Battery Suggestions

[EddieC]

Our replacement AC Delco Professional 42 month battery just bit the dust at 7 years old. It was acting up a year or two ago by dying from just leaving the dome light on but recharged and kept chugging until now.....3 miles from home out in the forest, 30 degrees and light snow! My wife was less than amused.

It has been a good battery but was $145 about 7 years ago so I can only imagine how much they are now.

On a whim, checked the Walmart website and all batteries are "out of stock", all sizes. Imagine that. I want something better anyways.

What batteries are you having good service and life from?

Would an AGM hold up better with minimal usage, more sitting than driving?

 

[intheburbs]

Personally, I prefer AGM. It's what I put in all the vehicles in my sig, including four in my two GMT900 trucks.

Last one I bought was earlier this year, from AutoZone, AGM, for one of the Jeeps, and it was $210.

I know AGM is better at handling vibrations and abuse, and can be mounted in any orientation. Other than that, it's probably overkill for most applications.

Given the current situation, I'd be firmly in 'beggars can't be choosers' mode, and get whatever I could find.

This is why I started buying Die Hard Platinum AGM - kind of a cool video

 

[Bill 1960]

I’m an AGM fan too. That said, any battery that lasted 7 years I would be happy to buy again. The only question mark would be have they changed suppliers or specifications since 2014?

 

[Fless]

There are only 3 battery manufacturers in the States, and one of those made the Wal-Mart battery for your truck. The EverStart Maxx isn't a bad battery.

Whatever you get, compare full replacement warranties. The higher level NAPA Legend batteries also have longer replacement warranties. Watch out for the pro-rated warranties that don't have any no-cost replacement period, unless that's what you want.

 

[EddieC]

Question on the AGM battery proponents; have you had them into a long life? The reason that I ask is that all of the ones I see listed locally have a 3 year replacement warranty and that's it. There does not appear to be any extended prorated period after that.
So I'm wondering if the AGMs only have a drop dead period of 3 years and that's all they are confident of.
The AGMs that I have in the motorbikes last a very long time but are all on trickle chargers and not sitting out in the weather.

The AGMs I see here are DieHard at Advance Auto, the Oreilly Superstart and the NAPA Legend that is not so readily available without ordering and trekking to a distant store. Funny thing that most of the NAPA stores here don't seem to handle it. There is a strong possibility that those three AGMs are the same battery other than case color. The tops and handles are the same.

The Duralast listing at Autozone is an EFB, not AGM with their AGM offerings being the ridiculously priced red/yellow tops.

I think AC Delco has one too but I have yet to call the Chevy dealer to check what they get now. The non-AGM that lasted 7 years was from the dealership.

 

[EddieC]

This is why I started buying Die Hard Platinum AGM - kind of a cool video

Ah, the ol' battery in the bed slight of hand.

 

[EddieC]

There are only 3 battery manufacturers in the States, and one of those made the Wal-Mart battery for your truck. The EverStart Maxx isn't a bad battery.

Mine wasn't a Walmart battery. It was an AC Delco Proressional Gold, 770 CCA with 42 month warranty bought from the local Chevy dealer. They had a promotion at the time.

 

[EddieC]

I’m an AGM fan too. That said, any battery that lasted 7 years I would be happy to buy again. The only question mark would be have they changed suppliers or specifications since 2014?

I just looked into that and there are several specs for varients of the same named battery with different part numbers, but it appears that the high CCA rating of my old one may still be available. I'm not sure that 40cca difference (770 vs 730) between it and all the other commonly available ones around is worth ordering.

 

[Bill 1960]

I used to correspond on another forum with a retired battery engineer, he told me the factors that determine longevity such as plate thickness and materials used internally are not published and ever changing. His advice was buy according to $/warranty. Least cost per year in other words.

He did favor AGM because it’s the high end product and tends to have fewer corners cut. His perspective was the warranty length is the most reliable indicator of quality a consumer has access to.

 

[EddieC]

I used to correspond on another forum with a retired battery engineer, he told me the factors that determine longevity such as plate thickness and materials used internally are not published and ever changing. His advice was buy according to $/warranty. Least cost per year in other words.

He did favor the AGM because it’s the high end product and tends to have fewer corners cut. His perspective was the warranty length is the most reliable indicator of quality a consumer has access to.

I noticed that DieHard at Advance Auto has a Platinum and a Gold with the same specs and similar size designations with one at 3 year warranty and the other 4 years, otherwise same cca etc, with a $20 difference. I was thinking it was just a $20 insurance policy that they were offering for the same battery.