REFURBISHED BATTERIES

[MOE]

Has anyone ever purchased a refurbished trolling battery? There is a local battery store here that sells them for $25. Are they worth fooling with or should I save up a little more for a new one?

Right now I'm running a smaller portable battery (40 amp hr I think). I have a 30 lb trolling motor, ff, running lights, and at night I use a spot light to locate my jugs and it's just not big enough. Was thinking about getting a second battery like the one I have until I found out about the refurbished ones.

 

[UtahBassKicker]

I wouldn't hesitate to buy a refurbished battery for $25. Does it have a warranty?

 

[MOE]

Not sure. I bought one for my car a couple weeks ago. I didn't have $100 to drop on a new one. Didn't think to ask about warranty. Assumed it didn't have one. There is no warranty sticker on the battery like the new ones thay sell have.

 

[TNtroller]

for $25, can't hardly go wrong, but would check on the warranty as well.

 

[JMichael]

I've never run across a place that sells refurbished but I wish I could find a store that sells seconds. You can get a great deal on those. Usually 50% of normal price. They're brand new batteries that usually only have minor exterior problems like hot lead dripped on the case and melted a spot on it or the post is slightly abnormal.

 

[great white]

Refurbished battery?

What the heck?

Never heard of it.

What do they do?

Change the electrolyte (ruins it) and slow charge it?

You sure as heck can't change the plates.

For 25 bucks why not.

Just remember:

"you get what you pay for"

 

[KRS62]

Absolutely. I have 2 in my rig. Both Interstate. I highly recommend.

 

[user 7806]

I'm going back to the 80's when I was driving a truck local and also working on them. There was a place here in town that took what was thought to be dead batteries and brought them back to life. Don't remember excatly how they did it but it didn't involve a special way of charging them and I think it was real slow. We use to haul the junk ones out of there for a company that bought them for the lead plates.

As I recall they came with a warrenty, for some reason I want to say 60-90 days. Very seldom did I ever have to take one back for warrenty.

I'm thinking about a second battery and $25 would make be go that route, even if it only lasted a season it would still be a deal.

 

[MOE]

Absolutely. I have 2 in my rig. Both Interstate. I highly recommend.

Thanks. This is what I wanted to hear.

even if it only lasted a season it would still be a deal.

That's what I'm thinking as well.

 

[clamman]

Moe,

is that $25 with or without a trade- in?

Around here , they knock off $15 for the trade in on a new battery, but our junkyards are paying $6.25 for dead batteries. Always helps to get a few extra bucks!

 

[sixgun86]

I think the warranty on refurb's from autozone are 30days cash back with 90days instore credit? I bought one for a build a couple back, worked great though I only owned it for less than 30 days

 

[MOE]

Moe,

is that $25 with or without a trade- in?

Around here , they knock off $15 for the trade in on a new battery, but our junkyards are paying $6.25 for dead batteries. Always helps to get a few extra bucks!

$25 with a core. Not sure how much without.

 

[clamman]

Go for it... If you get more than a season from it... you win !

 

[Nickvan]

I have an Interstate, and I love it. It says "RECON" right next to the positive terminal, but it does have the warranty sticker that shows when it was sold. From what I gathered, they're returned. Not necessarily defective, but returned. I dunno. It was cheap and, like the gentleman said, even if it only lasts a season it's still a deal. I run the starter, lights, and fish finder on it. The tiny little charging current that my evinrude 15 puts out has kept it charged, too.

 

[Sasquatch]

I don't understand this and while others have said to go for it, personally I wouldn't trust it.

The reason lead-acid batteries eventually die is because the reaction within the battery causes solid things to precipitate (solids form in a liquid solution, in this case the liquid acid) as a by product of the reaction that makes the electricity. Lead sulfates are what I believe are the culprit, but I'm not a chemist, just heard it from my dad and mom who are, and I might be mis-remembering that.

Most batteries have a "floor" in them with holes, where this stuff falls off, gets through the holes and ends up below the "floor". However, eventually the precipitate will cover the lead plates in the battery and prevent the lead-acid reaction, hence killing the battery.

In theory, this could be fixed by opening the battery up and scraping the junk off the plates, dumping the stuff below the "floor" and then reassembling the battery. However, I've never heard of anyone doing such a thing. Nor has anyone I know including my parents who are both PhD chemists.

In short, if people tell you they've had good experiences with "refurbished batteries" and you can afford the money. Try it out.

