David B Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 I have a 2005 Peugeot Boxer 2.2 HDi (A/S Nuevo) with a dying original engine battery. Most posts on here are about leisure batteries or problems with engine batteries being drained by alarms etc. I have searched on the web a few battery suppliers and get different answers (not just makes, but specifications) for an appropriate battery. My present battery is (I believe) designated a size 017 (which is 353 x 175 x 190high - I have checked dimensions). I can't see any specifications on the battery label. I get recommendations that are either a smaller 278 x 175 x 190 or the same size as above. Specifications range from 74-100Ah and 680 - 900 CCA, with up to 5 years guarantee. Clearly the more you pay the better the battery - at least it should be. I am confused by the different specification levels of well known makes like Varta and Bosch. Should I be aiming for the same size with as high a Ah and CCA rating as I am prepared to pay - say up to £100? When replacing car batteries I must admit I take whatever has been offered by the local supplier, but having had to replace my habitation battery I am a bit more choosy about battery replacements now. Have I answered my own question or can someone suggest a cost-effective option? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David B Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 I have bought a Varta Silver Dynamic 019 H3 with 100Ah and 830CCA (353 x 175 x 190mm). I bought it for £95.32 from Motor Parts Direct (mpdonline.co.uk) who have a local depot . This was a good price when compared to online prices delivered. The only problem was they tried to sell me a rather dirty battery with 11 10 stamped on the -ve terminal (which I took to be November 2010 as date of manufacture) and scratches on the terminals suggesting it had been used. Fair dues, when I complained they got another one in the same day and delivered it to my home and said "sorry". The new one has the following codes stamped onto the casing: C9C202172 0863 861911 Does anyone (Brambles?) know what the code means? How old is the battery? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 I've been told that (as you discovered) Varta used to show the month/year of manufacture of a car battery on the battery teminal-post, but no longer does so. Apparently, the code sequence you've mentioned does not identify the manufacturing date (Dunno if that's true, but it's what I've been told!), but I believe your battery will have a bar-code label on it somewhere and, if that bar-code were fed into Varta's computer system, I'm pretty sure the battery's date of manufacture would be accessible. It used to be the case that a 'prefixing' month/year dinome was used (for instance C9 would indicate March 2009) but that's clearly not applicable for your battery's code sequence, nor can I spot anything in the code sequence that causes me to believe it relates to a manufacturing date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 David B - 2012-05-10 4:31 PM I have bought a Varta Silver Dynamic 019 H3 with 100Ah and 830CCA (353 x 175 x 190mm). I bought it for £95.32 from Motor Parts Direct (mpdonline.co.uk) who have a local depot . This was a good price when compared to online prices delivered. The only problem was they tried to sell me a rather dirty battery with 11 10 stamped on the -ve terminal (which I took to be November 2010 as date of manufacture) and scratches on the terminals suggesting it had been used. Fair dues, when I complained they got another one in the same day and delivered it to my home and said "sorry". The new one has the following codes stamped onto the casing: C9C202172 0863 861911 Does anyone (Brambles?) know what the code means? How old is the battery? David, There is a bit more info on the Varta UK website Link against this battery but unfortunately nothing that matches the numbers you have quoted. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Utterly everything in the automotive industry will have on it somewhere it's date of manufacture.....it's a requirement of all the tiered suppliers to the vehicle final assemblers, so that in the event of any post-sale quality problems, they can back-track up the supply chain to identify the units/batches affected. But, most item suppliers have their own batch coding system, tailored to their own Production management systems, so manufacture date is often buried as a code within a much longer product/version code. So as has been said, you could approach the battery manufacturer and ask them to decipher their item code for you.