optima battery prices............

I just purchased an Interstate 6-volt (1-VHD) for $153.95. I've always had good luck with the brand. I considered an Optima at that point, but couldn't pull the trigger on another (~)$80.
 
Battery Prices

Keep in mind every battery charger has a "DeSulfator function". That's what they do!

A battery is sort of a self contained chemical reaction, as the battery is discharged the electrolyte gradually reverts to essentially plain H2O. This is why measuring the specific gravity of the electrolyte will indicate the true state of charge.

This plates become coated with a soft sulfate paste as it is discharged, and ordinarily the charging process reverses this easily, over and over. The problem arises when a battery is in a chronically undercharged condition, as most are, and the light sulfation turns to hard crystals that are extremely resistant to charging aka "permanent sulfation". The battery loses its CCA performance or current capacity. This permanent sulfation is said to occur starting at about an 80% charge, in a matter of days or weeks.

The way I heard it described, trying to re-charge a permanently sulfated starting battery is sort of like trying to wash your hands wearing rubber gloves. Now, there are those special chargers, and techniques, that can be employed and are claimed to reverse permanent sulfation and bring a battery back to full performance but this is definitely one of those "prevention is better than the cure" situations. If a battery is maintained in the first place as on a tender or float charger the special bespoke boutique chargers aren't necessary.
 
There are limits to how much sulfation can be reversed. It's not a good place to be. Also, sulfate crystals will slough off and drop to the bottom of the battery case. When the layer of sulfate is deep enough to touch the plates, the cell shorts and you are done.

It's outrageous what they get for 6 volt batteries. Must be the low volume that pumps up the unit price.
 
It's outrageous what they get for 6 volt batteries. Must be the low volume that pumps up the unit price.





I think you are spot on with that. some guys here mentioned rural king a couple of yrs back and were paying around 50. but that franchise is nowhere near here and I doubt they are going for that now.
 
Tractor supply is fine but look at the production date stickers on the side and pick a fresh one at the back of the row.



inventory is low- one batt to choose from.........lol 7/21 date


regarding farm fleet- Ill take 3, but am nowhere near them so there is no 49. battery here in the east.
 
so found a rural king in Hanover PA- 49. for a battery. half the price of Tractor supply and in Hanover PA. I will be headed to Carlisle this afternoon, so will pu a couple of them while there. Looks to be a better batt then TS also.



thanks for all the feedback.
 
A word about the sulfate building up in the bottom of batteries is a problem. Back in the 70's and 80's I owned a gravel plant and had 5 trucks on the road and a lot of Cat equipment all with big batteries. Once a year we went through all of them and dumped the acid and washed all the junk out of them and refilled with new acid. After I started this practice I had gone 8 years with out replacing a single battery. Don't know how much longer they lasted after I sold out. When the sulfate builds up in the bottom deep enough it shorts out the plates and its all over. You couldn't believe all the black that I washed out of them every year.
 
ronn said:
so found a rural king in Hanover PA- 49. for a battery. half the price of Tractor supply and in Hanover PA. I will be headed to Carlisle this afternoon, so will pu a couple of them while there. Looks to be a better batt then TS also.



thanks for all the feedback.
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You'll be happy with it, I've had great luck with the 49 dollar a pop (now) batteries from Farm King or Farm and Fleet.

I can't believe what guys are paying for 6V batteries:eek: $155 plus tax:eek:
You can buy THREE 6V batteries at Farm King for that and they are just as good or better.
 
Oldgearz said:
You all are sure tough on Optima! I have a redtop that came with the car and it is a great battery. I just checked on Summit Racing and I believe they are $224 plus freight. I checked the ratings (119) and the overall rating 4.75 (not shabby) and there were only 3 ratings of the 119 below 4 stars. This doesn't square with what I just read here. Just another view with some actual supporting data.
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What was said that was incorrect or erroneous ?
 
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so I did get my batteries at Rural King. great deal at 49. a pop and was headed to the car show anyway.

one thing Ive noticed on all reviews is, look at when the reviews were written. sometimes
things change down the road and the reviews havent kept up with the product.
 
ronn said:
so I did get my batteries at Rural King. great deal at 49. a pop and was headed to the car show anyway.

one thing Ive noticed on all reviews is, look at when the reviews were written. sometimes
things change down the road and the reviews havent kept up with the product.
Click to expand...

ronn... glad to hear that worked out for you. That battery will work fine and at a fraction of the price of many others. And yes, things change on quality seems like almost everything gets worse once they start picking products apart to make a few extra pennies:eek:

I doubt if Tom Wesenberg is anywhere near up to speed on making anymore EVR's (Electronic Voltage Regulators) after his tragic fire this summer, but if you ever get the chance to buy one, I can't talk them up enough. We have two one on the Roadster and one on the '36 PU, running the original generators, 6V POS ground as original. It is like having an alternator. The ammeter will show a 2-3 amp charge with the lights off cruising down the road, pop the headlights on and the ammeter dips below '0' for a split second and then jumps right back to a 2-3 amp charge--- driving at night with the headlights on. I never had THAT on a Model A Ford before:). And the beauty of it all is, ever since we've been running them my 49 dollar Farm King batteries last for YEARS. That pays for the cost of the EVR real fast, plus they aren't that expensive to begin with.

You can either run a stock Model A cutout that is in good working order with the correct air gap, OR you can run a diode cutout the parts suppliers sell today, it's super simple to modify Tom's EVR if you do that. Either way it works great!!
 
I got a '32 generator with EVR and original cutout from Tom just before the fire, and I'm just going to move it from car to car for the rest of my life, it's that good.
 
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