Diehard Gold AGM Battery

17887 Views 43 Replies 17 Participants Last post by BDCCruze, May 6, 2019

IndyDiesel

Discussion Starter · Sep 11, 2017

If you are looking for a diesel battery, Sears has their battery on sale for $158.99 plus they have a $50 rebate on this battery. Might be worth giving consideration if you need a battery.

Reactions: 3

21 - 40 of 44 Posts

Rivergoer

· #21 · Sep 14, 2017

Our small Sears store doesn't carry batteries, mainly just appliances. Our local Battery store dropped Interstate for Deka, anybody heard of Deka?

Used Interstate for decades in boats, cars, RVs with good results. However, I noticed the last few years Interstate longevity in our extreme desert heat really went downhill. Recently lost a couple of Interstate batteries after only 24-30 months.

The owner of our Battery store claims Deka is US made and superior quality vs Interstate. The parent company is East Penn Mfg in Pennsylvania.

Thoughts?

Patman

· #22 · Sep 14, 2017

IMO You are probably going to find most batteries are manufactured by the same base company and different names are put on the same batteries depending on who has the demand

Reactions: 1

vwgtiglx

· #23 · Sep 14, 2017

Rivergoer said:
Our small Sears store doesn't carry batteries, mainly just appliances. Our local Battery store dropped Interstate for Deka, anybody heard of Deka?

Used Interstate for decades in boats, cars, RVs with good results. However, I noticed the last few years Interstate longevity in our extreme desert heat really went downhill. Recently lost a couple of Interstate batteries after only 24-30 months.

The owner of our Battery store claims Deka is US made and superior quality vs Interstate. The parent company is East Penn Mfg in Pennsylvania.

Thoughts?

Today my choice would be Battery Plus X2 AGM 94R/AGM or Blains Fleet/Farm Duration Extreme 94R/AGM although Battery Plus has a 6 year FULL free replacement warranty. Daka makes both of these batteries along with the Intimidator. I have both of these batteries in my cars and have been more than impressed with them.

Reactions: 1

Taxman

· #24 · Sep 14, 2017

vwgtiglx said:
Daka makes both of these batteries along with the Intimidator. I have both of these batteries in my cars and have been more than impressed with them.

You mean Deka / East Penn?
East Penn Manufacturing – The world's largest single site, family-owned lead-acid battery manufacturer

Rivergoer

· #25 · Sep 14, 2017

Taxman said:
You mean Deka / East Penn?
East Penn Manufacturing â€“ The world's largest single site, family-owned lead-acid battery manufacturer

Deka, Daka, DACA...whatever...Yes, the car battery made by East Penn Mfg.

All car batteries, even the bad ones, last longer than DACA did.

Taxman

· #26 · Sep 14, 2017

If I'd read Rivergoer's 2am post, there'd have been no need for me to post anything about Deka on this thread.

But when it comes to long term battery success, some of my best experiences were with Walmart's Everstart batteries. I still have one old Everstart, was bought new in October 2002.

That Everstart battery from the fall of 2002 has been going downhill in recent years. Two years ago, it wouldn't start the car after being left parked with the clock and computers running for more than a month or two. Last year it pretty much had to be charged every time I ran the car. This spring, it wouldn't take enough of a charge to start the car even once, so it can be declared totally dead less than 15 years after it was made, but some of that's my fault for letting it go flat several times over the years.

Somehow, I do not get the impression that Walmart's buyers have any interest in spec'ing batteries to the same quality level as 15 years ago.

Reactions: 1

BDCCruze

· #27 · Sep 14, 2017

I think almost anyone can make good batteries if they want. The decision on the quality and durability comes from what market segment they want to be in, therefore reflecting the amount they spend on construction and QA of the batteries.

Reactions: 2

Tomko

· #28 · Sep 14, 2017

BDCCruze said:
I think almost anyone can make good batteries if they want. The decision on the quality and durability comes from what market segment they want to be in, therefore reflecting the amount they spend on construction and QA of the batteries.

Probably true of pretty much any other product. I'd love to have mil-spec but my pockets aren't that deep.

