Battery dilemma

[AH64ID]

So the batteries in my truck are 70 month old. They work great, no issues. They are a little slower in winter, but thats to be expected. They are not slow enough to even worry about... So here is the dilemma, they are 70 months old! I hunt 70 miles from the nearest electricity and if the weather turns to crap at 6-9K feet the starting power might be needed so I want new batteries. I am looking at Sears batteries as they give a great military discount. The two batteries I am looking at are the Sears Platinum and the Sears DieHard Gold. The Platinum is an Odessy battery with Sears paint (info direct from Odessy) and is rated at 950 CCA. The Gold is 750 CCA. The pair of Platinums will run $100 more than the pair of Gold's, and are one of the best batteries on the market, so its what I want. I don't want to worry about batteries when I am in the middle of the back-country with the kids. So I guess its not really a dilemma, just complaining about spending $325 on batteries when mine still work good! And I am doing batteries is the Wife's 4runner and my DD this winter too, both still have originals at 7 and 8 years old. So any input? Here is what Odessy has to say about the battery. http://www.odysseybatteries.com/battery/pc1750t.htm

[ISX]

I think my dad used a die hard gold in his truck for at least 10 years. So that shows that gold is good so platinums are probably very good too. The only battery that had the guts to start my ford in the winter was the everstart maxx's, never tried die hards but the ford had no problem killing optima dry cells. The maxx would crank and crank and crank.

[Mopar1973Man]

I hate to say it but a wet cell battery is more durable than a dry cell... But since most all batteries are made by a handful of big corps. I would look at warranty coverage more so than name brand. Like I got a Napa battery in Mom's 96 and its been rock solid now for 2 years. (Hard to compare apples and oranges). But with all breeds of batteries out there I would look at the warranty more so...

[dorkweed]

I think my dad used a die hard gold in his truck for at least 10 years. So that shows that gold is good so platinums are probably very good too. The only battery that had the guts to start my ford in the winter was the everstart maxx's, never tried die hards but the ford had no problem killing optima dry cells. The maxx would crank and crank and crank.

I bought a pair of Everstart Maxx's last Dec. I wrote a thread about it here. Can't beat the price, and WallyWorlds are everywhere if I need a replacement.

[AH64ID]

I remember reading you thread...I just can't make myself buy cheap o's.. I spend too much time miles and miles from people with my kids, and in the snow when hunting, the last thing I want to worry about is a cold soaked motor and batteries and my truck starting at 9K feet in a snow storm.

[ISX]

I remember reading you thread... I just can't make myself buy cheap o's.. I spend too much time miles and miles from people with my kids, and in the snow when hunting, the last thing I want to worry about is a cold soaked motor and batteries and my truck starting at 9K feet in a snow storm.

You do realize you are relying on TWO batteries to give you 5 seconds max of cranking. Add in the grid heater and it's a little more but the point is, powersmokes and durapads crank forever with cheapo batteries and they still hold up. I can understand why you want more expensive ones, what I am saying is if the batteries are not over 5 years old, they are not even breaking a sweat with our trucks. As long as you never discharge them wayyy down, I don't see why any battery wouldn't last 5 years. The everstart maxx I have was in the hands of my brother before who drained it a few times, it will start my cummins by itself today and it is 6 years old.

[AH64ID]

30 seconds of grid heater (at 200+ amps) followed by 3-5 seconds of starter (450-700 amps) is enough to warrant good batteries on a cold soaked motor 70 miles from town. My current batteries will be 6 years old (6 years in-service, who knows how old) on Thanksgiving, so its not like I am getting a short life out of them. When we are hunting and my truck fails to start it would be a 7 mile hike back to camp, and that would be after already hiking 10-15 miles that day. I had an Optima Yellow Top that was ABUSED, I drained it many times. Once I left the dome light switch on for 6 weeks and came back to .010V (at 4 years old), it took a million dollar marine charger to even recognize it as a battery and 2 days to charge, but then it was good. It then sat for 9 months thru a deployment and worked fine after a few good charges (this was at 8 years old). I used it for winching plenty, and sold it with a truck in 07 (3rd rig I had it in), and when I talked to the kid that bought it the battery was still working in 08 or 09 (don't recall)... So good batteries do make a difference. I would have gone Optima this go-round but they are an odd size, and have fewer CCA's. The discount I get on the P2's makes them the same price as Optima..

[dorkweed]

I remember reading you thread... I just can't make myself buy cheap o's.. I spend too much time miles and miles from people with my kids, and in the snow when hunting, the last thing I want to worry about is a cold soaked motor and batteries and my truck starting at 9K feet in a snow storm.

The Everstarts that I bought, I believe were made by Excide Tech. You'll have a hard time convincing me that the WallyWorld Excide batteries are "cheaper" made than those at other stores. The only difference I can see visually is the color scheme. WallyWorld probabaly buys so many at a time that they get a good deal on them and they can therefore sell them for less than others. I've got no problems with that........it's good business if you can afford to store inventory that long!!! Suck it up, swallow your "pride" and got to WallyWorld. This if from a guy that spends a lot of time hunting in North Dakota, Wisconsin etc.

