[vmb]

My 11 year old Optima battery would not hold a charge any longer, and I tried all the tricks I could find on the internet to revive it, but was unsuccessful. So yesterday I went to Autozone, had them test my old battery (I think I heard a slight chuckle when the manager saw the 4/11 date sticker) and got a new one. I noticed the "new one" was dated 1/21 and the parts manager said that battery life starts when put into use. (First question: is this true?)

Then I got home, checked the voltage of the new battery and it was 12.0V. I hooked it up to my also-11-year-old CTEK 3300 charger, set it to the AGM setting and the charge light came on as expected. Left charging overnight (not installed in the 930) and this morning it is only at 12.4V. I think the AGM setting is supposed to charge to 14V. So my second question is, do maintenance chargers also have a lifespan? How can I verify if mine is dead?

In the end, buying a new battery and a new charger every 11 years isn't the worst problem to have when owning a 42 year old car, but it'd be nice to know. Thanks!