Batteries...Big 3 any preference?

Seems that all batteries no matter what brand are made by one
of 3 companies, Exide, Douglas, and Johnson Controls. If there's
a fourth I'm not aware of it.

The last 2 batteries I've had have been Exides from Kmart,
and although they are pro-rated 75 month batteries, neither has
lasted more than 2 years. I know they don't have to, they just
pro-rate
the diff and that's part of the game, but I seem to recall once upon-a
having batteries that lasted 3-4 years w/o incident. I'm wondering if
I might do better with
an Johnson Controls, or Douglas.

Anyone have any preferences or are they all the same give or take?


MB

AC/Delco, baby.

Best battery on the market. Not unusual to see a 5 yr go 7.

Honda uses them for OE, that should say something...


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I believe that would just be a Johnson Controls battery. AcDelco
doesn't make their own
battery.

jeffcoslacker wrote:
> AC/Delco, baby.
>
> Best battery on the market. Not unusual to see a 5 yr go 7.
>
> Honda uses them for OE, that should say something...
>
>
> --
> jeffcoslacker
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> jeffcoslacker's Profile: http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...?userid=219638
> View this thread: http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=582144
>
> http://www.automotiveforums.com

NAPA batterys were top rated in last fall's consumer reports test. I'm
not positive who manufacturers them today but they used to be East Penn
Mfg. Co. Deka


wrote:
> Seems that all batteries no matter what brand are made by one
> of 3 companies, Exide, Douglas, and Johnson Controls. If there's
> a fourth I'm not aware of it.
>
> The last 2 batteries I've had have been Exides from Kmart,
> and although they are pro-rated 75 month batteries, neither has
> lasted more than 2 years. I know they don't have to, they just
> pro-rate
> the diff and that's part of the game, but I seem to recall once upon-a
> having batteries that lasted 3-4 years w/o incident. I'm wondering if
> I might do better with
> an Johnson Controls, or Douglas.
>
> Anyone have any preferences or are they all the same give or take?
>
>
> MB

"Lefty" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> NAPA batterys were top rated in last fall's consumer reports test. I'm
> not positive who manufacturers them today but they used to be East Penn
> Mfg. Co. Deka

Like many Consumer Reports test, the battery test is not as useful as you
might think. It is hard to do an actual "life test." CR simulated one in the
following manner:

"Our life test mimics those tough conditions by measuring how many
repetitive, 100-hour drain-and-recharge cycles batteries can handle before
their cold-cranking voltage falls below an industry-specified minimum.
Models that excelled in that test endured as many as seven
drain-and-recharge cycles, compared with less than two for the worst
performers."

I rarely (try to never) completely drain my battery. I suppose the CR Test
is somewhat useful since it is about all you can do if you are going to rate
a batteries life before the model goes out of production, but it doesn't
evaluate a lot of things than might play into how many years the battery
will last in a normal application.

Here are the CR recommendations:

Best for cold climates:
1 NAPA $80 (65)
4 ACDelco $90 (65)
13 ACDelco $90 (75)
22 EverStart $40 (24/24F), CR Best Buy
24 EverStart $60 (34/78), CR Best Buy
32 NAPA $60 (35)
34 Autocraft $50 (35)
The EverStarts (22, 24) are especially good values within their group sizes.

If you live where it's warm:
1 NAPA $80 (65)
2 Duralast $60 (65), CR Best Buy
15 NAPA $70 (75)
26 ACDelco $90 (34/78)
32 NAPA $60 (35)
34 Autocraft $50 (35)

All of these scored relatively well in life and reserve capacity. The NAPAs
(1, 15, 32) and Autocraft (34) scored well for CCA, a plus for trips to cold
areas. Also consider the Nascar (16) if you're willing to trade some life
for a low price.

According to the Battery FAQ (
http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/batbrand.htm ), NAPA Batteries are made
GNB. AC Delco Batteries are made by Johnson Controls.

