Well, I brought my battery back to my Interstate dealer. It only lasted 2 years, and it was dead this time, stone cold. I tried to charge it for a week straight. Anyway, the guy that worked at the Interstate dealer was an older car audio enthusiast, said he didn't do it anymore (and I just smiled and nodded anyway ), but he started talking about what might have happened, and my ears perked up. I run a stock size, stock type battery in my Civic... I'd run larger, but I can't. Mine is currently smaller than a golf-cart size battery... the Civic of my generation has one of the tiniest batteries ever, with no room to fit a larger one, as it sits in a tiny 4.5" gap between the strut tower and the firewall. But he commented that I actually had broken plates inside my battery. Sometimes that can be caused by really beating on your battery, sudden high-current demands on such a small battery... But he suspected maybe vibration to be the culprit instead. He based this on the fact that usually high-draw damage breaks plates in one of the outer cells, and usually the one corresponding to the positive post. But in my case, I broke an inner cell. He said that in cars where you do have massive amounts of sub-bass, it obviously shakes the heck out of the cars... and the battery is no exception. I don't really drive around booming, so I'm a bit skeptical that this is really what caused the damage... but I'm not saying that I haven't ever, or that I don't really let it rip when I'm demoing the car for someone. But I thought this was interesting to ponder... Because you really don't hear this discussed much, if ever, on the forums. "I broke my battery, because I have so much SPL" Sounds like bragging rights material! But seriously.. it's something to be addressed possibly. :detective: I was considering creating a suspension system for the battery! Nothing fancy, but I was pondering cutting a base out of thick neoprene, and another to go under the battery clamp. Think this could help, if vibrations actually were the culprit here? Anyone else ever suffered battery vibration damage?
C'mon... Have you seen my install? The battery tray lays right against my enclosure. No issues, 3 years. I don't buy it. The extremely minor vibration caused by a stereo is not even close to the vibration of a battery going down the road every day (particularly in Buffalo where potholes are the size of Lake Erie itself ). The botttom line is high force impacts will knock all the substrate from the plates (seriously, go ask a local body shop, they will tell you the same thing ). Solid plates will never be damaged by a stereo, no matter how loud it is. While my belief is that certain soft plate batteries my suffer from this (*cough* Spira-cells *cough*) there is no way a solid plate will suffer damage like that. Soft plates may rub against each other causing them to short out and overheat causing them to crack. Often times you will see me ask where a person lives when reccomending a battery. The reason being, Interstates just don't do well in cold weather. In cold weather I reccomend Delco, only. In moderate climates I may suggest Interstate as an option. However, a dead Interstate after a cold period is a common issue.
I've never actually driven or used the car during the winter though.. it's just sat there. So are you saying, the cold all by itself could have caused the damage, even without use?
I am with SandT on this one. The amount of vibration from your bass knocking is not going to come close to the amount of force that a pot hole in the road is going to create. Interesting theory though. Hey Sandt, is a GM dealer going to be the only place that I can find AC Delco batteries? I can't find Delco batteries anywhere.
No. I am not sure what part houses you have near you, but one of the biggest that I know of that sells Delco to the public (They go from NC to Texas at least) is O'Rieley. Maybe you have one near you? Auto Supply? I believe you could look at acdelco.com and go to the locator to find a dealer in your area too.
Yes it probably was the cold. Around here if you leave a battery in your car all winter without driving it, kiss your battery good bye.
well said. only thing i got to add..... the spira cell thing? its obvious. the weight factor alone can make one know the spira cells blow big chunks :boxing:
