Used and refurbished battery-powered equipment are abundant and are often found at great prices. Although the vehicle may be in good working order, it’s important to determine how old the deep-cycle batteries are. In most cases, battery manufacturers stamp or etch a date code on the battery indicating the month, year, and location of manufacture.
Reading the Date Code
U.S. Battery uses a stamped code on the terminals of its flooded lead-acid batteries. The top left letter stamped on the terminal correlates to the month it was manufactured (A-L refers to January to December). In this example, the letter “K” is the 11th month indicating the battery was manufactured in November. The number indicates the year 2014, and the bottom letter specifies the U.S. Battery plant where it was produced.
U.S. Battery Mfg. Co. Plant Codes
- The letter “X” is for Corona, California plant.
- The letter “Y” is for Augusta, Georgia plant.
- The letter “Z” is the Evans, Georgia plant.
U.S. Battery Mfg. Co. AGM Date Code
On U.S. Battery AGM Batteries, the date, month, and year on the battery case are etched into the top of the battery and are clearly visible. The date is in the format of DDMMYY or YYMMDD. In this example, September 15, 2014.
8 Responses
What are date codes for 2020 and up batteries?
Hi Wesley,
2020 to the present will be indicated by the numbers 0-3 stamped on the terminal. The letters A-L will tell you the month (January – December) the batteries were produced.
Best,
-Mike Wallace, V.P. of Marketing
My batteries have a B 2 Y on it. 8 volt, also all of them have a black sticker with 6-22. F-22. Would like to know if these are 2012 or 2022 batteries.
Thanks!
Hi Dena,
One way to tell if your batteries are from 2012 or 2022 is if the batteries look like the images on our website. If your batteries and labels do not look like the images on our site, then they are from 2012. If the labels look like the images on our website, the batteries are from 2022.
Best,
-Mike Wallace, V.P. – Marketing
C2Y is my stamp on 8vgc batteries. I assume these are 2022 and not 2012. Am I correct? Also, what is the life span and warranty on these batteries. I just purchased the cart and the seller informed me that the batteries were only about a year old. They are dead dead. All 6 will not take a charge. Any help would be greatly appreciated
Hi Rickey,
I’m sorry to hear you’re having trouble charging your batteries. If they are red batteries, they are from 2022. Our engineers may have some ideas that could help you. I will forward them your information, and someone will contact you shortly.
Best,
-Mike Wallace, V.P. of Marketing
I have a 6 digits on the top of my ub1280 battery. 202116 does that means 2021 Jan 6th
Hi Melissa,
It looks like January 6, 2021 is correct, but to be certain we recommend contacting the company that manufactured the battery. They may use a different date code from the ones we use.
Best,
-Mike Wallace, V.P. of Marketing