Battery Problem, Exchange, Warranty - UPDATE

[Outdoorsman]

Not mine but quoted from my other favorite website...

"I have been reading over alot of the recent posts in regards to "battery care". If this matters to anyone, I just so happen to be a battery sales representative for the leading replacement battery co. in North America. I will not discuss the brand in this posting, but will offer some friendly advice to help with some questions that I have read. As far as battery charging goes, over charging any battery will void most manufacturers warranties. Most "automatic" battery chargers on the market are not truly automatic. They tend to work against the internal resistance in the battery being charged. Therefore always are putting a small Ma rate to a (fully charged) battery, that isn't asking for it. This will in time, boil out the electrolyte and cause premature failure. I would suggest in purchasing a "smart charger" that actually shuts off when charged, then maintains as needed. CTEK makes a great unit that comes in several duties, depending on your needs. Keep in mind also, a fully charged battery stores at 12.66 volts as to 11.90 volts being 100% discharged. The difference being just a little over .7 volts from one extreme to the other. Most owners are not aware of this fact. Also a battery maintained at 12.66v will not freeze until -76 deg. F. A battery stored at 12.1 v could freeze at -10 deg. F. Bottom line on this subject : keep water levels up; invest in a descent charger; charge monthly during storage."

 

[FishingCop]

Thanks for all your replies and info. I'll be checking out the water levels in the batteries in the next few days. Then, hopefully a replacement for the one I bought last year and a new one at F&F. Next year, I'll keep the charger plugged in - as long as it has a shutoff and not a trickle charge. Hopefully, I'll a few years use out of the new ones and not be buying new every year??? Thanks again for your help...

 

[wolfmjc]

got my batts from napa, if i have a problem they don't give me a problem. I also keep my batts on a commercial maintainer that uses pulse technology.....

 

[lswoody]

I just bought a trolling battery from walmart a couple months ago and I'm pretty sure it said there was a one year warranty on it. I'll have to look at it later.

 

[FishingCop]

Okay, got a free replacement at Wall Mart for the one I bought last April (1 yr, 12 days old) - Confirmed - no longer going to warranty marine batteries at Wall Mart --- but I got a free replacement this time ($65 regularly- $58 on sale)

So... I took the other older (2006 manufacture) Wally World battery to Farm & Fleet and bought a new battery there. They were on sale and I bought a little better one than the lowest of the line for $65, reg $75, plus a $7 rebate (Ha, plus 10% 0ff cause I opened a charge card at F&F) -

Bigger batteries won't fit in my application - both are under a non-removable shelf and not enough space to slide in the larger (wider/taller) batteries, so, buying the more powerful ones isn't an option - thus, I buy the small, standard size #24 batteries. Although, I've run the trolling motor over 4-6 hours trolling, fighting wind, etc, and never run out of juice on the #24 batteries?? So, I'm comfortable with the #24 being enough power for my boat and application.

After reading this post and some recent other battery posts, I've learned that maintenance, water level, charging, etc., are the keys to success with respect to longer battery life. Thanks for all the insight and help.

so... I now have two new batteries:

One from Wally : 24DP-4 675/140 - Excide ----NO warranty

One from F&F: 24MDC 550CCA 140RC, 95 AH - Johnson Controls - 1 year replacement, 2 year warranty

Obviously, the warranty is better at F&F - what about the batteries?? Can any of you battery Guru's comment on the difference between them??

 

[jdrautoworks]

The one from F&F is coded 24MDC meaning group 24 (decent sized) Marine Deep Cycle.... So the one from F&F is going to be a deep cycle with a warranty vs. wallyworld at the group 24 dual post hence the DP.....

 

[FishingCop]

The one from F&F is coded 24MDC meaning group 24 (decent sized) Marine Deep Cycle.... So the one from F&F is going to be a deep cycle with a warranty vs. wallyworld at the group 24 dual post hence the DP.....

So, is DP (dual post) not a deep cycle battery?

 

[bAcKpAiN]

I would ask for my money back instead of an unwarranted battery from walmart. The ones in my area leave batteries on the shelf for years with little to no apparent maintanance.

 

[FishingCop]

I would ask for my money back instead of an unwarranted battery from walmart. The ones in my area leave batteries on the shelf for years with little to no apparent maintanance.

Wish I would have thought of that ( or someone would have suggested that) earlier. Wonder if I could do that now??

 

[bAcKpAiN]

I wouldn't see why not. You would still have the reciept from the exchange telling how much you originally paid. Here at my local Walmart the CS reps would probably even give you back the core fee. I am honestly saddened that Walmart is going the way of not carrying a warranty on their deep cycle batteries. I was going to buy two maxx's today but noticed that the ones that were manufactured this year had NO warranty stickers. The ones from 08 and 09 (yes still on the shelf probably dead as a doornail) had the 18 month warranty sticker on them.

