Wow. Just...wow

"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch) 06/09/2020 at 12:40 • Filed to: are all people this dumb?

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Update on my battery woes

To get you up to speed, I bought a Duracell battery (East Penn manufacturing) a little over a year ago because my old one in the GX was dead. I recently noted that the battery has been leaking acid like a sieve all over the engine bay.

Causing undesirable results

yeah its actually worse than it looks. Anyway, I took the battery back to where I bought it and they replaced it with the one at the top...hilariously mislabeled as a golf car battery (there is no HP27f golf car battery in their catalog , btw).

I took it home, put it on the charger to top it off and lo and behold...leaking from the caps...the same place I suspected it was leaking from before.

Yeah...im not putting that in my car. So I email Duracell and asked what they wanted me to do since the replacement battery is just as bad as the first.

I said:

“I need to know what to do about a battery issue. I bought a 27F battery for my Lexus GX470 and a year later noticed that battery leakage has severely damaged the pain and metal underneath the battery. I pulled the battery out and noted that it was leaking from the caps. I took it back to my retailed who replaced it with an HP27F that was surprisingly mislabeled as a “GOLF CAR HP27F” Which as far as I can tell...doesn’t exist. More importantly when I charged it (6 amps, digital charger) it started leaking from the caps. I can’t put this back in my car obviously. Please advice on what I should do next.”

Here is the HILARIOUS response I got back from them:

“Wondering Why you charged the battery you just bought. That battery should have come fully charged. No reason to charge, just install.

As far as the first battery goes my initial thought would be your vehicle’s charging system is overcharging the battery creating gassing thus the moisture you witnessed.

I noticed that you live in Sandy, UT which has a humid subtropical climate. This type of climate may have a bearing on this if your voltage regulator is malfunctioning.

To rule this out the vehicle’s charging system should be checked out.”

So many crap ideas here. So here is what I wrote back.

My retailer is my Land Cruiser speciality shop called State Automotive. They are a decent sized trustworthy shop

I always make sure my batteries are at full absorption, when dormant they settle to a float charge and I want them to have full voltage before I install them. I use a Schauer CM12A, which is a digital charger recommended by Odyssey battery that I bought and have used for over a year on a variety of batteries with no issues. It hasn’t been installed in my vehicle yet

I track my vehicle’s charge system with an OBDII reader and logging app, voltages are nominal and float voltages are within spec. i.e. its wouldn’t have overcharged it even if I had installed it.

Sandy Utah is in the desert, I don’t know where you got your information from but we are the 2nd driest state in the US on average and the driest state in the country in the summer. The average humidity in Utah is ~0% so Im confident that has no bearing on it. The charging system is in spec, I have zero doubt about that.

Please advise.

“I noticed that you live in Sandy, UT which has a humid subtropical climate” This alone made me laugh my ass off. A Humid Subtropical climate? Are you for real?

This is very revealing all around.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 12:45

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Thats highly dumb from them...

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 12:49

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|Sandy UT

Maybe I’m thick, but isn’t the climate literally implied in the name?

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 12:51

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Re: tag

Probably.

Re: post

Holy bleeping unacceptables.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 06/09/2020 at 12:53

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Beaches are sandy, but extremely humid. 

3point8isgreat > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 12:55

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Would an overcharged battery show up in voltage logs? Serious question since I’m actually unsure. I thought a battery would cap off at some peak voltage, and any additional charge put into it would just break down the battery while at that peak voltage.

Chariotoflove > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 12:55

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Wow . M aybe you should ask E90M3 if you can just buy the Duracell in his mouse instead.

HammerheadFistpunch > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 12:57

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So according to wikipedia Sandy is classified as being a humid subtropical climate...which I can’t even begin to figure.

This is a graph of the humidity in Sandy

I mean...the city is called “Sandy” how humid and subtropical can it be?

HammerheadFistpunch > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 06/09/2020 at 12:58

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Right?  Its not Marshy, Utah

kanadanmajava1 > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 13:03

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My Packard had a “boiling issue” with its battery. At first I thought that the car was overcharging the battery but apparently it had nothing to do with the charging voltage. The battery was just spewing liquids out from the caps even though it was just sitting on the floor. Finally it ceas ed to retain any charge.

I think someone had refilled it with something that wasn’t sulfuric acid or distilled water. I haven’t got any good guesses what it could have been.

user314 > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 13:04

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*Facepalm* 

HammerheadFistpunch > kanadanmajava1 06/09/2020 at 13:04

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This is pretty much what’ s happening with my batteries. but I use this same charger on my campers wet 12v and 2 wet boat batteries all winter with no problems. its not the charge. I don’t get it.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 13:05

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Me: What are they smoking?

Oh I see what’s going on:

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 06/09/2020 at 13:06

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Very true, but short of the great salt lake, there’s something of a question of proximity to large masses of water. I think “Utah” counts as part of the implications of the name*.

* To your point, there is a Big Sandy, Texas, which is on a lake in east TX and according to the internets maintains about 70% humidity. Not unspeakably muggy, but not blistering either . You would think “Texas” would imply hot and dry, but every rule has an exception.

HammerheadFistpunch > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 06/09/2020 at 13:08

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wew!

Future next gen S2000 owner > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 13:09

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Hah he schooled you and your stupid humid sub-tropical desert!

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 13:13

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I noticed that you live in Sandy, UT which has a humid subtropical climate

Brah... 

