Ten year old battery replacement

[vanagon40]

Yesterday, I did something I've never done before.  I replaced my battery even though the battery still functioned flawlessly and had never given me a singe bit of trouble.  Just because it was 10 years old.  (On the other hand, I do not believe I have ever had a battery last 10 years before.)

I did have a slight justification for changing it.  My lawnmower battery would not hold a charge for a week, so I had to jump start the mower each week to mow my grass (no manual rope starter).  So I put the old Valkyrie battery in the mower.  I did check and found that the mower charges at 15.3 volts, so maybe the battery will not hold up.  Time will tell.

The mower battery was exactly 1½ inches wider and 1½ inches deeper, so a chopped up 1 X 6 made a perfect battery box for the Valkyrie battery.

[Big IV]

I think my Valk battery was fine when I replaced it. It was six years old then but I replaced it just to make me happy. I hope the new battery lasts as long. So far so good.

[R J]

Jeez, the battery in my old Honda riding mower last 20 years.   The last 10 I had to jump start it when I wanted to mow.

1 day I got tired of that, replaced the battery and gave the mower to my grand daughter, so as to make her mother happy and to be able to mow the grass in one setting.     Until then she mowed about an acre with a push 20" lawn mower.   She built up some hellish leg muscles using that damn mower.    I dropped off the rider, showed her how to start it and how to use it, loaded her old push mower in the truck and left.    That was about 8 years ago, Meridith called today and asked where to get a battery and how much it would cost.   Told her to get the # of the top of it and give it to me.  I'm on my way now to get her  a replacement.    28 years old and that damn old Honda is just like the little drum beating bunny.    It just will not quit.   Tires, and mower blades is all that has been done to it.   Meridith's mother and her siblings gave this mower to me ofr Father's Day way back when.

[doubletee]

I believe my battery is the original ('99 Std - I'm the second owner). It's performing flawlessly, but reading about potential damage to the alternator and the battery dying suddenly and unexpectedly prompted me to get a new one. Went with OEM from my stealer. Figured since the original lasted this long, no sense in tempting the gods with an only-slightly-less-expensive non-oem model.

[Oss]

yuasa had a test both at americade so I took off the seat and let them load test the battery and the chargin system

they said the battery was 85% and charging system perfect so I suppose I am ok for now

battery is 7 years old maybe 8

[vanagon40]

. . . . reading about potential damage to the alternator . . . .

For the life of me, I cannot figure out how an old battery that is functioning flawlessly can damage the alternator.  I too have read that claim, but have never seen any support for the claim (maybe I missed something).

The fear of "the battery dying suddenly and unexpectedly" is a legitimate concern and in part prompted my actions.

[Chrisj CMA]

. . . . reading about potential damage to the alternator . . . .

For the life of me, I cannot figure out how an old battery that is functioning flawlessly can damage the alternator.  I too have read that claim, but have never seen any support for the claim (maybe I missed something).

The fear of "the battery dying suddenly and unexpectedly" is a legitimate concern and in part prompted my actions.

If the "old battery" is really functioning "perfectly" then youre right, its not going to do anything to the alternator.  But if its not really holding a chage as good as it used to and the alternator is keeping it up more than it used to than guess what.  The alternator is working harder than it used to. 

Battery less than $100 (OEM)

Alternator more than $500 (OEM)

its worth paying attention to

[musclehead]

mine made it  7 years, might have still had a bit of life left  in it ....

[Stanley Steamer]

. . . . reading about potential damage to the alternator . . . .

For the life of me, I cannot figure out how an old battery that is functioning flawlessly can damage the alternator.  I too have read that claim, but have never seen any support for the claim (maybe I missed something).

The fear of "the battery dying suddenly and unexpectedly" is a legitimate concern and in part prompted my actions.

Back in 2007......I had a '99 Mazda B3000.....with the original battery....crunk the truck on the first lick almost everytime......went to get gas at a station 1/2 mile from my house, and when I went to crank it up....it was dead as a hammer......SO, since the '99 Valk had the OEM battery and was the same age, I elected to replace it before it did the same thing...probably a long way from home on a trip.....I had never used a trickle charger on that OEM motorcycle battery.....the 2nd battery lasted a very short time, on this 3rd battery, I keep it hooked up to a battery tender whenever I'm not riding the Valk....it's kept it up so far....

I hooked the trickle charger to that original OEM Valk battery a couple of days ago to see if I could get it charged up to test my new winch out.....I checked it pre and post charge.....5.6v and only 10.3v after 2 days....Oh well, it it's been sitting in dry storage for the last 4 years....I had planned to recycle it anyways......

[John Schmidt]

Chris, that's exactly why I replace my battery every three years regardless of how things are working. And mine has a smaller load than most...all my lights are LED except for the headlight and driving lights. And the driving lights aren't on all the time. I just don't want/like surprises when traveling. Murphy's Law comes into play then; "If anything will go wrong, it will. And do it at the most inopportune time."  Batteries, headlights, and alternators all wait to fail until you're in the middle of the Sahara, it's 2:00am, and you're in a location with no cell phone reception.

[Mr. Nuts]

http://www.tristatebattery.com/product_info.php?products_id=732

Motocross brand by Yuasa is $59.95 shipping included.

Over 60 months=$1 a month.

Used to try and squeeze every last dime out of my batteries. But I'm older now and I hate getting stuck somewhere, or missing a ride on a perfect day, or getting "stuck" paying $100 for a $60 battery somewhere locally because I didn't plan ahead and replace it before it failed. I have also lost alternators on other vehicles using them as chargers for my dead battery (they weren't meant for this and it can cause failure sometimes).

Valks are picky about battery condition. I replace them while they still work great.