99.00 Walmart 12 volt battery

[tx2sturgis]

I was commenting (tongue in cheek) on the warranty language, written by lawyers...the BattleBorn Batteries are fine, I have one me-own-self.

It was not meant to be an offending remark. 

Lets not get all butt hurt.

 

[MotorVation]

Here's a link to a PDF of Trojan Battery's warranty exclusions. Ya' all might find it useful. Especially the part where it states:

"The Warranty Period will be reduced if operating temperatures exceed 86°F (30°C), as follows: the Warranty Period will be reduced by 50% for every 15°F (10°C) of operating temperatures over 80°F (27°C). Batteries should not be used in applications that exceed 50% Depth of Discharge (“DOD”). A battery end-of-life within the warranty period that is deemed to be caused by wear-out due to discharge/recharge cycling will not be considered a defect and will not be covered by the warranty"

You can find it on page 2 of the PDF

I've been living in Florida for over 30 years.  I know a little bit about the effects of heat on batteries.. I'm lucky to get 2 years out of a starter battery for car/truck and one year for a motorcycle although I did get two years out of one once. I don't have a hermetically sealed, climate controlled, covered in pixie dust, moon module to park my stuff in. It's all outside in the heat





Trojan warranty

 

[CC58]

You can get used lifepo4 battery tested at 64AH for $169 that weighs 16 pounds.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-x-75Ah-L...35b3:g:p9MAAOSwyz5e4bMc&LH_ItemCondition=3000

Used lifepo4 out of solar farms are cheap enough to consider over AGM.
Lifepo4 65AH have usable capacity comparable to 100AH AGM.

Until the price of new lifepo4 batteries come down, the used cells are an affordable option.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Again, the point of the warranty now days on a LOT of products is, they have a clause, a sentence, a phrase, that they can use to deny the claim....

All the manufacturer has to say is, hey, you did this or that, and poof, you own it now.

At least most big box stores will take these batteries back, or pro-rate them, no questions asked in most cases. 

But that is a bit of a thread detour, but still relevant when it comes to choosing where to buy your expensive batteries.

For example, I bought my BattleBorn off a private individual vendor's tailgate at a hamfest. Got a good deal and ZERO warranty. (No it was not stolen!) And I'm OK with that since the manufacturer warranty on a lot of consumer products is essentially, worthless.

The brick-and-mortar retailers often provide the warranty that we will actually find much easier to use: Carry it in, and exchange or pro-rate. Walk out with brand new item.

I like that concept!

 

[MotorVation]

I'm not arguing about warranties. I'm simply pointing out how bad excess heat is for batteries with info straight out of the horses' mouth, the people who make them.
That's why I bought the Walmart battery to keep in the van while it's just sitting in the driveway and I'm inside my mobile home in the air conditioning along with the expensive batteries I am choosing to be easy on like I said in my original post.

I mean if anyone's hell bent on testing their body, soul and batteries in the Florida heat, come on down. They haven't sealed the state line. Yet

 

[tx2sturgis]

I'm not arguing it either, I am supporting your purchase...defending it, if you will. As I did much earlier in the thread.

There was a negative comment or two...but I was endorsing the idea that a local purchase can sometimes be a good solution, especially with heavy, relatively expensive batteries.

I guess that I zigged when you zagged, sometimes stuff happens.

 

[MrNoodly]

...for every 15°F (10°C) of operating temperatures over 80°F (27°C).

How would they determine that?

 

[wayne49]

Excessive heat will damage sealed lead acid batteries.
Heat causes the magic material inside to be released to the atmosphere.
Sealed batteries have a regulated valve that is one way only.

 

[tripper]

The Wal Mart batteries are great and extremely inexpensive, I recently got a huge marine deep cycle for $89.  I find that using my batteries often in the AZ summer seems to burn them out fairly fast no matter how meticulous I am with them. In years past I have tried several name brands such as Trojan, Interstate, and the Costco ones. They all seem to die after about 3 years so I now just get the cheap Wal Mart ones and they are almost as good. Nice easy return policy too. 

When purchasing a battery 3 very important things you should do.
1) Check the DATE, if it is more than 3 months, don't get it.
2) Have them check the voltage, if it is at 12volts or less don't buy it, it is already damaged; it should read 12.6v or higher.
3) Have them load test it with their tester, I had two in a row fail.

