Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Car battery

I worked for a place that sold over a million two units in the time I worked there, if that matters.

During some of that time Delphi still made batteries, but most of it Johnson Controls made AC Delco branded stuff, as the Delphi plants quit manufacturing; were talking around 20 years ago.

Working were I work now, I would rate many AC Delco branded products as moderately sulfated and discharged, which is pretty good as far as the industry is today...

Most OEM's are Johnson, and deservedly so. They have a handle on most OEM's and have [bleep] canned the replacement market in favor of being OEM for almost all manufacturers that sell in North America.

My batteries last at least three years... keep driving unless you want to waste your cash.

Agreed.

If you have something sitting that much, a battery tender gadget is the trick. I've kept boat batteries that sit a good bit for 10 years with one.

http://products.batterytender.com/Chargers/Battery-Tender-Junior-12V-0-75A.html

Here most batteries give up the ghost when winter hits, at least that is what my brother-in-law who does RACV callouts tells me...and each of mine that has gone did so in the cold months as well.

First time any of mine give even the barest hint of strife it is replaced...I also carry a Noco GB70 as a backup.

It would seem around here that most batteries "die" on the first decent hot day of spring. They somehow make it through our bitter winters, but on that first warm day, they won't work again.

What do you think of those units?

For those worried about being stranded, they seem to be a pretty good solution.

I'd recommend getting a trickle charger. There are a couple, maybe several brands out there that will trickle charge and then tend the battery once full charge is achieved. Battery Tender is popular. I have a Battery MINDer. They are small and cheap enough you might consider mounting or stowing it under the hood someplace for convenience.

Seems fine, I have only used it to start a vehicle for a couple of Japanese tourists but it performed as advertised.

We pick up my wife's new vehicle in the next week and I plan on putting a Noco in it for emergencies...our daughter's vehicle already has one in it, she is probably the only Uni student in Victoria that carries a Noco in her vehicle, most don't even seem to carry tools or a spare.



And I will admit to cheating with my batteries as every twelve months or so I give them a hit with this wee item...seems to keep them in good condition.

It all depends on your needs IMHO. Mom is 84 and by herself. We replace a bit early. Especially if going into summer heat. Winters we dont' have down there.

OTOH our own, when we can afford to be dead on the side of the road or such, get replaced when they give a bad sign and are close to lifes end.

FWIW we have run Walmart batteries for years and years.. only once had a short lived one that was warrantied. Have had batteries in the diesel tractor from them that have lasted almost 10 years. My F350 diesel usually runs about 5 years which is life of battery.

The other thing about Walmart, you can almost always find one when out on the road if one dies....

I use the CETEK all the time, in fact I have my Honda ATV & truck hooked up as we speak. Last Honda battery went 7 years, & no doubt could have went longer if I wouldn't have been so lax keeping it plugged in.

I have the next step up:

https://smartercharger.com/collections/vehicle/products/ctek-mus-4-3-test-and-charge

In honor of my late father-in-law, I must point out that what we are discussing here is properly called a "batry".

Do you carry jumper cables anymore or are you good with the Noco?

No longer even bother with cables, just carry the Noco.

I have a Diehard Gold that I've been running for nearly 20 years. I top off the cells every fall and it cranks at -40 Below at long as the block heater is plugged in.

Some folks are just hard on batteries for some reason. My dad is always dicking around with them. Never can figure out what he dose to run em down. I haven't had to buy a new battery for a vehicle in quite some time.

Now a boat...that's a different story. lol

One of those battery tender jrs. would be your best friend with the boat battery......or on any piece of equipment that sits for a while between runs.

My sense is there’s a low voltage shutoff on the newer GM trucks. The battery, isn’t completely dead, just below the threshold to trigger the ECM\BCM/etc.

Yeah, and people jumping [bleep] when it should be on a charger (then verifying that charge with a hydrometer) might be the PRIMARY issue.

Again, hydrometers don't lie, alternators aren't chargers and unless they popped the caps and were above average in such matters, finding a dead cell with a load tester is a bit dubious....but getting a discharged battery to fail a load test is pretty much a new battery sale, even ones that may read 12.72 volts with a surface charge. Its no trick to take a battery with 1050 specific gravity and get it to 12.7 volts; the problem is it isn't charged. Only a specific gravity test will tell you if it is fully charged. Not an expensive charger gauge, not the gauge on your vehicle and not any tester with a voltage readout, period.

I'd also bet it was "tested" on a digital analyzer, not a carbon pile, neither of which are as infallible as a hydrometer test.

Midtronics or the most expensive Snap-On whatever aren't 1/10th as accurate as a carbon pile load tester with a nine dollar hydrometer test, because if you aren't testing the chemical, you aren't testing the battery. All modern testers do not test the chemical; they lie, aren't accurate and are designed to sell product.

"Fine one minute, dead the next" means the battery is discharged. Batteries with dead cells have 10.6 volts if all but one cell is fully activated, and no amount of jump starting surface "charge" makes that last a week, let alone a couple of hours......

If you find yourself jumping a battery, it needs to be charged and verified with a hydrometer. The alternator isn't going to recover it from totally discharged, even if the gauge reads as such....