SUBJECT: # 26397: Need Battery Help

Submitted by John (209.92.205.10) from NORTH CAROLINA on 3/5/04 4:07:00 PM

I'm looking to buy a couple of dual purpose batteries. Are 2 different brands of batteries different if they have the same specs. (for example 650 MCA) Name brands cost a lot more than some generic brands. Any suggestions on some good batteries? Thanks.

1. 3/5/04 4:32:00 PM Submitted by Mike (159.204.59.24) from LOUISIANA says batteries
   I like AC Delco Voyagers.

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2. 3/5/04 5:32:00 PM Submitted by Local Motion (24.186.53.1) from NEW YORK says also Interstate. -nmsg
   nmsg

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3. 3/5/04 5:34:00 PM Submitted by Local Motion (24.186.53.1) from NEW YORK says forgot..anything but..
   ..an Exide. Exides are garbage.

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4. 3/5/04 6:16:00 PM Submitted by WarrenR (209.240.205.63) from CALIFORNIA says Batteries
   Wal-Mart house brand marine bats work for me -- made by Johnson Controls. Also, it is important for bat life to keep them full -- both fluid amd charge. Regardless of bat brand, low electrolyte will kill a cell. Like LM said, I'll never buy another Exide or their house brands Warren

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5. 3/5/04 7:14:00 PM Submitted by Dunk79 (68.44.136.197) from NEW JERSEY says Before You Buy..
   http://www.ibsa.com/www_2001/content/products/date_codes.htm?mscssid=718GMSEE238T8LV1N2RAEDTNNQKCEX4C&js=1

   This is Interstate's web site. Learn how to read date codes on batteries before you buy them. Never buy a battery more than 2-3 month old and even 3 months is pushing it. The last thing you want is a battery thats been sitting on a dealers shelf for 6-9 month sulfating half charged. The battery is ruined/shot before you buy it.

   I like either Delco's or Interstates, but stores like Kmart, Whally World, Sams moves lot's of batteries so they are fresh. There are only 3-4 major battery manuf's in the US....,but I agree big time with LM and Warren about Exide batteries....they stink. Read the site I posted they tell you the brands that exide sell under...just stay away from them and buy fresh..

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6. 3/5/04 10:03:00 PM Submitted by Phillip T (68.240.78.100) from TEXAS says Batteries
   I have been using the Wal Mart batteries for some time now. The big yellow ones. Haven't tried the starting batts, but like the deep cycles. Have had good success with them, and price is right.

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7. 3/6/04 6:51:00 AM Submitted by Thom (12.165.13.82) from WEST VIRGINIA says Speculation Here
   As WarrenR said, the Wally World batterys are made by Johnson Controls, so are about 75% of the rest of the batterys sold in the US, and they have lots and lots of different names on them, names like Die Hard and EverStart.

   I just bought one of the big yellow ones (Group 29, 205 hour Reserve Capacity (roughly 125 amp hours)) beasts last week myself to replace one of my older ones that I cooked, like a fool.

   I don't think that mixing brands is a good idea even if they do have the same specifications. I have two reasons for saying that. The first is age. An older battery will always have less charging capacity than a newer one. That's because the aging process for a lead/acid battery begins the moment the electrolite is added. At that moment they are at their best, and it only goes down hill from there, imperceivably at first but down hill none the less. The second reason is that while the electrical specifications may be the same that doesn't mean that internally they are made the same. If you pick any particular specification, say Cranking Amps, or Capacity, either can be achieved by either more smaller plates or fewer larger plates or a different surface pattern in a different number of plates of the same size (thickness normally).

   The question becomes one of charging and how one battery can effect the charge received by the second battery in a lot of situations. No matter how much we rant and rave about it a lot of guys will operate on both of their batterys at once (and in fact my truck, which has two batterys, does just that too). When you do that the weaker battery dictates the rate of charge for both of the batterys and that means that the stronger of the two will get an overcharge until the time the weaker catches up to it. That is damaging to the stronger battery. A lot of battery chargers, even many of the on-board smart-chargers, do not sense the charge level of the batterys they are connected to independently as well, and the same situation occurs.

   So those are the reasons I prefer identical batterys, and that demands that the dual use (Deep-Cycle/Starting) batterys be used or at least plain Deep Cycle. Remember, there is no job that is required of a battery that a Deep Cycle can't handel, but there are many jobs that will kill a plain "Starting" battery every time.

   While I'm at it.... and this is nothing but speculation, I believe that there are manufacturers who make batterys that really are specifically designed for marine use. They would be batterys that are built with stronger internal support for the plates in order to withstand the great pounding that boat batterys have to be ready to take. I also think that most "Marine Starting Batterys" are nothing but automotive batterys with a different paper sticker on the front. Might be right, might be wrong, 50/50 chance.

   Thom

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8. 3/6/04 11:18:00 AM Submitted by rogn (64.136.27.226) from MARYLAND says wally's batteries
   Walmart batterries used to be marked as produced by Johnson Controls, but all the labels that I've seen recently( last 6 mo) have said "distributed by EXIDE". I have one of them in a tractor and to date its viable, but I've been nervous.

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9. 3/6/04 12:20:00 PM Submitted by WarrenR (209.240.205.63) from CALIFORNIA says Batteries
   This came from Google search of marine battery. There are a couple of good sites at the end. This is good information >------> ..................... There are two applications that manufacturers build their marine batteries for: Starting and Deep Cycle. As the name implies, starter batteries are meant to get combustion engines going. They have thin lead plates which allow them to discharge a lot of energy very quickly. However, they do not tolerate being discharged deeply, as the thin lead plates needed for starter currents degrade quickly under deep discharge and re-charging cycles. Most starter batteries will only tolerate being completely discharged a few times before being irreversibly damaged Deep Cycle marine batteries have thicker lead plates that make them resistant to degradation due to deep discharges. They cannot dispense charge as quickly as a starter battery although deep cycle batteries can be used to start combustion engines (you'd just need more battery than if you used a starter type battery instead). Some manufacturers build "compromise" batteries that claim to act as starter as well as deep cycle cells. Now that you know what the difference is basically in the thickness of the lead plates, you can see these are just comprimise marine batteries. By using a site such as Batteries.com orEbatts you can take out the confusion on which battery is best for you

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