Walmart Batteries SUCKS

wow, that's brutal. kind of surprising for walsmart.

 

had you not lost the receipt, would the result be different?

 

Was the new battery fully charged BEFORE being installed ?
And have you tested the charging system to be sure it isn't broken ??
Both those things are very important when installing a new battery........in anything.

AND.....I'm not necessarily defending WalMart but most companies won't "reset" your warranty and start the clock over after one warranty replacement; you only get the balance of the original time.

 

I don't think their batteries are what they used to be either.
We bought one for our CRV on 9/2013, and it's already showing signs of diminished cold cranking power. And that's their "MAXX " series with 3 year full replacement, + 2yrs pro ration after that.

Walmart's kind of crazy with their battery warranty's.
You know how they test a battery for warranty replacement? They put a simple voltmeter on it!
They don't do a current test, CCA test, or even a specific gravity test. They use a voltmeter that makes a printout on paper.

If you're in the the 2 year no pro-ration period and your battery is becoming suspect- and you'd like a new battery for free... just run one down to zero volts and you'll get a new one no questions asked! If you bring one in with 12 volts showing on a volt meter- no soup for you! That's the game Walmart makes you play, so if you know the rules going in- you'll come out ahead.

They also bank on the fact that many ppl lose their receipts, especially after 2-3 years, so they fashion their policies to take advantage of that- they are under no obligation to keep a copy of your receipt locally on hand for you.

 

I think you are making an incorrect assumption here.
I bet that "voltmeter" has a load resistance built into it.
ALL battery tests are really voltage tests, just with different loads applied.

 

I gave up on Walmart batts too. Had a couple go dead w/in a year for the bike and rider mower.
I stick to NAPA, MOTOBATT and OPTIMA GOLD . No more 1 year replacements.

DBCassidy

 

Have you ever seen the tiny device they use at Walmart for warranty checks?
It's the size of a printing calculator and it's got 16 gauge wire connected to small alligator clamps. There's no way that little device they use could draw any meaningful current from a 12volt automotive battery without melting the 16 gauge leads then burning up the device itself. It uses a simulated CCA draw current to decide if the battery is actually good or bad.

Have you seen a proper "old school" 200-500 amp capacity battery tester at an automotive shop? It's got thick gauge wire connected to heavy duty clamps and heavy heatsinks on the device itself with a big rehostat on the front.
Here's a real battery load tester:




Here's the "tester" they use at walmart, it's a joke...

 

99 is cheap. A Prius 12v batter is 150-250$.

 

Maybe but probably not.

IF your objective is to find the ones that are REALLY bad, that device would be more than sufficient.
Apply a medium load for a half second or so, which wouldn't smoke anything and take an instantaneous voltage drop reading. From the drop at a medium load, you can project the overall health with some pretty high degree of certainty.

Sometimes the old tried-and-true methods are the best.
Other times technology finds better answers.

I can not say absolutely that the WalMart tester is valid or that it is not because I haven't seen the spec's on it or had one to play with but I CAN say that it is absoloutely possible for a box that size to do a valid test.

 

Sorry but if you think it is OK to let a battery "float" at 14 volts......while attached to a high amperage charging source......then you know a LOT LESS about batteries than you think you do.

The "nominal" no load voltage for a modern AGM battery is about 12.8 volts and the usual float voltage is only 13.2 to 13.4. More than that for a long period of time is not good. Neither is deep discharging a normal car battery. Those two things together probably were large factors in your battery's failure.

Oh, and I have about 45 years of experience AND TRAINING as an Electronics Engineering Technician but readily admit that I don't know everything.

 

A few years ago that would have been right but not anymore.

The current "good" and "best" batteries are all of the AGM type and the voltages are a tad bit higher.
You are right for the cheap wet-cell vented type of batteries.
Their voltage is a bit lower and they are less sensitive to abuse......except leaving them DEAD for long periods of time.

You are correct that applying 14 V for a few hours, like overnight, is perfectly OK.
Floating them at 14 or more over long periods is NOT OK.

 

I've heard it both ways: some people say the warranty only applies only to the original battery and not the replacement, while some other people claim that they were able to replace battery for new one several times every 2 years. So far, I got once a prorated replacement on one car and a free replacement on another.

 

The tire example is good, but the lemon Prius is a very lame one. No one gets new car replacement at 100,000 miles, no matter had bad lemon (lemon laws are for new cars only).

A better Prius related example is HV battery. If you get one replaced under 150,000 miles, do you expect it to be covered for another 150,000 miles? No, I didn't think so.

My thinking is when you buy a new battery with proration, it should be covered by a new battery warranty. On the other hand, free replacement may be carried by the original warranty?

We need someone who works for Walmart to answer that.

 

Companies make their own warranty policies.
They don't have to be "fair" or "right" by YOUR definition.
If that is a major concern for anybody, be sure to read and understand the warranty policy BEFORE YOU BUY.

If you do that, I think that you will find that the original terms and time frame apply to repaired or replaced units for a LOT of things.....from TVs to computers to washing machines.