Diehard Battery Life?
02-01-2011, 01:03 PM
#16
Drifting
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
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If i'm not mistaken Johnson Controls makes almost all the car batteries these days. They're all made in different plants and seem to have different quality controls though.
FWIW i don't think $25/year is a very good deal if $100 buys you 7-8 years and doesn't put the extra strain on your charging system...
FWIW i don't think $25/year is a very good deal if $100 buys you 7-8 years and doesn't put the extra strain on your charging system...
I've never had one of my $25 batteries fail in a year. I just said I didn't care if it did. So far my oldest cheap battery is 3 years old. Seems like a great deal to me!
02-01-2011, 01:35 PM
#17
Racer
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Location: Ohio
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German OEM BMW batteries last (what the car ships with). The replacement batteries from the dealers in the US are made by Exide if I am not mistaken.
02-01-2011, 10:27 PM
#18
Rennlist Member
Dark current draw, drive time, initial battery health, all impact battery lifespan. Heat seems to kill them faster than cold. Battery Tender is the way to go. I plug mine in as soon as I pull it into the garage, but mine gets used maybe once a week. I've also noticed mine cranks faster and starts easier when I keep it charged.
07-11-2013, 03:20 AM
#19
2nd Gear
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WHY SEARS DIEHARD BATTERIES FAIL PREMATURELY
My DieHard Silver lasted just 38 months.
Since the sticker on the top read "Maintenance Free", I never checked the electrolyte levels.
When I finally did check the levels, 2 of the cells were very low. Using a kitchen baster, both cells took about 10 Oz. of distilled water to bring them to the bottom of the ring.
All of the other cells were extremely low also.
There are no cracks in the case.
Then, after placing the battery on a 10 Amp automatic charger for 10 hours, the battery failed to start the engine.
When I went to Sears Auto Center at Northridge, CA to have the battery replaced, I decided to pop off the caps of the new battery, to inspect the electrolyte levels.
The first battery was so low that 1 of the cells had no acid above the plates.
On the second and third batteries, I found them equally deficient.
When I alerted the manager of my findings (Employee #750646) and asked him to please look at the battery, he defensively replied, "You just bought that battery because you broke the factory seals".
He said, his Sears training instructed him that "All Sears batteries are maintenance free and no longer uses battery acid".
When I asked him why the new batteries no longer said "Maintenance Free" on the top label, he became even more rude and incensed.
So, to get even with me, he pro-rated the battery not on the original purchase price of $70.00 (as prescribed in the warranty details), but on the new price of $109.99.
The adjusted pro-rated price for the battery came to $87.24 total.
Since I was desperate to get my car running again, I reluctantly purchased the battery.
Then, I went to my local NAPA auto store and spent an additional $13.00 for 32 Oz. container of battery acid aka sulfuric acid.
It took almost 8 Oz. to bring the levels to the bottom of the fill ring.
I have been a loyal customer for over 40 years.
That experience will cause me to be my last purchase with Sears auto products.
My DieHard Silver lasted just 38 months.
Since the sticker on the top read "Maintenance Free", I never checked the electrolyte levels.
When I finally did check the levels, 2 of the cells were very low. Using a kitchen baster, both cells took about 10 Oz. of distilled water to bring them to the bottom of the ring.
All of the other cells were extremely low also.
There are no cracks in the case.
Then, after placing the battery on a 10 Amp automatic charger for 10 hours, the battery failed to start the engine.
When I went to Sears Auto Center at Northridge, CA to have the battery replaced, I decided to pop off the caps of the new battery, to inspect the electrolyte levels.
The first battery was so low that 1 of the cells had no acid above the plates.
On the second and third batteries, I found them equally deficient.
When I alerted the manager of my findings (Employee #750646) and asked him to please look at the battery, he defensively replied, "You just bought that battery because you broke the factory seals".
He said, his Sears training instructed him that "All Sears batteries are maintenance free and no longer uses battery acid".
When I asked him why the new batteries no longer said "Maintenance Free" on the top label, he became even more rude and incensed.
So, to get even with me, he pro-rated the battery not on the original purchase price of $70.00 (as prescribed in the warranty details), but on the new price of $109.99.
The adjusted pro-rated price for the battery came to $87.24 total.
Since I was desperate to get my car running again, I reluctantly purchased the battery.
Then, I went to my local NAPA auto store and spent an additional $13.00 for 32 Oz. container of battery acid aka sulfuric acid.
It took almost 8 Oz. to bring the levels to the bottom of the fill ring.
I have been a loyal customer for over 40 years.
That experience will cause me to be my last purchase with Sears auto products.
