When to replace Batteries
 

Not having any dramas yet but was thinking the other day the Batteries ( both main and Brant ) are now 3 1/2 years old. The main one lives on one of the Projector maintainer type chargers (in the car on one of the harness plugs ) if it goes more than 2 days without being driven.

Don't want to throw money down the toilet if they should happily do another couple of years but don't want to get stuck with a flat bed to Subaru for a master code either.

Is there a way to health check both of them and know that they will last another year or two or they will just crap themselves without warning and there is screw all I can do about it?

Are the Optima batteries really worth the extra money or are they more wank and marketing than anything else?

average anywhere from 3 to 5 years for battery life. If you have a multimeter then check the voltage in the morning. You can also test the electrolyte level with a hydrometer which is fairly cheap to do.
optima are a higher cca so you will be able to crank it over alot more then a regular battery, never used one so dont know life span

Mine died about 3 months ago, 3.5yrs old.... you will get a bit of warning, it will sound a bit lazy cranking in the mornings plus you can always push start it to get it going.
Al

optima's are defiantly worth getting, all of the red tops have a 3year warranty and have a average life of 8-10years mainly depending how often you use the car and how good the charging/alternator works.. In your case fairly good

Main 3-4 yrs...it will start to get lazy in the mornings for a while then just die without further warning.
Brant recharges on driving so should be fine.

Search on Rexnet for the answer.
There is a very extensive writeup from a member about all things to do with batteries and when to replace them.

In fact here is the thread:

[url]http://www.rexnet.com.au/forum/index.php?showtopic=104007&hl=battery[/url]

It should be copied and made a sticky in this forum methinks.

This thread is a really good idea also:
[b]Save Your Battery, and your Brant[/b]
[url]http://www.rexnet.com.au/forum/index.php?showtopic=101552&hl=battery[/url]
:)

I know mine is on it's last legs, battery voltage is about 11.8V in the mornings which is pretty low. So I'll be changing mine in the next few weeks. To what I have no idea.

If you want to do it on the cheap and just throw your battery out every 2 or 3 years give Tiger batteries a ring and buy one of their no name specials.


My $80 one is still going strong after 2 or so years. Small and lightweight too!
My car is a daily driver, so that probably helps.

I think i'm due for a new one also after nearly 3yrs. I don't drive the car that much and have had to jump start it a few times due to the battery going flat after about a week of not driving it.

AC Delco lead calcium battery from Coventry's for the win. Cheap and powerful, and completely maintenance free.

They used to have them available in both small and normal size terminals, but they stopped making the small terminal in the Subaru size a couple of years ago. I had to replace my battery and this meant changing my terminal clamps over to normal size ones.