<VV> BATTERY LIFE my take

[N2VZD at aol.com]

where i grew up , a guy had a large shop behind his house for manufacturing 
 batteries. his  "Letterman" batteries were famous for lasting longer than  
anything else around at the time. i used to, as a kid visit his shop. the 
lead  came from Star lake NY lead mines owned by his brother. he said the 
only real  secret was adding a small amount of magnesium sulfate ( Epsom salts 
) to the  acid to slow sulfation.
 J C Whitney used to sell "magic" additives for batteries that were  not 
much more than epsom salts in water , or powders ...the secret is to slow or  
stop sulfation..which builds up under the plates , eventually reaching the  
plates and shorting them out...and of course depleting the plate lead 
content.  good batteries have better plates , AND they are supported higher off 
the bottom  of the case.
SO i add Epsom salts to the cells of all of my batteries when i buy them.  
they seem to last a long time. i do keep those cheap battery maintainers 
from  harbor freight on the vehicles in storage..
SO i look for batteries with access to the cells when buying also.
i did the same thing to my  big boat , and as far as i know , the  
batteries on board (7, 2 very large) are still at it after @10 years.
regards, Tim Colson