Don't let them have the opportunity to charge the battery quickly before they test it, some independent battery places will do that.
This applies to lead-acid batteries, not LiFePo4.

 

[Oldwolf]

Thanks for posting this info on the Walmart battery. I may use it for my set-up too.

 

[RVTravel]

The walmart battery usage used to be discussed quite a bit in the yahoo group, going back more than a decade.

 

[sneaks]

Walmart batteries used to be made by Johnson Controls, now by Exide. I've had good luck with them from both manufactures. I had the basic Walmart EverStart in my 2500 RAM (360ci) for 11 years of northern Maine sub-zero winters, was still cranking it fine when I sold the truck 2 years ago.

 

[user 423]

I had the basic Walmart EverStart in my 2500 RAM (360ci) for 11 years of northern Maine sub-zero winters, was still cranking it fine when I sold the truck 2 years ago.

Dang. That has to be a record. Most I ever got was 7 years with an Interstate.

 

[MotorVation]

I've been unable to find out for certain who makes it or has the charging parameters. Exide doesn't list a group 29 marine/rv and I'm tired of searching. I looked for a Trojan 12 volt flooded lead acid with similar weight and AH capacity. I setup my charge controller to mimic the charging specs for that battery.

I suspect that most of these Wally World dual purpose are just charged with an alternator or a one stage battery charger, so I'm probably ahead of the game in maintaining it

 

[Qxxx]

11 years on a car battery, too amazing.

Just to toss a bit of chaos into the discussion, while searching around for Group 29, I found a "group 27 marine deep cycle", and this one is rated at 90 AH. Available from Batteries Plus, Autozone, and Costco for around $109, brands respectively listed as Duracell, Duralast, and Interstate. Warranty is only 1-year on these. But may be better than a "no name" battery from wallyworld.

I may be wrong, and have no experience with this, but at places like Batteries Plus and Autozone you may be more likely to get a battery which is "not" 2 years old and which has "not" been poorly maintained. Don't know, just guessing. ????

 

[tx2sturgis]

Walmart buys it's lead acid batteries from a variety of vendors nationwide, (and worldwide) and the contracts may run for short or long time periods, but generally they will be major manufacturers.

These major vendors also generally have their own logistics network, including rail docks, warehouses, truck fleets, and of course, truck drivers. These trucks are NOT part of the large, highly visible, Walmart fleet. 

These vendors also manufacture private label batteries for a variety of retailers like AutoZone, NAPA, O'Reillys, and many others, and those trucks make deliveries at all of these retailers along a route, and of course, pick up the returned batteries to be recycled. This economy of scale helps keep the prices lower.

Pinning it down to one vendor for all of the millions and millions of batteries sold would defy all logic, unless that one vendor can ramp up production to millions of units per day, along with the logistics network, to meet the entire demand of the entire network of stores and clubs worldwide. 

And then if that one vendor had any problems in the manufacturing or supply chain, it would mean NO batteries would be available anywhere for awhile.

Sometimes the battery will have a manufacturer's name or code...failing that, its often hard to know for sure.

 

[bullfrog]

I have had people recommend Batteries Plus and certain AGM batteries that are made in the USA. They will special order them direct so they are only a few weeks old when delivered to Batteries Plus.

 

[Qxxx]

I'm wonderig about one thing not mentioned in the thread, as far as I could see. I went with AGM as they require no maintenance and (supposedly) don't outgas, and my van has no specfic ventilation holes. Whereas lead acid supposedly outgas some, so best to have in a separately ventilated compartment. So for basic reasons, I should think outgassing may be worse in hot summer months.

 

[tx2sturgis]

They might outgas more in the warm summer months, but in the warmer months (in a van with batteries inside the van) we tend to spend more time outside of the rig, and tend to sleep with more active ventilation.

Winter time, again in a van, in cooler weather, when they might outgas a bit less, but we will often have less ventilation and will likely be sleeping in the rig with most or all of the vents and windows closed and maybe no fans running. There might also be an exposed heat source flame or cooking appliance in that closed space. 

I believe the winter months will be the time when AGM (or LiFePo4) batteries are a bit safer to use within the interior.

 

[Qxxx]

:heart: :heart: adoring fan (cf the other thread, I guess this is the new Thank You button).