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Car battery tests are of no value
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chickadee:
I keep cars in multiple states, one of them is in Phoenix AZ.  That car needs a battery twice as often as the one that is in a rather cold midwest state.  Cold weather definitely serves to reduce output, but doesn't necessarily seem to induce failure - The output comes back up with temperature.  In phoenix, when that battery is dead, it's dead!  And it's like every 2 years!!!  Guarantee you I'll have to replace it again soon and I just put one in it summer 2018.
maginnovision:
In Lake Havasu I don't have the same experience chickadee. Here in southern california the only time I have seen a car battery last <5 years is people using the battery without vehicle running, not using it enough(sleep current eventually kills it), or leaving things on while car is parked. I have one now for a car that sat for 3 months and it was dead. I brought it back over a week and back to service it went. Then the driver left the interior lights on over a weekend and nothing is bringing that battery back now.
SilverSolder:

--- Quote from: tautech on March 03, 2020, 11:34:59 pm ---
--- Quote from: SilverSolder on March 03, 2020, 10:29:52 pm ---That approach can get expensive real fast, because a common failure mode of a starter motor is worn bearings which cause it to draw much more current (while still having trouble starting the engine). 

--- End quote ---
Not IME.
Every starter is different, those that use a geared reduction give little trouble in that they don't have to provide lots of torque whereas a direct drive starter is a completely different animal entirely.
Direct drive starters only spin relatively slow so mostly use bushes instead of bearings but the currents they draw are much higher which is both harder on brushes and batteries requiring higher CCA rated batteries.
Brush wear in these can be a ongoing issue too, not only of the brush replacement but more frequently servicing to address the conductive carbon contamination inside the brush housing that can add significantly to current draw.

Bushes also require occasional lubrication however that's also done when carbon contamination is addressed.
The average automotive starter doesn't generally experience any of these issues unlike industrial engines that might do several 10's of 1000's of hours and be in service for decades.
YMMV

--- End quote ---

I guess I'm revealing a tendency to keep cars a REALLY long time!   :-DD

The excessive current issue has happened to me with several different cars,  most recently a 1990 Mazda MX5.   Fixed with a $20 starter from the auto wreckers!

I guess the point is -  Don't automatically condemn the battery if the car doesn't seem to crank properly, there is a significant chance that it is the battery, but sometimes it isn't...

tautech:

--- Quote from: SilverSolder on March 04, 2020, 12:09:33 am ---I guess the point is -  Don't automatically condemn the battery if the car doesn't seem to crank properly, there is a significant chance that it is the battery, but sometimes it isn't...

--- End quote ---
Precisely !  :-+

I have machinery up to 50 yrs old that starters only require infrequent servicing and the only starter replaced was a direct drive one in a car that had a dicky ignition switch that occasionally stuck ON and my daughter didn't know and borrowed the car and demolished the starter ! Trip to the wreckers yard for another one.......

Luckily machinery starters are easier to remove than automotive ones.  :phew:
chickadee:

--- Quote from: maginnovision on March 04, 2020, 12:00:49 am ---In Lake Havasu I don't have the same experience chickadee. Here in southern california the only time I have seen a car battery last <5 years is people using the battery without vehicle running, not using it enough(sleep current eventually kills it), or leaving things on while car is parked. I have one now for a car that sat for 3 months and it was dead. I brought it back over a week and back to service it went. Then the driver left the interior lights on over a weekend and nothing is bringing that battery back now.

--- End quote ---

In 10 years I still haven't made it out that way!  Camping all over prescott and grand canyon, love sedona, but sooner or later I will make it out that way!

It looks like the climate there is similar to PHX, so I would hypothesize that the car's underhood temperatures in PHX are higher?  The area has really become a sea of pavement, I only drive older EU cars and the one I have there is a twin turbo so the underhood temps are definitely "WAY UP THERE".  The battery has never died when the car was sitting and the car isn't left alone for more than a couple months at a time.  I've spoken with colleagues and they seem to have similar experiences, maybe this is just a PHX thing?  Or rather, a "living in a sea of 150 degree pavement" thing?  I remember the last time the battery died so well, because it was the same week that it was so hot that they were grounding the CRJ aircraft at PHX due to air density :-DD

By the way, right now, thinking of that hot pavement is making me crave dutch bros ice coffee... I have 2 fully loaded punch cards already in my wallet so I don't forget them like I did last time  ;D
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