AGM Battery Installation at Your Location in Edmonton

What makes an AGM battery different

AGM stands for Absorbed Glass Mat. Instead of liquid electrolyte sloshing around inside the case, it's held in a fibreglass mat pressed against the plates. That makes the battery sealed and maintenance-free, far more resistant to vibration, and slower to self-discharge when the vehicle sits.

In practice, an AGM battery can deliver more current than a conventional battery of the same case size, and it copes better with being repeatedly drained and recharged. That's why manufacturers fit them to vehicles with auto start-stop, regenerative braking and heavy electrical loads — and why more Edmonton cars, SUVs and trucks now call for AGM from the factory.

AGM batteries and Edmonton cold

AGM batteries handle cold better than a wet battery of the same size, but they aren't immune. Capacity still drops as the temperature falls, and an Edmonton cold snap finds any weakness that's already there.

The good news is that AGM batteries usually give warning before they quit. The bad news is that the warnings look like nothing, right up until the morning they don't start.

• Cold plus short trips is the worst combination — a battery that never gets fully recharged slowly loses its ability to start a cold engine
• Keep terminals clean and tight; a marginal connection looks exactly like a dying battery
• Don't leave accessories running while the vehicle is parked — dashcams, chargers and inverters all pull power that has to be replaced
• If you're topping up at home, use a charger with an AGM setting; AGM batteries want different charging voltages than flooded ones
• Get the battery tested before winter rather than after the first no-start — that's when you still have choices
• Already needed a jump? Have it checked. A jump doesn't fix lost capacity