Ed

C. E. White wrote:
> "Lefty" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
> >
> Here are the CR recommendations:
>
> Best for cold climates:
> 1 NAPA $80 (65)
> 4 ACDelco $90 (65)
> 13 ACDelco $90 (75)
> 22 EverStart $40 (24/24F), CR Best Buy
> 24 EverStart $60 (34/78), CR Best Buy
> 32 NAPA $60 (35)
> 34 Autocraft $50 (35)
> The EverStarts (22, 24) are especially good values within their group sizes.
>
> If you live where it's warm:
> 1 NAPA $80 (65)
> 2 Duralast $60 (65), CR Best Buy
> 15 NAPA $70 (75)
> 26 ACDelco $90 (34/78)
> 32 NAPA $60 (35)
> 34 Autocraft $50 (35)
>
> All of these scored relatively well in life and reserve capacity. The NAPAs
> (1, 15, 32) and Autocraft (34) scored well for CCA, a plus for trips to cold
> areas. Also consider the Nascar (16) if you're willing to trade some life
> for a low price.
>
> According to the Battery FAQ (
> http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/batbrand.htm ), NAPA Batteries are made
> GNB. AC Delco Batteries are made by Johnson Controls.
>
>Checking battery mfg pages and the like, Duralast, AcDelco, autocraft, and everstart are all Johnson Controls battieres. GNB is now a part of Exide. Not sure what "brands" are made by Deka/Douglas.

MB

C. E. White Wrote:
> "Lefty" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
> > NAPA batterys were top rated in last fall's consumer reports test.
> I'm
> > not positive who manufacturers them today but they used to be East
> Penn
> > Mfg. Co. Deka
>
> Like many Consumer Reports test, the battery test is not as useful as
> you
> might think. It is hard to do an actual "life test." CR simulated one
> in the
> following manner:
>
> "Our life test mimics those tough conditions by measuring how many
> repetitive, 100-hour drain-and-recharge cycles batteries can handle
> before
> their cold-cranking voltage falls below an industry-specified minimum.
> Models that excelled in that test endured as many as seven
> drain-and-recharge cycles, compared with less than two for the worst
> performers."
>
> I rarely (try to never) completely drain my battery. I suppose the CR
> Test
> is somewhat useful since it is about all you can do if you are going to
> rate
> a batteries life before the model goes out of production, but it
> doesn't
> evaluate a lot of things than might play into how many years the
> battery
> will last in a normal application.
>
> Here are the CR recommendations:
>
> Best for cold climates:
> 1 NAPA $80 (65)
> 4 ACDelco $90 (65)
> 13 ACDelco $90 (75)
> 22 EverStart $40 (24/24F), CR Best Buy
> 24 EverStart $60 (34/78), CR Best Buy
> 32 NAPA $60 (35)
> 34 Autocraft $50 (35)
> The EverStarts (22, 24) are especially good values within their group
> sizes.
>
> If you live where it's warm:
> 1 NAPA $80 (65)
> 2 Duralast $60 (65), CR Best Buy
> 15 NAPA $70 (75)
> 26 ACDelco $90 (34/78)
> 32 NAPA $60 (35)
> 34 Autocraft $50 (35)
>
> All of these scored relatively well in life and reserve capacity. The
> NAPAs
> (1, 15, 32) and Autocraft (34) scored well for CCA, a plus for trips to
> cold
> areas. Also consider the Nascar (16) if you're willing to trade some
> life
> for a low price.
>
> According to the Battery FAQ (
> http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/batbrand.htm ), NAPA Batteries are
> made
> GNB. AC Delco Batteries are made by Johnson Controls.
>
> Ed

Yeah for a real longevity test, you'd need to do all that cycling while
subjecting them to hundreds of hours of jarring and vibration and wild
temperature fluctuations and g-forces.

The quality and design of the construction goes a lot farther than just
CCA and cycling.


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On 21 Jun 2006 17:34:24 -0700, " >
wrote:

>Seems that all batteries no matter what brand are made by one
>of 3 companies, Exide, Douglas, and Johnson Controls. If there's
>a fourth I'm not aware of it.
>
>The last 2 batteries I've had have been Exides from Kmart,
>and although they are pro-rated 75 month batteries, neither has
>lasted more than 2 years. I know they don't have to, they just
>pro-rate
>the diff and that's part of the game, but I seem to recall once upon-a
>having batteries that lasted 3-4 years w/o incident. I'm wondering if
>I might do better with
>an Johnson Controls, or Douglas.
>
>Anyone have any preferences or are they all the same give or take?
>
>
>MB

Hi MB,

You are correct, the top two car battery manufacturers, Johnson
Controls, Exide, private label millions of car batteries every year.
Actually here is the line up:

Johnson Controls is the largest manufacturer with 31% of the total
followed by Exide with 14%, GS Yuasa (pending merger of Yuasa and
Japan Storage Battery) with 10%, Matsu****a with 4%, East Penn (Deka)
with 3%, FIAMM with 3%, and all others with 35%.

ACDelco is a branding by General Motors and most of their batteries
were manufactured by Delphi, but Delphi sold their car battery
manufacturing business to Johnson Controls last year.

Please see Section 7.8 in the Car and Deep Cycle Battery FAQ on
www.batteryfaq.org for some buying tips.

Kindest regards,

BiLL......