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What the hell, more brain picking...

Discussion in 'General' started by Mongo, Jan 5, 2023.

  1. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    Okay, the new to me Duramax batteries are dying - partially my fault but mostly they are 3 years old so I'm going to replace them.

    What's out there that's a good balance or price and quality and might last longer than 3 years?
     
  2. pickled egg

    pickled egg Tell me more

    Nothing.

    Battery prices have more than doubled. Quality has slipped. Even the high end optima AGM batteries are seeing increased failure rates.

    NAPA 75-series have a 24 month full replacement warranty, and the 84 series are 36 month. In the past two years I’ve personally had failures in both lines.

    Drop your drawers and save your receipt
     
    BigBird likes this.
  3. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    Optima seems to be hit or miss for a long long time.

    While I'm at it, is there a jumpbox that will be okay staying plugged in all the time so it has a charge and the battery isn't shot because I never remember to plug it in on a regular basis when I don't need it? Got two of them that won't take a charge.
     
  4. YamahaRick

    YamahaRick Yamaha Two Stroke Czar

    The newer (and more expensive) jumper boxes have lithium batteries in them, which are not subject to draining issues as much as wet cell battery types. I believe - best to ask Dr. Google first.
     
    R/T Performance likes this.
  5. pickled egg

    pickled egg Tell me more

    They don’t last long. Two or three years, it seems. I’ve got a 1500 CA one that will pop over a diesel, haven’t recharged it after four or five times use on this thing.
     
  6. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    Yeah, that'll be the next one I get I'm sure. Sadly my little jump box from Chip won't start the diesel, it will start a gas truck tho.
     
    Once a Wanker.. likes this.
  7. ChemGuy

    ChemGuy Harden The F%@# Up!

    For the price...Costco Interstate batteries. Best price for a "name" battery and Costco warranty.
     
    black knight, Jed, CBRRRRR999 and 3 others like this.
  8. elvee

    elvee Well-Known Member

    Second vote for the Costco Interstates. I have them in three of four vehicles, and they are holding up well. All three vehicles see very little use, so the batteries sit quite a bit between usage.
     
  9. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    I'll check them out, leaning towards that or hitting Wally World, I've actually had good luck with the everstart stuff.
     
  10. tgold

    tgold Well-Known Member

    My suggestion would be to put it on a battery tender every chance you get. One of my profs in avation maintenance school would get insane life out of his batteries by religiously keeping them charged. Something on the order of 15 plus years. He said that the charging systems in cars aren't really designed to charge a low battery, but keeping a battery at full charge will make it last much longer.
     
    BigBird, skidooboy and Cooter! like this.
  11. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    Yeah, new batteries will have the tender plug wired up.

    Granted, the bikes all had those and I still never plugged them in - and I knew those wouldn't be driven every day :crackup:
     
    Once a Wanker.. likes this.
  12. Cooter!

    Cooter! Sarcasm level: Maximum

    :stupid:Thats so true. Trying to charge 2 big, dead, batteries with an alternator at full field will get that sucker RED hot.

    and check your system for a draw. Anything over .5 amps is a problem.
     
  13. E-Van

    E-Van Well-Known Member

    I’ve come to the conclusion that battery quality is so hit or miss these days that what matters most is the cheapest with the longest warranty. Everlast fits that bill in my book and if you ever have an issue there’s a Walmart nearly everywhere to get it warrantied.
     
    Once a Wanker.. and dave3593 like this.
  14. ChemGuy

    ChemGuy Harden The F%@# Up!

    I priced batteries at Costco for my uncles duramax and it was about $100 a batt...for what should be a better battery than the others had at $150+ each.

    And with the quality issues I've seen in batteries the last decade, a no hassle return/exchange form Costco is nice, just in case.
     
    Once a Wanker.. likes this.
  15. John Branch

    John Branch 90125

    Last tractor battery was a blue top optima, it lasted 7 years. Never jumped it or put a charger to it. Sometimes it sat a week or two .
     
  16. Sabre699

    Sabre699 Wait...hold my beer.

    I've had good longevity with Interstate.
     
    tl1098 likes this.
  17. Big T

    Big T Well-Known Member

    I'm pretty sure Project Farm did a comparison on batteries
     
  18. YoshiHNS

    YoshiHNS Mr. Slowly

    For what its worth. I used the refresh or repair cycle on my NOCO Genius 5 for one of my dads dead batteries on his bike, and it seemed to have brought it back to life. Proof will be if its still good come spring. I didn't believe it would work, but it did. Just a matter of how long. Battery is over 10 years old iirc.

    Not sure it will help a battery that's been drained to nothing.
     
  19. TLR67

    TLR67 Well-Known Member

    Sean the cold took a toll on many of them here the last Month, I had to replace mine in my 2500 however it was right on the 5 year mark... DIEHARD for what it's worth....
     
  20. BC

    BC Well-Known Member

    I use Duracell from Sams club in my diesels and they seem just as good as anything else I've tried. Cheaper too.
     

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