Battery quality

Capri

2 different cars, same make of battery fails in both...are some batteries better than others?

Usually use 1 motor factor for parts, so battery goes and I get a new one, fails after 6 months and after a bit of 'test your alternator/starter etc' they replace it. Bought a newer motor and once again original battery goes and I get new one from said factors, lasts a year before failing, they give me new one without quibble after testing it on the car, now we're 4months down the line and the replacement has failed, they tested it and said their machine says it's ok but reputable auto electrician tested and said it's faulty on 'high discharge test' so I'm heading back to them with it and the report today to see what they'll say. The make they supply is 'Platinum' (who do Oldham as well ) but I'm thinking Exide/Yuasa might be a better make ?

punisher5112

What is your driving style and does the car have keyless entry?

w211

Almost everyone have a simple multimeter at home. The charging voltage must be around 14V. If alternator voltage regulator goes bad it can cook the battery. Yuasa batteries have a 5 years warranty.

FishOnABike

You might need to ensure the battery you get is suited to the make, model, engine and year of the car. Petrol engine vs diesel, auxillary loads, smart charge systems and stop start technology can all affect the required battery specification.

Atlantic Dawn

Exide give a 4 year warranty, they are either very good batteries or very bad businessmen if they are not.

biko

If the most that your batteries lasts is a year then something isn't right.
Many owners will only change battery once or twice during their ownership of a car

What car is it? Year, etc?

Do try a different brand but tbh it sounds like something else.

punisher5112

Short drives, stop start constantly, leaving long times without a drive, keyless entry cars where you still turn a device where key would be can have issues if not switched off correctly, leaving things on when parked up, cold then kills it off.

corks finest

punisher5112 wrote: »

What is your driving style and does the car have keyless entry?

Why would keyless entry make a difference?not not picking but have keyless - drive 60/ 80 mike's daily - no problems ref battery at all and it's certainly not new

corks finest

punisher5112 wrote: »

Short drives, stop start constantly, leaving long times without a drive, keyless entry cars where you still turn a device where key would be can have issues if not switched off correctly, leaving things on when parked up, cold then kills it off.

How can you not turn a car off properly? I've keyless and am genuinely interested - in my keyless car it's off when I press off

Del2005

Do you install anything into the cars after you buy them? Doing 30 mile journeys should be enough to recharge the battery after starting, so your commute isn't the issue, 2 cars means it's not the car.

But you've used more batteries in 2 years than most people do in a lifetime, so unless you have a badly fitted after market item you must be doing something wrong.

punisher5112

corks finest wrote: »

How can you not turn a car off properly? I've keyless and am genuinely interested - in my keyless car it's off when I press off

There are different types.

Some are push button others you still turn the ignition.

If it's not turned back and locked properly it drains the battery.

Capri

Insignia 160PS, lots of electrical gizmos on it but I do make sure as little as possible is in use. Do about 100ml/day on average so plenty of charging time. I can only think of the XJ12 S1 had a fan on the battery box to keep the battery cool as underbonnet heat seems to be one cause of problems. Anyway, 2 seperate tests confirmed dead cell and they swopped it under guarantee but if it goes a third time I'll have to rig up something to find out whats happening as I don't need this problem

punisher5112

Capri wrote: »

Insignia 160PS, lots of electrical gizmos on it but I do make sure as little as possible is in use. Do about 100ml/day on average so plenty of charging time. I can only think of the XJ12 S1 had a fan on the battery box to keep the battery cool as underbonnet heat seems to be one cause of problems. Anyway, 2 seperate tests confirmed dead cell and they swopped it under guarantee but if it goes a third time I'll have to rig up something to find out whats happening as I don't need this problem

There is definitely something draining the battery.

Capri

punisher5112 wrote: »

There is definitely something draining the battery.

Car starts ok 98% of the time on cold mornings (the 2% can be sluggish, but not requiring jump start), but after a run it mightn't restart 10 mins later..... Let's see how the latest battery performs..

Zimmerframe

What has battery drain or keyless entry or any of that malarkey got to do with it. If something was draining the battery, the chances of it starting every morning for 6 months would be slim. If there was a drain of that magnitude, to make for a sluggish start, then if the car was left at any stage for an extra day, it would surely be stone dead.

Some quotes from the OP.

Capri wrote: »

2 different cars, same make of battery fails in both...

Capri wrote: »

reputable auto electrician tested and said it's faulty on 'high discharge test'

Capri wrote: »

2 seperate tests confirmed dead cell and they swopped it under guarantee

Seems obvious what the problem is, I would be inclined to to get a different battery manufacturer next time.

greasepalm

I will assume error scanning was done on vehicle after battery was replaced.

mickdw

Capri wrote: »

Car starts ok 98% of the time on cold mornings (the 2% can be sluggish, but not requiring jump start), but after a run it mightn't restart 10 mins later..... Let's see how the latest battery performs..

Saw similar fault on insignia before. Random non start like a flat battery.
Rectifier within alternator was the issue. I just replaced the rectifier which was about 20 quid and no issues after.