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David B Posted May 11, 2012 Author Share Posted May 11, 2012 Thanks for trying to identify the year of manufacture. At least it looked clean, new and unused - unlike the one they tried to sell me first! I have now fitted the Varta battery and all is working fine. I did have to input the radio code (which luckily I did have!). The old battery was 88Ah & 730 CCA (label hidden under the large +ve terminal connection). So the new one at 100Ah & 830 CCA is an upgrade. Some of the so-called recommended ones obtained online inputting my vehicle registration were below the original battery specification and thus maybe should be treated with caution. Why is life so complicated? :$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 BGD - 2012-05-11 11:37 AM ...you could approach the battery manufacturer and ask them to decipher their item code for you.......... Worth a try - it's what I did (unsuccessfully). UK contact details below: Johnson Controls Batteries Ltd (Varta) Aston House 3rd Floor 62-68 Oak End Way Gerrards Cross SL9 8BR Telephone: 01753 480610 Fax No: 01753 480611 Website: http://www.varta-automotive.com E-mail: info-uk@varta-automotive.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David B Posted May 12, 2012 Author Share Posted May 12, 2012 I have emailed Varta and will let you know the outcome. PS I have only just noticed that part of the code on the battery has been read as a telephone number in my earlier post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David B Posted May 14, 2012 Author Share Posted May 14, 2012 The email I sent to Varta and their reply. Thanks for the help given by posters on here. __________________________________ I have recently bought a Varta Silver Dynamic 019 H3 from a motor factors. I was initially offered a battery with 11 10 stamped on the -ve terminal (which I took to be November 2010 as date of manufacture). Fair dues, when I complained they got another one in the same day and delivered it to my home and said "sorry". The new one I have now fitted has the following codes stamped onto the casing: C9C202172 0863 861911 Could you please tell me the date of manufacture? Could you also tell me the standard warranty period - is it 5 years? ________________________________ Reply This battery was manufactured February 2012. The warranty is supplied by the distributor so the warranty period should be on your receipt but as a rule silver dynamic should have a 5 year warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 David B - 2012-05-14 10:10 AM The email I sent to Varta and their reply. Thanks for the help given by posters on here. __________________________________ I have recently bought a Varta Silver Dynamic 019 H3 from a motor factors. I was initially offered a battery with 11 10 stamped on the -ve terminal (which I took to be November 2010 as date of manufacture). Fair dues, when I complained they got another one in the same day and delivered it to my home and said "sorry". The new one I have now fitted has the following codes stamped onto the casing: C9C202172 0863 861911 Could you please tell me the date of manufacture? Could you also tell me the standard warranty period - is it 5 years? ________________________________ Reply This battery was manufactured February 2012. The warranty is supplied by the distributor so the warranty period should be on your receipt but as a rule silver dynamic should have a 5 year warranty. David Varta answered your questions fully, but did not explain how they identified the battery's date of manufacture from the casing-stamped code you provided. It's likely that I'll choose a Varta Silver Dynamic battery when the time comes to replace my Hobby's starter-battery, so I'm keen to learn how to read the date of manufacture. Could I ask you, please, to go back to Varta and ask them how your battery's February 2012 date of manufacture is obtained from the code stamped on to its casing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David B Posted May 15, 2012 Author Share Posted May 15, 2012 Derek, Email (see below) sent off, but I am away for a few days motorhoming so reply on here will be next week. Many thanks for your informative reply. Would it be possible for you to explain how to read the date of manufacture from the code stamped on the battery casing? Someone on a motorhome forum is thinking of buying one of your batteries, but would like to be able to check the date code. Following my experience with what was clearly an old battery customers like to be able to be sure of what they are buying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Thanks for doing that, David. I'm not in a desperate hurry to swap batteries, but (particularly if I buy locally) I'd like to be able to confirm the age of what I'm being offered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David B Posted May 15, 2012 Author Share Posted May 15, 2012 Response from Varta:- Hi David, The batch code includes where it was made, which production line, whether this was manufactured wet, dry or preformed and the date in a coded format so it isn't as straight forward as just providing the breakdown of the batch code. The remaining numbers include the operator's code. We can provide the date of manufacture if approached by other users from your forum. Regards, Debbie. Customer Service Team Johnson Controls Power Solutions Europe VB-UK-Enquiries@jci.