Battery opinions

Heavyopp said:

Supposedly the Sams Club AGM is a rebadged Deka Intimidator -- Made by East Penn

Not sure about the rest of the Sams club line but it may be worth looking into

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I would second this recommendation. The Sam's Club Duracell in both regular and AGM are made by East Penn and are very good batteries. I just replaced my Group 58 Duracell from Sam's Club after 6 years. It still started fine, but I was worried about it, plus they had a 20$ off sale during the Memorial Day weekend.

Just adding my take on this thread... My '01 XJ was dead this morning so I was able to jump start and get to work. Pulled into the parking garage, turned her off, tried to restart and she's dead as dead can be. This is my 2nd Optima Yellow Top in 2 years. Had to replace the 1st Optima due to a similar mess. I'm going to return this one to A-Zone and get it replaced w/a new Optima under warranty (hopefully) and then I'll be heading over to Advance Auto and picking up a new Autocraft Platinum AGM... so hopefully this crap won't happen again next year. Probably be selling the replacement Optima on Craigslist/Facebook cheap...

Redsnake said:

Just adding my take on this thread... My '01 XJ was dead this morning so I was able to jump start and get to work. Pulled into the parking garage, turned her off, tried to restart and she's dead as dead can be. This is my 2nd Optima Yellow Top in 2 years. Had to replace the 1st Optima due to a similar mess. I'm going to return this one to A-Zone and get it replaced w/a new Optima under warranty (hopefully) and then I'll be heading over to Advance Auto and picking up a new Autocraft Platinum AGM... so hopefully this crap won't happen again next year. Probably be selling the replacement Optima on Craigslist/Facebook cheap...

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Since I can't edit... just a followup. Apparently the 3 year replacement warranty offered on the Optima batteries only applies to the Original Purchase date of the original battery... even if it was replaced due to malfunction. My Optima was bad, and also out of the replacement warranty. So being stuck at A-Zone I took a chance on their Platinum AGM they had in stock. The manager gave me a $20 off since I guess he felt bad for me that their $300 Optima battery crapped out in ~ 14 months. I also had a $20 reward to use so got out w/a new battery for ~ $160. The AGM I got had a date code of 10/17 and was also only about 25% charged. It barely cranked my XJ over but it started and got me home. I put it on the charger and now she's fully charged. Hopefully this one lasts for longer than 12-18 months...

On a side note, I had replaced my old plastic battery tray ~ 3.5 years back to fit in the new Optima battery w/the newer lower battery secure tab. So now the new battery wont fit and it's basically just sitting on top of the Optima tray since that one has the 1/2 circle type fitment. Now I'll have to track down another battery tray and redo this all again.

Redsnake said:

Just adding my take on this thread... My '01 XJ was dead this morning so I was able to jump start and get to work. Pulled into the parking garage, turned her off, tried to restart and she's dead as dead can be. This is my 2nd Optima Yellow Top in 2 years. Had to replace the 1st Optima due to a similar mess. I'm going to return this one to A-Zone and get it replaced w/a new Optima under warranty (hopefully) and then I'll be heading over to Advance Auto and picking up a new Autocraft Platinum AGM... so hopefully this crap won't happen again next year. Probably be selling the replacement Optima on Craigslist/Facebook cheap...

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Hmmm... crap happened to me again this morning w/ my A-Zone Autocraft Platinum AGM battery. Stopped for an expensive cup of coffee and when I got back in my XJ it went totally dead. Got a jump start and got me home... then immediately tried to start her up again and heard a pop and again... won't start. I've been slowly noticing my battery 'feeling' week over the colder months and have had to slow charge it a couple times w/my charger. All my XJ charging systems are great, HD cables, no parasitic drain on my battery (tested)... it's just another bad AGM battery... Going to catch a ride to work w/my wife and see about getting a replacement and then just finding a better or at least different option after work today. Big storm is supposed to be coming in tomorrow so great timing yet again on another dead battery.

Sometimes new batteries are already old. if they sat in a ware house and left discharged for long before you purchased it, it may have a very short life. periods of discharge have a detrimental effect on overall life.

I bought a battery for my van, but found it was already 9 months old, and it never has the high voltage prior to motor start up that a new battery should. It was rapidly aged while on the shelf because it was not kept charged is my belief.

Black1990jeep said:

Sometimes new batteries are already old. if they sat in a ware house and left discharged for long before you purchased it, it may have a very short life. periods of discharge have a detrimental effect on overall life.

I bought a battery for my van, but found it was already 9 months old, and it never has the high voltage prior to motor start up that a new battery should. It was rapidly aged while on the shelf because it was not kept charged is my belief.

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Batteries don't work that way!

