All batteries are a compromise between cranking amps and long life. You can make the lead plates thinner, which will give you more amps, but they will get eaten away by sulfide much quicker. Since virtually any battery can provide way more amps than even my 455 typically needs, I will choose a battery with slightly lower CCA's in favor of longer life. Therefore I am immediately skeptical of a "better value" battery - it sounds like the compromise was made in favor of CCA's over life. -BC
My 'fleet' runs Costco Kirkland batteries made by JC, because of the low price, 3 year free replacement warranty (... in Canada), pro-rated up to 84 months, and the reliability here in the frozen north ! While there are many, many batteries to choose from, in various sizes, amp hours and cca's, the Costco replacements have given me the best results ! :TU:
Costco has switched to Interstate as a manufacturer here with -a 42 month free replacement warranty. Wallmart has now priced itself out of the market place.
To be true full, with our industrial accounts, we really haven't seen any difference between the thicker / thinner plated batteries. In theory it sounds good...but it is what it is. BTW still have all the same batteries in my rides.
Prices sure have gone up! Upper tier batteries are well over $100 these days. I bought 2 new batteries in the past year. Went with the AGM style, purchased from the local Advance Auto (online). Been using the 'TRT30' 30% off discount code for about 2 years. Brings price down to about $115. These are supposedly made by Deka, but the 2 I bought have visually different cases.... could be a running change or 2 different manufacturers.
you can buy Deka batteries around here that are considered 2nds if they have been on the shelf for a year, about 1/2 price
I have too many cars to buy the best so I run Walmart value line cheapa$$ batteries. $48 Seem to last as long as the others and don't die suddenly like two Optimas I tried.
I had some Walmart batteries go within 1-2 years, including one this year. Just as a tip. Here, they resist honoring the full replacement warranty unless you have the original receipt. Yes, they can see it is their battery and the date it was sold. But, they take the position that you may not be the original purchaser. Just go to Costco. They are much cheaper for the same battery and have a longer full replacement warranty. Also, they give you no such nonsense regarding warranty. John--I wonder if you have seen the big price jump at Walmart?
I will share what I have learned about lead acid batteries. I was responsible for maintaining all the distribution substation DC systems for Connecticut and Western Mass. There are several factors that determine battery life. Manufacturing, materials, environment and care. The purity of the lead has a major effect. Most if not all automotive batteries use recycled lead. The plates are usually calcium/antimony and the thickness will also determine life. Thin plates will give high initial currents but the thicker plates will give longer life. Not all batteries across the country are going to live in the same environment or be put into service the same. Short tips around the city is going to impact life compared to longer drive times. Batteries also have a self- discharge rate so the longer they sit without a float charge the plates become sulfated. High voltage battery chargers burn the sulfation off the plates but this takes some life out of the battery. In general flooded cells give better life than AGM (Absorbent Glass Matt) batteries. The matt is a moist material that tends to dry out and when that happens the battery is pretty much gone. Like I said there are many factors that determine what you can expect for battery life. For substations we use the same type battery as automotive batteries but with pure lead, keeping them on a float charge and monthly maintenance program we get approximately 20 years.
I replaced the Walmart battery in my truck a few months ago. When I asked if any warranty remained on the old battery I was told there was none, as the battery was 11 years old! I told him batteries don't last 11 years and he agreed but said that this one had. I bought another one from them right away. I've never heard of Deka batteries. Who sells them?
I bought mine straight from the local DEKA warehouse in Birmingham. I got that from a search on Google. It was the only result ....
Actually I did - yesterday. Wow! I agree with your earlier post that they have priced themselves out of the (my) market. BJs is cheaper. There is no Costco convenient to me, but there will be one after the Florida move.
Group 24 at Walmart $48. Price drop if you ask me. Sure they have more expensive ones if you want to pay more but for me the cheap ones last just as long.....
Interstate has a location near me that gets shipments of blems about every 3-6 weeks. They don't push these as much as their new batteries but if you know to ask they will be glad to sell these. Group 24 blems usually go for $50 or less, considerably less than their "perfect" batteries and carry the same warranty.
Dredging up this old thread- the battery story reminded me of this thread and I need to make sense of this again. I was using Advance for their batteries. A couple weeks ago I see all DieHard instead of Autocraft... From news last year: "Advance Auto Parts has acquired the DieHard brand for $200 million from Transformco, the companies said in a joint news release Monday." 12/23/2019 What are you guys using that you like now?
All Advance did was change stickers. I use Rural King. $50 and are made by Excide, They've been great so far.
Interstate marine deep cycle. Costco, abt $85. One of my boat batteries is from 2011 and still holding up.
The new stuff is not like it was in 2011 that's for sure.......almost all batteries now are made from recycled lead and it just doesnt work as well the 2nd and 3rd time around. I've been using northstar and / or odyssey batteries for several years now depending on how fast I need 1......they are not cheap.....slightly more than Optima.......but they are made here in the USA....not Mexico or China. They put out well well over the cca ratings.....last one was like 80% more than the 850 rating...... They are not acid liquid filled so they can be shipped......not made from recycled lead......have massive internal cell connections for more power flow.......and they last
