Nate,

Look into marine batteries.  They are intended for deep cycling.  I don't
have the electrical load
in my Jeep that you do in yours ( LOVE MY JEEPS!! ), but I've had good luck
with marine batteries
in all my off-road vehicles.  They don't cost what they're asking for
Optimas, either.

D.

Artificial Intelligence is no match for Natural Stupidity.


***************************************************************


>From: Nate Duehr <nate@NATETECH.COM>
>Reply-To: pic microcontroller discussion list <PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
>To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
>Subject: Re: [EE]: Interesting automotive battery falure
>Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 11:52:56 -0700
>
>On Saturday 27 December 2003 10:10 pm, James Cameron wrote:
>
> > Having moved into the outback about four years ago, we go through
> > lots of batteries.  I had a new one today, it had been installed in
> > May. The failure rate appears to relate to high temperatures and
> > vibration on dirt roads.
>
>I would agree with this experience.  I do a lot of 4x4 backcountry
>driving in my Jeep Cherokee and my battery failure rate is twice what
>my wife's is in her Honda Civic.  (She got 6 years out of the original
>manufacturer's battery, I got 3.  We're both on our second
>non-manufacturer OEM batteries now.)  My dad also does a lot of
>backcountry driving and his battery failure rate in his GMC Jimmy has
>been about 3 years to a battery also.
>
>The "one cell shorted, voltage low" also seems to be the most common
>failure for both of us.
>
>I purchased a "off-road/4x4" version of the DieHard brand from Sears
>recently.  I'll let you know in 3 (or more) years how it stands up.
>;-)
>
>Their claim is that it's better suited for off-road activity, looking at
>the case, it appears to be a much more rugged construction, but not
>sure internally how much difference there is.  LOL... hopefully some.
>That or I'm a typical idiot consumer who'll buy anything.  :-)
>
>I would have liked to have tried the Optima brand cylindrical batteries,
>but the battery picked a bad financial time of the year to die, so I
>"splurged" an extra $30 to get the "off-road" DieHard and we'll see how
>she goes...
>
>As a side note, I'm VERY hard on batteries and electrical system
>components.  I have a bunch of Amateur radio transmitters installed or
>not installed at various times of the year, depending on communications
>needs.  All pull high current from the battery system, and I do
>regularly use them with the engine off, so my battery tends to get
>"deep cycled" more than it would in a typical use vehicle.  As a
>comparison, my wife's car has a single transmitter in it and it's
>rarely used except when the vehicle is in motion and the Alternator can
>take up the load it creates.
>
>--
>Nate Duehr, nate@natetech.com
>
>--
>http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us!
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