Best way I know of to tell how good the battery is (from a poor mans perspective) is to hook it up to a 12v battery tender and see what sort of amperage the tender draws. If it drops to 2-4amps quickly and stays there for a long time, the battery is pretty much shot in my experience.

If there are people fixing batteries. Heck yeah! But generally I suspect this is the sale of snake oil.

Just my $0.02. Might be worth less.

 

[justnortherns]

I don't understand this and while others have said to go for it, personally I wouldn't trust it.

The reason lead-acid batteries eventually die is because the reaction within the battery causes solid things to precipitate (solids form in a liquid solution, in this case the liquid acid) as a by product of the reaction that makes the electricity. Lead sulfates are what I believe are the culprit, but I'm not a chemist, just heard it from my dad and mom who are, and I might be mis-remembering that.

Most batteries have a "floor" in them with holes, where this stuff falls off, gets through the holes and ends up below the "floor". However, eventually the precipitate will cover the lead plates in the battery and prevent the lead-acid reaction, hence killing the battery.

In theory, this could be fixed by opening the battery up and scraping the junk off the plates, dumping the stuff below the "floor" and then reassembling the battery. However, I've never heard of anyone doing such a thing. Nor has anyone I know including my parents who are both PhD chemists.

In short, if people tell you they've had good experiences with "refurbished batteries" and you can afford the money. Try it out.

Best way I know of to tell how good the battery is (from a poor mans perspective) is to hook it up to a 12v battery tender and see what sort of amperage the tender draws. If it drops to 2-4amps quickly and stays there for a long time, the battery is pretty much shot in my experience.

If there are people fixing batteries. Heck yeah! But generally I suspect this is the sale of snake oil.

Just my $0.02. Might be worth less.

+1

I'd find out what 'refurbished' really means before buying one of those batteries. Refurbished in the electronics industry (especially with a warranty) is pretty close to 'good as new.' As others have stated here, it's perplexing to think how one would refurbish a battery in a way that would give it new characteristics, especially in what's important, available amperage and charging cycles left.

What was the same refurbished battery's new cost? If it is $25 refurbished it should be very expensive new to justify taking a risk on a used battery. Some new but cheap 110 Amp hour deep cycle batteries can be had for only 2-3 times that price (the last time I bought one), so I'm not sure if the risk of a used battery is worth the discounted price.

The only way I'd buy a refurbished battery would be if (a) it were VERY cheap compared to the new cost and (2) I planned to use it for non-critical electronics/propulsion that I wouldn't care about if the battery went dead. For critical stuff I'd stick to new batteries or to used batteries with a known use/charge history.

 

[xbacksideslider]

I have fixed my own batteries but before you start on it, first confirm that you have a source of fresh battery acid first and find a legal way to dispose of the old acid. Wear eye protection, gloves and old clothes.

Most of the time a battery fails because one cell shorts out; it shorts because as sulfate builds up on the bottom of the case, it eventually rises up to touch the bottom of the plates, shorting them out. If one cell has done it, others are not far behind.

Usually the sulfate is a powdery slurry and that means it can be flushed out, eliminating the short.

Turn the battery upside down, fill and flush several times with tap water.
If your auto parts store sells bulk acid, then refill and trickle charge it.

 

[MOE]

Thanks for all the replies. I haven't bought one yet, but I did buy one for my car. My battery had 3 dead cells and I didn't have the $100 to drop on a new one so I got the refurbished one for $25 (big price difference for me). It hasn't given me any problems. I accidently left my key on [-X all day while I was at work and drained it completly. Got a jump, drove home, and its still going strong. I've had it for a few months now. As soon as I catch a break, I will go get the deep cycle one and give it a shot. I don't have electric start so it's not like it will leave me stranded.

 

[oukast]

I do auto salvage and sell a lot of batteries to a wholesaler that "refurbishes" them essentially all they do is this: Run them on a de-sulfate charger, top off electrolyte, run them down to a set voltage and recharge them making sure they take at least 85% or original capacity. If they pass they are sold as refurbished, if they take 75%-85% they are resold as "used" anything below that and they get holes popped in them and recycled for lead. I am sure that mileage varies with from place to place. I usually replace my trolling batteries at about 80% capacity at that point they get moved on to car trailer winch duties till they are junk.

For those of you that don't have a overpriced Snap-On (or similar) diagnostic charger or a battery analyzer and want a good test done to see what you battery is at for capacity Wal-Mart is the place to go, yup sadly enough Wally World is one of the few places that has a good analyzer in their tire and lube centers. They will even give you a print out of the condition of each cell. And they don't have pushy salesmen paid on commission.

 

[MOE]

Good info