Bad time to buy battery?
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- Mar 7, 2002
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Give it a month after things return to normal. There will be a big run on batteries. We're already seeing it at the BMW dealership I'm at; even our DC is out of stock on the most common part number.
- Mar 7, 2002
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Batteries that sit are subject to sulfation, which ruins them over time. While it happens much more quickly in batteries that are installed and discharging, it still happens in batteries that sit on a shelf unused. A lead-acid battery, sitting unused at room temperature will lose charge at about 5% per month. In as little as six months, it will have a state of charge low enough that it should be charged before use, and in as little as a year, can begin develop sulfation on the plates. AGM and gel cell batteries are a different story, and have a much higher shelf life.
You can tell when a battery was manufactured by locating the small round sticker on it with a either a letter and number representing the date (example being A7 would be a battery from January 2017) or just the date in month/year format.
What?
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Batteries do age, even more so without a charge. Usually they are ok for about a month or so. When you get to 2-3 months they should really go on a battery tender.
There is math that can be done to calculate out how long the battery can sit uncharged for before it drains. I just don't feel like looking up the specs to calculate it out, but the point is there is a finite time period.
I echo what was said to look at the battery manufacture date. 1yr or older shouldn't be used period.
With that said, automotive repair would have been considered essential so the sale of batteries in general still could have continued. I would think the issue would be supply of batteries would be low, vs the issue of too many sitting on the shelf for 2-3 months.
There is math that can be done to calculate out how long the battery can sit uncharged for before it drains. I just don't feel like looking up the specs to calculate it out, but the point is there is a finite time period.
I echo what was said to look at the battery manufacture date. 1yr or older shouldn't be used period.
With that said, automotive repair would have been considered essential so the sale of batteries in general still could have continued. I would think the issue would be supply of batteries would be low, vs the issue of too many sitting on the shelf for 2-3 months.
- Mar 7, 2002
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Essential, yes, busy, no. When people weren't driving, they weren't breaking things, so we weren't busy. As soon as everything started back up? Dead batteries, dead batteries everywhere. Why? Very few people were starting their cars to keep their batteries charged.
I've been looking around and there is stock. But the batteries are all 1+ year sitting on the shelf.
I did happen to ask one of the reps if they connect the shelf batteries to any trickle chargers, he said no never.
Heat (and Cold to a lesser degree) are much harder on batteries than sitting on a store or warehouse shelf with clean tops and no drain. Make sure you get one with a warranty, charge it and drive. You have other things more worthy of worry, like if someone sneezed on it right before you got there.
My car batteries that sit disconnected half the time (aka parked with a full charge) outlast the daily driven ones by up to a decade or more. That has been with no battery tender to risk overcharging and boiling it dry with a malfunction. And as far as having returns on new batteries, except for a couple of the irrigation engine quality ones, I’ve never had one test bad from sitting there new.
My car batteries that sit disconnected half the time (aka parked with a full charge) outlast the daily driven ones by up to a decade or more. That has been with no battery tender to risk overcharging and boiling it dry with a malfunction. And as far as having returns on new batteries, except for a couple of the irrigation engine quality ones, I’ve never had one test bad from sitting there new.
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