Hi, my 4seater has this battery fitted. Am I correct in thinking it is 15 years old . If the date code is 0610 I assume that is June 2010 with seems very old for a car battery. Does any one have any experience of these batteries and can they last this long,
I have a normal battery in my MGB - it's been there since I bought it so at least four years old. Due to a (now rectified) wiring issue, I have completely drained the battery at least 6 times or more. And I mean completey - not even enough juice to light the LED interior light. Every time, I've jump started, let her charge on the alternator and she's still good - and is still starting fine on these cold mornings.
"Y mae dafad ddu ym mhob praidd" 1972 4/4, 1981 MGBGT, 1984 FLHT1340, 1980 XLH1000, 1990 ZX10
Hi, my 4seater has this battery fitted. Am I correct in thinking it is 15 years old . If the date code is 0610 I assume that is June 2010 with seems very old for a car battery. Does any one have any experience of these batteries and can they last this long,
Yes, from your image attached it was made in month 06, 2010
If it starts your car this most certainly does not make it fine without further insight. Given what appears to be a 15 year old battery this is the extreme end of longevity for a lead/acid battery. Remember though they are consumables.
All batteries age and this starts often before first use if they have been on a garage shelf in other than dry charged state. The ageing process usually caused by slow but steady sulphation of the plates in lead/acid batteries is often masked by regular use on an easy starting engine. It's still slowly loosing capacity though until out of the blue it will fail typically after the first freeze and despite being left on float from a battery charger/conditioner which is sub optimal in itself. Better to use car fairly regularly throughout the year and don't leave it on smart charger for long periods. My factory Banner battery, an often criticised brand, is still holding up well after over seven years but the car is used at least once every three weeks in the winter and far more often in the summer, and has a 12 hour top up on a charger every 2 - 3 months.
The capacity reduction which may end being a small fraction of original may still turn engine over but for how long? It will recharge very quickly, and show fully charged voltage but only an empirical load test at say the C/10 rate will reveal it's actual capacity. A useful guide I find is the standing battery voltage after a two to three weeks without use or charging. If it's dropped from fully charged 12.7 to 12.2 volts or less than look towards replacing. Please if otherwise in any doubt, change at six to eight years of age or sooner if you know it's been left for extended periods in partially charged state.
Richard
2018 Roadster 3.7 1966 Land Rover S2a 88 2024 Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 1945 Guzzi Airone
Unless I am planning on using any car frequently (...and I'm talking weekly here, so I will use a Morgan at least weekly between April and September) then I will attach them to a battery conditioner/trickle charger... whatever you prefer to call them.
This goes some way to preventing the sulphation of the plates that Richard is talking about, which will start to happen as soon as a battery is not charging. That will maximise your battery life.
Given what I have just said about degradation, your battery will always be degrading, even if only to a very minor extent, hence the other comments about them being a consumable.
15 years is pretty old, and I suspect it hasn't been attached to a conditioner for that whole time?
How long do they last sensibly whilst performing to a reasonable level is like asking how long a piece of string is?
Ask yourself though... do you want it to fail completely in the middle of a long journey, or whilst on holiday? Even that isn't the end of the world if you can hitch a lift or get a tax to the nearest Halfords and back. How inconvenienced do you want to be?
I regard batteries as a consumable and get them changed at 10 years regardless of how they seem to be performing. For what they cost, it works out cheaper than a ruined holiday or day out - especially in terms of domestic angst.
Paul Costock, UK Plus Four 75th - Furka Rouge - Pip Disco 5 Teddy - 17h1 Irish Draught cross
I regard batteries as a consumable and get them changed at 10 years regardless of how they seem to be performing. For what they cost, it works out cheaper than a ruined holiday or day out - especially in terms of domestic angst.
Spot on Paul, even with man maths they only cost a £5fiver a year, it's bonkers to risk stretching the will it last / risk of getting stuck
It did sterling service for many years turning over my TVR Chimaera's 4.0 litre V8, and has continued to do good work on my other subsiquent cars.
Odyssey pure lead AGM batteries are exceptional quality, so I'd like to think my PC1500 will last at least 20 years, the secret to a long life for any lead acid battery correct charging, and making sure you never allow it to fully discharge.
Parasitic drains are a real killer, my TVR had many so I used a remote battery isolator called a Battery Brain, this worked really well. Monty has no such parasitic losses, probably because he has no alarm and the Morgan loom is infinitely superior to TVR's poor wiring efforts. However, I still use a Durite key opperated battery isolator on Monty, largely for security and fire safety when he's laid up but it will also extend battery life.
My Odyssey PC1500 will definitely follow me from car to car until it finally gives up, and lets hope that's a long way off yet, I have run several tests on the battery that indicate it's actually still in first class condition, so if I continue to avoid the dreaded deep discharge scenario it may even last longer than 20 years?
