Had to spring for yet a third Walmart Everstart battery!

[Expidia]

Bought two Everstart group 27 last month to swap out with my new ipilot. Launched the boat today and the starter battery would not turn it over. I could have started it up with the troller but after 7 seasons I thought it was time to see if I could turn a 40 hp outboard by a rope start. Started on the first pull.

I cruised for about 20 miles and the alternator charged up the starter battery. This was a Walmart Everstart (Walmarts batteries are currently made by Johnson Controls). So my last Everstart combo troller/starter I thought was only 2 years old, but It was actually march of 2011 so I can't complain getting over 3 years for like $74.

I bought the combo one last time since I tend to run it down using the stereo while hanging out in a bay. This time I went with the $99 deep cycle troller Everstart Max for $99. Their Max designation means 2 year warranty where the other are only 1 year. Hopefully, a deep cycle has beefier plates. I did not see another combo in stock anyway.

The troller model showed 690 cranking amps where my old one was only 675. Just like with tires where we used to get like 40,000 miles off a set, now they have changed the rubber composition to last only 24.000 and go up in price each time. A set of 4 michelins used to cost me $400 now they cost me $600 and only give me 1/2 the mileage.

So now its the same for batteries. I take care of them properly and used to get 5 years off one. Now I only get 3 years.

 

[coolbri70]

I have an everstart, its been a good battery, the diehard I bought wont hold a full charge. I was surprised. trying to edit did it work?

 

[Outsider]

I don't suppose you tried to figure out why the battery wouldn't start the motor? There are several possibilities that have nothing to do with the battery ... :facepalm:

 

[Expidia]

I don't suppose you tried to figure out why the battery wouldn't start the motor? There are several possibilities that have nothing to do with the battery ... :facepalm:

Actually I did isolate the issue down to the battery. I was worried about a weak starter too as this has been happening over the last two trips out, but the battery was never flat, it locked up for 2 secs then turned over two previous trips. This time after I ran the OB for the next hour cruising and the battery was fine again. My issue is I rent a garage for the boat with no power to plug myaonboard chargers in.

The last trip out I was running the troller for an hour off the troller battery. While I troll my wife likes to listen to the stereo. I was playing my Sirius radio tuner and I have to also my Kenwood stereo on at the same time. Plus the two Humminbirds. that to me, is a lot of draw on the starter battery which I usually stop using these devices when the gauge gets down to 25%. But even at 25% the battery does not seem to have much cranking amps anymore.

If I'm close the dock after I stop fishing the alternator can't bring the charge back up and it stayed discharged for the next week.
This is not good for any battery, I should have checked the battery gauge which only reads with the key on, but motor off after I put it on the trailer.

It's bad enough I have to pull the troller battery after each trip and swap it out with the extra charged one in my basement. Now that I have the ipilot my battery usage patterns and recharging has to change. I'm not pulling the starter battery too after each trip.

I know the 3 year old Everstart just does not hold a charge like the first few years and even fully charged it does not have the oomph it used have so rather than keep nursing it along it has a finite life after 3 years anyway so for the $99, I'm starting with fresh "full" power again.

Thats why I went with the troller deep discharge this time rather than the combo, since I run a starter down from my other devices with the outboard off so often. It does not take much to start a 40 hp anyway with a charged battery.

I might look into one of those chargers that I can hook from my car to the onboard charger for my drives home to help charge them back up.
If there is such a thing. I thought I read their are units this that the tournament bass guys use.

Any other ideas for topping my batteries off after a trip. My rental garage is 500 feet away and across a main street so a 500 foot extension cord is out

A small gas generator is out too as its behind some apartments so I can't make noise. If ran it with the garage door closed there is that carbon monoxide issue.

I'm thinking a small portable nuclear generator to recharge my batteries. I wonder if iboats carries those?

 

[Expidia]

I have an everstart, its been a good battery, the diehard I bought wont hold a full charge. I was surprised. trying to edit did it work?

I think there are only two U.S. battery makers in the U.S. Just the label and the brand changes from my research. I'll let the others buy the Optima and those $1200 Lithium jobs. The Wally World Everstarts have been fine for me. At $1200 thats 16 Everstarts. If I was looking for status I could slap a "Lithium Battery On Board" sticker on the side. The big tournament bass boys I'm sure don't pay for their accessories or boats even.

I used to only use Diehard's for all my vehicles. But Sears is not the chain it used to be. Sears Sucks :happy: they will never survive IMO. The one thats been in Albany for 40 years and was two floors has given up the first floor to a Whole Foods!

It's not their batteries, since the insides are made by one of the majors. Its their terrible service. You have to stand behind like 7 people in line at their auto counter and they have one clueless person at the register and while you are in line the same guy answers every phone call coming in from people finger shopping and looking for tire quotes.