07-30-2013, 12:10 AM
#20
2nd Gear
Join Date: Jul 2013
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Addendum To My Post
WHY MY BATTERY FAILED:
What I forgot to mention in my article was - prior to taking the defective battery in to Sears, I tested each cell with a Hydrometer after the 10 hour slow charge.
Two of the cells measured far below the Specific Gravity range of 1260 - 1275, for a fully charged battery.
What I forgot to mention in my article was - prior to taking the defective battery in to Sears, I tested each cell with a Hydrometer after the 10 hour slow charge.
Two of the cells measured far below the Specific Gravity range of 1260 - 1275, for a fully charged battery.
WHY SEARS DIEHARD BATTERIES FAIL PREMATURELY
My DieHard Silver lasted just 38 months.
Since the sticker on the top read "Maintenance Free", I never checked the electrolyte levels.
When I finally did check the levels, 2 of the cells were very low. Using a kitchen baster, both cells took about 10 Oz. of distilled water to bring them to the bottom of the ring.
All of the other cells were extremely low also.
There are no cracks in the case.
Then, after placing the battery on a 10 Amp automatic charger for 10 hours, the battery failed to start the engine.
When I went to Sears Auto Center at Northridge, CA to have the battery replaced, I decided to pop off the caps of the new battery, to inspect the electrolyte levels.
The first battery was so low that 1 of the cells had no acid above the plates.
On the second and third batteries, I found them equally deficient.
When I alerted the manager of my findings (Employee #750646) and asked him to please look at the battery, he defensively replied, "You just bought that battery because you broke the factory seals".
He said, his Sears training instructed him that "All Sears batteries are maintenance free and no longer uses battery acid".
When I asked him why the new batteries no longer said "Maintenance Free" on the top label, he became even more rude and incensed.
So, to get even with me, he pro-rated the battery not on the original purchase price of $70.00 (as prescribed in the warranty details), but on the new price of $109.99.
The adjusted pro-rated price for the battery came to $87.24 total.
Since I was desperate to get my car running again, I reluctantly purchased the battery.
Then, I went to my local NAPA auto store and spent an additional $13.00 for 32 Oz. container of battery acid aka sulfuric acid.
It took almost 8 Oz. to bring the levels to the bottom of the fill ring.
I have been a loyal customer for over 40 years.
That experience will cause me to be my last purchase with Sears auto products.
My DieHard Silver lasted just 38 months.
Since the sticker on the top read "Maintenance Free", I never checked the electrolyte levels.
When I finally did check the levels, 2 of the cells were very low. Using a kitchen baster, both cells took about 10 Oz. of distilled water to bring them to the bottom of the ring.
All of the other cells were extremely low also.
There are no cracks in the case.
Then, after placing the battery on a 10 Amp automatic charger for 10 hours, the battery failed to start the engine.
When I went to Sears Auto Center at Northridge, CA to have the battery replaced, I decided to pop off the caps of the new battery, to inspect the electrolyte levels.
The first battery was so low that 1 of the cells had no acid above the plates.
On the second and third batteries, I found them equally deficient.
When I alerted the manager of my findings (Employee #750646) and asked him to please look at the battery, he defensively replied, "You just bought that battery because you broke the factory seals".
He said, his Sears training instructed him that "All Sears batteries are maintenance free and no longer uses battery acid".
When I asked him why the new batteries no longer said "Maintenance Free" on the top label, he became even more rude and incensed.
So, to get even with me, he pro-rated the battery not on the original purchase price of $70.00 (as prescribed in the warranty details), but on the new price of $109.99.
The adjusted pro-rated price for the battery came to $87.24 total.
Since I was desperate to get my car running again, I reluctantly purchased the battery.
Then, I went to my local NAPA auto store and spent an additional $13.00 for 32 Oz. container of battery acid aka sulfuric acid.
It took almost 8 Oz. to bring the levels to the bottom of the fill ring.
I have been a loyal customer for over 40 years.
That experience will cause me to be my last purchase with Sears auto products.
07-30-2013, 03:52 PM
#21
Burning Brakes
It's a racket, Lead is Lead and acid is acid. What you pay for is a name. What you need to pay for is weight. Not all Plate's are created equal, some have more surface area, some more thickness, and some have padding. If you believe that a multinational company has YOUR best interest as the core of their business plan, good luck with that. I prefer to use re-built Batteries. old case - new guts. I have those guys tailor the Battery to my local conditions and use, all for $10, really! You get a funny low-ball sticker on them, like A-1, [who I use] but only an idiot ever remarks on that.
