CaveLamb wrote:
John R. Carroll wrote:
Ignoramus9135 wrote:
My truck battery is dying, and I was wondering if there is such as
thing as a "better battery", or are they all created the same. Thnks

One of the first things I do when I pick up a used Vette as a project
is throw out the battery and replace it with a gel pack.
The other is to install a mechanical disconect. There is a local guy
that makes a "Half-Turn" gizmo that mounts on the terminal post.
That way all of the computers don't kill the battery if I don't start
the car for an extended period. That used to happen when I'd leave my
car at the airport for a
short trip that would turn into three or four weks on the road.
Nothing worse that a dead nattery at LAX after flying half the night
to get home.

There are two varieties that I'm familiar with.
One is a high capacity version for running electronics equipment ( big
car audio amps and such) and the other is great for starting.
Gel pack's last nearly forever, don't require maintanence and seem to
behave well in high temp environments.
That's the reason I switched. Desert temps kill batteries.

My oldest gel pack is going on 14 years and is working as well as it
did the day I installed it.



I replaced one of the deep cycle gel batteries on my boat just before
Christmas.

Both of them are 20 years old, but this one (due to a wiring mistake
at the bilge pump switch) got pulled down to 2.4 volts.

It never came back (obviously).


I replaced it with a marine deep cycle wet cell from Wally World for $65.
We'll see how that lasts...




somewhere I read that if you heat up the gel cell it will melt and
reform, renewing the battery. Of course 20 years is a long time for a
battery.

John