so what about them fancy battery chargers like the ctek ones? can they actually help extend the life of your battery?

glad to hear you finally got a job Hammer. it sound like you got most guys dream job.

 

Calcium in the newer ones...... The sulfate deposits on the plates were a problem on the earlier generation batteries. Now, its calcium... which your tap water more than likely has some in it.

 

The ctek type chargers are useful to extend the battery life some. The main reason is that when a battery is trickle charged very slowly, even from a cheap float charger from harbor freight for less than $10, the small low energy pulses help to knock off the build up of contaminants on the led plates. Even the cheapo units are designed not to overcharge the battery, so if you garage a car all winter long, you can leave a float charger hooked up & the battery will remain happy & ideally charged for the next drive.

 

Hammer, congratulations on getting what sounds like a job that will actually be enjoyable.
Sorry about the loss of time to play. I got to go today and it was the perfect day (about 74º and no crowd). I didn't see anyone else on the course until the 16th hole because everyone got scared away by the rain in the morning. And I was researching before I came back to this thread, I was wondering what people from all over the internets were saying is the best battery to get.

A guy I used to work with worked at a place that would take bad batteries, drain and refill them with fresh acid then charge them up and sell them for $25 apiece. I have thought about doing that the next time I got a bad one but the swelling worried me a bit.

I pried the caps off the old battery with a long pipe that had a flat head in the end of it while I was wearing goggles and a face shield and was unimpressed when there wasn't any pressure in the battery. I looked and noticed that maybe I should have checked the acid level at some point in the last 6 years. All of the middle cells had acid just barely above the plates. The end cell on the side that was bowed out a little bit had the acid level with the top of the plates and the other side looked like it was dry.

I have a maintenance free AGM battery now so there shouldn't be any more breathing going on so that should mean that there will be no more corrosion on the battery terminals anymore.
It surprised me that the starter moved as fast as it did when I cranked up the truck. That other battery was getting weaker over time and I didn't even notice. Should have checked that acid level at some point...
The IOD is still .017/.018 amps.
The alternator is putting out 13.89v.
I think I can call it good.

 

DANGER DANGER will robinson

 

Johnny, I just noticed where you're from. I grew up in the 'burgh, NFA class of '82... Moved south to go to UGA and been a redneck ever since.

Send me down some Pete's Hot Dogs if they are still there... LOL...

 

I dunno my 6 year old Interstate battery looks like that(not as bulgie) and works fine. Had it tested and nothing is wrong. Starts fine in the heat and the cold. I think it's more of the outer battery case material failing to temps than anything.

 

Congrats Hammer! Maybe you can help hook me up on restoration parts for an old Chevy! Thinking about building a 6 cyl vette engine in it!

 

I forgot to mention that the old battery never died before. It did have a few fits that made the voltage gauge max out due to bad contact between the negative terminal and its post from corrosion. I yanked the truck off the road immediately when that happened and scraped the battery posts clean then it was good.
I doubt it was cold this winter because I think the coldest it got was in the 20º's and that was only for a couple days. Overall it was a pretty warm winter. Warm enough to keep on fishing for for the whole "winter" if I can even call it that with the temps.
The truck sits anywhere from a day to a week and a half before I use it. If it isn't raining then I drive the Camaro to work. I use the truck when I go fishing and on rainy days because it's better in the rain and some the Camaro would catch the grass on fire if I took it fishing because it sits so low.

Cappin, if yours is bulging then you might want to check the acid level just in case it's bulging for the same reason as mine.

 

Starting new job Monday, so I made tee times with some laid off ex-NASA working buddies today, Fri, Sat & Sun all at decent courses and none at the course I used to work where I can play for free anytime. Pouring outside right now, heavy lightning. Forecast for next three days - 90% Rain, 80% Rain, 70% Rain - FIGURES!!!

Sorry for the thread jack - but I just had to rant somewhere, LOL...