[ISX]

I'm just having a hard time understanding why you are so worried about all your batteries suddenly going dead out in the wilderness. All you have to do is load test the batteries before you head out and you know they are still good. You can also just get a multimeter and see what your battery voltage is when the truck has sat a long time (overnight) to get rid of surface voltage. They should be around 12.65V. Mine are always at 12.65 in the morning, I check it with a multimeter religiously to see how they are doing. You know they are getting old when you start seeing lower voltage. More expensive batteries do not mean you can skip out on testing them, you should always monitor them. If I am not mistaken, all you have to do to get an accurate reading is press a button on the scangauge. Paying more money will not keep you from being stranded, monitoring them will. If you are still worried, cold batteries do not have as much power, which is why you have that CCA rating. So you might get those battery insulators so you can keep the CA up.

[AH64ID]

Because I have seen batteries that are good in warm weather die as soon as it gets cold, its not fun to deal with. I do all my maintenance on a preventative level anyways, and the way I use my truck 6 years off of the OE battery is an acceptable time-frame. Battery insulators do help, but honestly if its blowing 20 and 20* out after 12 hours the batteries and block are at the ambient temp, regardless of insulation. I appreciate the input, but the batteries are being changed Monday and despite all the sound advice I can't pull the trigger on low quality batteries (but what do I expect, I have 4 more filters on my truck that Dodge/Cummins felt were necessary.. guess I don't go with the norm most the time).In this case more money is getting me a lot more CCA, CA, and HCA I think that's worth it alone, the reputation of the battery is the best, and that has to do with the price tag. You do get what you pay for, but in many users realm you don't need the best, the ambient conditions don't require it. just my :2cents:I am also replacing the batts in my wifes rig and DD this winter, due to age nothing else (well the DD is showing signs below 40*), but I am not even considering the P2's, Standard batteries will do based on use.

[dorkweed]

Because I have seen batteries that are good in warm weather die as soon as it gets cold, its not fun to deal with. I do all my maintenance on a preventative level anyways, and the way I use my truck 6 years off of the OE battery is an acceptable time-frame. Battery insulators do help, but honestly if its blowing 20 and 20* out after 12 hours the batteries and block are at the ambient temp, regardless of insulation. I appreciate the input, but the batteries are being changed Monday and despite all the sound advice I can't pull the trigger on low quality batteries (but what do I expect, I have 4 more filters on my truck that Dodge/Cummins felt were necessary.. guess I don't go with the norm most the time). In this case more money is getting me a lot more CCA, CA, and HCA I think that's worth it alone, the reputation of the battery is the best, and that has to do with the price tag. You do get what you pay for, but in many users realm you don't need the best, the ambient conditions don't require it. just my I am also replacing the batts in my wifes rig and DD this winter, due to age nothing else (well the DD is showing signs below 40*), but I am not even considering the P2's, Standard batteries will do based on use.

I couldn't help it............Would you happen to be related to that old character on SNL called, "The Anal Retentive Chef"???!!!:lmao2::lol:

[AH64ID]

Doesn't anal-retentive have a hyphen?

--- Update to the previous post...

And I prefer "excessive"

[AH64ID]

They are in. Pretty easy install, the hardest part was getting the OEM's out as they don't have a handle. The P2 are quite a bit heavier than the OEMs.

I'm going to monitor voltage for a while, but in the little I have driven them they seem to be a little lower.. probably just a coincidence.. but normally the truck ran 14.3-14.5, maybe 14.7 when cold and now the highest I have seen is 14.1 (which I prefer).. With the computer controlled charger I don't know whey they don't drop the voltage to about 13.5 after they are charged, my Toyota did it.. so why won't my Dodge.

[ISX]

Temperature has a lot to do with it. At 0F I might see 14.5V. But all summer I am at 13.6V. As the engine and alternator warm up after startup in the winter, it would drop back down under 14.

[Mopar1973Man]

ISX is right there is a battery temp sensor on the driver side battery so as the battery temp rises the charging voltage falls to prevent gassing the batteries during charging. But as the battery gets colder it will add more charging voltage since cold batteries do accept a charging voltage as well cold. So as far as I understand it still stands at 13.5 (Summer lowest voltage) and 14.8 (Winter highest voltage).

[AH64ID]

Correct, but my voltage still seems lower for a given ambient temp that it was with the stockers, by about .2V.. But I don't have a ton of miles on em yet, I'll keep an eye on it for a while, but it could just be how the battery charges, it is also about 40% heavier.

[dorkweed]

That's all for today boys and girls of the adventures of our fanatical hero.............Stay tuned for the next post of "The Anal-Retentive Dodge-Cummins Owner" staring AH64ID!!!:hyper:Sorry, couldn't help it!!!!! I got the hyphen in there this time though!!!:lmao2:

[Mopar1973Man]

Now that's funny!

[AH64ID]

You laugh.. but you guys are no better

[AH64ID]

Got about 600 miles on em now.. on a hot day there isn't much difference, but on a cold day man it starts quick!I also have noticed that the voltage doesn't drop near as far when the grid heater cycles after the motor starts. On the OE batteries it would drop to 11.8 or a hair lower at times, I have noticed the P-2's staying at 12.7 or 12.8 on more than one occasion, they will drop to 12.2 also, but not nearly as easily as the old batts.