in this video I asked the question why do H7 batteries only last 2 years? Does your vehicle take this kind of battery? How much time do you get from it?
Run, don't walk to return the AGM and buy a good group 65 with whatever chemistry. I have been using Costco (now Costco/Interstate) since 2006. the original Costco version was good for over 7 years. The current Costco/Interstate a bit is closer to 5 years, but who is surprised about that. The 65 is 5/8" wider but it appears from the photo that it will mount on your stock base. Good Luck! PS: the 65 has been THE Ford truck battery for many, many years. CCA is over 1,000!
There is a key to longevity with any lead-acid chemistry battery. A fully charged battery is a happy battery, and although the AGM type don't self-discharge as much, they dislike being partly charged more than others. A vehicles' battery charging system is not designed to fully charge any battery. If it were, when you are on a trip that is long enough to fully charge a battery, it wouldn't stop, so the battery would then boil dry from being overcharged. Now, a particular use case and driving habits cause extreme variability of your results. So, to cut to the key - get a smart charger/maintainer (not a cheap trickle charger) that has an AGM selection. Charge the battery to completion once a month (whether it needs it or not ;), or after a mishap where the vehicle needs to be jump-started. Harbor Freight has a cost-effective 4 amp charger that fits the bill.
Probability #1. Dodge is notorious for having gremlins associated with their electrical systems. A battery that is marginal, will have plenty of capacity to spin the engine over for starting, but the computers start doing goofy stuff. Examples include heater and air conditioning blower motors that change speed on their own, windows that open and close on their own, et cetera. I see those complaints weekly in an automobile repair shop. Solution #1. Spend more money up front, and put in AGM batteries. They are less susceptible to vibration damage and they recharge faster. Solution #2. For a vehicle that is not driven daily, buy a pulse charger such as the VDC Electronics version from Northern Tool. Normally about $50.00, on sale multiple times yearly about $25.00. Hook it up anytime the vehicle is not being driven. It uses a miniscule amount of electricity and will make your batteries last exponentially longer. A quick disconnect makes for easy in/out of the garage. If you park in an open driveway, solar versions are available. Keep those batteries topped off so they never get a chance to grow lead sulfate crystals. Your bank account will thank you.
Try putting a temperature sensor on your battery for a while, compare it to a vehicle that isn't eating batteries - all lead-acid battery groups and types last *substantially* longer in cooler temperatures. It may even be a known endemic problem with the van's design - the cover may even have been intended to protect the battery from engine heat? Be aware that the storage batteries on your inverter have a very different internal design - an SLI (car) battery uses many paper-thin conductor sheets sandwiched together to provide a staggering amp output, while a deep-cycle (marine) battery has big chonky conductors that are less prone to degrading when discharged, but can't provide that kind of amps unless you stack a bunch of them. Discharging electrons physically removes molecules from these sheets and charging reattaches them - deep discharges can create holes and perforations that encourage breakage, and deep recharges can pierce the insulating sheets and short the conductors. Weak starts like you talked about indicate many sheets are damaged, reducing the stacked amperage. If it was cold out, you could be stranded by that battery now. Even for those marine batteries, the usable capacity is half of the rated capacity - should be marked on your storage batteries as a DoD (depth of discharge) rating around 50. I can't speak to specific voltages - but I would question if 10.6 volts is a safe discharge test for both types, because SLI batteries *really* don't like being drained. How many amps you can pull in a brief test will tell you immediately if the sheets in an SLI are mostly intact. Hope the length of this is helpful. :)
Thanks for the comment. It passes the 100A load test with flying colors. I have not put my carbon pile tester on it. The decreased capacity tells me all I need to know. Like you said if it was cold out that battery would have left me stranded by now. It always happens when it is cold out. I was thinking of putting one of my k-type thermocouples on the battery and then comparing it to my older truck with a much larger engine bay and more air flow. The fiberglass blanket didn't make much difference and as far as discharges I do not discharge my vehicle battery like I do my deep cycle agm's. I used to think this condition may be vehicle specific until I learned that this battery fits a wide array of vehicles and they all seem to have the 2 year limitation. I will test the battery temp next.
Please note: Nowadays batteries SUCK. However if you get an Interstate Battery you will probably get 6 years + out of it. Also note COSTCO sells batteries too but not many people realize they are Interstate Batteries. Walmart batteries are the worst followed by auto parts stores batteries. My 2019 Toyota Tundra battery lasted about 3 months before it was dead and I had to recharge it so many times until I took the truck in for a fuel pump recall which when they drove it to the service window where I was and turned the truck off I couldn't start it because the battery was dead. I got them to replace it for FREE and the new battery which was a higher Amp Hour is now still just fine.
It is not just H7 batteries. I have had short life recently with group 47 and 48 batteries. As far as where you buy the batteries there are only 3 major battery manufacturers. All the rebranded big box and auto chain store batteries are made by one of the three. I don’t know if you buy many cars parts, but the industry is in a quality crisis. It is not uncommon now for new parts like 12v car batteries, alternators, modules, sensors, etc. to be dead out of the box.
Yes I've been running into this issue a lot and it's not just with automotive parts I work some in the HVAC industry as well as plumbing and electrical and I've had bad components right from the distributor.
If you are driving small trips you aren't giving the battery enough time to charge back up after starting the car along with every other electronic on in the vehicle. You can't expect a battery to last long if you don't give it time to charge back up while driving. Plus it's an AutoZone Walmart special, those are all crap to begin with.
they are designed to fail at the exact same time, it is the only explanation... I have a Honda and I was buying batteries every 2 years and I got tired of it, that size of battery, no matter who made it, would always fail at 2 years. So I took out the battery bay and modded it so I could put a different battery in it, low and behold it lasted 6 years, and it was a smaller and lower capacity battery. How is that for insanity? The battery I put in was designed for a tractor. So you would think having a lower capacity and having it drained faster and used harder than normal would shorten the life of the battery, not the case at all. So far these smaller capacity batteries last approximately 6 years and put up with all the normal use. The batteries are designed to fail at exactly the same time, as I went through 8 batteries, and everyone one of them failed at exactly the same time every year, and that was with maintenance, distilled water top ups, and desulfation runs. The cells in the batteries are designed to corrode and fail and they know exactly how long they last. It's a sad business model but you have figured out their trap, and the first rule to avoiding a trap is knowing of it's existence.
Thank you! I have done the exact same things! I always made sure the water was good. I bought a desulfator and tried that (did absolutely nothing). I would charge the battery every few months thinking it just needed to be float charged for a while. None of that nonsense made any improvements. So you just confirmed exactly what I was thinking. A completely different battery altogether solved the issue? Do you remember what the size/type of that battery was?
@@Bbernhardsr I put a marine battery in. It doesn't matter about the exact size, just switching to a boat or tractor battery and you will notice it will last a decade instead of two years. Just make sure your battery bay holds the new battery securely.
