Battery Talk

[BillM]

OK guys I am on my last thing to complete my new install and that is the Battery. I have an old Ford Motorcraft original to my 05 car. So I am going to say its about 6 years old and probably on its last leg although it still cranks fine. I was wondering if anybody uses a Sears Die Hard Platinum battery. I did a lot of research and this looks like one of the best batteries on the market right now, its a rebadged Odyssey 1750. I thought about an Optima Yellow top or a Kinetik and the research I did was the Odyssey will do the best job for me. I see a lot of Optima owners having problems with them lately. I live in a rough climate sub zero winters etc. Just wanted some feedback on these batteries if anyone is running one now.

[Stryker]

They should be good for you. The best bang for the buck if you can fit it under the hood is a Deka 9A31
here's a link for you:
http://www.remybattery.com/Products/Dek ... _9A31.aspx
There is also a good guy to buy from on caraudio.com, he sells blems for a 100USD
here's that link
http://www.caraudio.com/forums/car-audi ... lways.html
he seems to have a great line on them.
just to add i would run these but i ran into a deal on Optima's and could not say no I run 3 with no problems at all. matter of fact I've been running Optima for over ten years and they seem to last around 5-6 years. I also live in a harsh climate where winter temps dip down to -30 celsius and she cranks no problem at all. deciding on a battery can be tough as price is always something to consider. If the Sears battery is comparable go for it and it probably has a real decent warranty.

[BillM]

The Deka will not fit, my hood would not close. The Die Hard Platinum is 199.00 at my local Sears where the same Odyssey is 283.00 and they are the same battery just badged differently. Here are the specs on the batts as you can see they are identical and the case is even the same, 4 year full replacement and 100 month pro rated.

http://www.batterymart.com/p-odyssey-65 ... ttery.html

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1260 ... ockType=L1

[ttocs]

after moving from the desert, one thing I will enjoy is getting more then 3 yrs from a good battery. The summers out there just bake the hell out of them and they consider it a "Heavy Duty Usage" area so there are NO gurantees on ANY battery out there.... Optimas were the worst in the heat, not sure about the cold. I am running the biggest I could find from autozone because they are easy to deal with for warrenty problems now that I am back in the midwest.

[kg1961]

I have been running gel cel since 1994
I have never had a problem! Everyone of my cars have them red,blue and yellow
my 2008 acura tl had one when the car was 4 month old and my winter car got a blue one from stryker (thanks) the week i bought it.
They have never ever let me down. I don't use huge audio setup like some but my average is 80-120amps
calgary get warm in the summer and cold/dry as hell in the winter


at walmart they are only $150-220 so the price is right. A battery is just that if your alt is crap and your drawing alot of current other things need to be done.

I'm not saying they are the best they have just never let me down in 15++ years and I'm sure I have owned 10-12 of them in my life

when i get my new car end of next year another one will be bought without question.

just my 2c
Mike

[ttocs]

you have owned 10-12 batts in 15 yrs?

[Stryker]

you have owned 10-12 batts in 15 yrs?

No doubt......

[kg1961]

you have owned 10-12 batts in 15 yrs?

yes i chang ecars all the time and they stay with the car. there was always time when i have 2-3 car at one time.

since living in se cranston calgary
i have had 2 jetta 2 gti 2 new bmw one old bmw porche 944, turbo rabbit and my acura tl in 7 years...wft I know

[ttocs]

what is the longest one has lasted you? Have you ever used one that quit? Just wondering what the real world usage life is like on them. I have owned 3 cars my entire life and like to get lifetime warrenties where ever I can as I get the most out of them.....

[kg1961]

i have sold most of them to friend so i think 5-7 year on average
there was one that was 4 years but got replace for free by optima it was a dead short

[tonym]

4-5 years is rule of thumb to last on good ones...Yes I know some last 6-7-8-9 years...but not all of them do..

[BillM]

Got the Die Hard Platinum today and going to be putting it in Wednesday. Hopefully its as good as they say.

[ttocs]

I have heard good things about them. I Would stay away from anything that walmart sells. I went there as I was up one morning to find a dead batt and they were the only thing open. The only good thing about them was that they just looked at the manf sticker on the top and would return, it, but after returning it 4 times in 4 yrs I finally just went out and got the biggest that autozone sold. I like that they keep the purchase on record for me so that I can return it easier if I need to. You should be happy with the die-hard, be suprised if you have an issue.

[Kurt Wild]

When your car is running the battery does nothing at all (except gets charged). You only need a good battery if you like playing your stereo (loud) without the engine running. Am I right?

[ttocs]

well next time your car is running, go ahead and disconnect the battery. The car would keep running, but you stereo or any other high current piece of equipment such as lights for example will be limited with how bright/loud they would be able to go with out a battery. They will still work but total output would be limited to what the alt is able to supply at that instant and would not be aided by what the battery has stored.

