When to replace original battery?

When it forgets how to electricity

 

Instead of using distilled water to top your battery off, I have found using an energy drink will make it crank a little faster.

 

Get one of these and you will know how your battery is doing.

https://www.ctek.com/products/vehicle/ctx-battery-sense

 

I replaced mine as soon as there was a Northstar group buy!

 

Is the NS for severe or heavy duty and winching, etc. and that makes it cost 250% more than a Duracell from Sam's? Just trying to figure it out.

 

AGM technology. Optima would be a more accurate comparison. Better in every way than lead acid batteries. Probably overkill for most, but it was money well spent in my opinion.

 

Thanks. I was just trying to decide if there would be any benefit for what I do. From the discussions above sounds like if you off-road a lot they make sense.

 

Optima have some terrible reviews lately since they moved production out of the US.

Odyssey and Northstar are top of the line sealed batteries for 10+ years use

 

I had a Yellowtop on my jeep 15 years ago that was great, I had heard they went way down hill about 5 years ago so I didnt even consider them.

Ended up ordering a X2 from Batteries Plus, it's a rebranded Northstar. Was only $5 more than the NS groupbuy and it has a year longer warranty, plus if it craps out during warranty I can just go to the store and have it replaced vs dealing with an online retailer.

 

Even offroading they make no sense from a financial perspective. Some people just like fancy things.

Same specs across the board, same warranty compared to other batteries at half the cost, yet somehow people think they are better batteries. Same with Yeti and Shell gas. Some people just like to be brand whores

 

We buy hundreds of batteries per year here at work. 8 per golf cart, times 84 carts.....12 vehicles, 1 or 2 batteries per vehicles when replaced. Over 30 different mowers, tractors, ect...used on golf course, all with batteries. We've tried Optima (in vehicles) all sorts of AGM's and have yet to come close to the life we get from conventional batteries that sell for half the price. They just don't pencil out.

As far as my own personal vehicles....It's been 45 years since I bought my first 4wd. Had one every since. (Total of 18) So comparing apples to apples.... I've had all sorts of brands....and several AGM batteries. ALL eventually went bad. Some sooner than others. ALL well before they SHOULD have expired relative to their cost and expectations..... Usually in what I'd consider a relatively short time frame. Best results have been from Auto Zone's Duralast Gold, NAPA "GOLD" and Dekka brand. I can get the Auto Zone batteries cheaper than any others. So...spending MORE for a battery that in all likelihood will NOT last as long, nor perform any better is a waste of money in my book.

One vendor we work with supplies Optima batteries. I've got a couple given to me as "bait" to get me to buy from them on a routine basis. One went in a truck of mine, other in a sprayer rig we use at work. NEITHER lasted 3 years. BOTH were replaced with conventional lead/acid batteries that lasted 7 and 9 years in same vehicles. So not a big Optima fan.

Unless you routinely post pictures of your battery on IG, no point in buying a fancy battery.....

If all you want is a decent price on a good, dependable battery, well....You don't always get what you pay for just by spending more....

 

If a NS would last over 10 years it would make sense to me. Looks like the warranty is just 4 years? Thanks , I'll check out the reviews.

 

Hey guys: had some questions about battery cables for my 1st gen. I posted on an older thread and thought I'd reach out here on this new one.
While trying to find some details on battery cables for 2003 tacaoma I ran across this post. Some questions come to mind that maybe someone can answer: first- I'm trying to find out what awg my cables are for my 03. I recently put an Odessey AGM 2150S battery in. Got a great deal on one (half price). Now I find its not so easy to install. Its big and heavy (thing weighs 80lbs!). Weight shouldn't be an issue. Size was. I needed to heat and bend the hold-down bracket and by a longer J-hook because the battery is taller. J-hook is coming from Amazon. However now I'm finding my cables aren't so great. The ground to the fender was awful. I have a new one for that. But the cable from the fuse box to the postive terminal is too short...as is getting the negative and positive cables to the new mil-spec terninals on the battery posts. I can probably find beefire and proper length wire for the fuse box-to battery. Would be nice to know the proper AWG for an upgrade on that. I would also like to know what the stabdard AWG is on my stock cables. My plan is to put a splice in for positive and negative with good crimps and heat shrink sealing. The ends will get the same treatment with beefy lugs which will attach to the mil-spec top post kit. Suggestions on what awg I need? Maybe I can get pre-attached lugs to a cable length and then splice into my two cables? Suggestions? Details? Thanks guys.