I believe they do, the battery when left discharged will deteriorate...

https://www.crownbattery.com/news/sulfation-and-battery-maintenance

Black1990jeep said:

I believe they do, the battery when left discharged will deteriorate...
https://www.crownbattery.com/news/sulfation-and-battery-maintenance

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I maintained a large fleet battery-powered electric vehicles and janitorial machines for many years and bought deep-cycle batteries by the pallet load.
To keep therm from aging, while in storage, they were purchased dry, coming with separate containers of battery acid that was added at the time they were put into service, as recommended by the Trojan Battery Company.
Lead-acid batteries will sulfate if not regularly charged, leading to an early death.
If we had lithium batteries, it would be different story, they prefer to be stored long-term at less than a full charge.

As regards to my own battery situation... I believe it has a date stamp of 8/2018 or 9/2018 ... which was only 1-2 months prior to me purchasing it. Getting it replaced under warranty today after work. If I could just get my $199 back I'd buy a different battery but for now a replacement of the same make/model/manufacturer will have to suffice.

Black1990jeep said:

I believe they do, the battery when left discharged will deteriorate...

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Yes, but a charged battery is different and they don't dis-charge on their own!

Redsnake said:

Hmmm... crap happened to me again this morning w/ my A-Zone Autocraft Platinum AGM battery. Stopped for an expensive cup of coffee and when I got back in my XJ it went totally dead. Got a jump start and got me home... then immediately tried to start her up again and heard a pop and again... won't start. I've been slowly noticing my battery 'feeling' week over the colder months and have had to slow charge it a couple times w/my charger. All my XJ charging systems are great, HD cables, no parasitic drain on my battery (tested)... it's just another bad AGM battery... Going to catch a ride to work w/my wife and see about getting a replacement and then just finding a better or at least different option after work today. Big storm is supposed to be coming in tomorrow so great timing yet again on another dead battery.

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Redsnake said:

Since I can't edit... just a followup. Apparently the 3 year replacement warranty offered on the Optima batteries only applies to the Original Purchase date of the original battery... even if it was replaced due to malfunction. My Optima was bad, and also out of the replacement warranty. So being stuck at A-Zone I took a chance on their Platinum AGM they had in stock. The manager gave me a $20 off since I guess he felt bad for me that their $300 Optima battery crapped out in ~ 14 months. I also had a $20 reward to use so got out w/a new battery for ~ $160. The AGM I got had a date code of 10/17 and was also only about 25% charged. It barely cranked my XJ over but it started and got me home. I put it on the charger and now she's fully charged. Hopefully this one lasts for longer than 12-18 months...



On a side note, I had replaced my old plastic battery tray ~ 3.5 years back to fit in the new Optima battery w/the newer lower battery secure tab. So now the new battery wont fit and it's basically just sitting on top of the Optima tray since that one has the 1/2 circle type fitment. Now I'll have to track down another battery tray and redo this all again.

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Optima batteries are junk, plain and simple. Put one of the largest Bluetops they make in my camper, junk 2 months out of warranty. Mind you, I keep this battery charged, and isolate it when the camper is not in use. Bought the largest yellow top for my truck, junk 4 months out of warranty.

As far as AGM in general, I’m NOT impressed. Bought an expensive “extreme” AGM for my Polaris Sportsman 4wheeler, junk in 2 years. Mind you, I keep this charged with a trickle charger/maintainer when the wheeler is parked for a while.

Best batteries I own now, good old classic lead acid batteries from Walmart. Best price, best performance, just does its damn job and keeps cranking.


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A battery will self discharge the rate which is dependent on storage temperature. 5% per month is a common figure to use. See Link...


https://northeastbattery.com/battery-101-three-things-need-know-lead-acid-batteries/

Stopped by A-Zone w/bad battery to swap out for a replacement. Guy put their tester on it and said "This battery tests as good..." I explained to him that it won't hold a charge even after being charged w/my charger. Also my XJ's electrical system is beefed up and works perfectly. 160amp Alternator, HD cables, No winch or huge electrical draw, no amperage draw when key is off, when running battery checks at 14.2+ volts ... and to top it off when it wouldn't start my XJ yesterday morning a jump start caused it to fire right up. After shutting off and immediately trying to start again.. it was totally dead... not even a slow-crank, just dead.

After explaining all this he still acted like the battery was fine and blamed it on my starter shorting out. Like WTF dude.

He finally warrantied the battery and I replaced it... started up fine thereafter. I'll keep my eye on this going forward.

Redsnake said:

Stopped by A-Zone w/bad battery to swap out for a replacement. Guy put their tester on it and said "This battery tests as good..." I explained to him that it won't hold a charge even after being charged w/my charger. Also my XJ's electrical system is beefed up and works perfectly. 160amp Alternator, HD cables, No winch or huge electrical draw, no amperage draw when key is off, when running battery checks at 14.2+ volts ... and to top it off when it wouldn't start my XJ yesterday morning a jump start caused it to fire right up. After shutting off and immediately trying to start again.. it was totally dead... not even a slow-crank, just dead.

