ding Ding ding .. we have a winner .... Have a gander at this

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While we are at it feast your eyes on the battery that has been faithful since 2004, you got that right, 12 years and still crankin'. Probably aided by the fact that she fires up as soon as you think about turning the key, always has

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You had it right also. Strange fatigue pattern for a non moving part. the other post was showing similar signs of impending doom, good thing I replaced it before I had parts circulating

Just as i said . This was a problem i had , once a long time ago , in the 1970s

All good things must come to an end. But not just yet .... This got really slow cranking around 0 deg F this winter. After a log drive it recharges back to only 12.4V. Won't be long now. I'll be shopping around for a new one and grab a bargain that is at least as powerful ( claimed ) as this one. 49 XT I just dug out the invoice July 8, 2004. Ima gonna have a 20th anniversary party when I swap the replacement in $79.95 no tax. Came with a nifty Serial numbered warranty sheet for 60 prorated & 18 mo replacement. Should I raise a stink?

OK, looking for the replacement has enlightened me.

All the places say this should have a Group 48, and possibly some of the 47's which have enough power to meet spec. All of them are a bit smaller than this 49 and less powerful.

I plan to go with the Walmart EverStart Platinum BOXED AGM Battery, Group Size H8 / LN5 / 49 12 Volt, 900 CCA, $180 delivered.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/seort/380996471

I have had a few of their house brand batteries and found them to be good.

The smaller ones like 48 are priced the same. No downside to the 49.

Since this one is going OK at 20 YO, I am thinking that being a tad over sized/powered is a good thing for longevity and helps prevent deterioration by avoiding stress. I have always put the most battery i could stuff in my trucks because they have loads on them.

Fast delivery, should be here in 2 days.

Another thing I learned about buying batteries at walmart is if you order them online to pick up at the store they get a new one delivered to them not one off the shelf. at my nearest WM the same batteries sit for a long time, even a year. I knew they were shelf low on the last one I wanted so I ordered on line for pick up to make sure they pulled one aside for me ( long drive) and discovered they had a fresh one instead. I assume this one will be recent dated.

Delivered on the 29th!!! Amazing. But today I made a shocking discovery.

I was kicking around in the building where this sits awaiting installation. ( no hurry, old one still cranking ) So I cut open the box to inspect it and check the charge status. 12.6V Perfect! But I can't figure out what numbers are the date code. The shock was the country of manufacture data. Germany! Can you believe we import lead from across the ocean? We can't put together good batteries here?

Not complaining about Germany, just shocked.

Melted into the top edge is A4SAB - COULD BE JAN 2024 + SAB?
whatever SAB is... but that makes sense given the shipping distance, actual boat + land transport halfway across 2 continents.

QUALITY PRINTED ONTO THE BACK SIDE IS 18 061 2 1 & 23 42 7 0194 F

any ideas?

This date code cipher thing seems to be an inter webs rabbit hole larger than the universe. Talk about cyber space. Any way, I can't seem to figure it out, I ran across this guy:

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/q5-sq5-mki-8r-discussion-129/walmart-h8-everstart-platinum-agm-battery-3063171/

with the same battery just a few months prior.

His is a tad different. For one thing they seem to put the top labels on much straighter in.... wait for it ... the land of 'made in mexico'... I guess there was a switch of suppliers or they use more than one at any given time and it is a 'luck of the draw' thing where yours comes from.

The hot news is buy your AGM batteries from walmart via the 'boxed' thing on the web for delivery, now and get German made !! ... maybe

Also his sports a date sticker which looks similar to what I have seen in the past from WM. some where else on the net I saw a claim that those are store applied when they shelve them, but that notion flies in the face of my experience explained earlier. The one I ordered years ago had such a sticker. still does.

further research ( I'ma gonna need a martini ...) shows that Johnson Controls International supplies to WM via Clarios ( one of the divisions JCI got divided into) is the provider to Walmart, and Clarios currently owns Varta ( the German maker) . Or something like that.

I guess exact date of manufacture doesn't really matter