seems every 4-5 years i am replacing my car battery even on a trickle charger, this is getting expensive!!

 

my CTEK 3300 goes from fully charged to 1/2 charge every 10 minutes

 

Isn’t 4-5 years the expected life span?

 

yea but figured having the trickle charger would give me a few more years

 

Sadly that's about the average.

 

had batteries on my hundai last 9 years , lol lol

 

Heat is the biggest enemy for battery life. Shorter life time in the sunny south. Replace it with a Walmart battery and it won't break the bank.

 

Agree, and throw vibration into the mix. If your battery isn't properly tightened down, if it moves around at all, it'll vibrate some, and that shortens battery life, too.......

 

Batteries don't last forever. They are wear items just like belts or brake pads. Replacing them every 5 years or so is just part of the cost of ownership. The main reason to have the trickle charger is because a lot of people don't drive their Vette very often. I bet you drove that hundai everyday.

 

My daily driver is a BMW X5, you have no idea what battery expense is ...........

Regardless, most enjoyable DD I've ever owned so I just 'suck it up' !

 

Very true, indeed

 

are you serious?
very not knowing, indeed
I would think that would be a no no. do they real have good quality batteries?

 

There are few companies that make batteries here in the USA. A big one is Johnson Controls. Some days they say Die Hard, some days they say Interstate or NAPA. Other days the Ever Start label goes on. Warranties and quality are similar. It's all about marketing.

 

been using Duralast Gold , just wondering if its my trickle charger not working properly ?

 

that's about it in a nutshell. I've run Ever Start Batteries in multiple cars and they are just as good if not better than just about any other options. My last Ever Start from Wally World lasted 12 years in my vette. The Ever Start in my wife's SAAB 9-3 lasted 9 yrs. Both on Battery Tender Jr's when not being driven.

 

I like Everstart Maxx batteries, though recently the 78's were out of stock - back now apparently. I have one (also a 78) in my K1500 p/u, which sits outside in all weathers and always starts "on the button", rain or shine, snow or ice. It gets abused - a lot of starts combined with very short trips. Also, I had put one in our old Legacy GT and it lasted for about 7 years as I recall. Only issue for C5's is that all those electronics are underneath the battery, so an AGM is a better idea. But they are not $120 batteries like the Maxx.

 

Duralast Gold are 205$

 

In my Cobra and Z06 I use Optima batteries, expensive but no problems

 

I am in electrical group at an OEM and I spoke to the expert about battery life. He told me this:
- Thermal cycling, charge cycling, size, and sulfation (debris falling off the plates) are the factors that determine its life.

Keeping it cool is the most effective thing we can do. And to combat that "we" encase the battery in cool boxes and sometimes even use a fan to blow fresh air across it. A secondary way is to locate the battery in the trunk where its always cool.
Second most important thing is to not let it get drained below 40%
Third thing we can do is increase the size of the battery (which is what I did on my 04Z06 https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...d-big-3-a.html )

 

Five years out of a battery is not bad at all. I’ve gotten as much as 7 years out of one, but that was pushing it.