Dude, I have a battery question for you. I know how you loath the Wal-Mart EverStart batteries, so I'm kind of looking for your feedback/opinion here.

http://bestbatterytips.com/tags/duralast/
I came across this webpage showing that Johnson Controls manufactures the batteries show, including the EverStart. I did some preliminary checking and found that there are two versions of EverStart supplied to Wal-Mart. The Johnson Controls one which has hexagon shaped caps, then there's the one with round caps; and that is made by Exide.

Have you heard of any of this, or is it a load of BS?

 

Johnson controls can make an excellent battery, while it is difficult to hear about people praising Exide.

I cannot tell you who is making walmart batteries these days. I read something a while back on RV.net, some financial link that said they were exclusively using I forget who(Not JC) since February but many reporting that supposedly fresh batteries were still stating as being made by JC.

One thing is for sure, is that whichever battery manufacturer is making the battery, they have been forced by walmart to meet a certain price. Then when the contract comes up for renewal walmart says guess what, we will only pay 90% of last years price, and the manufacturer's exec either says screw off, or figures out a way they can still make a product and get their year end bonus, so they fire some workers and use less and cheaper materials, and buy their wives a new Mercedes to match her oversized sunglasses and cell phone, and get a younger mistress to reward themselves.


I have heard that Wally world no longer offer warrantys past 30/90 or 365 days, I don't know. Their starting batteries might be okay. There are certainly a lot of people who use and love them. Their RV/marine/trolling batteries/ deep cycle batteries, when cycled 50% are junk, IMO. But they still have loyal followers who drive 150k$ RV's and then praise the 10 dollars they save on batteries, and say they have been going strong for 5 years or more. But most of these people rarely use the RV, and when they do just goto an RV park and plug the motor home back in, and really do not cycle the batteries deeply or often.

I know in the Past I've said that duralast batteries and everstart batteries are exactly the same, but somebody somewhere said they weighed both and the duralast battery was 7 pounds heavier for the same size case. The heavier battery is always the better choice.

Here is a link that lists all the battery companies worldwide and the manufacturers who make them for them. It is hard to decipher, and I don't know how accurate it is, how often it is updated.
http://www.jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/batbrand.htm#J

Whatever battery you get, look for a date code, fresher is better. Get the biggest one you can fit in there, and if you ever do inadvertently drain it to the point you need a jumpstart, you cannot rely on the alternator to fully recharge it, you need to plug it in to a regular battery charger. If you do not, the battery will not last very long.

Get yourself a cheap but surprisingly accurate Harbor freight voltmeter, and check the voltage at the battery terminals first thing in the morning, and if this number is below 12.6, your battery is either not fully charged, or sulfated and dying a slow death.

I still have one Everstart RV/trolling/marine/deepcycle battery in my engine compartment. It was cycled 5 to 25% daily for over 2 years before it got relegated to engine starting only. It is now 40 months old. It is weak, and If I did not have 2 other batteries, I would already have replaced it.

 

So you're saying the article I posted has misleading comments in it? It's still wise to be cautious because even though all of those batteries listed are made by JC, it doesn't mean they're all make equal? That seems to me to be the gist of your reply.

 

It is my opinion that no, All Johnson Controls batteries are not made equally. I cannot state it as fact. Only disgruntled insiders at JC could, if they were immune to a lawsuit. Wait a minute, are you setting me up?

I cannot find the post to the person who weighed an Everstart and a Duralast of the same exact size, same exact case size and shape and found the Duralast weighed 7 pounds more. Some others have found that they bought an Everstart to replace the one which gave good service to find the same exact size battery had dropped a significant amount of weight, then performed badly.

Walmart is well known to force suppliers to meet their price, usually after the supplier has retooled to meed the demand and become dependent on their business. Either they take a hit, or they drop the quality if they can, or both. It is not all 'Volume buying' that allows them to have lower prices. If quality can be safely cut, it will be. Everstart batteries are the prime example.

It makes me suspicious of the brand name motor oils that wal mart sells in the 5 quart jugs that have a tiny wal mart logo on the jug, but I cannot argue with the Mobil 1's performance in my Van, nor the 10 dollar + savings over Ap store's individual quarts.

Weigh your batteries, compare them, and buy the heaviest one with the best warranty. Especially with winter coming. Shop for them with your bathroom scale.

http://www.jsonline.com/business/83454852.html

 

Back before 2005 Delphi made batteries and other electrical charging parts. These were badged as other OEM company products that could have been sold via Walmart. All the badging had to do was list an alternative manufacturing plant under contract for said manufacture. So, it's possible that a JC battery may have even been a Delphi battery.

Fram does this in the filter market as well.

 

That is beyond my abilities. <cough><cough>