Never mentioned cause most of know that is not normal. However stuff
happens. Besides batteries do sometimes fail due to a true defect such as a
broken internal cell connector or a lead drip landing between the plates.
Vehicles that sit a lot or batteries used for cycling applications can get
beaten up.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Stuart MacMillan
Sent: Saturday, October 12, 2013 11:53 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: VLVC - Battery experience with WalMart

Good stuff, but no one has mentioned that you shouldn't be killing a battery
in two years.  There are only two reasons for this, one is a charging system
problem and the other is that the vehicle is driven primarily on short
trips.  If the latter is true, put a charger on it once a month or so and
you'll get the advertised lifetime or more.

Short trips can result in carbon build up on the valves too, so a nice long
drive every few months would take care of both problems.

Stuart

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
John Graham
Sent: Friday, October 11, 2013 8:40 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: VLVC - Battery experience with WalMart

My main vehicle is an '88 Vanagon Camper, but I am also the main motor
consultant on my wife's Toyota Sienna.  So my tale is about the battery on
the Sienna.

Yesterday it failed to start the beast; charging it didn't help.  My verdict
was the battery needed to be replaced.  It had come from WalMart and it was
close by so off I went.  I found the needed new battery on the rack,
purchased it (for $99) and loaded in my trusty Vanagon.

Now here's the interesting/happy part.  I took the old battery back to the
customer service counter expecting to only get my $9 core charge back.  The
service person waved her little price gun at my receipt and then my old
battery's bar code sticker and then played with her register keyboard for
what I thought was longer than needed for a $9 core charge.

She proceeded to hand me a $60 refund (I guess there was some warrantee left
on my old battery that I hadn't calculated).  I guess you can tell that I'm
not that attentive to all those details, but I'm sure the battery was over
2+ years old.

So I guess my takeaway from this is that if your dead battery came from
Walmart, you may get a refund when you purchase your next one if there is
some warrantee left.  Who knows - maybe I just got lucky with the right
service person, but next time, if they don't scan the old battery, I'll ask.

I hope your next dead battery experience is as good as mine was.

John Graham
'88 Vanagon Westy - Charlotte, NC

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