#neverliberal #nevermarxist
Pretty cool. Record? No, but no doubt you are in the upper 1 percentile range of longevity for a car battery, where most on average get 4 to 7 years, 10 is considered great, 12 excellent, but 16? Johnson Control does make some of the best products money can buy and pricey as well.You literally got two or more batteries out of one, just consider yourself lucky. I'm also guessing you drive like a snail to save gas and stay off rough roads, which is a killer of car batteries.Bought the wife a new Subaru Forrester in 2012, she just replaced a dying battery yesterday, and that's the norm.
I got a Ford Ranger 4 wheel drive pick up that for my wife, when she was working as a deputy sheriff. As she needed something she could go to work in year around with no problem. The first battery was going on 20 years before I replaced it. I replace my Dodge battery's at 13 years, as I live in the boondocks. I use the two old battery's yet around the shop.
You were lucky.Both my Dodge batteries failed 4 years in on a new truck. Like I said, much of it has to do with road conditions, mine are all mountain dirt, with huge water bars, rain ruts, and holes and not a one is flat for more than 700' before you either ascend or descend another mountain.Flat roads will keep a battery alive for awhile, driving like a snail will milk it even longer, so I may get 8 years out of these two since I seldom drive much anymore.Lead acid, as a rule, does best when they are used frequently and long enough for a full charge to occur, otherwise sulphation takes place, shortening the life of the battery, in other words, daily commutes on open smooth highways extend the life of the battery.Where as infrequent short commutes will shorten the life considerably if the battery is never allowed to equalize its cell voltage across the board.Depending on use, eg. rough roads, a marine deep cycle battery may be a better choice in trucks, assuming you can match one with the needed cranking amps of the starter.I spent years studying batteries of all kinds for my business, and the main killer of a battery is draining it below 30% of its capacity, like a light on overnight, or some other light drain on the battery, like a cell phone plugged in all the time, or a rechargeable light."A study of 2,769 sample 12 volt batteries conducted in 2004 showed that the average lead acid battery life is 50 months"http://carbatteryonline.net/car-battery-life.html
Yep. My MIL recently moved into a retirement facility near here, but she's reluctant to give up her car -- a 1988 Buick Regal. We've been trying to drive it around a bit at least once or twice a month, but every now and then the battery needs a jump. If I can't talk her out of keeping the car (she never, ever drives it), I'll be putting a deep-cycle marine battery in it. Those are made to be completely discharged again and again. I've read that basic car batteries (starting batteries) can't stand more than four or five complete discharges.
I now use Trickle Chargers on my truck, Quad and lawn tractor. The Trickle Chargers I have will turn on as needed and off when not needed. I have then set up so the cord is out side of the hood so I don't have to keep opening and closing the hood. Just plug or un-plug it as needed just out side of the hood. Tbone, I think your mom car could use a Trickle Charger, it would keep her battery up all the time. A Trickle Charger only runs about 45$ now for a good one that will turn on and off as needed.
I'm hip to the trickle chargers. Got one on the old Craftsman tractor I use to pull stuff around. The trouble with the idea for the MIL's car is that there's no electric power available anywhere close to the parking lot where the car sits.One other thing I'm thinking about is a solar trickle charger. There's no juice where her car is parked, but there's plenty of sun. Something like this:https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/coleman-2-watt-12-volt-solar-battery-maintainer-58012/10644460-p?c3ch=PLA&c3nid=10644460-P&c3apidt=23534111031&gclid=Cj0KCQjwruPNBRCKARIsAEYNXIgFTb96GS8uLglcaeTSEJRLleAFSFW8Dr84aIluay6khrwDkvnlm1IaAjQxEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Bingo! Dashmate, Walmart sells them pretty cheap, I think under $30.0. Beats changing out a battery.Reminds me, I need to pick up a couple more now that I'm not using my quad as I have a Razor now, and the tractor sits for much of the winter, and Hell, so does my truck and dozer.Damn, now that I think about it, my pressure washer has a battery, as does the batteries on my diesel tanks, that's two more, the boat has a couple as well. Damn, bet they're already deads as Hell.Hmmm, I think it's time to sell off some shit I no longer have a use for. Sucks accumulating all this crap as time flies by so quickly. Ah Hell, you r link is cheaper yet.
Just keep in mind that the one at my link is rated at 2 WATTS, not 2 AMPS. In other words, it puts out about 1/6 Amp. Definitely a trickle charger!
It seems the last two batteries I had fail, did so overnight. Fine one day, dead the next. No sense of warning like they used to.Now, I look at 7 years. I replace them whether they need it or not.