Trojan Shelf Life ?

[1970buick]

There is a place near me selling Trojan T1275 for $165 out the door. They are dated coded September 2013. Brand new and not used. They offer a year guarantee from date of purchase. I am concerned with the 6+ months they have sat on the shelf. Is this ok or should I pass. I appreciate everyone's input on switching to 8v but I am not interested in doing that. Any input on the date issue is much appreciated.

[Stevegrmich]

Originally Posted by 1970buick

There is a place near me selling Trojan T1275 for $165 out the door. They are dated coded September 2013. Brand new and not used. They offer a year guarantee from date of purchase. I am concerned with the 6+ months they have sat on the shelf. Is this ok or should I pass. I appreciate everyone's input on switching to 8v but I am not interested in doing that. Any input on the date issue is much appreciated.

. . quality deep cycle wet cell batteries typically have a "shelf life" of 6 months, assuming the vendor did not periodically charge them . . . after that time, sulfation can possibly start to deteriorate the cells . . . so, with that in mind, Sept 2013 should still be a good battery . . . the T1275's self-discharge at a 5-15% monthly rate . . .

[6point1SRT]

My Trojan's I just bought have a date code of April 2014...Sooooooo those may actually be a bit older.

[fleagt]

Originally Posted by 6point1SRT

My Trojan's I just bought have a date code of April 2014...Sooooooo those may actually be a bit older.

Did some one go into the future and get those for you

[joesam]

Maybe they are stamped with their "Best Before" date? If it works for Milk & Cottage Cheese maybe it works for batteries too!

[jakesnake27]

Originally Posted by 6point1SRT

My Trojan's I just bought have a date code of April 2014...Sooooooo those may actually be a bit older.

That's weird...

[tgaff]

Originally Posted by 6point1SRT

My Trojan's I just bought have a date code of April 2014...Sooooooo those may actually be a bit older.

I also bought Trojan 875 in Sept 2013 and were dated J13, Oct 2013. Not sure why they do that.

[Sergio]

Is that code stamped on the battery post or just a sticker on the battery?

[scottyb]

My distributor told me they stamp a date in the batteries when they expect them to be put into service. Depending upon time of year and demand that may be 30, 60, even 90 days into the future. The date code is used for warranty purposes

I would perform a comprehensive SG test on each cell.
Lead acid batteries can loose up to 1% of their charge per day. If they were neglected, they may have been damaged?

[1970buick]

Wow, this is good food for thought. They said they "got them" in September so I am curious as to what is stamped on them. I am going to have to check into this further. I have a shop in town selling US 12v batteries for $169 and they are dated Dec. '13