What do I need to know in buying a new battery?

What do I need to know in buying a new battery?

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1. get one that fits
2. if you do winter driving and you're buying one from a non-winter zone, ask if it's going to shit the bed in the winter

That's about it. If you don't have a reason to want a fancy one then there's not a lot of reason to pay more for a fancy one.

Can't go wrong with interstate or die hard batteries

make sure the new one has the same or more CCA than the old one.

Solid names. I had this old Panasonic from the early 80s that kept going through the early 2000s. Didn't even bother checking the water levels.

Then one day it snowed like a million feet and I started the car about 4 times in a row without giving it enough enough to to recharge. Then it didn't really start anymore. Hello, my new backup battery.

Always get the highest CCA (cold cranking amps) you can, and get the one that has the best warranty. The longer the warranty, the better, make sure you buy it from a location you can easily get to or is abundant in your area, making warranty returns easier if the battery happens to shit the bed on you.

What if I just bought one at a Valvoline drive thru oil change place for $169 and I didn't ask about the warranty?

Make sure you check CCA at 0 degrees F not 32deg as ita always below that in the north in winter.

Buy an interstate from their store based upon the requirements of your owners manual. Stay away from Walmart and other cheap batteries

Only two actual companies manufacturer all the brands of car batteries you see sold in the US

Which one is better?

Most of them are made by the same two or three companies just re-branded. Just buy the cheapest one with the longest warrenty.

But only the Blue-top ULTRA pro-life Power House (tm) brand WINTER DESTROYER line comes with the TopCrank starting guarantee and ENER-LIFE (r) technology.

Get a NorthStar or Odyssey AGM battery

That has not been my experience. You get what you pay for at pep boys and other cheap outlets. Go with interstate unless you want to replace your 5 year battery every two years

I've got a cheap, shitty Walmart battery that's 7 years old. It is only just starting to go. Sometimes cheap is fine.

I used to work at an interstate batteries warehouse
The "refurbrished" batteries were sometimes only months old
They can be bought for much cheaper than a brand new battery

get an AGM one.

If you have a car that doesn't suck shit you might have to recode for a new battery if you don't get oem.

should I take anything into consideration when buying a new battery for my '87 Horizon? Batteries back then are pretty much the same as batteries today right?

Either get a sealed Interstate or get an AGM battery, but stay away from Optima's, they're overrated and junk for AGM

>What do I need to know in buying a new battery?
For older cars, most of the generic advice in this thread is applicable such as more CCA. For newer cars, the choice is more problematic because the new cars typically have sensing and recharge algorithms tailored towards a specific CCA size and type of battery which is probably going to be AGM instead of the traditional wet cell with lots of liquid sloshing around inside. Some AGM batteries are made to be compatible with frequent high current discharges followed by recharging such as for cars with stop/start features. It has been seen that normal AGM batteries have shortened lifespan when there are frequent heavy discharged even though the battery is always topped off to a full charge.

And don't overpay (picture related). As seen in the picture, a single Domino's pizza in Japan can cost roughly $112 with every possible optional topping included on the pizza. Some battery shops stack on the options and keep the core charge while other shops include some for free such as free installation with battery purchase and even refund the core charge to you for your old battery.

so I'm looking at spending about two hundo or so? Never had to buy a battery before.

...

This, and that it has the same for AH

Its also a good idea to get one like you pictured, where you can screw open the cells and inspect/refill them

If you have start-stop technology then an AGM-battery is suggested

>Cold cranking amps required
>battery Bay size
>terminal handing

>should I take anything into consideration when buying a new battery for my '87 Horizon?
Just remember your battery terminal positions. If your Horizon fastens to terminals on the side of the battery, the cables will not stretch up to attach to batteries with terminals on the top. Generally, the battery compatibility list should have figured that out for you though.

Interstate is the way to go.

My 95 honda had an interstate when I bought it, battery was probably at least a year old. I would drive out the the mountains and park on some logging road, leave the car for weeks and come back and start it up fine. I had that battery for 6 more years, daily driving to charge it, but using the radio to blast music in the garage almost every night for hours.

It finally died when I left the headlights on for like 9 hours, I replaced it with a cheap one and had issues within 2 years.

I've now bought 2 other cars, an '89 Bronco 2 and a '94 Accord wagon. I splurged for Interstate batteries for both and dont regret it at all.

My work van(2014 ford transit) has an OE Motorcraft battery, its a piece of shit. Less than 2 years old and its gone bad. The original battery also went bad within 2 years.

