odyssey battery

[gunboat]

hi all

as some of you know. my new (6 mos old ) pc545 odyssy battery went south on me, at the '08 international rally in kitchener. well i'am finaly getting around to getting it replaced under warranty. last nite in went on to their web site. (http://www.odysseyfactory.com ) looking for a local delear to handle the warranty.

the closes delear is a batteries plus about 20 or so miles from me, gave them a call. told the young man the tale about the battery. now the fun begins, the young man wants to know the mod. # of the battery i tell him a pc545. then he wants to know what kind of m/c i tell him a '99 yahama rsv. then he wants to know what cc's is the engine i tell him 1300. he's having trouble, i tell him again it's a pc545. i bought it in a group buy from california. he tells me they have two types of batteries for my bike 1 is an agm and some other one. well now isn't the pc545 an agm?

i ride over there this morning and take the battery inside the store. here we go again. this guy has to call hi manger at home to find out if they will do the warranty. now the guy ask me did i buy the battery from them (batteries plus). i tell him no, he tells his manger this and i'am told they NO CAN DO. i'am starting to fume now. i say the battery is only 6 mos old and has a national warrenty. i'am now told they will only honor the warranty if i bought it from them. great here we go passing the buck. i walk away and call odessy home office.

talk to a nice lady repete the tale of the battery, and what i was just told at barreries plus. she informs me that they are having some trouble with them honoring the warranty if you didn't buy from them. ok i ask what do i do now? well she transfers me to the warranty division in warrensburg, mo.

talk to another nice lady kathy mitchell, tell her the tale as it is up to now. wants to know if my stator is working properly. i said yes, what is the volt output of the battery 11.8 i tell her. how often do i charge the battery? i don't know when ever i feel like it. says i may not be charging it often enought. then wants to know what brand of charger i'am using.

i tell her a accumate, she ask is it on their approved list of chargers? i say i don't know. i bought it for my other bike 'cause the accumate i read was suppose to be one of the better 2-amp trickle chargers. she tell me i need a 3 amp of better charger. well i tell her i've never had a problem useing this charger. i plug it in and usualy it's in the green in 20 minutes or so.

what it comes down to is she's going to help me, sent me the warranty replacement paperwork by e-mail. mailing it back to her tonite on my way to work. gosh i love it when everything comes together.

now if only BATTERIES PLUS gets their act together. sorry for the long post.

 

best reguards

don c.

[MAINEAC]

hey Don I hope you can it worked out... Who handled the group buy? Maybe he could help out... I thought he had some kind of inside connection... Was it Condor?

[GigaWhiskey]

It is interesting to see what you are going through to get a replacement. Now we all can be prepared when it might be our turn.

[Yammer Dan]

Another thing on my winter list for "UGLY" New Battery, Cables, Diaphragms, Bleed everything, Add a bunch of Shiney stuff from back room, Grease connections, complete tune-up,Figue out how to add CB with Helmet mike and tie radio in to it,add some lights all over. I'm wore out and fall ain't here yet!! But she is "PUSH BUTTON AND GO!!"

[GeorgeS]

You said it was at 11.4 volts.

 

Ok, that means its way below 25 percent charged.

 

If we assume there was not problem, did you charge it as follows.

 

Charge AGM type Batteries at a 6 Amp or Higher Rate for about 8 hours.

 

Use a charger that Holds the 6 Amp Rate.

 

DO NOT CHARGE THEM WITH A TRICKLE CHARGER !!!!!!!!!!

 

--- IT YOU BUY AN AGM TYPE Battery, YOU ALSO HAVE TO BUY A CHARGER FOR IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

To determine the State of Charge, of an AGM Type Battery you must take Voltage Reading.

 

Odyessy, PC-680, --- Full Charge = + 12.7 to 12.8 Volts, about 1 hours after the 8 hours of charging

 

---------------- Half Charged, = about + 12.3 to 12.4 Volts.

 

If it Reads. 12.2 volts like a Lead Acid bat, then The AGM Battery is BADLY In need of charging !!!!!!!!!

 

I use my 2 - 6 Amp Car Charger, on the 6 amp rate, takes about 6 or more hours to fully charge my PC-545, I have in the Busa. I made a mistake and left Radar Det On for couple weeks, and it went Fully DEAD !!