[BillM]

That is exactly why I am upgrading my original 6 year old battery. My system is high powered and I do not think my battery is keeping up with it. I get some light flickering even after upgrading my Alt to a new 200A and doing the Big 3+ (fuse box wire and another chassis ground) and it still may need another battery on top of my new Platinum. I am hoping the new high end battery will do the trick but not banking on it. If I still get flickering I will add another battery in the trunk.

[ttocs]

how bad are we talking and when? Even a high output alt a high powered system can draw more current then it can supply at idle. HO alts are not rated to put out their max output anwhere near idle so it isn't a bad thing to have a slight amount at idle. Do they flicker when you roll down your windows? Maybe we should put a cap on them too? People take the sligh dimming way too seriously IMO.

[dwnrodeo]

Do they flicker when you roll down your windows? Maybe we should put a cap on them too? People take the sligh dimming way too seriously IMO.

Huh? Where did this come from? He said he has a high output stereo and since he already upgraded the alternator and did the Big 3, he would like to replace his 6 year old battery as well. Seems pretty sound to me. No mention of a cap. Just concern that his battery is the weak point in his charging system and that it could alleviate his issues with lights dimming. We all know the cap debate, and we've all been down that road. Maybe you're taking things too seriously?

[KHPower]

I use Kinetik in all my vehicles not just as the starting batt but also the car audio batt. i used to go through walmarts best batts like they were nothing , almost replacing them yearly. ofcourse I use the 3800 Kinetik and have had zero problems in my very cold and very hot climate starting and powering my electronics.

Indeed a battery is only as good as your alternator goes but if you want your dc power to be smoother and have a reservoir of power that your alt cant keep up with then Ui say yes go for a secondary battery. If you have a honda battery which only puts out 30 amps then a battery will be used as a capacitor.

we just added Kinetik 800 to my friends honda and there is a huge difference in headlight dimming , power out put and the thing actually turns over faster.

Folks can argue all day what brand of battery is better and use "tests" to determine which but I have used batts from Optima , Stinger ,kinetik and just about every other other brand and the ones I have had the best of luck with are the Kinetiks. Im not just saying that cause I sell them but Ive gotten plenty of returns from batteries of the like that were not Kinetik.

Ive also seen good things regarding the Sears platinums as well .

[Kurt Wild]

It all depends on how powerful a stereo you have. Both my amps, about 500W RMS total, run off a 40 amp main fuse. Don't ask why or else I'll tell you I never get light flickering because the alt can cope with the amount of current my stereo is drawing. I hardly ever play at max volume though.

If I should want more bass, I would build a bigger sub, not buy a bigger sub amp. I can't be bothered upgrading my car DC system because its quite adequate for the 40 amps and less I need.

Sorry for "robbing" this thread. I just want to bring another perspective to designing car stereo DC systems. And that is working with what you've got. But then I'm an SQ oriented guy and 500W RMS is more than plenty for me.

[gridracer]

I like optima's my yellow top lasted me 10 years +

[thebull1tt]

I currently have a Die Hard Platinum that I've had for about a year without any problems. I have a 200 amp Iraggi alternator and the big 3 with 1/0 wire every where. I've had Optima red tops and a yellow top. I had problems with the red tops leaking acid out of the positive post if the battery clamp was even slightly too tight. That problem happened more than once. I didn't have that problem with the yellow top but I noticed it starting to crank slower after about 4 years. So I replaced it with the Die Hard Platinum. I also had an XS Power D6500 as a secondary battery. I sold it though because my stereo performed a lot better with an Alumapro CAP 15 carbon alloy cap and I don't have the room for both. I would definitely recommend the Die Hard Platinum. All of this is in my '94 Accord EX. I have 3 old school Precision Power Art Series amps (A1200.2 and two A600.2's). The A1200.2 is a current hungry bastard! It has two 80 amp fuses on it. I have it powering an Image Dynamics IDMAX12D2V3. The other two amps are powering my CDT PSS 3 way component set. It's all set up for SQ. Just my 2 cents.

[BillM]

I put the Platinum battery in today but will not be able to test it out until tomorrow. I got the battery in no problem then when tightening down my last ground wire on the top of my PG ground terminal it stripped and would not hold the ground, I just snugged it and it stripped. Kind of weak if you ask me for a 40 dollar terminal. I had to tap it to a 3/8th hole and cut a bolt down to fit it right. By that time it was dark and didnt want to crank it up to see if it helped or not. I will be testing it out tomorrow and I will let you guys know.

[stipud]

The PG terminals use allen keys. If you use the correct tool, you should not be able to easily put enough leverage to strip them!

[BillM]

Correct and they even give you the allen wrenches in the AKIT-1 and negative matching terminal. The power terminal was fine as it tightened back up and didnt strip, when I snugged the negative back down the threads came right off and like I said I snugged it down and was not cranking on it. I ended up getting the same allen bolt in 3/8 and cutting it to size. The only thing is it is black instead of Gold, not a big deal. Probably just a bad tap at the factory where they made them. Just wondering what tool you could possibly use to tighten those other than allen wrenches, Vise Grips