My 2022 Massey Ferguson 4707 tractor has a dead battery. The date of 09/11/2021 is on the battery, so I'm guessing that's how old it is.
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I bought a battery for my wife's van last month, and the guy at NAPA said that batteries only last 3 years on modern cars because of all the electronics on them that never turn off. Her battery was 3 1/2 years old. It looks like my battery is just over 3 years old.
Does this make sense to everyone? I used to get five years out of a battery, and sometimes in older vehicles, even longer. 3 years just seems like it's too quick to die and need replacing.
I do not want another Massey Ferguson battery. I'll go to NAPA and see what they have during the week. Before I go there, I'm curious if this label makes any sense to you?
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I haven't removed the battery yet. I should do that now, but it's too cold out there, and I'm going to work on my fence first.
Is there something that I should ask for when I go to NAPA to get a better battery?
Hi,
You have a common problem and a really good question.. There is no reason that a sealed lead acid battery cannot last somwhere in the range of 5-8 years. There are a few factors that effect the life time aside from what the NAPA guy mentioned and I'll get to that in a sec.
Temperature plays a large roll in the life of a battery and the higher the long term ambient temperature the greater the derating. So, not that it is easy to do but it's beneficial to keep your machines out of the hot sun when you can.
Ideally you never want to fully charge a battery to 100% of its capacity never mind over charging it and that is the next cause of trouble. Without getting into the details batteries are often over charged to get the maximum energy storage density but this is a tradeoff on life time. We don't have a choice on the peak charge voltage where it is a function of the charger in the machine but it is something to consider. Many chargers push their charge termination into the lower 16V range and this is probably ok when it is equally shared across all of the cells but that usually is not the case especially as a battery begins to age. However if you keep your battery on a charger/tender be aware of the charge termination voltage. You want to maintain the battery's capability so keep the termination voltage to ~13Vmax
So what is "age". Age isn't just the number of calendar years/days that you have had the battery in service but actually the number of charge/discharge cycles a battery has gone through. Theroetically every battery has a limited number of charge/discharge cycles which is part of the reason why it is beneficial to not fully charge or discharge a battery. By limiting the energy transfered the effective number of cycles can be increased. And, this leads to the NAPA guys comment.
What he said is partially true because the 100% on time systems increase the depth of charge. But, under these conditions the accessories and systems sip on power as compared to a starter kicking in. The battery doesn't mind a step load as much as it does small amounts of energy being syphoned off over a period of time. A trickle discharge can easily take a battery outside of it's specfied operating range and when it does the internal chemistry begins to change in a negative way. This is a subject in itself but what I will say this is also when the trouble starts and aging accelerates.
In addition to accessories all batteries have their own internal impedance, not to be confused with source impedance. The internal parallel impedance is like a built in resistor that bleeds away charge and you can't do much about it. Add this to the parasitic accessory loading and a battery can be damaged in just a few days without you ever noticing it. From that point the damage slowly grows and this is measureable with a battery tester as the source impedance/resistance. An increasing source impedance is a leading cause to early starter failure. As the source impedance increases so does the sudden drop in Vb when a load is appled. Add this V loss to those in the cables etc. and by the time it is measured at the starter V is can be much lower than it should be.
Starters are "power" type loads where the volage and current are balanced across the inductance in the coils. When the volage falls the current rises to maintain the balance needed to turn the engine over. As current rises there is excess heat in the coils which can be high enough to damage the wire insulation or even the wire iteslf and the started fails. So, although a little off the topic of batteries something to think about especially if you have replaced a starter recently.
So, at this point my 5 cent tour of batteries has ended. There is so much more to them but I hope this helps some and doesn't trigger more questions than it answered. In a nutshell there are a few take aways..
Try not to discharge a battery too deeply (an engine that starts hard or won't start etc.). Start the engine every couple of days for maybe 5 minutes, it doent's take long to give the battery a little juice. Or maybe just hang a slow charger on it for a few minutes. Avoid fast chargers and don't leave the charger on the battery once it's charged even when they say it's ok to do it. Unless you have a really good quality charger many do not have the accuracy and will over charge anyway.
Use a trickle charger when a battery is idle for more than a couple of days with no load to compensate for the internal impedance. Trickle chargers have output capacities of 10s of mA not amps. If the battery is installed in something disconnect one of the battery leads ( Tractor/lawn mower etc.).
Keep a solar window charger in the car and plug it in when the car is parked for more than a day or two. This will provide enough energy to support those parasitic accessories without drawing down the battery. Don't forget to face it toward the day's mid morning sun.
Don't park in the hot sun after driving and crack the hood if you can to improve cooling in the engine compartment. Batteries usually sit high where the heat is the greatest when the fan isn't running. Some cars the electric keep the fans running until it cools down.
I consistanly get long life from all of the batteries in the several machines I have. But, I have messed up a couple of times by letting a few slowly over discharge only to have them fail early. Another tip.. Get a blue tooth battery monitor that uses an app on your phone.. It is a good way to keep tabs on a car/tractor battery.
