Maintenance-Free Batteries.....NOT!!!

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Just a "heads up!", guys. After buying 2 new batteries 2 winters ago (to replace originals), I decided to try and prevent a premature death for them. About a month ago I opened up the cell caps for each battery and found that every cell was low; one was even showing the plate. I probably put about a quart of distilled water into each battery to fill them up. The "eye" immediately went dark instead of the usual green for full charge. So the acid mix was weak at first. The batteries would still crank strong, even with low acid level; and they cranked strong after the fill-up. After about a day of running the truck, the green eye returned and there hasn't been a hint of a problem. So the moral of the story is: don't buy the "maintenance-free" garbage that the battery makers are peddling. Drift back in time to yesteryear when we checked the battery acid level regularly. This will be increasingly important as the weather turns cooler.

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95 2500 SLT, clubcab, 2wd, longbed, a/t, 3. 54, 135K miles, "all the usual refinements"

 

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Maintenance Free??? Yeah, right! If you believe that one I got a really nice bridge to sell ya! #ad
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I'm like you, battery water checked every service time. The original batteries are still going strong in my '95. Or course, my butt doesn't freeze to the ground in Humboldt Co, CA either.

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Joe George
Eureka, CA

'95 2500 CC auto 4X4,3. 54,Combo EGT/boost guage,custom switch panel,PacBrake,TST #5,BD valve body,Automatic motorhome steps on both sides,Foldacover hard bed cover,Cummins chrome kit,Black steel grill guard,Front hitch receiver

 

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If you could pop off the tops, then it wasn't a "maintenance free" battery. Step up to the plate and buy a spiral-cell Optima or Interstate battery and if those don't fit your fancy, go with an industrial battery from DC Battery in Miami.

 

[Archive]

Turbo6bar provides a good suggestion. The only real maintenance free batteries are referred to as "AGM" for Absorbtion Glass Mat technology. Optima is one brand name of an AGM battery. In addtion, they uses a novel spiral cell construction as oppossed to flat plate.

AGM batteries have almost 99% of their electrolyte absorbed into a glass mat media so even if you crack the battery case, almost no electrolyte will spill out (and even if you wanted to add water, you can't because there are no openings to the case).

These batteries have lower internal resistance then conventional flooded cell batteries and thus provide higher cranking amps in a smaller package.

They are almost 2 to 3 times as expensive as flooded cell and come in Starting, Deep Cycle and Marine configurations. Might be worth looking into.

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'00,2500,4x4,QC,LB,6spd,3. 54,4wABS,Camper-Trailer packs,BD Brake w/ECM ctrl,Pullrite 20. 5K 5hitch,Tekonsha EnvoySV,12K# Damon Escaper, CobraCB,Flame Red/Silver.

 

[Archive]

Originally posted by Turbo6bar:
If you could pop off the tops, then it wasn't a "maintenance free" battery. Step up to the plate and buy a spiral-cell Optima or Interstate battery and if those don't fit your fancy, go with an industrial battery from DC Battery in Miami.

Alot of the batteries that they label and sell as "maintainance free" still have caps that can be removed. How they get away with that, I'm not sure. #ad
Reminds me I need to go out and check mine!