Fact or fiction about life of batteries in hot areas

[path1]

Just curious...I was told yesterday that batteries in cars/trucks only last about 5 or 6 years in AZ heat. "Sitting in hot weather cooks them and shorten their lives".

Fact or fiction?

[ssia2485]

2 to 3 years is the expected life for batteries in Florida. Sometimes I might get one to last 4 years but that is not the norm.

[road-runner]

I've got one car with the battery under the back seat. It's over 14 years old and still going strong. Every other car battery I've ever owned had a lifetime of about 5 years.

[JoeH]

The difference I have noticed is that in cold weather climates, when the battery is going bad, it is gradual , in hot climates, it seems that when the battery goes bad, it goes completely at once without warning.

[Oaklevel]

I've only gotten 5-6 years out of a vehicle battery no matter where we have lived....

[MEXICOWANDERER]

There is nothing stopping a person from modifying the specific gravity of a flooded battery in hot climes. For Phoenix, Tucson, Blythe, Needles, adjusting the specific gravity from say 1.285 to 1.265 would almost DOUBLE float life on any flooded battery. Similar results could be expected in south Florida.

The performance will sag proportionately with temperature. I wouldn't advise folks who live in areas that dip long periods to sub freezing temperatures to consider this option. TROPIC BLEND ELECTROLYTE is a fact of life in warm climates.

For a shipment of L16s that went to Barrow we adjusted specific gravity to 1.310 this allowed the customer to greatly reduce fuel consumption trying to keep the bank +30F warmer.

[mchero]

midnightsadie wrote:
wow! I live in northeast ohio my 2005 F150 has the org battery.and it sits in the barn all the time. only 70k on it.

Batteries are fine in cold weather IF charged. I had a 93 Pace Arrow Diesel pusher for 12 years. Purchased 4 Sam's Club GC batteries back in 05 and they are STILL going strong. over half of those 12 years was w/o shore power.

[CJW8]

The last few sedans and SUV's I've owned had the battery installed under the back seat. I'm guessing this is an attempt to keep the battery in a happier environment.

[ktmrfs]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
I had the "Hot Setup" in the Sierras thanks to a friend who was an employee of a large propane distributor.

LPG block heater and a 120 vac water pump "pushing" coolant through the LPG heater and through the vehicle heater. I used a Magnetek 775-2 charger to keep the batteries up and flipped the manual heater switch to low speed with the heater adjusted to defrost through the dash vents. It burned propane and it used 120 volt power - back in the 70's, perhaps twenty dollars a month and the gas and power needed to be disconnected and reconnected every time I used the pickup. That and lighting off the heater made this a definitely heavy-intensive hands on deal. But the pleasure of instantly starting the engine in -20F temps, and an 80F cab and ice free windows was nice.

BATTERIES!

How does a person judge the relevance between sub zero operation, short trips, high battery loads, versus boiling hot summer temps. Comparisons are fraught with incompatible components.

remember the old air cooled VW with the optional gas fired heater? about the only way you could get heat out of a VW in montana winters.

[ktmrfs]

NinerBikes wrote:

ktmrfs wrote:

The sedan I replaced the battery after something like 13 years, not because it was giving trouble, but because DW was driving to work long distance every day and decided with winter coming didn't want her to have a battery go bad. And in the winter we do lots of stop and go and use the "rest" function to keep the heat in the car when shopping. runs an electric water pump and fan to circulate the coolant through the heater core to keep the car at a set temp for up to 1/2 hour. Still the batteries last a long time, same treatment with the roadster.

What model vehicle runs the battery down for a 1/2 hour that you own? Seems silly, the moment you open the door in cold weather, all the warm air leaks out almost instantly. Add a little breeze or wind and it's no different than if you left the door open to the barn.

Much more efficient to heat the ambient air directly around your body, and layer /bundle up, correct?

well, all I can say is that in temps well below OF, I can come out after parked for 1/2 hour to about 45 minutes and the car is still a nice cozy 70F inside with the heater cycling on and off as needed to keep the temp at what the climate control is set to. It doesn't come on automatically, you need to select the "REST" Function after turning off the ignition.

It shuts down after about 1/2 hour since by that time the water in the engine block has cooled down enough to not give any more heat to the car. Draws about 3-5Amps while it is running. There is lots of waste heat in the engine block when you shut it down, even in the aluminum block/head in the cars I have. All that is needed is a small electric pump to cycle the water through the heater core with the engine shut off and have the climate control fan on. The way it is set up, it does not circulate ANY water through the radiator, just through the engine block and back to the heater core.

