dealer because I know they have a huge battery turnover and once a flooded cell jar is wet charged, it's loosing starting power and sulfating sitting on the shelf waiting for someone to buy it. When I worked there before retirement I usually got picked to go get batteries and take the dead ones back to the warehouse and many times I overloaded the company straight truck because dead batteries and good ones are heavy, especially group 31's which is all I run myself. Group 31's with 1100 amp cold crank power.

Batteries and the connections to them as well as major battery to ground connections have to be the most neglected items on any piece of equipment, trucks and cars included but when they won't start, the crying begins. I never have an issue as it's all about proper maintenance, just like changing the fluids and greasing. Something I do and I have no issues, ever.

 

[CliffordK]

Years ago somebody was selling "renewed batteries" as the OP describes. He claimed that he had a special charger which would clean the plates while charging.
As others have stated above that may work in certain batteries but often there is internal damage.

I haven't heard anything from him in almost 40 years, it seems if it was a viable business many people would be doing it.

Reminds me of a movie scene from many years ago. Backwoods full service gas station pops the hood of the customer's car. Pops open the battery covers and adds a touch of baking soda. Bubbles everywhere. Thank goodness they caught the bad battery in time. Sells the customer a new battery. Then takes the old batteries into the back and scrubs them down, charges, and puts them up for sale as new.

Unfortunately I don't remember the movie. Perhaps a Clint Eastwood movie.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

If you're going to replace your batteries every 3-4 years, then what does it matter what one you buy. Put the cheapest wally world garbage battery in it and it'll likely last 3 years. Crowing about how great some battery is, and then changing it out anyway in "3-4 years"...

And 40 below zero will flat out kill a brand new, "fully charged" p.o.s. Interstate wet cell battery. Been there, done that, probably still have the receipt somewhere. Hell, 30 below killed mine. And that was the very first time our temps dropped to -30F that winter, and it was the first winter with my new tractor. This is all real world ambient temperatures, not fake "wind chill" b.s. .

Ridiculous.

The Optima in my wife's 4runner finally gave up this year, after 13 years in service. Only the last 3 years has it been in a heated garage at night. The Optima in my tractor has been in service since December of '17, so 6 1/2 years, so far. It's never seen the inside of a heated garage in winter (and only twice ever, both times while getting scheduled service). The Optima in my truck is only 2 (?) years old now. The Interstate AGM I tried in it didn't make 5 years.

None of these batteries are ever plugged in to a tender, a charger, or any heat source like a battery blanket, etc. And only the wife's car sees the inside of a heated garage (now). My truck sits outside all year, and my tractor sits in an unheated shed all year.

 

[Hay Dude]

The used Challenger MT655E I just bought has a factory roof top solar panel that “allegedly” trickle charges the batteries while it’s outside in the sun. Really smart, but you’re supposed to store tractors inside, so when you aren’t using it, it’s kind of useless.