Battery Date Codes

DTDfanBoy

I suspect my battery is on the way out, the car had a brief meltdown after starting the other day which I suspect is linked to the battery being stuffed. It doesn't get a lot of use, generally just used on the weekends probably does 100 miles most weeks, with the odd big run here and there we stuck 1400 miles on it a couple of weeks ago heading down into France.

The car had the battery voltage listed as 11.8v yesterday morning, it dropped to about 9v while starting the engine, I took it for a long blat along the motorway it displayed 13.9-14v during that so I assume the alternator is working correctly. The voltage dropped to about 12.2v shortly after arriving back home, a reading directly from the battery with a multimeter showed 12.32v.

This morning the car is again metering the voltage at 11.8v, a reading directly from the battery is showing 11.95v so I'm guessing the battery is stuffed ????

I'm keen to know if anyone is able to date the battery for me, I've had a look online but Bosch seem to be have a strange way of dating batteries and I can't decipher any of the codes on it to get an accurate date.







I suspect the battery has been changed in the past, you have to cut through the carpet to get to it which has been done at some point, if it hasn't been changed I'll be happy to get another one the same, but if it has already been I think that two batteries within 7 years is a bit excessive and I'll have a look at other brands.

Is anyone able to date the battery for me or offer any advice as to which other battery brands may last better than Bosch ???

Cheers in advance for any advice :T

Rubidium

DTDfanBoy wrote: »

I suspect my battery is on the way out............

The car had the battery voltage listed as 11.8v yesterday morning, it dropped to about 9v while starting the engine, I took it for a long blat along the motorway it displayed 13.9-14v during that so I assume the alternator is working correctly. The voltage dropped to about 12.2v shortly after arriving back home, a reading directly from the battery with a multimeter showed 12.32v.

This morning the car is again metering the voltage at 11.8v, a reading directly from the battery is showing 11.95v so I'm guessing the battery is stuffed ????

Regardless of the date, those voltages show that the battery needs replacing!

DTDfanBoy

Rubidium wrote: »

Regardless of the date, those voltages show that the battery needs replacing!

Cheers I suspected as much

droopsnoot

It doesn't seem very easy to decode the date codes, but my reading would suggest that the long number starting with "H0" implies August 2010 - "H" being the month number where A=Jan, B=Feb and so on, and the next digit being the year of production. As it can't be talking about 2000 given some of the other stickers, my guess would be 2010. Is that possible, given where it is?

Rubidium

DTDfanBoy wrote: »

Cheers I suspected as much

Unfortunately this is a hidden cost of the modern stop start crap!

As you will see here AGM batteries are twice the price and still only have a 3 year guarantee.

If you do get one from Euro, you should be able to find a 30% off promo code fairly easily.

Lorian

Try VARTA as an identical but cost saving alternative

AdrianC

It could be that the battery's not holding charge - or it could be that something in the car is using it. You really need to see what current's being drawn while the car is locked and idle.

Perhaps a boot light or glovebox light is staying on, or perhaps something electronic's not properly going into a sleep mode.

DTDfanBoy

Cheers for the advice, I've ordered another battery, I went for a VARTA which saved me £20+ compared to the Bosch.

The voltage dropped very slightly overnight, now down to 11.93v, so I'm guessing that it's a battery issue rather than the car draining it.

For anyone else looking to replace a Bosch S6 013 aslo known as AGM 019, it seems to have been replaced by the Bosch S5 A13 , I did find the S6 013 listed on a couple of sites so you may want to be wary of old stock. The VARTA G14 is VARTA's version

Lorian

When you get the new one email VARTA customer services with the code and they'll tell you the manufacturing date.

info-uk <at> varta-automotive.com