With a 145AH battery, doesn't really add a significant draw the the battery.

And it is a nice feature on two of my cars. Not a new feature, been around since the late 80's at least.

Wish my Silverado or Sierra would have this function.

[Almot]

path1 wrote:
Just curious...I was told yesterday that batteries in cars/trucks only last about 5 or 6 years in AZ heat. "Sitting in hot weather cooks them and shorten their lives".

Fact or fiction?

Neither. This language is rather ambiguous.

"Sitting" could mean storage or use or both.

Besides, a lot of starter batteries are flooded, and even though they are affected by heat, the effect may be less significant than improper charging algorithm - which seems to be the case with many-many starter batteries. Alternator can hardly be considered a proper charging device.

For a low-end flooded starter battery 5-6 years of life is not uncommon, even in moderate climate. Improper charging, infrequent watering and frequent starting and high load are killing them sooner than anything else.

[wa8yxm]

My motor home batteries made it 9 years, Average I'm told is 7 to 10 so I'm happy.

yes, extreme heat or cold can shorten the life However more frequent inspection of flooded wet cells can counter much of that.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

I had the "Hot Setup" in the Sierras thanks to a friend who was an employee of a large propane distributor.

LPG block heater and a 120 vac water pump "pushing" coolant through the LPG heater and through the vehicle heater. I used a Magnetek 775-2 charger to keep the batteries up and flipped the manual heater switch to low speed with the heater adjusted to defrost through the dash vents. It burned propane and it used 120 volt power - back in the 70's, perhaps twenty dollars a month and the gas and power needed to be disconnected and reconnected every time I used the pickup. That and lighting off the heater made this a definitely heavy-intensive hands on deal. But the pleasure of instantly starting the engine in -20F temps, and an 80F cab and ice free windows was nice.

BATTERIES!

How does a person judge the relevance between sub zero operation, short trips, high battery loads, versus boiling hot summer temps. Comparisons are fraught with incompatible components.

[NinerBikes]

ktmrfs wrote:

The sedan I replaced the battery after something like 13 years, not because it was giving trouble, but because DW was driving to work long distance every day and decided with winter coming didn't want her to have a battery go bad. And in the winter we do lots of stop and go and use the "rest" function to keep the heat in the car when shopping. runs an electric water pump and fan to circulate the coolant through the heater core to keep the car at a set temp for up to 1/2 hour. Still the batteries last a long time, same treatment with the roadster.

What model vehicle runs the battery down for a 1/2 hour that you own? Seems silly, the moment you open the door in cold weather, all the warm air leaks out almost instantly. Add a little breeze or wind and it's no different than if you left the door open to the barn.

Much more efficient to heat the ambient air directly around your body, and layer /bundle up, correct?

[pnichols]

Sam Spade wrote:
pnichols wrote:


I think not.


You can think whatever you want but heat IS a factor, or can be.

If you really care try a search or two on "Batteries + heat".

When a vehicle is moving, there is a lot of air flowing around under the hood.

Well ... at least with respect to my Itasca motorhome's Ford E450 chassis ... "something" (ECU?) is controlling alternator voltage to both the starting battery and coach batteries (they're hooked together via a heavy duty solenoid) in accordance with the outside air temperature's affect on the underhood air temperatures. I know this because I monitor the voltage on both the starting battery and the coach batteries constantly while driving via two four-place-resolution voltmeters right on the cab's dash in front of me.

I have seen voltage on the coach batteries - as applied by the engine alternator sitting in underhood temperatures - as low as only 12.9X DC volts while driving hour after hour in scorching summer heat. In more usual temperatures alternator voltage applied to the coach batteries ranges from around 13.6X DC volts (warm weather after the engine is warm) to 14.5X DC volts (cold weather right after starting the engine).

What this implies is - if one's modern vehicle electrical system maintains underhood air temperature controlled voltages on all batteries connected to it - then at least it's not too-high applied voltages in high underhood temperatures that destroys batteries ... it's merely raw temperature of the battery's chemicals.

I guess what this could mean at first glance before scratching your head is: A battery sitting in your garage in Arizona with a temperature compensated maintenance voltage on it will naturally die sooner than a battery sitting in your garage in Canada with a temperature compensated maintenance voltage on it. I'm well aware of the temperature coefficients in chemical reaction equations - but nevertheless intuitively still find it hard to believe that the sitting-in-the-garage lifetimes of the Arizona battery versus that of the Canada battery would differ by more than maybe a few months.

I'm open to intuition adjustments, however. 🙂