HammerheadFistpunch > Future next gen S2000 owner 06/09/2020 at 13:17

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So humid. Im dying of the mugginess. its 40% humidity today! (it rained for the first time in about 2 months this weekend) pitty me in my humid world.

This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 13:18

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Any chance you’ve been buying knockoff batteries? Once is bad luck. Twice separated by a bunch of time in between combined with the fact that you can’t even find it in the manufacturers catalog and it not even being connected to the vehicle to begin with really makes me wonder what the hell is actually going on here.

Also, aren’t they called Golf Carts? Have I been calling them by the wrong name for 40 years?

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 13:18

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I think wikipedia should check it’s own sources

Because this map seems to classify all of Utah as “cold desert climate” or “hot semi arid climate”

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Chariotoflove 06/09/2020 at 13:19

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He who laughs last, laughs loudest.

HammerheadFistpunch > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: 06/09/2020 at 13:20

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Im wondering the same thing.  I suggested that to the warranty guy I called and he suggested that would be highly unlikely.  The bottom of the caps appear to be multi-material suggesting they are just a cheap simple mold, but a more costly 2 step process which doesn’t vibe with knockoff.  That being said, the battery could be counterfit with genuine Duracell caps.  

HammerheadFistpunch > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 06/09/2020 at 13:27

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I think I see what’ s going on as there is a tiny strip of humid in Utah in that map . My zip code includes the town of Alta, Ut and some of sandy is actually in the mountains. Since these mountains tend to get snow in the winter (greatest something something on earth) its possible they are lumping the relatively high moisture from winter storms into the total for sandy. That being said, Utah powder is loved specifically because its dry, 3-5% water content by volume. 600 inches of annual snowfall sounds like a ton of water, but its only 4 inches of water a month on average for the mountains in the winter months. technically  Sandy is more wet than other parts of the state...Practically, no chance in hell.  

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > kanadanmajava1 06/09/2020 at 13:32

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That sounds kind of like it developed an internal short. The short discharging the battery, releasing gas causing the fluid to bubble and heat up (expanding), and so on.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 13:36

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I live in a humid subtropical climate and a battery half the size of the correct one lasted 6 years. Sounds more like Duracell needs to change their name to Middlingcell or maybe Sosocell. Possibly Tepidcell.

thatsmr > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 13:37

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My Lexus branded battery is only 20k old so I have no worries (and is is 84 month prorated warranty) My Azera is dead dead from sitting 6 months. Theres a local called mor-co here in ABQ with insane customer service and pricing on new and refurbs who Ill probably use to wake that one up. Years ago there was a little mom and pop mechanic a few blocks away, and I always had good luck with Interstates when in need. 

HammerheadFistpunch > thatsmr 06/09/2020 at 13:40

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im at 160k on the GX, so I’ m far from the factory battery. I’ve had great results with east penn in the past. In fact the battery that is in there now running it is an East P enn AGM that was in the cruiser for 5 years before I replaced it with a bigger one.  running fine, even though i tested its capacity at about 50% and its a smaller size than stock.  

avalonian > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 13:52

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At this point just go with the factory battery. That’s what I would do based off your experience. Plus a battery from the lexus is dealer is 145ish? And you get the warranty,  s ave the headache. Plus it'll look factory in the engine bay lol. 

MM54 > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 13:58

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I recommend Napa’s “Legend” series batteries (they’re made by Deka)

thatsmr > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 13:59

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My Lexus has about 97k miles, previous owner replaced battery (and alternator though I was told it didnt need replacing..a case of old man pickyness) around 75k  

DipodomysDeserti > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 14:21

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The guy you talked to immediately went and made some wikipedia edits.

smobgirl > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 06/09/2020 at 14:21

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Hah. I think “ Texas” implies humid and miserable.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 14:27

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So... I’m torn here.  They actually responded to you with a non-copy pasta response but also didn’t answer the underlying question of “Are there any known defects with your batteries at this time?” and instead gave you a bunch of... strangeness.

He is right you should check out your charging system if you haven’t already.  Unlikely to be the problem but hey you never know.

kanadanmajava1 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 06/09/2020 at 14:46

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Maybe. But i t worked for a while d espite spewing liquids though. The situation worsened when i wasn’t using the car during the winter hibernation. It wasn’t losing the charge at high rate at the beginning .

HammerheadFistpunch > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 06/09/2020 at 15:21

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I have little doubt about my charging system. I keep a sharp eye on the TorquePro app whenever I drive and I watch the voltage religiously. drives up to 14.4 volts, floats at 13.8, right where it should.  The second data point being that the charger I use would also have to be faulty to produce the same issues if it was a charging system error.  That seems very unlikely, especially since I’ve been using that charger all year on 3 flooded batteries with no issues.

HammerheadFistpunch > 3point8isgreat 06/09/2020 at 15:24

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a charge system fault would.  Charge profiles are pretty well defined.  constant voltage in the 14.1-14.4 range are bulk charging, 13.6-13.8 is float.  if there was an overcharging fault it would either spike past 14.4 volts or stay out of float in the 14.4v range.  It does neither.  

UserNotFound > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 06/09/2020 at 16:38

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You would think “Texas” would imply hot and dry, but every rule has an exception.

The Gulf of Texas would beg to differ.

UserNotFound > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 16:40

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Duracell Automotive is just a shell company under East Penn Manufacturing Co. You gotta go to the source.

HammerheadFistpunch > UserNotFound 06/09/2020 at 16:42

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right.

UserNotFound > HammerheadFistpunch 06/09/2020 at 16:46

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Wait who ninja edited first.