Napa Batteries

[Stmar]

I have had good luck with Napa batteries for my vehicles. I actually "recycle", if I need a battery for my F250 that I don't drive that often I will put a new battery in my F150 that I drive all the time and put that battery in the F250 and use it's battery for the core charge.
I bought a Legend Premium this time. It had less cc amps, 750 vs. 850, than the regular Legend but it was only $10 more. The guy there said it had something to do with the plates/construction but he was not specific. I looked on the web but could not find what the difference is, but I did see something about Deka making Napa batteries now. Anybody have any idea? For my solar system battery weight is a key indicator but the difference between these two was only a pound.

 

[DustyRusty]

My Kubota BX came with a Deka battery, and it lasted about 12 or 13 years, with no maintenance on my part. The tractor sat for weeks between snow storms outside, and in the summer, the use was sporadic at best. It was one of the longest use I ever got out of a battery.

 

[SidecarFlip]

My ongoing philosophy with any battery is never buy a battery with dust on it's top. Date codes are fantasy because the retailer marks the date sold, not the date manufactured and with all wet charged batteries, when it's filled with electrolyte at the manufacturer, it's instantly getting used up.

So, any batter with a dusty top is old and getting used up, how much is always a crap shoot. I tend to buy Interstates but wherever I buy a batter,y it has to be a volume dealer, not some mom and pop auto parts store where that batter may have been sitting for months or years.

Both my M's came with Yuhasa batteries and both lasted around 10 years before I replaced them with Interstates.

Anything past 5 years on a flooded cell is exceptional.

If I could afford it, I'd run Li-Ion batteries. I cannot (afford them).

 

[D2Cat]

Battery suppliers are who delivers the batteries to even "mom and pop" stores. They deliver on a regular schedule, and at the same time pick up batteries that have been on the shelf as long as they allow. The size of the outlet varies very little on age of usefulness of a battery.

If the shortest shelf life is your only criteria, best place to buy batteries is Wal-Mart!

 

[AllDodge]

Stopped buying napa bats, they just don't last me, have several laying on the floor in the barn, Group 27, 31, 4D. These were in dump truck, backhoe, dozer and track loader (things that sit). Use either use AGM's or CAT bats now

 

[SidecarFlip]

Battery suppliers are who delivers the batteries to even "mom and pop" stores. They deliver on a regular schedule, and at the same time pick up batteries that have been on the shelf as long as they allow. The size of the outlet varies very little on age of usefulness of a battery.

If the shortest shelf life is your only criteria, best place to buy batteries is Wal-Mart!

So, they pick up the stale batteries and dust the tops off and deliver them to another retailer? Sound right?

I only partially agree with your WalMart assumption. Any volume retailer is good, not just wally world. I prefer to buy NOTHING from Wal Mart, I don't need to increase the trade imbalance.

Age and life expectancy is directly related to when the battery was made and filled with acid and not anything else.

I only buy 3 brands, Intersttate being first, East Penn (Deka) second and Crown third. All made in North America. All union shops too.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Stopped buying napa bats, they just don't last me, have several laying on the floor in the barn, Group 27, 31, 4D. These were in dump truck, backhoe, dozer and track loader (things that sit). Use either use AGM's or CAT bats now

CAT Batteries are Delphi and Delphi is East Penn.

 

[AllDodge]

CAT Batteries are Delphi and Delphi is East Penn.

Could be, all I know is they are lasting

 

[bucktail]

Battery suppliers are who delivers the batteries to even "mom and pop" stores. They deliver on a regular schedule, and at the same time pick up batteries that have been on the shelf as long as they allow. The size of the outlet varies very little on age of usefulness of a battery.

If the shortest shelf life is your only criteria, best place to buy batteries is Wal-Mart!

I've never had anything worse than O'Reillies. I bought one for my S10 and one for my Dakota there. The one for my S10 lasted less than a year, I was dumb enough to get another under prorated warranty. The one in my Dakota was still cranking good when I dumped it, but I couldn't get it to stop leaking acid all over the place.

 

[Captain13]

NAPA batteries, for the most part, are made by DEKA. However, look closely and you will now see some are being imported from Saudi Arabia.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Basic rule of thumb is..

If the battery has a dusty top, don't buy it.