The 6 hours at 6 Amps brought it up to Full Charge.

 

WHEN YOU GET YOUR NEW -- AGM --- BATTERY, YOU HAVE TO CHARGE IT !!!!!

 

I don't care what Henry, or Hank, or Jake told you

[Yammer Dan]

I have a charger that does 2 amp, 10 amp, 25 amp and 40 amp. Do you just charge them at highest rate? My charger is supposed to drop down when battery is charged. Will it work on these?How does it know fully charged if voltage is different from acid battery.

[kevin-vic-b.c.]

:think: Ok I agree.... yes.... when a battery is new out of the box it must be charged for a number of hours with a proper and full rated charger. If you are leaving a bike...car... bus even, for any length of time yes a trickle charger is recommended to keep battery in crank and go condition. BUT..... I.... you.... should not have to plug your bike in every night when you park it so the battery will work tomorrow when you are on your way to work. My brother has an 06 BMW 1200GS and his bike kept just stalling out... quitting on him... after some time the dealer replaced his battery that at the time was not even 12 months old and they asked him how often he charged it up.... he rides his bike to work every day.... he had 5 days last winter he did not ride his bike due to bad weather. Why is my battery in my van 6 yrs old and has not let me down once with out ever being charge outside of the van..... and yes I know it is on borrowed time now. :confused24:

 

 

:canada::canada:

[Condor]

gosh i love it when everything comes together.

now if only BATTERIES PLUS gets their act together. sorry for the long post.

 

best reguards

don c.

 

Don, The battery should not be giving you any problems and not need charging after installation in the bike. If it is going dead in the scoot you may have something that's draining the battery while it's sitting, or you have a bad one. When initially charging an AGM I use one of the 2-10-15 smart chargers. The thing is also a diagnostic and will tell you if there's a problem with the battery, like 'bad cell' etc. They're not that expensive... $50-$60 bucks, and a heck of a lot better than any of the 'maintainers'.

 

The AGM doesn't discharge that much while sitting for long periods of time. I checked one I'd had on the shelf after 6 months and it still showed full. I've also had one go bad, I have three, and it was replaced under warantee by the distributor after going a bit over the warantee period.

 

 

On the top of the battery there's a small white lable with two numbers, the bottom one is the born-on date. It's guaranteed for one year from that date, or the date that the battery was sold by a retail dealer. In the group buy's case, it's the born-on date. The batteries didn't sit on the distributor's shelf before being shipped and were very fresh.

 

What bike you have it installed in, or the type charger you use doesn't make a hill of beans difference. The battery is sold as a MC battery and falls under the 'power sports' application. If we have to treat them with kid gloves, there not as good as they're cracked up to be.....

 

And.... I have a copy of your original shipping invoice if you run into any problems. The invoice # is 80079 on 1/22/08. The phone # is 1-888-379-2555.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Jack

[Moped]

Reading the post I would just like to clarify some possible confusion. Almost All batteries sold today are of the AGM design for bikes. Charging a AGM battery should be done with a 2 amp charger or set at 2 amp on multible setting chargers except the Odyssey brand. The standard rule for charging all other brands is 10% of the AH rating. RSV take the largest one's at 18 to 20 AH rating. Example, 18 AH battery wants charge rate of 1.8A, 20AH 2amps. As I understand it Odyssey plate design (thicker) is reason for higher charge rate.

[GeorgeS]

I have a charger that does 2 amp, 10 amp, 25 amp and 40 amp. Do you just charge them at highest rate? My charger is supposed to drop down when battery is charged. Will it work on these?How does it know fully charged if voltage is different from acid battery.

 

Measure Voltage, with Nothing hooked up to it.

 

If you see about 12.5, then charge with your 10 amp rate for about 5 hours.

 

Let it sit for an hour, then if fully charged, it should read 12.8 .

 

After you have it to the FULL Charge state, then use a trickle charger if bike is going to sit unused for a long period of time.

 

The bottom line in all this is --- AGM and Lead Acid batteries, are TWO Different Animals !!! Proper Charging Proceedure is NOT The Same!!!!

 

And Voltage Levels are NOT THE SAME.

 

You cannot measure the Specific Gravity of Fluid in an AGM, so you HAVE to USE the Voltage Level the Determine the STATE OF CHARGE !!!

