Re: Batteries made by Johnson Controls

[<hofs@domain.elided>]

I was asked off line about where to buy a battery made by Johnson 
Controls and didn't have any good specific answer. Since then I've been 
to Johnson's web site and can give anyone who is interested some info.
Johnson makes batteries under the names: Interstate, Duralast, Equalizer, 
Power Connection, Eveready, Motorcraft, and Energizer

Home Depot sells a Johnson made battery called Crossroads.

Johnson says that their truck, van, and SUV batteries are 10 times as 
resistant to vibration damage as their regular battery. Johnson also says 
that in our type of use, the battery's biggest enemies are vibration and 
heat. By changing the type of construction, they can offer the vibration 
resistant battery leaving heat the big enemy. They said that identical 
batteries might last 18 months in extreme heat and 10 or more years if 
not subject to intense heat. 

Johnson said that one of their Interstate lines called the Workaholic is 
very durable and made for very rough duty. I think it also may have a 
much shorter warranty than the regular car battery line. That didn't 
really register while I was there looking at the info, but now I have 
that in the back of my head. 

Personally, I used to buy Interstates all the time, but their marketing 
changes pissed me off and I quit buying them. Never had a problem with 
any of them. Sometimes I used to buy their Megatron line and had good 
luck with them also. It seemed to me, very subjectively, that they 
required less frequent water replacement.

I didn't know until today that Johnson made the Motorcraft batteries 
which Consumers Reports rated very high, particularly the Silver Series. 
I don't know if anyone but Ford dealers sells Motorcraft (some of you 
will) but the prices quoted by Consumers were very competitive. 

While on their web site, I took their "class" on battery construction, 
and can you believe it, the more cold cranking amps the battery puts out, 
the more plates a battery has, the thinner the plates are, and the more 
susceptable they are to damage! 

Oh well, when future battery problems come up, I won't take so much 
digest space and just refer the questioner to Johnson's web site. I bet 
you all hope that's true as you probably don't want to hear any more from 
me about batteries.
John


John Hofstetter  "Ol'Saline's Web Site" www.goldrush.com/~hofs
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