They finally put my battery on a short test and said it was OK. I said one of the cells has no water in it and its flat. They said they would not honor my 3 year warranty because I opened the caps on their maintenance free battery. I asked for the manager and he came out 30 min later and said they already gave me an adjustment after my last $139 battery for my Saab that died after a year. I have two Saabs and both Diehards died within the first year.

So I said don't let me take up anymore of your time and I will never step foot in a Sears again.

They only thing Sears was ever good for was their lifetime exchange tools and the last few years depending on whose behind the counter they even give you a hard time trying to replace a lifetime warrantied tool.

Lowes and probably HD gives lifetime on certain tools now anyway. And if its a tool you don't use that often, Harbor Freight is like 75% cheaper than Sears and they are probably both made in China anyways.

 

[fhhuber]

If you tend to run a stereo system a lot with the engine off, then you might consider a solar panel to help keep the battery from going as low. The solar panel can also act as a battery maintainer and extend overal life by keeping the battery charged when you don't use the boat for an extended time.

Depends on your situation how practical this is. Some boats have very good places to put a panel and others don't. 10 watt rated panel and a cheap charge regulator is minimum for a typical trolling motor battery. The little 5 watt things they sell for people to put in a car windshield do as much harm as good.

I have set up a few small solar power systems.

 

[Expidia]

Thhuber. My rig is only 14.9 feet. But that solar panel might not be a bad idea to top off the starter motor battery after each trip. I could get a small one and attach it to the roof of the garage rental where I have no power to plug my onboard charger in. I'll check them out. thx

I'm sure the forum is still having issues as you show 0 posts. Don't know how 0 is possible, since you just posted here. Either way as a Cadet welcome to the forum

Update: Ruling out the solar panel idea. Checked it out on the web. A 2 x 2 foot panel on top of my rental garage would be viable as it would probably take only a few days to top off the starter battery. But has to be ruled out since there are 6 apartments filled with college kids in front of the garages and that small solar panel would be swiped off the roof in a heartbeat :mad-new:

 

[midcarolina]

Charging from the tow vehicle is easily set up if your tow vehicle already has the 7 pin connector........And can still be done if the vehicle does not have the 7 pin connector, just takes some additional vehicle wiring.......Here is a link to devices and wiring made for just that...

 

[bruceb58]

Most battery failures are due to the owner not keeping his battery charged fully 100% of the time. Storing the battery discharged will cause you battery to faile earlier than it normally would.

 

[bruceb58]

Most battery failures are due to the owner not keeping his battery charged fully 100% of the time. Storing the battery discharged will cause you battery to fail far earlier than it normally would.

 

[Expidia]

Charging from the tow vehicle is easily set up if your tow vehicle already has the 7 pin connector........And can still be done if the vehicle does not have the 7 pin connector, just takes some additional vehicle wiring.......Here is a link to devices and wiring made for just that...

Thanks I had found that site in a search. Looks viable when I have a 1-2 hours trip home. wont do much for less than that I figure.

 

[Expidia]

Most battery failures are due to the owner not keeping his battery charged fully 100% of the time. Storing the battery discharged will cause you battery to fail far earlier than it normally would.

Thanks Bruce. I know and I'm a stickler at proper battery maintenance. My last garage had power so Installed a 2 bank Genius onboard charger. Now my new rental has no power. its really a chore yanking the troller battery now after every trip since I bought the new MK bow mount troller. So much so I forgot the deep cycle starter was also run down last week. But I think no matter how good you treat a battery I have a feeling we wont get much over 3 years anymore as they have cheapened the inside build. i bet we start seeing more people complain about shorter battery life. no matter whose brand it is. just my opinion from someone who always got like 5 years per battery. By the way, when did you start stuttering

 

[Lil' Bone]

Well, your first clue should have been $99.00, the second shoud have been Walmart. The same companies may build all the batteries, dosen't mean they build them all to the same standard. IMO

 

[midcarolina]

You can all but guarantee they are not built to the same standard....... It is a fact Walmart makes special deals with vendors to buy a modified product at a given price......... There are thousands of items at walmart that are cheaper than elsewhere but have been built specifically for walmart and are not the same products as other retailers...........cant see where batteries would be the exception.

 

[Expidia]

You can all but guarantee they are not built to the same standard....... It is a fact Walmart makes special deals with vendors to buy a modified product at a given price......... There are thousands of items at walmart that are cheaper than elsewhere but have been built specifically for walmart and are not the same products as other retailers...........cant see where batteries would be the exception.

Interesting comment, but could you back that statement up? Maybe something from a creditable source on the web?
Sounds like that was told to you by Sears auto store or an Optima dealer

 

[midcarolina]

Shouldn't be too hard of info to find........ and nope not info from a competitor of walmart, I have nothing against Walmart you can find me at my local one often......