Reactions: 2

boraz

· #29 · Sep 14, 2017

still on OG battery

tests perfect

Tomko

· #30 · Sep 14, 2017

boraz said:
still on OG battery

tests perfect

If I remeber correctly you use your CTD to go from home to work - a couple hundred miles each way - but don't use the car otherwise. So it would be a rare occurrence when the car is started more than once a day - or not given a 100 miles or so of runtime before being asked to start the engine again.

Rivergoer

· #31 · Sep 15, 2017

boraz said:
still on OG battery

tests perfect

Tomko said:
Probably true of pretty much any other product. I'd love to have mil-spec but my pockets aren't that deep.

Never lived in cold climate before...how does cold affect battery longevity?

Here in the desert southwest the 115-120 degree summers are absolutely brutal on car batteries.

Taxman

· #32 · Sep 15, 2017

Rivergoer said:
Never lived in cold climate before...how does cold affect battery longevity?

If you let them discharge and freeze, it kills them. A fully charged, high specific gravity battery has a very low freezing point, so disconnect the battery and charge it every month or two when you store a car for the winter, or put it on a float charger/maintainer.

As long as you don't freeze the battery, it deteriorates/ages slower in cold temps.

Reactions: 1

Tomko

· #33 · Sep 15, 2017 (Edited)

Rivergoer said:
Never lived in cold climate before...how does cold affect battery longevity?

Here in the desert southwest the 115-120 degree summers are absolutely brutal on car batteries.

Cold is not good either. I'm not sure who's colder - me or Boraz - but in the days before the sealed freedom batteries people would get stranded all the time.

I have a vivid memory of my boss driving me home around Christmas 1981, and at a traffic light he stalled his Chevette. He grabbed a set of booster cables from the back hatch and motioned to the car stopped next to us at the light. That motorist stayed inside his car and simply popped his hood while my boss affected a jump start of his chevette. In the space of probably 60 seconds he got all this done, disconnected the cables, closed the hoods on both cars and with a wave of thanks to that random motorist we were on our way again.

They say that being Canadian means knowing how to make love in a canoe - but being able to jump start a car in less than a minute in the freezing cold has got to be right up there.

Reactions: 1

boraz

· #34 · Sep 15, 2017

Tomko said:
Cold is not good either. I'm not sure who's colder - me or Boraz -

colder here

boraz

· #35 · Sep 15, 2017

Tomko said:
If I remeber correctly you use your CTD to go from home to work - a couple hundred miles each way - but don't use the car otherwise. So it would be a rare occurrence when the car is started more than once a day - or not given a 100 miles or so of runtime before being asked to start the engine again.

yeah, not a daily commuter....500 miles to work, work 20-40 days, drive the car maybe 10x, then 500 miles home, then used a bunch on days off

BasicDave

· #36 · Sep 17, 2017

Also keep in mind that the alternator only charges when you are coasting or going down hill. If you watch the voltage screen on the dash it will give you some scary numbers when you are accelerating up a long hill. The system was designed to give maximum power to the drivetrain and then charge the battery when you don't need the full power to go up a hill. It also gives better fuel economy set up this way. I've seen my lights dim at red lights with the AC on high and once I get coasting again the voltage comes right back up.

NHRA

· #37 · Nov 12, 2017

this battery is now 219.00 but I got one for 180.00 tax included. 50,000 miles

boraz

· #38 · Mar 7, 2019

finally replaced OG battery

the side detection stayin on randomly helped drain the battery one too many times

jumped it a dozen times, last time took 1.5hrs from a f250 diesel, lol

Reactions: 1

oreo382

· #39 · Mar 9, 2019

BasicDave said:
Also keep in mind that the alternator only charges when you are coasting or going down hill. If you watch the voltage screen on the dash it will give you some scary numbers when you are accelerating up a long hill. The system was designed to give maximum power to the drivetrain and then charge the battery when you don't need the full power to go up a hill. It also gives better fuel economy set up this way. I've seen my lights dim at red lights with the AC on high and once I get coasting again the voltage comes right back up.

Rubbish,I live where it's flat as a pancake so you are saying as long as I am driving(foot on the gas) my battery isn't charging.If that was the case then my battery wouldn't last a week.

oreo382

· #40 · Mar 9, 2019

boraz said:
finally replaced OG battery

the side detection stayin on randomly helped drain the battery one too many times

jumped it a dozen times, last time took 1.5hrs from a f250 diesel, lol

Your Cruze has side detection?

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