 

( AGM ) --- 12.4 V is about 40 Percent of Full Charge State

 

( AGM ) --- 12.8 V is FULL Charge State.

 

ON a LEAD ACID battery, (( 12.2 Volts )) MIGHT, be fully Charged, But to be sure you have to use a Hydrometer, to Measure the Specific Gravity of the Fluid, to be Sure.

[GeorgeS]

:think: Ok I agree.... yes.... when a battery is new out of the box it must be charged for a number of hours with a proper and full rated charger. If you are leaving a bike...car... bus even, for any length of time yes a trickle charger is recommended to keep battery in crank and go condition. BUT..... I.... you.... should not have to plug your bike in every night when you park it so the battery will work tomorrow when you are on your way to work. My brother has an 06 BMW 1200GS and his bike kept just stalling out... quitting on him... after some time the dealer replaced his battery that at the time was not even 12 months old and they asked him how often he charged it up.... he rides his bike to work every day.... he had 5 days last winter he did not ride his bike due to bad weather. Why is my battery in my van 6 yrs old and has not let me down once with out ever being charge outside of the van..... and yes I know it is on borrowed time now. :confused24:

 

 

:canada::canada:

 

---OK, you Might have a bad battery ----

 

----You might have some End User Device on the Bike Drawing Current when the bike is sitting

 

---- Your Alternator ( or part of charging system, might be bad ) and not charging the battery.

((( To check this, Read the DC Voltage At battery at RPM of about 2000, and you should see AT LEAST, 13.8 to 14.2 VOLTS DC, ))) If Below 13 Volts you have problems with the charging system )))

 

You need a good digital volt meter, to take accurate readings !!!

 

---- Have you OPENED, and EXAMINED the 3 Wire Plug, going From the Alternator to the Rectifyer/Regulator unit ??? It has 3, #14 large wires going thru it !!!! IF NOT, Open the plug and check for Burned Up Electrical connectors. Especially do this if you have LOW Charging Voltage.

 

---- Have you Disconnected BOTH ENDS OF BOTH BATTERY CABLES, AND CLEANED THEM ?????, If not, remove cables, at the Starter, and the FWD corner of engine block. CLEAN AND RESOLDER THE END STUDS OF THE CABLES.

[Condor]

As I understand it Odyssey plate design (thicker) is reason for higher charge rate.

 

In order to get rid of a lot of misunderstanding and confusion about Odyssey Batteries.

 

FYI, the plates are thiner. Here's a link to the page with specs etc...

http://www.odysseyfactory.com/batteries.html

 

 

Here's a link to a page that explains the Odyssey's Features.

http://www.odysseybatteries.com/odyssey101.htm#mj

[Moped]

Condor, appreciate the info. Like I stated I understood they were thicker from another person. Thicker or thinner, the info I stated in reference to charging Odyssey or any other battery is still correct.

[Joopster55]

You said it was at 11.4 volts.

 

Ok, that means its way below 25 percent charged.

 

If we assume there was not problem, did you charge it as follows.

 

Charge AGM type Batteries at a 6 Amp or Higher Rate for about 8 hours.

 

Use a charger that Holds the 6 Amp Rate.

 

DO NOT CHARGE THEM WITH A TRICKLE CHARGER !!!!!!!!!!

 

--- IT YOU BUY AN AGM TYPE Battery, YOU ALSO HAVE TO BUY A CHARGER FOR IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

To determine the State of Charge, of an AGM Type Battery you must take Voltage Reading.

 

Odyessy, PC-680, --- Full Charge = + 12.7 to 12.8 Volts, about 1 hours after the 8 hours of charging

 

---------------- Half Charged, = about + 12.3 to 12.4 Volts.

 

If it Reads. 12.2 volts like a Lead Acid bat, then The AGM Battery is BADLY In need of charging !!!!!!!!!

 

I use my 2 - 6 Amp Car Charger, on the 6 amp rate, takes about 6 or more hours to fully charge my PC-545, I have in the Busa. I made a mistake and left Radar Det On for couple weeks, and it went Fully DEAD !!

The 6 hours at 6 Amps brought it up to Full Charge.

 

WHEN YOU GET YOUR NEW -- AGM --- BATTERY, YOU HAVE TO CHARGE IT !!!!!