Just look at car stereo's and a lot of their electronics, many models are very close to the same model you can buy elsewhere but with certain changes to make the item cheaper to build and thus meet Walmarts pricing.

 

[pikefisherman]

tryin to post

 

[pikefisherman]

Would the weight of a battery make a difference? I have a battery I got from Gander Mt. three years ago and it will still run my troler two days ,but is is heaver than my other batteries.Are the cores thicker maybe?

 

[Expidia]

Interesting comment, but could you back that statement up? Maybe something from a creditable source on the web?
Sounds like that was told to you by Sears auto store or an Optima dealer

Not to get in a battery rant since its the same as which oil brand is better or 4 stroke vs two stroke but . . .

We as consumers demand low prices and then complain when big box stores come into their town and put the mom and pops out of business.
Lower prices also usually means made in China or some other third world country and then we complain about the low quality

When I was comparing batteries since I had to buy two for my new troller I took a picture of the specs of each.


Notice the name Johnson controls at the bottom of the battery label.
Battery is made in the US.
I doubt if JC would cheapen their batteries, get many returns and muddy their brand name just to sell through Walmart. I think Walmart demands from vendors a cheaper price because that vendor will make it up in quantity by exposure in 6200 stores so I don't think JChas to scramble to mke a sub par battery and risk their reputation.

Some excepts off the web: In "The Wal-Mart Effect," author Charles Fishman discusses how the price of a four-pack of GE light bulbs decreased from $2.19 to 88 cents during a five-year period.
In a 2003 Los Angeles Times article (part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning series about Wal-Mart, tells of a Wal-Mart buyer named Celia Clancy, who was in charge of clothing and demanded that each supplier either lower the price or increase the quality every year on every item. This philosophy is known as "plus one."
The above are two excepts from:
http://money.howstuffworks.com/wal-mart.htm

http://bestbatterytips.com/tags/who-...ard-batteries/
"Johnson controls also makes some or all of these batteries as well.
Acura, Advance Auto Parts, Autocraft, Western Auto, Tough One, Alliance, American Hardware, Ames, Varta, Blains Farm & Fleet, Battery Alliance, Bosch, Carrefour(Europe), Champion, Amara Raja Batteries LTD(Joint venture with Johnson Controls India).
Varta, Optima Batteries, LTH, and Heliar are all battery manufactures owned by Johnson Controls.
[FONT=Helvetica, Helvetica Neue, Arial, sans-serif]Johnson Controls supplies Ford Motor company, Diamler Chrysler, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and Isuzu with original equipment batteries. So next time you go and buy a battery, or a automobile chances are its a battery made by Johnson Controls."[/FONT]

[FONT=Helvetica, Helvetica Neue, Arial, sans-serif]expidia: the only change I've seen recently by Walmart is they have cut their warranty on their standard batteries to 1 year and I don't blame them for doing this.[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Helvetica Neue, Arial, sans-serif]Their Max label still has two years. They used to honor any battery replacement but we all know many boaters just leave their batteries in their boats all winter (or don't keep them charged in the basement). Then at the start of the next season they bring their "flat" battery back to Walamart and demand a replacement. And for many years Walmart used to replace it no questions asked within their warranty period.

You get what you pay for and I don't expect a $74 battery with a 1 year warranty to last 5 years anymore. So I got the Max for $99 and it's two year warranty. Plus I always use my credit card that extends warranties for an extra year so I get 3 years of coverage.

If its their $74 battery its probably the same battery innards as a 1 year warranty battery under another brand made by JC but sold at another place for $100.
Their $99 battery probably sells for $125 to 135. I doubt that JC is making cheaper battery innards just for the Everstart label. If its cheaper innards than all their low priced batteries under their other brand labels are cheaper too hence the only 1 year warranty now with Everstart. But it's still probably the same battery that Advanced Auto parts sells but Advanced may double the warranty to get the business away from Walmart.

Tip: Always make a photo copy of your receipt where ever you buy your battery from. After a year, many of these receipts fade especially after 2 years and are useless for the warranty. Take a pic too. Keep the receipt in a water tight small zip lock bag along with your boats registration. This way if the battery fails and you bought it from a chain store you can swap it even when on vacation thats why I buy them at walmart, since they are everywhere. When my batteries used to have prorated 5 year warranties (like when I used to use Diehards) I could locate my receipt quickly even 4 or 5 years later [/FONT]

 

[midcarolina]

I am by no means a battery expert.........but one has to think if two batteries of the same group size are different weights, then the logical conclusion is the heavier battery has thicker plates........ I am sure there is some page on the net where batteries are compared including dis assembly of the batteries