Battery question

[James Morse]

I couldn't find it then a guy was just here told me he works part time at Advance, he says, date is on the back of the battery. So I took off hold down to move battery/see it, and.... it's 06/20, that's not that old.
When I took out hold down it was ton of that whitish flaky corrosion under. Not sure if that tells me anything.
Took battery into shop and will charge/check it there. And he says Advance will charge/test so there's that.
It's a Platinum Die Hard those aren't cheap. I wouldn't put such an expensive one if she's selling it soon, I don't think. It wouldn't change the price. As long as it has a working battery.

 

[Curious Hound]

2 yrs and 9 months seems to be old for batteries, these days. The battery in my riding mower was bad when I went to cut grass a few weeks ago. Less than 2 yrs. And they don’t prorate mower batteries. It was a Diehard.

by the way. Mix up a solution of baking soda and water to wash all the white sulfates residue off your hold-down, battery tray, etc. then rinse well with water. The baking soda neutralizes the acid.

 

[RonD]

White stuff under the battery was probably from the old battery, never rinsed off

12.6v to 12.0v is pretty definitive
Age matters but any battery can get an internal short, older batteries are just more prone to do that

12v Battery has 6 cells
Inside each cell are + and - plates very close together
Electrons move between the plates to charge and discharge the cells
This will do two things, it will create a residue build up at the bottom of the battery case, and it creates electron "tails" between the plates
If residue builds up between 2 plates then they short and the cell becomes self draining, which drains the whole battery
If 2 "tails" touch, same thing, self draining cell and battery

Each cell should be about 2.1volts for 12.6v total
You can pull off the top "cap" on most batteries, even "sealed" batteries usually
You can then put Volt Meter probe on one battery terminal and dip the other probe in the fluid of closes cell to that terminal(fluid is an acid so don't get it on anything and rinse probe after)
Should see 2.1 volt
Test next cell, 4.2v
test next cell, 6.3v
ect...............

A shorted cell won't have/add the 2.1v, will be more like 1v to 1.5v
Not that it matters, can't replace the one cell, so just FYI info

New battery can get a shorted cell, debris from manufacturing and assembly usually
Diehard should have prorated warranty, so you may be able to get replacement at any Diehard seller for less than cheap replacement

 

[sgtsandman]

The best you can find in lead acid vehicle batteries now is a 3 year warranty battery. There used to be 5 and 7 year batteries but those have disappeared.

I don’t know if the battery manufactures have just cheapened the batteries so they can make more money from less quality, recycling has degraded the quality of the metals, or if the manufacturer just wants to sell more of them so dropped the build quality so they fail sooner.

I know I used to be able to get 7 years out of a 5 year battery before performance degraded too much. Now, they pretty much last the warranty period and that is it no matter how well you take care of them.

The same goes with the AGM in my 2019. I just changed the thing last fall.

 

[James Morse]

Took battery to Advance, they tested it, it's toast. 3-yr battery so 3 mos left on warranty. They said they'd swap it out. (I'm thinking, I'm not getting much back). He asks for receipt, I have no receipt, he looks in system, can't find it, says I can't swap without some reference to it. I'm like, you can see from looking (at all my other purchases) that I bought plenty of stuff here. It came from here. So he gets it to go through some other way, $239, credit -239, balance zero. Says to me, you only have 3 mos left on warranty. I'm like, why are you telling me this, so I know I'm getting a good deal? -yes.

Turns out I didn't get the original battery, other half says she got it. So much for memory. It came from there though. I did have them look under her name, couldn't find it.

So now I have a brand new battery same kind, DieHard Platinum. It doesn't get a new 3 years, though. I asked.
Now if it drains out in a week something different would be wrong.

 

[James Morse]

They are gel.
Using baking soda. Just dirty under battery, only corrosion was under the hold down.

On my receipt it says "3 year free replacement" so maybe I just got the deal I was supposed to get. (no pro-ration).

 

[Josh B]

Hide that receipt in the safe, they're printed with disappearing ink! Bettewr yet keep a photo in your phone

I got a 12 month battery from Wmart for 50 bux, its sticker says 9/19, 3 1/2 years ago. When I got the Explorer and was driving it quite a bit I got one also for it. Since the transmission blew the seal and got parked, I've been swapping them out twice a year, no sign of either acting tired

 

[James Morse]

Yes, they said the sticker date is put on when they get to the store. So all it really tells you is the earliest possible date it was purchased, absent a receipt. The new one I got today says 11/22.

 

[sgtsandman]

Hide that receipt in the safe, they're printed with disappearing ink! Bettewr yet keep a photo in your phone

I got a 12 month battery from Wmart for 50 bux, its sticker says 9/19, 3 1/2 years ago. When I got the Explorer and was driving it quite a bit I got one also for it. Since the transmission blew the seal and got parked, I've been swapping them out twice a year, no sign of either acting tired

I either make a copy of it so I have something that doesn’t fade over time or scan it into the computer. Either is better than the thermal print receipt the stores give you.

 

[Josh B]

There they put the date stamp on when you buy it, that's why the second one I got didn't have one, it was late night, long after the auto department had closed, and I had to take it out the front, through the quick check aisle.

The thing about it is, I looked at the prices on all of them, and the 5 year was astronomical. My 12 month batteries are well on the way to outlast it, for a fraction of the cost, and I have a back-up

 

[RobbieD]

I've ran the Walmart 12 month batteries for years, and I've been getting about 3 or 4 years out of them. They're actually pretty good batteries.

 

[James Morse]

It measured 12.6 sitting 14.5 charging after start, when I put it in. 18 hrs later it tests 12.63 sitting so to me that says it's not draining (parasitic) at least not a lot. I doubt it's actually higher, .03V difference is probably not significant.
Appreciate all the help! Got the new battery out of it for no cost (not counting cost of first one) so check one more thing off the list.