There has been growth in shops that sell so called seconds batteries. For most practical purposes they have been fine for most users.

The modern car battery seems to have some issues I do not remember existing many years ago. In my opinion they really have little tolerance for being heavily discharged. Plus seem to develop issues if not in pretty much constant service.

For example even in my time some people put there cars away for the winter. Convention was to remove the battery and put it on a piece of wood in the basement. There was no consideration or expectation for that battery not to return to normal service the next spring. And last the normal expected average lifespan in the process.

I really think something was changed since those days in battery construction. Trying that with todays batteries is likely not going to work out well at all.

I put a new battery in one of our cars about a year ago. The car sat around for this past winter with me periodically starting it and letting it run. You have to do this as the clearance inside the modern alternator can be reduced by corrosion to the point the alternator is found seized. At least in our climate.

That battery this spring seems to have partially discharged. To the point the car would no start. It could been an electrical loading from the car itself but I suspect not in my case. It has a full warranty for two years. I fear it will still test good. Yet I suspect it is on its way out possibly. It did recharge normally but at the same time I really do not think it should have self discharged as much as it did.

A type 49 or the close equivelant was about 50-75 dollars at the seconds shop. Those second battery places are so busy these days I suspect the batteries are just one of several things. Batteries that have shelf sat beyond the recommended period. As they sit there with the acid in them. You will see a best sold date on the batteries in a modern dispensing shelf. On a lot of brands or there probably is a code.

Before grabbing the one out front. Check the labels on the ones near the back. In many if not most cases you will see they have had much less shelf life expired. Or manufactures are just pulling a percentage of their normal production off the line and selling them to these seconds shops. The price like all too many things may have increased.

This is not the battery I may have the problem with. It was purchased across the counter as an original replacement type from Honda.

In many places the batteries on hand are managed by the supplier. When sold the supplier is paid. So the shelves undergo fairly periodic attention by the suppliers. To verify the terms for the consignment are being lived up to plus no pre charged batteries go past the charge limitation date.

I just figured where those batteries probably go. Common sense is they are not scrapped. To recharge them and relabel with a new shelf date label. Then the may sit yet another year on the shelf might hurt the brand name.

There is also usually a line up a the seconds battery place I frequent. I seriously doubt there would be enough real seconds to meet the demand for them. Today they sell so many batteries I think their supply must be very constant. Perhaps never on their sales outlet shelves more than a month.

It is only good but semi unethical business to reduce what life span of batteries could be. If you have a pretty large segment of the market. A partial monopoly almost. Or you just might save production costs by reducing some design effect or material usage. That made batteries of old more semi deep discharge designs. This I know is a pretty cynical viewpoint.

Comparing it perhaps to exhaust systems. Where the original exhaust components will on average last far longer in service usually. Than their aftermarket replacements will usually. Things may be headed this way.