So point of reference: 89 ford with interstate battery=no worries

2014 ford with OE battery= fucking stranded 30 miles from home in the middle of nowhere, nobody to give you a jump, no cell service, no Veeky Forums to shitpost on.

Interstate makes quality batteries and their price range, consistent reliability and warranty are second to none.

88 Prelude finally took the shit and my parents let me drive their oldish Kia and in the 3 months or so since it was last driven I didn't even have to jump it and never had to jump it on stupid screw ups like interior lights.

Only go with Interstate.

/Thread.

Literally 90% of batteries on the market are either made by Johnson controls or Exide. Aside from Lithium alternatives all lead acid batteries are the same in quality.

2 products can be made on the same factory line with different quality materials.

>2 products can be made on the same factory line with different quality materials.

Or the factory can have corrupt management colluding to embezzle funds. All they need to do is substitute inferior materials and pocket the difference amongst the managers and several QC people.

It's what happens in China when they make the same rechargeable battery product as shown in the picture. The picture showed the chinese-made versions of the same battery had much shorter lifespans. The batteries were supposedly made with the same qualified tested materials on inspected factory lines using the same processes. But clearly, the chinese staff at the factory were corrupt and cheated the process, thus the batteries made were inferior even though they are labeled with the same brand and model number as the other batteries made outside of china.

** CONTINUED **

candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?392229-Japanese-Vs-Chinese-Eneloop-Cycle-Testing-Results

In 2014, Panasonic shifted production of Eneloop batteries for some markets (including Australia) from Japan to China.

Chinese-made Eneloops have the same product code as the Japanese made Eneloops and are rated for the same 2100 cycles. The Chinese cells are rated slightly lower on capacity retention with a claimed 65% remaining after 5 years instead of 70%

The test uses a pair of 4th generation Japanese made Eneloops and a pair of new 4th generation Chinese made Eneloops. Diagnostic chargers were used with both battery sets charging and discharging at 2 amps. 20 minutes rest after charging and 10 minutes after discharging. The results of the test is in the previous picture.

Japanese Eneloops lasted for about double the number of cycles that the Chinese Eneloops managed in this test.

*update* AUG 2015:
A new test was done on some Chinese made Eneloops that were manufactured more recently than those in my original test - with pretty much exactly the same results.

Hijacking this thread for a question; Are Optimas a meme or are they actually good batteries?

get the cheapest walmart battery

when it dies in three years, go buy another one.

Meme, there are better AGM batteries already mentioned ITT

>Are Optimas a meme or are they actually good batteries?
They were both self-hyped and early on the market for AGM type batteries. Thus they built up a name recognition and thus people often mention Optima even though there are better AGM batteries out there with difficult to remember manufacturer names. Optima is still good in certain environments or if you lay batteries on their side. But most people don't do that, so their cylindrical winding is wasted.

Thus, you should buy the more economical rectangular-shaped AGM batteries instead. And you car's battery compartment is probably shaped for an OEM shape battery anyways because the battery fuse block mounts on top of the OEM rectangular battery. You see, no matter what, that stiff cabling and fuse block on top of the batter dictates what will fit in that compartment. And Optima is too tall to mount those fuse blocks.

AGM technology has also evolved beyond Optima by at least two generations. There are now AGM type batteries that can have a large number of shallow discharge cycles (starter on stop/start engines) without drastically losing capacity like a normal AGM battery would.

While not Optima related, I wish to point out that when you substitute AGM batteries in your higher end new cars that have stop/start technology, be aware that the substitution is not necessarily a high cycling battery.

However, there is an alternate and practical school of thought as stated in . If you don't mind having a fresh strong battery that is cheap, do that. Or you can do like I do and pay $300 for a single battery whose lifespan is statistically a lot longer than that walmart battery but its prorated warranty is not any longer. Thus, that walmart battery is cheaper in the long run if you anticipate harsh treatment of your batteries that shortens their lifespan. Harshly treating my expensive battery is foolish since EITHER pricey or cheap AGM type batteries sulphate when deeply discharged.

>I've got a cheap, shitty Walmart battery that's 7 years old. It is only just starting to go. Sometimes cheap is fine.

I have one of those digital battery chargers that does a half-assed check of the battery charge level. Better than nothing. I occasionally check on the battery charge level and top it off with the charger. I don't overcharge because bubbling off the liquid means distilled water has to be added if it gets too low. And for AGM batteries, those don't have much tolerance for overcharging as it is since they're not full of easily replenished acid liquid. So just be careful with your AGM recharging.