Just been reading the thread on the Halfords battery lasting only 17 months.
I bought a 1 year old 1992 Honda Civic which I passed on to my son until he had to get rid of it it in 2004 because of a leaking petrol tank. So all in it had done IIRC 115,000 over 12 years on the original battery!.
Quite some time for a battery but I'm sure some of the backroomers can beat that.
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13 years and 3 months in a 1989 Citroen AX 11RE. Replacement battery with 36 month warranty lated 40 months! Current battery with a 12 month warranty has lasted 24 months.
Had a 1973 mini van that was using the same, (heavy duty truck battery) after 14 years before it went to the scrapyard. The battery was still working OK.
Q.
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my fiestas battery is dated 1991, the same age as the alternator!
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The longest lasting battery I've ever come across was the original on a very old Lada I aquired as part of a parcel of cars when I was car dealing in the mid 80's.It sat outside the house being used as a shed for about 3 years and never failed to start when it would be used to jump start one of the other vehicles. I cant remember exactly how old it was but it was one of those Fiat 124? copies, and it wasOLD. When it was eventually sold it made less than £200
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IIRC the original battery in my dad's 309 SRI lasted over 6 years. The next one lasted 5 then there was one that I fitted but removed when it was written off.
I put a SH one in my Renault 11 that was quite a few years old. It lasted about 3 years and was doing fine when I sold the car.
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"It sat outside the house being used as a shed"
Did someone at the time overhear you refer to your Lada as a shed? Perhaps we have the origin of the term!
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The battery on my 1998 Fiesta was the original and still going strong when I sold it a few months ago with nearly 100k on it, so that lasted 9 years roughly.
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A neighbour's Honda Civic (diesel) battery lasted about a year and a half from new car delivery; A new one was supplied gratis, of course. The car does a 35 mile commute 5 days a week, on top of other usage, so the battery should have been well charged.
I expect batteries to last about three years.
So how are the long lives reported here achieved?
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Not such luck with my ride on mower, 3 in 5 years!.
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"So how are the long lives reported here achieved?"
Exactly what I was wondering. I suppose the corollary is what normally kills them off? IIRC, they contain a paste that is sandwiched between the plates, but that this gradually gets dislodged and ends up on the bottom. The cells are in series, so if one goes down, they all do.
It may be that the Lada mentioned benefited from not being driven (and therefore bounced about), although holding charge that well is unusual. Perhaps it was simply better constructed - a good battery must be an important component in a Russian winter!
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>>>t may be that the Lada mentioned benefited from not being driven (and therefore bounced about)<<<
Ahhh, so that is why mine have not lasted in the ride on mower, I certainly get bounced about in that, thanks to the burrowing activities of our local mole population.
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"bounced about"
You could test the theory by 'softening' the battery supports. If there's room, you could hang it on exhaust straps!
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For 6 years the battery in my Fiesta was doing mainly short journeys (less than 20 minutes) but used every day, did 60k like this
For another 3 years it was used by me, 200 mile long journeys every day, did 40k like this.
Car always kept on drive exposed to all elements.
Maybe the fact the battery was used every day helped its long life?
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It was 200 miles every day in term time, in non-term time it was still driven every day but fewer miles. Just realised after I posted that if it was used like I said (200 miles every day) it would have more than 40k on it in 3 years ;)
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OE battery on my 91 Maestro clubman D lasted .. well actually it was still fine at 6 yrs when I sold the car at 130,000 miles. Similar stop start work related use on which the Halfords battery ( other thread) lasted 17 months.
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The factors conducive to long life are, I think;
1) Quality. Original batteries seem to be better than usually cheaper replacements.
2) Useage. Not too much flatenning, but more importantly, no overcharging.
3) Maintenance. All batteries use water, via evaporation, but sealed ones just accept that and have a shortened life.
4) Capacity. Over-spec batteries for the job seem to last longer.
I knew someone who ran an old milkfloat for his local transport. The batteries were original and about 40 years old. The cells were individually serviceable. They could be withdrawn, cleaned, straightened, put on a separate recovery recharging cycle, or replaced if necessary.
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>>>All batteries use water, via evaporation, but sealed ones just accept that and have a shortened life.<<<
Re my op, the battery in question was a sealed battery.
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the best sealed batteries ,indeed the best batteries are the type with the magic eye as fitted as standard on corsas ,they remind me of the man who had the patent to everlasting shoe soles ,this patent was quickly bought up and burried in somebodies back garden,just like these everlasting batteries
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"It was 200 miles every day in term time"
Blimey! I shall never complain about the school run again.. :-)
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Almera still has what I assume to be the original battery (has lots of japanese writing on it) at 7 yrs/73k. I'm not entirely sure it'll last the winter though.
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I believe modern charging systems are responsible for long battery life. They keep the charge up but do not give any warning of battery failure. They just let you down one dark morning.
My last car the first had the battery go after 8 years and 150kmiles; my current car was 10 years with the original battery: 190kmiles. Maker? Volvo of course and the replacement battery was cheaper than Halfords!
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My Vectra has the original 1999 battery that has done all of its pushing 60k miles.
Re lawnmower battery; charge them regularly during the winter and they will last much longer. (Or use the mower for picking up leaves.)
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Both our current cars are on their original batteries; a 2000(X) Nissan Primera with 80K, and a 1998(R) Daewoo Nubira with 45K.
Previous 1994(M) Nissan Sunny was also going strong on original battery when it was smashed up.
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I'd certainly agree that usage and capacity affect a battery's life - any fault in the charging circuit will kill it.
The small battery in my 900cc twin cylinder m/cycle has a hard life - any problem with the battery and the bike won't start.
The batteries in my 2000(W) Primera and 55 Clio are big and easily supply starting power.
I'd also agree about the comments regarding Vauxhall's sealed batteries - when I replaced one in my carlton, it was cheaper than Halfords. The original was killed by a fault.
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"the best sealed batteries ,indeed the best batteries are the type with the magic eye as fitted as standard on corsas"
Same OE ( green magic eye)as on our Fiats, In fact thats what I replaced the Halfords battery with.
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Have been fairly lucky with batteries (grabbing a wooden desk!!)
My old Rover 200 did 120,000 and 9 years before being retired to the garage and subsequently discharging, also my 75 had done 225,000 and 7 years old on the original.
Current A4 is on 130,000, 5 years old in November and original battery. In contrast I had a Micra several years ago that had 2 batteries in a year, although suspect the car was killing them somehow, despite a new alternator.
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Non branded batteries, are available from the local factors, with an option of 12, 24 or 36months, warranty.
Same battery, just a different price & different supply date stamp, marked on it!
Ideal for the seller of a vehicle & proclaim 'new battery fitted'!!
VB
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