I am in the market for two deep cycle marine batteries myself. I just got a 24V trolling motor, but won't touch a Walmart battery with a ten foot pole if it isn't going to be covered under warranty. I am going to call Tractor Supply and see what their warranty is, they have the best deal I could find in my area. https://www.tractorsupply.com/vehicle-maintenance-accessories/vehicle-batteries/motorcycle-specialty-batteries/stowaway-deep-cycle-marine-rv-battery-4001105

BTW I believe the "DP" is a refererence to dual purpose. It should be able to be used as a trolling motor battery or a cranking battery.

 

[Quackrstackr]

I am honestly saddened that Walmart is going the way of not carrying a warranty on their deep cycle batteries.

No offense to anyone in this thread, but situations such as this one are exactly why Wal Mart is no longer giving warranties on their DC batteries. They most likely have thousands of batteries (if not 10's of thousands) being returned for new ones every year that have gone bad because of negligence and neglect of the owner, not because they were bad batteries. DC marine batteries are different animals than a car battery. People think that just because they never have to think about their car battery that they never have to do anything to their boat battery either until they are ready to go fishing. It doesn't work that way. You don't have to worry about your car battery because it essentially sees daily maintenance. Every time that you crank it, your alternator charges it back up. You also never drain your car battery down unless you are having serious motor problems and just can't get it to crank. People drain their trolling motor battery and then just charge it back up whenever they get around to it. That should be as soon as you get home... not 2 weeks or 2 months afterwards when you get ready to go fishing again. They also need to be kept charged during storage with the proper fluid level. Sitting idle for months with repeated heat/cold cycles really works on a battery. Most people don't unhook their batteries so there could be a potential current drain that they don't even know about that is killing them during storage, also.

Once again, no offense to anyone in this thread as it is not directed at anyone here. It is simply meant to show why this has probably happened. I have to deal with warranty issues in my job and see how they impact our bottom line. I see warranty parts come back often that have obviously failed because of misuse or abuse. Ultimately, the expense for somebody else's neglect still comes out of our pocket and the blame is usually levelled at us for producing a "bad part", not the real culprit.

 

[bAcKpAiN]

I am honestly saddened that Walmart is going the way of not carrying a warranty on their deep cycle batteries.

No offense to anyone in this thread, but situations such as this one are exactly why Wal Mart is no longer giving warranties on their DC batteries. They most likely have thousands of batteries (if not 10's of thousands) being returned for new ones every year that have gone bad because of negligence and neglect of the owner, not because they were bad batteries. DC marine batteries are different animals than a car battery. People think that just because they never have to think about their car battery that they never have to do anything to their boat battery either until they are ready to go fishing. It doesn't work that way. You don't have to worry about your car battery because it essentially sees daily maintenance. Every time that you crank it, your alternator charges it back up. You also never drain your car battery down unless you are having serious motor problems and just can't get it to crank. People drain their trolling motor battery and then just charge it back up whenever they get around to it. That should be as soon as you get home... not 2 weeks or 2 months afterwards when you get ready to go fishing again. They also need to be kept charged during storage with the proper fluid level. Sitting idle for months with repeated heat/cold cycles really works on a battery. Most people don't unhook their batteries so there could be a potential current drain that they don't even know about that is killing them during storage, also.

Once again, no offense to anyone in this thread as it is not directed at anyone here. It is simply meant to show why this has probably happened. I have to deal with warranty issues in my job and see how they impact our bottom line. I see warranty parts come back often that have obviously failed because of misuse or abuse. Ultimately, the expense for somebody else's neglect still comes out of our pocket and the blame is usually levelled at us for producing a "bad part", not the real culprit.

I agree with what you are saying... to a point. Walmart has also made their own bed to some degree and are making the consumer pay for it. I went to three different Walmart stores yesterday looking for 2 of the max series in size 27 or 29. In looking at no less than 30 batteries there was only ONE that was made in 2010. The rest dated all the way back to the mid 90's up to late 2008. It isn't just the consumer that neglects the batteries. It is the retailers themselves that often ruin the batteries with neglect long before a consumer even touches it. Thus why I will never buy a battery at Walmart again. I purchased my last pair of batteries at Walmart and ended up having to use the warranty on both of them within 6 months, and that is with using a Guest onboard charger plugged in 24/7 when I wasn't fishing.

 

[Quackrstackr]

I'm sure some WM's may shoulder part of the blame.

Being this close to 2 major lakes, the local WM here can't keep dc batteries in stock so cycling their inventory has never been an issue.

