Interstate Batteries

[SPYDERLK]

I have resigned to the belief that batteries are being designed with planned obsolescence. My old Chevy Delco battery (1978) lasted nine years. My first cell phone battery (1999) lasted eight years. My old boat batteries (2002) lasted 10 years.

Now new Diehard in my car (2012) lasted two years ($324). Napa battery (2010) in truck lasted 1 1/2 years. Interstate battery (2009) in my tractor three years.
I have decided to go with Walmart batteries and just keep replacing them on warranty every three years since they have one of the best warranties offered now and better prices.

Bummer.

Costco recently went to Interstate batteries. Costcos previous battery line - anybody know the supplier? - was a good product by my experience - I have two in service several yrs and NO failures. Not much luck with Walmart and they are harder to deal with than Costco.

,,,I would assume Costco would respond if they see more trouble with the Intersate line.
larry

 

[oldpilgrim]

Do they put a clock or a calendar mechanism in them timed to the warranty period, so , for example., a 36 month battery internally self destructs after 37 months?

They must have some real geniuses working there to make this happen with virtually every battery I've owned for a VERY long time.

 

[arrow]

The op looking for a tool type battery can certainly take the chance on a reduced price Interstate. If they serve well, he's ahead of the game. Looking for someone else's experience with the same batteries would certainly narrow the chances of being the pioneer so to speak.
I have the axiom, rightly or wrongly, that a company is only as good as their management philosophies. If Interstate car batteries have gone down the tubes as some exclaim here, can it possibly be that cost cutting and bean counting have led their way down their entire line?
May be prejudicial on my part but I've seen this happen to so many other products. "Bottom Line" seems to have become the new "it" where there old "it" was the integrity of the product.
That being said, I've had some success with products people have disparaged in the past. Apparently, life remains the crap shoot.

 

[Bird]

Battery warranties are different from what I was accustomed to years ago, or at least at my Ford dealer and he tells me it's Ford Motor Company, not the dealership. The Motorcraft MAX batteries show to be warrantied for free replacement in the first 36 months, and prorated for month 37 to 100. I bought a new one 4/26/2006 that lasted 58 months, so I paid the prorated cost of $61.30 for a new one on 2/22/2011. That one lasted 43 months so it had to be replaced on 9/3/2014. I thought it would be prorated for the 43 months and not be too high. But no, the Ford dealer said it was a warranty replacement so it would go back to the original one in 2006 so it was considered to be the 93rd month; only 7 months to go, so very little discount from the new price. And the new one would have had almost no warranty at all, so it was better to pay full price and have that warranty.

I assume he was telling the truth about it being Ford instead of the dealership, but you can bet I won't be buying any more batteries from them.

 

[Fawken]

OK, I ordered one ~$75 including UPS ship. I'll share my impressions after I use it. Background on the Hilti: Bought the drill in 2002 when I was doing a large WiFi install at several Home Depot stores across the South. We had to work overnight using scissor lifts and it also required two 1" holes to be drilled into the top of the 6" tilt-up concrete walls. I got tired of dragging 200 feet of extension cords from the front door all the way around to the back corner of the store by the loading dock. The Hilti is a beast and saved me many hours and reduced the possibility of being locked out of the store for the rest of the night. That happens when the cleaning crew person who opened the front door for you gets tired of waiting and goes back to running the wet-vac. One of the two factory batteries actually still works (a little weak though) after 13 years

 

[davesl708]

Do they put a clock or a calendar mechanism in them timed to the warranty period, so , for example., a 36 month battery internally self destructs after 37 months?

They must have some real geniuses working there to make this happen with virtually every battery I've owned for a VERY long time.

It is very simple with batteries. The plates erode as they charge and discharge. Just make them thinner and use different alloys to control the rate of at which they deteriorate. Just like the metal in your car bodies is much thinner that cars from prior to the seventies.

 

[crazyal]

I don't think Interstate makes the batteries for things like cordless tools. I'm sure they buy them from a China supplier that puts their name on them. It doesn't mean they are junk. Interstate probably specs the quality and the supplier of the cells in the battery. I have a cordless phone for work that the original supplier lost the patent on and now everybody and their brother make parts for the phone. Interstate even sells a battery for the phone. I found one for quite a bit cheaper and higher capacity, $11 with shipping, so that's what I bought to try out, it's been almost 2 years now and it's worked great. I think you'll be fine.

As for Interstate car batteries, I learned my lesson. Don't buy the high capacity version. The plates inside are longer. That means they are closer to the bottom. The bottom is where the metals collect when they aren't redeposited. As the metal collects on the bottom it builds up and shorts out the plates.

 

[Fawken]

I don't think Interstate makes the batteries for things like cordless tools. I'm sure they buy them from a China supplier that puts their name on them. It doesn't mean they are junk.....

Thanks. I suppose China has surpassed us in NmHi battery quality like they have in solar cell mfg. I've gotten good usage from Chinese replacement laptop batteries lately. In fact, the original laptop batteries were likely Chinese as well.

 

[SPIKER]

My China made tractor came with a dry shipped battery, about 50 lbs dry weight. I filled it in 2002 w NAPA battery acid (only place local I could find it in quantity.) It lasted until last summer when finally it had a cell drop out, most likely a plate broke. It had been treated with the old phosphate preventative chemical when on first year I left key on and it drained battery. I re-treated it once after that for same reason, & now never leave key in it. It even took a bad hit when hyd coupler zip tie broke and the metal shorted out the battery SOL Term to + term started up tractor and ran starter until 0 voltage was left in it. I re-charged it like you would a new fresh acid filled one and it lasted 3 or 4 years after that. When I hauled it to the scrap yard I think I ended up with 48 bucks in batteries 2 or 3 garden tractor sized ones and 2 car and the tractor. Bought a new one from Sams Club, 140 or so bucks for group78 or 48? battery last summer and rebuilt the warn battery box & front cooling system, pretty good for 2002.

I agree other batteries NAPA Junk, Energizer Junk, Duralast Junk... No luck with them at all lucky to get 30 months out of a 48 month battery.
]Never tried the cordless batteries other than known junkers from HF for specific tasks & found out they are about like all other ones a few years good use then down hill and junk... New batteries cost as much as tool , charger AND the tool so usually just buy new tools and toss old ones into box... Locally a battery (car/truck/tractor) place also rebuilds cordless batteries but their cost is almost as much as the tool new so never tried them out.

M

 

[GLyford]

Do they put a clock or a calendar mechanism in them timed to the warranty period, so , for example., a 36 month battery internally self destructs after 37 months?

I have heard that in addition calculated thickness, they also calculate the rate at which sulfates accumulate in the bottom under the plates in standard use. Once the sulfates reach the plates, they short out and it's done. So a 36-month battery has space for 36+ a tad of sulfates, etc. All you are buying with the more expensive higher warranty battery is more room in the case...but you need that space if you want the battery to last.

Spiker mentioned a sulfate treatment...care to tell us a little more about it? Brand you like, active ingredients to look for, or some other identifying feature to identify a "good" one? Of course, sulfate treatments and/or replacing acid don't work very well on a sealed "maintenance forbidden" battery...

My Dad's method of picking batteries was to measure the tray and get the biggest one he could possibly fit, and modify the hold-down if he had to. Seemed to have worked for him.