Battery Question

I am in the need to replace my battery and I am looking for a report on a Wal-Mat battery, Are they any good?

Reply to
Boots
Loading thread data ...

I have been running two Deep Cell marine batteries from walmart in my boat the the last 3 years without a problem. Haven't even taken them out during the winters. No problems so far.

Reply to
SID

"Boots" wrote in message news:1129138597 snipped-for-privacy@spool6-east.superfeed.net...

Manufactured by all battery manufactures, meaning some by Johnson, some by Excide, and its seems in a previous post I was wrong some what, some by Delphi.. Delco used to be manufactured by Excide. Things to look for: CCA (Cold Cranking Amps)should match or be a bit higher than the stock one, do not buy one with less amperage then what's in it now. In the same vein buying one with way more than cars recommended is in most cases, a waste of money. Be careful, batteries are rated two ways, one is CCA which is measured at 0 degrees, and the other is CA(Cranking Amps) with is measured at 32 degrees. Ca is always much higher than CCA. A battery produces electricity via a chemical reaction, and as we all learned in science class, chemical reactions slow down in cold, speed up when hot. Foot note, most marine batteries are CA rated only. Of more importance than CCA is reserve capacity. Reserve capacity is the amount of time a battery will maintain a 10.5 voltage reading with a 25 amp load at 80 degrees. While CCA is always on the battery, reserve sometimes isn't, you have to ask what it is sometimes. This rating is an indication of how long your car would stay running if the charging system failed out on the road, or how long it would be strong enough to start the car if you left the lights on. Most GMs come with a group size "75" this refers to the batteries dimensions and post configuration. Many of these had the option for a group size 78. The battery is longer, has more plates per cell and usually more reserve capacity. In very few cases is there a price change. So if the 78 will fit, its a better buy than a 75 because they usually have higher CCA but more importantly much higher Reserve Capacity. What's the warranty? and how is it applied? May say 60 months, but only have a 6 month free replacement after which the warranty pro-rates, ie the older the battery, the less credit you get back towards a replacement if it fails. Much as I dislike AutoZone, they have a good warranty, and the battery sales are kept in their data base. Which means if you loose the receipt, you still have proof you bought it, any where in the country there is an AutoZone. The standard Duralast battery is "equal" to the Sears standard Diehard specs wise, but 10 dollars cheaper, 12 months longer warranty, and a 24 month free replacement period. And most stores will install.

Whitelightning

Reply to
Whitelightning

Wal-Mart batteries.........sucketh mightily, imho.

'99 Chevy K3500 - lasted less than 2 years. True, it was fully covered and replaced for free, but not something I want to go through every 20 months.

30' travel trailer - 17 months - pro-rating gave me a credit (on an 18-month warranty for the deep-cycle battery) of less than $2.

I'm not happy with them.

Reply to
JLarsson

Hi!

I've had excellent luck with every Wal-Mart battery I have ever owned (2001-present). All but one of the units purchased in 2001 are still going strong. I think that the one dead one would still be working had I not run it down and let it sit.

The batteries have been in a wide range of uses--lawn mower, tractor, car and truck.

William

Reply to
William R. Walsh

Reply to
JLarsson

I have have had excellant luck with them for over 10 years now. They are all I buy now. THey even hold up well in snow plow duty which is hard on batteries.

Reply to
TheSnoMan

Why is it hard on batteries?

Whitelightning

Reply to
Whitelightning

Hi!

Guesses: Short runtimes, frequent starts, lighting and other electrical demands?

William

Reply to
William R. Walsh

Now this is confusing me. I bought 3 of those everstart maxx batteries (like

900 CCA) for my K5 Blazer from wal mart in the past 18 months. I live in Pennsylvania in the Poconos and I bought the first one in February and a month later it was frozen solid one morning. Like a damn brick. How in the hell did that happen??? I didn't take the caps off or anything.....Just hooked the terminals up and clamped it down. So I took that one back and figured it was a bad battery. No problem they replaced it for free. Well I took that one home and hooked it up and like two weeks later it was frozen solid again!! I don't understand this and neither did the "technician" at Wal Mart. It's not like we had subzero temps. And I drive the K5 everyday as well...So they gave me a new battery. Now in late March about a week after St Patty's day it was frozen again......this is the third battery I got from there and I wouldn't recommend buying an Everstart from them. But then again that was just my experience. Many of you have wonderful things to say about them; but I think I am just going to go with an Optima Red Top and be done with it.
Reply to
Cheryl and Rob

The plow hydraulics are run off of a big electric motor which is basically a old style starter motor on some models even today and they can draw 100 to 150 amps or so depending on load on pump and really stress a battery because it is going into several charge and deep discharge cycles a minute at times because the alt cannot keep up with demand of truck and plow motor and it replenishes the battery between plow cycle. When I am busy, there has been times were truck has not be shur off for many hours except to refuel.

Reply to
TheSnoMan
900 CCA) for my K5 Blazer from wal mart in the past 18 months. I live in Pennsylvania in the Poconos and I bought the first one in February and a month later it was frozen solid one morning. Like a damn brick. How in the hell did that happen??? I didn't take the caps off or anything.....Just hooked the terminals up and clamped it down. So I took that one back and figured it was a bad battery. No problem they replaced it for free. Well I took that one home and hooked it up and like two weeks later it was frozen solid again!! I don't understand this and neither did the "technician" at Wal Mart. It's not like we had subzero temps. And I drive the K5 everyday as well...So they gave me a new battery. Now in late March about a week after St Patty's day it was frozen again......this is the third battery I got from there and I wouldn't recommend buying an Everstart from them. But then again that was just my experience. Many of you have wonderful things to say about them; but I think I am just going to go with an Optima Red Top and be done with it.
Reply to
Boots

You got a free replacement. What's wrong with that ?

18 months and it lasted 17 months. next time buy one that has a longer warr. Again, You got paid back for the one month.

Reply to
Kevin

A full charged battery will not freeze untill its dreadfully cold outside. A discharged battery on the other hand will freeze quite easily.

Whitelightning

Reply to
Whitelightning

Yup! Look for current drains like the underhood light or glove box light staying on. These will discharge the battery overnight. Put an ammeter in series with the positive cable, or get a clamp-on type probe, and see if any current is flowing with the ignition off. Mike

Reply to
Mike Copeland

I would not say quite easily, it takes about 5 to 10 degrees above zero to freeze a dead one.

-----------------

formatting link

Reply to
TheSnoMan

Heh, if its in Canada in January then its pretty easy.

Reply to
JD

Reply to
Cheryl and Rob

Reply to
benick

Gee that's funny. Interstate batteries are manufactured by Johnson Controls, and gee whiz what do you know, so are Sears Diehards. For a short span in the late 80's Excide had the contract, but lost it and it went back to Johnson Controls in 92. Too many failures. Starting in 93 batteries sold in the north were different then those sold in the south. A battery that handles severe cold doesn't handle heat as well and the same is true in reverse. I've come to the conclusion that high temps seem to be worse on a battery than the cold as far as life expectancy is concerned, couple that with were the battery is placed in the vehicle. Pontiac Fieros ate batteries like candy. Best battery I ever owned was a group size 27 Prestolite, model was called the "Big One". Was in my customized '67 Ford Falcon Van while stationed in Germany.

formatting link
Whitelightning

Reply to
Whitelightning

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.