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need a battery. Which one? and where to buy?

timmbuck2

RS Club TLCA Delegate
Cruise Moab Committee
Joined
Oct 5, 2005
Messages
4,285
Location
Denver
FYI I would stay away from Sears. Last fall I bought a brand new battery for the 100. At the pre-run in Moab a few weeks ago, when we got packed up and ready to leave, I went to start the truck and click...nothing at all. All interior lights were fine, but turn the key and click and then it was totally dead. Jump started it, and it ran ok but the battery light came on in town, and after running it an hour it would still just click if I tried to start it. Got it started again and didn't turn it off again until I got home!

I tried 3 different batteries at home and all 3 started the truck with no issues. Took the 6 month old battery back to Sears, and after they hooked it up to their 'tester' and charged it and told me nothing was wrong with it. :confused:
They refused to return it or do anything to remedy the situation. They said nothing was wrong with it. I offered to take it outside and show them that it wouldn't work in my truck but they didn't care. I had to call another Sears and talked to a manager, and he reluctantly agreed to let me bring it in and exchange it. My wal-mart special is still plugging away fine. Pretty frustrating experience at Sears!!
 

Rezarf

Hard Core 4+
Joined
Aug 25, 2005
Messages
5,913
Location
In Uncle Ben's Shadow
FYI I would stay away from Sears. Last fall I bought a brand new battery for the 100. At the pre-run in Moab a few weeks ago, when we got packed up and ready to leave, I went to start the truck and click...nothing at all. All interior lights were fine, but turn the key and click and then it was totally dead. Jump started it, and it ran ok but the battery light came on in town, and after running it an hour it would still just click if I tried to start it. Got it started again and didn't turn it off again until I got home!

I tried 3 different batteries at home and all 3 started the truck with no issues. Took the 6 month old battery back to Sears, and after they hooked it up to their 'tester' and charged it and told me nothing was wrong with it. :confused:
They refused to return it or do anything to remedy the situation. They said nothing was wrong with it. I offered to take it outside and show them that it wouldn't work in my truck but they didn't care. I had to call another Sears and talked to a manager, and he reluctantly agreed to let me bring it in and exchange it. My wal-mart special is still plugging away fine. Pretty frustrating experience at Sears!!

And their platinum series is no more.
 

Hulk

RS Webmaster
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Aug 22, 2005
Messages
16,431
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Centennial
Due to some suspect electrical issues, I decided to replace my Deka Intimidator AGM 9A34R. I purchased it 4½ years ago from Hensley in Denver: good price, but inconvenient location (for me) and only open M-F.

I found that Batteries Plus sells the same battery under the Duracell Platinum name: model SLI34AGM. They gave me a $20 discount so my price out the door was $163 -- which is only $6 more expensive than the Deka I bought from Hensley in 2011. Better yet, Batteries Plus is open 7 days a week and has tons of locations.

Photos attached. It's the same battery: same specs, same case, same warranty.
 

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Crash

Rising Sun Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2005
Messages
3,835
Location
Denver
New batts are a good feeling. Just had two Odyssey PC1700MJTs shipped from VA but one is now in Bloomington, CA. Overshot the target by just a bit. Replacing two five year old PC1700s that I picked up as new blems and are probably good for another 1-3 years. Just being cautious as we have a couple of off-grid camping trips coming up. Will post an ad for the old PC1700s when the missing second new one shows up or PM if interested. $40 each or $65 for both.
 

OilHammer

Hard Core 4+
Joined
Apr 2, 2009
Messages
1,711
Location
Denver
X2

I wound up with an X2 after mine started dying if the car sat more than a day. It's huge compared to the one that was in there, and so far the truck starts much faster than it did. I still need to run the fridge hard a few times to see how it handles that, but has to be better than what was in there. FYI, you need a longer bolt on the front battery hold down point.
 

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PabloCruise

Hard Core 4+
Joined
Aug 23, 2005
Messages
2,744
Location
Northern CO
I wound up with an X2 after mine started dying if the car sat more than a day. It's huge compared to the one that was in there, and so far the truck starts much faster than it did. I still need to run the fridge hard a few times to see how it handles that, but has to be better than what was in there. FYI, you need a longer bolt on the front battery hold down point.

I have heard good things about the X2.

Not cheap, but a full 60 month warranty (not pro-rated) is nice.

BTW, our local CostCo does not stock the 27F for our 470, too bad.
 

nakman

Club Secretary
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north side
I am done with the DHP. I know they are NLA, but I am becoming more and more disappointed with their inability to hold a charge. I can put the battery on a charger for 2 days, then fire up the fridge for one night, and I've got a low battery the next morning. And this is in the winter too, not even a hot garage. They seemed cool when new, but I think it's been 3 years now, guess it's time for something else. Looks like there is a Batteries Plus in Lafayette, going to check that out at lunch tomorrow.
 