 

I prefer to use 4LOKO in my batteries.

 

even with AGM the moister with dust that many times contains conductive material sits on the top of the battery and mixed with oil vapors that I am not going to say where they come from but I suspect from the Roads we drive on (Tar roads) settles on the flat surface and then very small amount of electricity can go from the positive terminal to the closest ground point of least resistance and then the corrosion starts. the Acid batteries just do it faster because the vapors from the battery vents make the top wet more so the key to that is just clean it once a month and make sure your terminals are tight easy to do and will help a lot.

The Battery in my 2000 Tacoma is 14 years old and the Battery in my 2000 Mercedes Benz is 16 years old and both are still strong the 2007 Tundra I had still had original Toyota battery when I sold it so that was 11 years.... Yes with always on the lead acid batteries topped off the water with Distilled water don't use tap water that will screw it....

 

First thing is I would not "splice" cables together just another failure point to deal with unless you "hot" splice it <------- not worth the $$$ to do take a look at the PDF I put with this post. The length of cable you need will be inexpensive for the value you will get by doing it right for most applications like yours 2 AGW will be excellent since you will be only running a short length it is good for 130 Amps on 12 VDC

 

I just pop the caps and check the water levels in my 15 yesterday, the cells closest to the negative and positive post where both low. The ones in between those were fine. I added distilled water to bring them to the correct level. Better check’em.

 

That's impressive.

 

Batteries don't often go deal all of a sudden. They tend to weaken over time, eventually, as they get weaker and weaker, they can have a hard time turning the engine over as quickly as they did before. Most of the time, this will be seen on a "morning" start, where the battery has been sitting all night and the temperature is a bit lower than during the day, so generally you don't need to be worried about being stranded if it starts the engine in the morning -- even if you have to use a booster to get it going.

My suggestion is that if you don't own a decent battery charger with boosting capability, get one. They cost about as much as a battery, but EVERYBODY should have one, whether their battery is good or not. Modern battery chargers do NOT have a giant transformer in them any more, so despite the "cheap" feeling of a light weight box, those are way better chargers.

DON'T get a "booster pack". They're just small lead acid batteries with a built in charger and jumper cables. Because you won't be using it daily, it will be out of mind and spend a lot of time sitting without maintenance, and will go flat and end up trash.

Here's the thing about battery life...
Sometimes you get lucky, and a battery could last for 8 years.
And sometimes you aren't lucky, and its shot in 1 year.
Replace it when its *actually* gone bad.

The multimeter test doesn't tell you anything besides whether the battery is currently charged or not. Pretty much a useless test.
Lots of people suggesting a load test. That's generally an ok idea if you are experiencing a PROBLEM and need to eliminate or confirm that the battery is the problem, but the reality is that you load test the battery EVERY TIME YOU START YOUR VEHICLE. If it cranks fast and strong, it load tests good. If it cranks slow, it load tests bad.

Every autoparts store has a shelf of batteries ready to go. If you wake up a few mornings in a row and the car won't start, hook up your charger for a few minutes, then switch to boost, count to 10, and start the engine. Drive yourself over to the autoparts store, THEN unhook and carry the battery in for the swap, carry out new battery and be on your way.

 

Yep, but it's been quite awhile since I've had a battery gradually wear down. These days, it's good one day; dead the next. Dead cell. Your experience(s) may vary.

12.6V - 2.1V - 10.5V - that's typically what I see when she gives up the ghost.