What Batteries are in Your Cars DD or Classic and Which Brand you Perfer?

[38P]

What's the reserve capacity of that battery? Bet it won't crank an engine very long....

"Reserve capacity is the time in minutes that a new, fully charged battery will deliver 25 amperes at 80 degrees F and maintain a terminal voltage equal to, or greater than, 1.75 volts per cell. This rating represents the time the battery will continue to operate essential accessories if the alternator or generator of a vehicle fails.

Put another way, reserve capacity is a battery's ability to sustain a minimum vehicle electrical load in the event of a charging system failure. Under the worst conditions (winter driving at night), this minimum could require current for ignition, low beam head lamps, windshield wipers, and defroster while driving at low speeds."

http://www.gnbsystems.com/faq.php

[Stich496]

What's the reserve capacity of that battery? Bet it won't crank an engine very long....

it doesn't need much. if they start after 2 cranks..

[TheSilverBuick]

I'm with speedzter. Working at autozone for 3 years, there IS a difference between the Gold, standard and Valuecrap. In weight and cranking abilities. We didn't warranty too many Gold's, very few standard Duralasts, and we warranted a TON of Valuecraps. Which says something since their warranty period is short.

The trick to testing a strong battery is to take it as fully charged as it'll get. Rather that's running in a car for a good period of time or from a charger (Autozone 1hr fast charge), then test it TWICE back to back. Batteries are good at keeping a surface charge that will pass the first test (or get you one good ~30 seconds cranking) when bad, then will immediately fail the second test. Seen it time and time again. After my battery got a ride down the Salt Flats in the 1950 Buick, it started failing on me a few months later. I drove it 4 hours to Salt Lake, it was nice and charged up, rolled into an autozone, they rolled out with the cart, it passed the first test, and before he unhooked it or did anything else I said, "Test it again, I've been on the road a long time.", he did and it promptly failed. It was under the 3 year mark (LSR at Bonneville is apparently hard on batteries) and I got a new one no problem.

[38P]

Duralast in all of mine. American made (made by Johnson Controls...the same guys that make Interstate and Die-Hard batteries) and I've never had an issue out of them.

And Speed, what the hell is a "mope"??

I just don't like dealing with AutoZone.

Mope is a term used in Shakespeare's plays. Under the old common law and some ordinances, mopery was a form of loitering or aimless wandering. In other words, bums, hobos, hippies, and the "occupy" crowd might have been charged with mopery in some locales and would be mopes. In recent times "mope" has taken on a connotation of boredom and even depression.

In Speedy-speak, a mope is: (1) a stooge . . . a poorly-groomed, ignorant loser . . . one who usually doesn't know what he's talking about . . . a slacker with no direction or (2) short for MoPar.

[Stich496]

Let's see . . Squirrel buys a new battery every few years. I've sold thousands of batteries (many to the same mopes) and had extensive factory training. And I've had a lot of personal experience with batteries in scores of cars over the past three decades. I wonder who has the most reliable anecdotes?

says the guy that a mod updated engine is better than the ls ..
the battery in my truck has been in the
82 t/a race car 355 headers heat soak
86 old gutlass beater v6 3.8
71 402 powered el camino header heat soak
72 chevelle 350 12 to 1 header heat soak
89 grand mark that was used as a delivery car for 5 years 5 days a week starting over and over again
71 c-10 truck / 78 case back hoe.. depending on what needed to be started used..
only care was/is a battery buddy/tender
bought the sears el cheapo battery in late 97.. and it still kicks over the 350 in the truck and spins it untill the fuel pump refills the carb bowl..
who would thunk..
the other one is almost 10 y/o and is in the monty SS . and you know how long those 305's crank before fire'n.
battery tenders and good cables , all thats needed.. you'll smoke the starter before these things give up.

[38P]

it doesn't need much. if they start after 2 cranks..

You're assuming the thing is always fully charged and there are no electrical drains in the system. Add in an Aeromotive A1000, a big stereo, auxillary lighting, or other electron-sapping gear, or a minor charging system issue, and it doesn't take long to discharge a battery with low reserve capacity.

Again, the severity and number of load cycles is predictive of premature failure. As with nearly anything else, taking a battery to the max with frequency ends up straining it and shortening its life.

[Stich496]

fast charges, or letting the battery discharge overtime and the cars alt recharge it..(it recharges it way to fast also) kills them.. battery tender and they last and last.

[Stich496]

You're assuming the thing is always fully charged and there are no electrical drains in the system. Add in an Aeromotive A1000, a big stereo, auxillary lighting, or other electron-sapping gear, or a minor charging system issue, and it doesn't take long to discharge a battery with low reserve capacity.

Again, the severity and number of load cycles is predictive of premature failure. As with nearly anything else, taking a battery to the max with frequency ends up straining it and shortening its life.

news flash, none of that gear listed above runs off a battery unless you sit with the engine off.. if you have the correct charging system, and it's not faulty..

[38P]

I just don't like dealing with AutoZone.

Obviously, I didn't trade at the one where Randall worked.

LSR is probably hard on batteries because:

1. lots of short trips.

2. Inadequate voltage regulation (2-3 minutes at high r.p.m. can generate a lot of amps)

3. Inadequate between-rounds recharging (just like in drag racing if the alternator's absent or underdriven)

4. Vibration

[HillbillySailor2]

I just don't like dealing with AutoZone.

Mope is a term used in Shakespeare's plays. Under the old common law and some ordinances, mopery was a form of loitering or aimless wandering. In other words, bums, hobos, hippies, and the "occupy" crowd might have been charged with mopery in some locales and would be mopes. In recent times "mope" has taken on a connotation of boredom and even depression.

In Speedy-speak, a mope is: (1) a stooge . . . a poorly-groomed, ignorant loser . . . one who usually doesn't know what he's talking about . . . a slacker with no direction or (2) short for MoPar.

I figured it was something like that, and I didn't think you were talking about Mopars.

[38P]

news flash, none of that gear listed above runs off a battery unless you sit with the engine off.. if you have the correct charging system, and it's not faulty..

Have you ever tracked the amperage output of an alternator? Do you wonder why almost all HD vehicles come with a massive alternator?

I'd be willing to bet that many rods at the average cruise night don't have a charging system that's adequate for putting around for hours at 5 m.p.h. And running an audio system with the key off is hardly a rare occurrence. Even Larry Larson was known to blast some "Boston" out of his Chevy II in the pits at DW . . . .

A cheap, barely-adequate battery is just false economy in my opinion. It's like running around with a tank on empty. It only burns you at the worst of times.

[TheSilverBuick]

4. Vibration

Number 4 for the win

[38P]

And another thing . . .

Charging a battery puts heat into it (that's why shock charging a battery is a horrible idea . . . for longest life, a lead-acid battery should be recharged slowly . . . optimally at the same rate as discharge).

So if you're hammering the battery hard on restarts, the alternator has to work harder after everything's up and running. And the amp flow back into the battery heats the fluid and the plates. The separators break down a little faster as these cycles occur.

A premium battery isn't as stressed and thus usually doesn't have to "heat cycle" as much as the minimum or an undersized battery.

[TheSilverBuick]

And though I'll never work at one again, the reason I like Autozone is because they are common and the warranties are in their database.

[SpiderGearsMan]

ON A MAINTENANCE FREE BATTERY ..it has to get fried to get a full charge ..i.e. gassing ..fumes out the vents

speedy must have worked on cars last in 1977