Draining battery.

[GoBlue]

Az'z duralast is another quality battery for sure. Cant remember the manufacture but if memory serves its Johnson Control...the maker of Die Hard and several other big names including Interstate.

 

[WRX/Z28]

Az'z duralast is another quality battery for sure. Cant remember the manufacture but if memory serves its Johnson Control...the maker of Die Hard and several other big names including Interstate.

Also including Optima's.

It seems that AGM batteries get a bad rap pretty consistantly due to misuse. Not sure if that's the case here, but it's easy to do.

 

[AutoXRacer]

How do you misuse a battery?

 

[holdover]

as stated you need to test it with a load tester. There must be a reason for the voltage loss, my guess would be a weak cell. Ask them to put a load test on the battery, If it goes dead in about a week it will most likely fail the load test.

 

[WRX/Z28]

How do you misuse a battery?

Drain it down, and recharge at a high amp rate. Overcharge it. Charge it with a charger not intended to work with AGM batteries (IE a smart charger with no AGM setting). Overheat it and boil the cell.

 

[scott4]

12.6v is a fully charged battery (2.1 x 6).

Full technical info for this type of battery (for referential purposes)

Fully charged, engine not running, starting batteries (all RedTop or BlueTop 34M) should measure between 12.6V and 12.8V. Deep cycle batteries (all YellowTop and dual purpose BlueTops) should measure between 12.6V and 13.1V.

The most important consideration when storing any battery is to make sure the voltage never drops below 12.4 volts.

I just went through this same issue with one of my yellow-tops. EXACTLY the same. Charge it overnight, starts up, drains throughout the day, sluggishly starts in the evening, dead the next morning.

Knecht's replaced under the warranty without a hassle with a new one, and the issue is gone.

Its warrantied. Obtained replacement last night.

You could always OVERCHARGE it until it goes bad.......I'm sure there are ways to make a cell or two go bad.

Reading optimas information regarding charging, I suspect this is one of a few likely culprits.

I used to be a big fan of Optima batteries, but in recent years the things have become totally unreliable. In almost all cases, between my own vehicles and friend's, the exact same problem as you describe occurs. The battery will self-discharge starting at maybe a week, and in no time it will not even last overnight. In once case one cell actually melted the case in one spot at the top of the cell. Most batteries were replaced under warranty, but I will no longer recommend or install an Optima in anything, and once the three I have currently die off, they will be replaced with Odyssey/DieHard Platinum or Deka AGM batteries. Ever since Optima production was shifted to Mexico, the batteries have become practically worthless.

Interesting. Thanks.

I have been an interstate dealer for a long time and honestly dont think i have ever had one come back to me. A friend of mine deals in AC delco and hes happy as well. I have seen a number of issues with optimas. Enough that i wont recommend one no matter how cool they look.

Also interesting info.

So I left the store with a Duralast with amazing warranty. Not much to look at...but sure does the job!!

Az'z duralast is another quality battery for sure. Cant remember the manufacture but if memory serves its Johnson Control...the maker of Die Hard and several other big names including Interstate.

Didn't know that. These optimas sure shot up in price. I didn't pay for it, but the receipt was near $190. Huge difference from when I bought it on a sale.

It seems that AGM batteries get a bad rap pretty consistantly due to misuse. Not sure if that's the case here, but it's easy to do.

Drain it down, and recharge at a high amp rate. Overcharge it. Charge it with a charger not intended to work with AGM batteries (IE a smart charger with no AGM setting). Overheat it and boil the cell.

I suspect this is probably true. During this process, I've found the relevant information for charging, storage, etc., and it can be rather particular at times.

New optima is topped off with the appropriate charger, at 12.8 volts. It was purchased with 12.5 volts, so it wasn't stored under the 12.4 minimum. Date indicates that it is but a few months old.

12.6v is a fully charged battery (2.1 x 6). As stated previously, it is the Amps that start a car, not the volts.

An easy to perform light load test as home would be to connect your DMM to the battery and turn your high beams, rear defogger on and any other accessories that will draw current. You will be looking to see how fast the voltage of the battery drops while being loaded down.

Do this with the car off.

Thanks for that info.

 

[scott4]

For the next guy who comes here.

What not to do (my first visit). Charger was failing. Make sure that works. Combine that with a discharging battery. I was busy, so i didn't have time for them to do an all day charge.

I got a "here's your battery, sir. Looks good." in their defense, I didn't allow them to at least fully charge it. Work pressure.

This has to be tested with a fully charged, and then fully disconnected battery.

Charge appropriately. See this and this for details.

I showed up for the second trip with a few sources of info.

1) Warranty info
2) info from last visit.
3) Printed this out:

4) Printed manufacturers online document noting this:

The most important consideration when storing any battery is to make sure the voltage never drops below 12.4 volts.

Fully charged, engine not running, starting batteries (all RedTop or BlueTop 34M) should measure between 12.6V and 12.8V.


My battery could not hold even the minimum charge. Similarly, it could not hold a charge above 12.4 for seconds / minutes - the charge that the manufacturer states that it "never drops below ". Clear-cut case for failure under the manufacturer's specifications. Not a whole lot of room for debate there. I left with a new battery pretty fast.

 

[bhclark]

Glad to hear you got a new one!

Good work on doing your homework and not giving them a choice!

 

[scott4]

Glad to hear you got a new one!

Good work on doing your homework and not giving them a choice!

Thanks. Hopefully, it helps out the next guy. Then, I might have contributed 0.002% back from what I've gained here in information and help.