OT - Great Deal on Batteries

[dewilso]

No one has laid eyes on yet ? Wonder how old they are ?

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

No one has laid eyes on yet ? Wonder how old they are ?

Chad will have his Monday.

[Chad Heiser]

Chad will have his Monday.

Monday is my scheduled delivery date, but there is a fire raging nearby that is closing a bunch of roads near me right now. Hopefully that doesn't affect my delivery. I am looking forward to getting my hands on some actual batteries.

 

I can say, I have had several contacts with the seller since my order and they have been very responsive and eager to make sure I am satisfied.

[Chad Heiser]

Well my batteries were delivered today, sort of. I called the distribution center in the Sacramento area this morning to confirm the delivery. I was told all the shipments in my area were on hold due to the Clayton Fire currently burning out of control and the resulting highway closures. I was afraid this would happen. I had taken the day off work today to take my fiver to the glass shop to get the broken window from my summer trip replaced in the morning and to accept delivery of the batteries in the afternoon. I didn't want to wait for an unknown delivery date and then have to "burn" another day off work for it. After my fiver was done, I decided to drive to Sacramento and pick the batteries up myself. It turned into a long day because I had to take the long way to Sacramento, but it was worth it.

 

The batteries were all still sealed in their original packaging/boxes and were wrapped in plastic on a pallet when I picked them up from the distribution center. I brought them home and set them in my barn temporarily with my Bobcat and pallet forks (did I mention they are very heavy . ). It was about 7:30 pm when I got them in the barn so I didn't spend a lot of time inspecting them. I was pleased with the general condition of then. In other words they were all brand new, still in the boxes. I did randomly open one box and put my handy dandy multimeter on the battery. It read 12.69 volts. I was very pleased with this as well. The suckers are very heavy so I didn't pull the battery out of its box to see if I could find a manufacture date. There was nothing obvious on the box or on the top of the battery to indicate when it was built, but overall I am extremely happy with them. The price was unbelievable and the condition appears perfect. I can't hold the fouled up delivery issues against the seller. Mother Nature is taking her toll on my area again this year.

 

I did take some pictures of them, but it is late and I am tired so I will post them tomorrow. I will definitely be giving the seller some positive feedback for this sale.

[HERO Maker]

Way to go Chad. Keep us updated.

[Chad Heiser]

Here is a link to pictures of the batteries as they arrived to me. Not very exciting, but they do show the original packaging, etc. I purchased 5 batteries, but one of them went to a buddy. The other 4 are all mine.

 

On edit: By the way, I just checked the e-bay listing and there are only 15 batteries left.

[TomMarik]

Just a short history on Graybar Electric:

 

Before the break-up of AT&T, Graybar Electric was the sales arm for outside sale of stuff that Western Electric made.

 

Western Electric made almost everything that AT&T used from cable to those nearly indestructible black telephones that had real dials.

 

AT&T served 85% of the nation's telephone customers before the break-up.

[DJW]

I had 4 8D's as my house banks in our 42 foot sailboat in HI. You better bring 2 men and a boy when you start handling these. I had to pull straight up 3 feet to bring them up out of the engine room. If you don't have back problems when you start playing with these you will if you are not real careful.

 

Dennis

[Yarome]

I would still be interested in the MFG date.

[Exile]

I would still be interested in the MFG date.

good question, its not on the top of the battery so far as i can tell.

 

In the wifes trunk, will need a can of spinach to get it out and look.

[Yarome]

will need a can of spinach to get it out and look.

 

If'n you had a six-pack you could just get someone else to move it for you! Work smarter.. not harder..

 

Should have a "K" code and 4 or 6 digit number that follows. K for the year 2000, first two tell the actual year, second two the week of the year. If there are two additional then that is just a factory code. It's "usually" on the top at center mass, but no tellin. I couldn't make out any markings on the photos Chad posted.

[Exile]

K143307 6 S?

[Yarome]

K143307 6 S?

 

A yep! Thanks!

 

So August 11-17th, 2014. 2 year olds. AGM's discharge quite slowly (~1.5%/30). It's "possible" there may have been a low SOC in there. Not likely to have caused any significant degradation.. even if, but good to be aware of at any rate. I would definitely run an equalization cycle, discharge to 50% with a consistent load and run another equalization cycle before I put them into duty.

 

For the price it's still a slam dunk.

[Chad Heiser]

I just went over mine and found the numbers. All four are the exact same lot - K143307 GS. It is still a great deal at the asking price. Mine will be sitting on the pallet for a few more months until I get the new trailer, then I will put them into service. I will keep them on a smart trickle charger on and off while I have them stored, then I will equalize them as described once I install them.

 

As I described above, they are still in the original packaging and apparently have just been in storage that way since new. Mine currently have 12.69 volts as they sit. Not a bad resting discharge over two years.

[Yarome]

All four are the exact same lot - K143307 GS.

 

I will keep them on a smart trickle charger on and off while I have them stored, then I will equalize them as described once I install them.

 

Mine currently have 12.69 volts as they sit. Not a bad resting discharge over two years.

 

Nice! Same age and from the same lot is ideal.

 

You might consider equalizing now to "freshen" them up and then put them on charge every 60 days or so until they go into full service.

 

12.69 is likely not a 2 year resting residual charge. More than likely.. and I seem to recall reading somewhere... the seller charged them just prior to putting them up for sale.

 

All in all.. a once in a lifetime deal I'm sure you'll get years of service out of. Great find!!