AGM Battery vs Traditional Battery

[BamaDrewski]

I am sure this debate has been going on numerous times on the forums. I bought a Sears DieHard Platinum AGM battery back in 2012. It just crapped out after 6 years.

Having paid a fortune for it (and having an Optima before) I went the "old school" route and got a Group 34 (710CCA) "traditional" battery as a replacement for $93. It has a 5 year warranty. Just got tired of spending the big bucks on the AGM's....

Anyone else reach this conclusion?

 

[TheDurk]

I am sure this debate has been going on numerous times on the forums. I bought a Sears DieHard Platinum AGM battery back in 2012. It just crapped out after 6 years.

Having paid a fortune for it (and having an Optima before) I went the "old school" route and got a Group 34 (710CCA) "traditional" battery as a replacement for $93. It has a 5 year warranty. Just got tired of spending the big bucks on the AGM's....

Anyone else reach this conclusion?

Yep. Me. Generally Costco for <$100.

 

[LittleCaesar]

I personally had Liqui Moly ship me over a new AGM battery just last week.

The two things i have seen that AGM batteries have on advantage in is being able to hold a reserve cranking capacity as they age and not discharge in heat/humidity as your traditional battery does.

That said i will go back to the group 24 battery as well. If I did serious off-roading in the West I would buy another Duralast Platinum in a heartbeat.

 

[BamaDrewski]

I personally had Liqui Moly ship me over a new AGM battery just last week.

The two things i have seen that AGM batteries have on advantage in is being able to hold a reserve cranking capacity as they age and not discharge in heat/humidity as your traditional battery does.

That said i will go back to the group 24 battery as well. If I did serious off-roading in the West I would buy another Duralast Platinum in a heartbeat.

For me, I prefer the LiquiMoly line of personal hygiene products. The slogan is: "Vous fait sentir comme un mécanicien" (Google it.....LOL)

I figure for the money I have forked out with AGM, I would just get the traditional battery and hope it serves me well for the length of the warranty. I look at it this way; $93 for a 5 year warranty vs. $200-$280 for a three year warranty......of course an AGM looks sexier and all but a fat wallet is far more sexier.....LOL

 

[T4R2014]

Yep. Me. Generally Costco for <$100.

I used to be all for them, but ever since this Interstate rebranding they've been having this nasty tendency to leak acid after a few months. I went through three until I had it. I will recommend the Everstart Max from WalMart.

It's odd, because I'm pretty sure every non-AGM is made by Johnson Controls, with the major differences being warranty and CCAs. I guess different brands demand different standards.

 

[kball]

Last time I bought my 3 Duralast Platinums they were around $150-160. Now they are $190, so that makes the decision harder. But, since two of them are almost 7 years old and one is almost 6 and they are all still going strong, it sways me more with every year. The issue is, they last so long that when you need to buy a new one they aren't the same, or are they? The Optima's definitely were not. Are the Duralast Platinums still the same battery?

 

[BamaDrewski]

I used to be all for them, but ever since this Interstate rebranding they've been having this nasty tendency to leak acid after a few months. I went through three until I had it. I will recommend the Everstart Max from WalMart.

It's odd, because I'm pretty sure every non-AGM is made by Johnson Controls, with the major differences being warranty and CCAs. I guess different brands demand different standards.

The "Everstart Max" from WalMart is actually what I put in this time. I want to see how it does. I scanned the receipt on regular paper (thermal paper fades out over time) and I will keep it in my truck. That way, I can hold WallieWorld to the warranty without finding the blank original receipt (faded out by heat).

I guess I have reached the point where I would rather spend the big bucks on other things than a battery. After all, the traditional lead/acid battery has been around for generations and the AGM's seem to be a way to milk more money from our wallets....

Also, I seem to recall reading (and have no way of knowing if it is true) that "short trips" shorten the life of the battery and that it "takes 8 hours of continuous driving for the alternator to fully recharge an automotive battery". I rarely take 8 hour long trips........

Finally, "warranties" are only as good as our ability to back the purchase up with records/receipts. Of course, the company who has the "warranty" has to stand behind it. I have never had an issue with WalMart on warranties and I am hoping this is also true with their (Johnson Controls) batteries.....

 

[Jungoes]

For me AGM..
if you start in low temps ..and I need to with lows of minus 40 deg c.in winter the agm just performs.
When a battery discharges the electrolyte dissociates leaving acid on top and water below ..which then freezes. Acid at higher concentrations has a lower freezing point. I have had 2 normal batteries crap out on me under a year with a frozen bulged lower section which is not covered under warranty. Agm batteries are less prone to this dissociation of the acid.
. Since I started using Agms I have had no issues. Cranks really strong even with the truck sitting outside for 3 days. Yes it's more expensive but I can't afford to have a dead battery. I change them out every 4yrs.

 

[pluton]

It is well worth the approx $180 extra for an AGM for 2 reasons:
1. No corrosion around the battery for the life(min 5 years in my experience) of the battery.
2. Should I dump the truck in a ditch in a remote location, I won't come back to recover it and find sulfuric acid holes eaten out of the frame, alternator, body, etc. from the tipped over FLA battery.
If I never took it out to remote locations, and only drove it on the street, it wouldn't matter as much.

 

[snow junky]

I used to have a optima yellow top. It eventually slowly died and I replaced it with a $50 Walmart battery. I will be replacing it once a year probably. Ends up being cheaper and I will allways have a new battery

 

[HiLife]

In 4 years I have got through 2 wet cell batteries due to cells shorting out because of extreme pot holes in the roads here.
I haven't tried it yet, maybe AGM's are better for my situation.

 

[LittleCaesar]

Last time I bought my 3 Duralast Platinums they were around $150-160. Now they are $190, so that makes the decision harder. But, since two of them are almost 7 years old and one is almost 6 and they are all still going strong, it sways me more with every year. The issue is, they last so long that when you need to buy a new one they aren't the same, or are they? The Optima's definitely were not. Are the Duralast Platinums still the same battery?

The last time I spoke with the store manager at my local AZ he said they were, just cosmetic changes.

My brother runs Autocraft AGMs from AA and has two that are eight years old. No problems as of yet.

If I have an extra $40 for a battery, I would buy an AGM again.

Nothing though beats the factory OEM Japanese Panasonic, that could last ten year or more.

 

[JAXJeremy]

This is the battery I use in my offroad rig and the one I will be putting in my 4runner when the factory one dies (which hopefully will be years from now)...

https://www.batteriesplus.com/battery/car-and-truck/ford/bronco/1992/v8-5.8l-650cca/sli65agmdpm

I went through 4 or 5 optimas befor I bought one of these...granted, it's not inexepensive, but the fact that it's dual purpose starting/cycling battery is great..I'm running a bunch of extra equipment and this thing doesn't break a sweat when I use my winch.

 

[jgue467]

The "Everstart Max" from WalMart is actually what I put in this time. I want to see how it does. I scanned the receipt on regular paper (thermal paper fades out over time)

They usually go off the date stickers on the side of the battery, at least when I show up.

I've learned to show up a month or so Before the full-replacement part of the warranty goes out at Walmart, then just mention starts are getting slow (which they often are), they test and find it is getting weaker so they replace for Free, once anyway. You will not have a warranty on the replacement but hey you won't need to deal with that for a few years! :cowboy:

 

[T4R2014]

Walmart or Costco are easy exchange. They don’t care. Advance Auto told me to come back and charge/test all that bs. I returned the battery at another store where the guy was too lazy to test it. I think he was aware that our time is worth more than diagnosing a POS $100 battery.