 

[FishingCop]

Check the two I bought yesterday - the Wall Mart one was made in Oct, 09 - not too bad I guess.

The F&F one was made April 2010 - brand spanking new

 

[bAcKpAiN]

Inner city Philadelphia isn't the "normal" market as well I am sure. :lol:
But every battery on PepBoy's shelf was less than 2 months old.

 

[longjohn119]

Farm and Fleet has the lowest prices on Swivel-eze seat hardware I can find, nothing on the internet even touches their prices. Last I checked Farm and Fleet batteries are made by the same company as the Walmart batteries. The difference seems to be warranty and F&F probably does a better job of rotating stock so batteries are never more than a few months old. Walmart the kid stocking shelves fo Chump Change probably puts the new batteries in the front and that last battery is older than the warranty time and already self discharged. The manufacture date code is stamped on the plastic case and at Walmart I always check them them and grab the freshest available. You don't have that option at many places, you get what they give you.

I haven't had a battery in my trucks, cars or boats die while still under warranty for over 30 years, most go a couple of years past the pro-rated warranty. When I replaced the one in my '91 Explorer last winter (It came with the truck) I was surprised to learn it was a few months short of 10 years old (I used it for 3 without problems) so I replaced it with another F&F just like it.

A problem not mentioned that kills a lot of these batteries or at least shortens their lifespan is the unregulated charge output that are on most smaller outboards. After checking and finding all the decent devices for charging two batteries were expensive, microprocessor controlled and way overkill for a 4 amp unregulated charge system (Do I really need a 100 amp rated circuit for 4 piddly amps?) and all the cheaper systems use simple voltage comparators which don't work very well and tend to cycle too much I made my own Smart Controller which is a DPDT switch, a 30 amp relay and I manually control it making me the 'Smart' part of the system. This way it doesn't automatically kick in and charge an already fully charged Deep Cycle battery like the cheap ones do, I won't have to constantly hear it clicking on and off because you really need microprocessor control to do it right and it's set up in such a way that it disconnects with the ignition off (isolated discharge) but locks out the starter circuit (Just like a neutral safety switch does) if I forget to turn it off before I start the motor which would cause it to use the Deep Cycle battery in parallel with the start battery. So the worst case scenario is I forget to turn it on to recharge the Deep Cycle battery which is what I would have anyway without it. BTW both battery's voltage are monitored with a digital voltmeter (Analog voltage gauges are worthless IMO) so I'll know their state of charge

 

[redbug]

I have seen on almost every fishing board i check when it comes to batteries abut 80% of the people all say they go to walmart and get a new battery every year for free they never say anything about them being bad they just want a new one every year
that is stealing IMO but the no questions asked return policy is asking for it. but it is wrong and cost the people who try to do it right a place to buy a battery

 

[FishingCop]

I have seen on almost every fishing board i check when it comes to batteries abut 80% of the people all say they go to walmart and get a new battery every year for free they never say anything about them being bad they just want a new one every year
that is stealing IMO but the no questions asked return policy is asking for it. but it is wrong and cost the people who try to do it right a place to buy a battery

I've seen these posts also - and, I agree that a regular replacement for no good reason is not proper. When I took mine back, they tested it and determined that it was bad before they would replace it.

If you've followed this post, you sill see that I took responsibility for not maintaining/charging/checking the water, etc. as it should have been done. I believe that the batteries going bad were probably my fault and not a inferior product. I've learned a lot from the responses above and, hopefully, I will get several years use out of my two new batteries. So, in one sense, I probably abused the warranty cause I didn't maintain the battery properly and therefore, am part of the problem. But, on the other hand, I did not intentionally abuse the warranty nor not care for the battery because I could get a new one free - it was simply my inexperience and being a novice boat owner. I have learned from the experience and we will definitely maintain my batteries properly in the future.

 

[longjohn119]

I have seen on almost every fishing board i check when it comes to batteries abut 80% of the people all say they go to walmart and get a new battery every year for free they never say anything about them being bad they just want a new one every year
that is stealing IMO but the no questions asked return policy is asking for it. but it is wrong and cost the people who try to do it right a place to buy a battery

You hit the nail on the head, because of these people Walmart is dropping their warranty and us honest folk get screwed in the process

 

[redbug]

Fish cop.. seeing how you store your boat away from home you MAY want to think about this:
I had the same problem and i picked up a Honda generator that would run my 3 bank charger for 6 hours on a .6 gallon tank
I would drop my boat off hook up my charger chained to my trailer of course and away i went. the generator cost $497 and I use it for other stuff at work but it saved my batteries. over the winter I removed the batteries and stored them at home