Romer

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Aug 22, 2005
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10,007
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Centennial, Colorado
I ordered a Odyssey battery from 4wheel parts when sears stopped making the Die Hard Platinum's. They delivered it for free. It has been about 14 months and so far no issues
 

gr8fulabe

Rising Sun Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2005
Messages
1,590
Location
Boulder Canyon
I am done with the DHP. I know they are NLA, but I am becoming more and more disappointed with their inability to hold a charge. I can put the battery on a charger for 2 days, then fire up the fridge for one night, and I've got a low battery the next morning. And this is in the winter too, not even a hot garage. They seemed cool when new, but I think it's been 3 years now, guess it's time for something else. Looks like there is a Batteries Plus in Lafayette, going to check that out at lunch tomorrow.

I have a pro deal at batteries plus, I'll pass along the discount to anyone in the club that wants to buy there. It isn't much but will save you roughly 10%.

Best
Abe
 

jps8460

Cruise Moab Committee
Cruise Moab Committee
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Feb 15, 2013
Messages
2,911
Location
Broomfield
I went with interstate AGMs for the 200. Great warranty, and national coverage.
 

DaveInDenver

Rising Sun Ham Guru
Joined
Jun 8, 2006
Messages
12,950
Location
Grand Junction
Any opinions on the Duracell Ultra? Looks like $100 less than those X2's, and 1 year less warranty https://www.batteriesplus.com/batte...a/land-cruiser/1999/v8-4.7l-575cca/sli78dtagm
The Duracell Ultra is a rebadged East Penn/Deka (traditional lead-calcium thick plate). The X2 are I believe rebadged Northstar AGM. If the X2 is made like other Northstar batteries and are pure lead thin plate (same as Odyssey uses) then my feeling is it's probably going to be a better battery on paper. However to me warranty and reputation probably weigh as heavily as price and construction in evaluating relative value.
 
Joined
Apr 5, 2013
Messages
286
Location
Westminster
Listen you guys, I have had excellent results recovering both lead acid and AGM batteries. I would be happy to run any you have from RS. 8 out of 10 batteries don't need replaced, they usually need properly drained and recharged. I know one might be sceptical, but I would have had to replace my own Odyssey a year ago if I hadn't rejuvenated it. It can take a few days to drain it completely, but if you bring me a battery I will run it. If you already replaced your battery, what is there to lose running an old one?
 

DaveInDenver

Rising Sun Ham Guru
Joined
Jun 8, 2006
Messages
12,950
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Grand Junction
Odyssey tells you how to recondition your batteries.

http://www.odysseybattery.com/documents/ODYSSEY_Battery_Reconditioning_Charge_Procedure.pdf

This is essentially what I do annually after year 3 to my batteries, including the Optima Red Tops I used to own. This is partially why they last so long (my previous Red Top was 7 years old when it started to fail).

But realize that Odyssey testing does suggest that going below 50% depth of discharge on AGM can significantly reduce the battery's lifespan (you are doing a full 100% discharge going to 10.0V, Odyssey considers 10.04V open circuit as fully discharged). In their technical literature they did 80% depth of discharges with a rapid recharge and got 400 full cycles from their batteries before capacity began to drop quickly. Now that doesn't mean you get 400 discharges, just 400 full discharges. So if you only do 50% each time then can expect to see ~800 cycles, 25% depth then ~1600 cycles, etc. In any case you shouldn't do this too often and it's critical you don't starve the battery during the bulk step of the charging. I have a IOTA DLS-45/IQ4 that I use for this, which is 40% up to a 112 A-hr battery (I got for use on that 92 A-hr group 27).

What usually ruins batteries is leaving them below 100% charged for extended periods, which is the case usually with vehicle charging. So the single best way to keep your batteries in good shape is to periodically charge them with a good shore charger and let it float as often as you can. I personally plug my truck into a Minn Kota MK-106D once a week to let a full 24 hour cycle run.

FYI, I also run a Power Pulse desulfator whenever a battery is on a charger.

IMG_1207_mid.jpg
 
Last edited:
Joined
Apr 5, 2013
Messages
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Location
Westminster
Really? My rejuvenator won't run if I don't drain the battery. And simply charging them rarely works for me.

I'm convinced most people's alternator is inadequate. And Optima's reputation only sucks cause people don't recharge them right or cook them charging incorrectly.
 

DaveInDenver

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Jun 8, 2006
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Grand Junction
Our alternators aren't inadequate as such, it's the regulation and it's more of not being ideal but a compromise.

A decent charger will run 3-stages based on both voltage and current that are matched to battery type (flooded or AGM) and capacity. But most vehicles are doing one or maybe two steps and it's usually just about being safe (e.g. not overcharging during long highway trips) for the most common or OE type, which is a flooded or low maintenance type. Our trucks are returning a little short of 100% each time which accumulates over time and it dies early. AGM should be charged at a slightly higher voltage, too, so it's a little more likely that you will get less than expected life from them compared to the original battery Toyota put in.

Not to mention that the current an alternator produces is RPM-dependent, so that's an additional variable that you remove by using a shore charger.

I don't know what your rejuvenator is doing, so you'd have to explain what it does. I just follow the Odyssey recommendations, which are just standard best practices that you'd find in most any industry tech manual or textbook.
 
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