 

I don't care what Henry, or Hank, or Jake told you

 

When I got my Odessy PC 680, it went from the box right into the bike. I checked the voltage first and it was reading well over 13 amps. I've had mine for 3 months, no problems.

[Condor]

Thicker or thinner, the info I stated in reference to charging Odyssey or any other battery is still correct.

 

And that's why I deleted the first part of your original post in the quote. The only thing I could have addressed in the first part was your statement that most batteries sold today are AGM's, but chose not to.....

[MAINEAC]

I think I'll be sticking with the good ol Yuasa Acid batteries for a while longer... Last one lasted 4 years and was working when I pulled it but I was heading out on a 7000 mile trip and installed a new one as cheap insurance.

 

I remember back when I was a kid changing MC batteries every year... If you got 2 years outta one is was a cocker...

[gunboat]

hi all

i would like to add ihave been very happy with both my odyssey batteries. the one in my truck is 7 years old. never had a bit of trouble from it. when the pc545 let go we were in a group ride heading down to nigiara falls, was just a few miles from the base camp at the 08 international rally. until this point i never had any problems.

the display on the control head for the radio/cb started flashing on & off. never had that happen before. did it a couple of times before shutting down, i thought my radio system had gone out bike was still running fine. just a little futher down the road the enginr starting dieing at low rpms. would give it gas and the engine would speed up, did this a couple of times.

the last time i was doing about 30 mph when the bike just died, was able to pull off the road and park. all i had was the head light, bike would not start. someone came back from the group to check on me. told them what was going on, said it sounded like the igniton switch went bad. we all know this is a problem with the bikes. they left to catch back up with the group and report in on my condition. daryl came back to help me and said it sounded like my stator or voltage regulator went bad.

now i'am over 1600 miles from home and no one wants to think their having this kind of problem. with daryl's help we load up the bike and take it back to base camp. we have to wait until the afternoon till more experinced members come back to camp. lowell,rocket and big bob stop by to look things over but we still need more experiance with this problem.

with the help of brad(squidly), gamber, hal99 we troubleshoot the chraging system, check the stator, voltage regulator and all wires. even with a battery charger i'am only getting 11.8 volts out of the battery. brad take his battery out of his brand new bike and puts it on mine. his battery has a charge of 13.8, start the bike volts drop to 13.6 or so but recovers to 13.8. hay we have a winner, it's a dead cell in my battery not he stator or voltage reg.

so grambler and i head off to buy a new battery. after the 3 canada tire store finaly get one. have not had any problems with the new battery. all i'am trying to say is i had to buy a new battery on the road and thanks to so many venturerrider members who helped me with my problem. returned home to texas and still have not had any problems with the charging system since.

all i wanted to do was inform everyone of my trouble with the odyssey warranty with ONE company(BATTERIES PLUS) out of several other companies here in houston who handle the odyssey. just becaus i bought the battery some where else i should not have a problem getting warranty service. i did not call anyone eles in houston. i called odyessy and they are taking care of my problem. thanks to all for the help past and presant.

will update as required.

best reguards

don c.

[gunboat]

hi condor

just to let you know i am very happy with the battery i got from you. i tried to have it fixed here localy. and my first attempt was not a good one butt thats not your fault. as i stated even odyssy is having problems with batteries plus. they just lost a future customer. by the way they had a $145 .99 price tag on a pc545 setting on the shelf. thanks again jack.

best reguards

don c.

[BoomerCPO]

I bought my Odyssey battery through Condors Group Buy here and that sucker has performed flawlessly since the day I dropped it in the scoot.

 

Best $$$$ I have ever spent on a MC battery!

[GeorgeS]

OK, I will make just one more comment as to Charging the AGM type Batteries.

 

If you buy one, Read the INSTRUCTION Sheet, that comes with it !!!!

 

Charging Proceedure, IS NOT, the same as what we have all learned over the

 

years, as to charging and careing for a lead acid battery.

 

---- Read the Instruction Sheet !!!

[Condor]

hi condor

just to let you know i am very happy with the battery i got from you. i tried to have it fixed here localy. and my first attempt was not a good one butt thats not your fault. as i stated even odyssy is having problems with batteries plus. they just lost a future customer. by the way they had a $145 .99 price tag on a pc545 setting on the shelf. thanks again jack.

best reguards

don c.

 

Just wanted to make sure you were taken care of Don...