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 David B - 2012-05-15 6:11 PM Response from Varta:- Hi David, The batch code includes where it was made, which production line, whether this was manufactured wet, dry or preformed and the date in a coded format so it isn't as straight forward as just providing the breakdown of the batch code. The remaining numbers include the operator's code. We can provide the date of manufacture if approached by other users from your forum. Regards, Debbie. Customer Service Team Johnson Controls Power Solutions Europe VB-UK-Enquiries@jci.com A belated thanks for providing the above information. I had, in the interim, spoken to a local Varta battery supplier who told me much the same thing - that the date of manufacture was in coded format and not readable by the retailer or end-user. When I mentioned the risk of a buyer ending up with an 'old' battery, he assured me that, in his company's case, they only stocked a limited number of battery types at any one time and, with a high turnover, there was minimal chance for an old battery being supplied. If someone wanted a Varta battery that was not in stock, it was ordered directly from Johnson Controls for near-immediate delivery. He added that they marked each battery sold with its date of sale so, if there were problems subsequently, there would be no argument over when the battery's warranty period began. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David B Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 That seems good practice from your supplier. It seems to me that battery manufacturers should be made to mark a battery with it's date of manufacture in a form that a consumer can understand, just like is done for tyres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 As I understand it date of manufacture may be misleading as it is the day that electrolyte is added that the battery starts to 'age' and I doubt anyone will know let alone be willing to tell you? Personally when replacing an engine battery I always go for the most powerful one compatible with the space and connections on the grounds that it costs very little extra and you just never know where you might be if ever that extra bit of cranking power is needed - like for example - after running out of diesel and needing to extensively crank the engine to reprime the fuel system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Tracker - 2012-06-20 10:03 AM As I understand it date of manufacture may be misleading as it is the day that electrolyte is added that the battery starts to 'age' and I doubt anyone will know let alone be willing to tell you? Personally when replacing an engine battery I always go for the most powerful one compatible with the space and connections on the grounds that it costs very little extra and you just never know where you might be if ever that extra bit of cranking power is needed - like for example - after running out of diesel and needing to extensively crank the engine to reprime the fuel system? Regarding your first paragraph, that would only be the case if the battery's design allowed it to be 'dry stored' with electrolyte added to it at a later stage. A gel or AGM battery is completely sealed and adding electrolyte is not an option. As far as I'm aware this is also true for the type of Varta battery mentioned above. Me, I'd like to be able to tell easily when I bought a replacement battery when it had left the manufacturer's factory (as David B says) in the same way that it's possible to do with tyres. It doesn't seem much to ask and I can't see any disadvantage in having that information at the point of sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Derek Uzzell - 2012-06-21 10:01 AM It doesn't seem much to ask and I can't see any disadvantage in having that information at the point of sale. I agree that we should be able to tell date of manufacture but so also should we be able to check the first fill date on a dry stored battery and both of these dates effectively put a 'sell by' date on a product that has so far been able to avoid such basic consumer protection and may well explain why so many batteries fail early in their alleged lifespan. I can this proposal going down like a lead balloon with both makers and sellers as they are almost certain to resist any moves to become accountable for their products and risk a loss in profits when batteries go past their 'sell by' date. They will claim that the guarantee period covers this kind of failing but I would argue that anything which potentially reduces any product's long term durability should be available to he who pays the bill - ie, the customer. Anyone who has had hassle in getting a battery changed under warranty, or fail just outside the warranty period might well agree with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David B Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 As Tracker said "Personally when replacing an engine battery I always go for the most powerful one compatible with the space and connections on the grounds that it costs very little extra and you just never know where you might be if ever that extra bit of cranking power is needed - like for example - after running out of diesel and needing to extensively crank the engine to reprime the fuel system?" But when I put in vehicle/engine details to some of the battery supplier's websites I got recommendations that were of a smaller size and lower spec than the OEM battery. So beware! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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