After explaining all this he still acted like the battery was fine and blamed it on my starter shorting out. Like WTF dude.

He finally warrantied the battery and I replaced it... started up fine thereafter. I'll keep my eye on this going forward.

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nice work. starter shorting out??? :dunno: :looser: I swear, my wife knows more about vehicles than some of the guys at (name your local parts store)

BigNuge said:

Optima batteries are junk, plain and simple. Put one of the largest Bluetops they make in my camper, junk 2 months out of warranty. Mind you, I keep this battery charged, and isolate it when the camper is not in use. Bought the largest yellow top for my truck, junk 4 months out of warranty.

As far as AGM in general, I’m NOT impressed. Bought an expensive “extreme” AGM for my Polaris Sportsman 4wheeler, junk in 2 years. Mind you, I keep this charged with a trickle charger/maintainer when the wheeler is parked for a while.

Best batteries I own now, good old classic lead acid batteries from Walmart. Best price, best performance, just does its damn job and keeps cranking.


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If your battery cust doesn't have a switch for AGM batteries, this will happen.

Scrubber3 said:

If your battery cust doesn't have a switch for AGM batteries, this will happen.

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Cust?

If that’s supposed to mean charger, then yes, it does. It’s a digital 6-12 volt, auto regulating charger. It has settings for AGM/lead acid/deep cycle/dual purpose/and charge rate amp limiters.

The truck, what can I say...it’s a vehicle with a stock charging system (2012 Toyota Tundra 5.7). I still have that yellow top in it, it just cranks super slow in the cold, and goes dead very fast once I try using it with the truck off (radio/charge phones/run lights). Battery is junk, I’ll be replacing it with the biggest lead acid I can stuff in the spot.

AGM batteries are not worth it, period. They are purpose batteries. That is, if you need spill proof then it’s your battery. If you don’t, stick with lead acid. Zero advantage otherwise.

If you’re looking for next level performace then you have to go lithium and spend the huge $$$.


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BigNuge said:

Cust?

If that’s supposed to mean charger, then yes, it does. It’s a digital 6-12 volt, auto regulating charger. It has settings for AGM/lead acid/deep cycle/dual purpose/and charge rate amp limiters.

The truck, what can I say...it’s a vehicle with a stock charging system (2012 Toyota Tundra 5.7). I still have that yellow top in it, it just cranks super slow in the cold, and goes dead very fast once I try using it with the truck off (radio/charge phones/run lights). Battery is junk, I’ll be replacing it with the biggest lead acid I can stuff in the spot.

AGM batteries are not worth it, period. They are purpose batteries. That is, if you need spill proof then it’s your battery. If you don’t, stick with lead acid. Zero advantage otherwise.

If you’re looking for next level performace then you have to go lithium and spend the huge $$$.


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Yeah, charger..

Followup Part2:

So after replacing my AGM AutoZone Battery last week w/a new one... all seemed good until yesterday after work. Got in and turned the key on and dead once again. Got a jump start and she fired right up and I drove home no problem.

Put my volt tester on the battery when I got home and was getting a good 14.2 volts reading. Shut her off and measured voltage ~ 12.8 +/-. Fired right back up and was showing 14.2 volts again. So I put my battery test/charger on and after running thru it's process to test the AGM battery it showed at 75%. I left it on to slowly charge overnight. This morning it was reading 100% and tested at 12.9 volts after removing the charger.

Jeep fired right up like brand new. Battery Charging at 14.2+ volts....

Jeep stopped and started a couple times on the way to work (like it should, stopped for coffee, etc...) and ran perfectly! So where do I go from here? Do you think the battery could be another lemon? Could I have an issue w/my Alternator or Starter? Starter never clicked or acted like any I've had fail before and it fired my XJ up just fine w/the battery was charged.

I'm thinking this AutoZone AGM is iffy at best and thinking of just going w/a BatteriesPlus and getting a Duracell Ultra Gold LeadAcid battery and calling it good. I've had terrible luck w/ my last several AGM batteries starting w/the decline of Optimas going forward.

ANY suggestions are appreciated! Thx. I may need to start a new thread ... ?

I'm here to spread the word of NAPA gold battery. Its cheap, its rugged and it will keep your car ticking. Probably the best bang for your buck. I'm not powering any crazy electronics but multiple jumps and cycles to dead only to come right back to life with a little juice. They are pretty good on warranties at Napa if you keep the receipt. My battery going now for 3 1/2 years.

im on my second walmart battery the first lasted me 6 years, for the price and the amount of walmarts for easy warranty i think is worth it