If ever a battery dies, be it on the boat on the way over or on a vendor's shelf, they're never the same after that. Some chalk it up to sulfates on the plates.
Then again, there are the batteries that fairly defy the laws of physics. The one on my lawnmower is a case in point. Last Spring it would not take a charge from an AC powered charger, and has acid leaking out the side case. I figured just for the heck of it, I'll try it one time just to get the mower moved for a battery swap. It's still working fine months later, and has to be over 6 years old. I still have the shiny new Walmart replacement battery sitting here on the work bench getting lonely. I can't explain it, and that's OK - such is the way with battery voo doo.
