MegaMax Gel Battery

[cecdoo]

My latest PC680 Odyssey has a made by EnerSys, Warrenburg MO. on it. 'Bout 800 miles from LS. Maybe that's the corporate office and they're built in PA??

 

Anyway, I wonder what makes a 'blem', and what they get for an ETX18L??? If it's just cosmetics, I really don't care...no one sees the battery.. And BTW these batteries can be shipped via USPS Priority Flat Rate for less than $10 bucks, and it takes only 3 days coast2coast. It took a week to get the Deka from Big Crank, and it ran $19 bucks UPS.

 

Things are getting interesting....

 

 

EnerSys corp. office is in Reading Pa, I dont think they build the batteries here though unless Deka or Exide makes them and puts the Odessey brand name on them? I really dont know. If yours says MO. I would guess it was made in Mo. The blems are cosmetic, I think mostly scraped casings. The plant is about 25 miles from me, usually when I need a battery I am in a hurry and go to a local supplier. Craig

[Moped]

Condor, just curious how you know it's made in us. I heard it was a good battery so I called the company (East Penn) to find local dealer and get specs. Told them I heard it was made in usa which is rare for mc batteries. They said yes. I purchased one locally and noticed at the counter the box said made in taiwan. Told the dealer I was told it was made in us. He said maybe the box was made there. Got it home paperwork inside showing how to fill battery said at bottom made in taiwan by Yeng Sen battery. Puzzled? The battery does have a big Deka lable on it. Never called them back, should just curious.

[Condor]

Condor, just curious how you know it's made in us. I heard it was a good battery so I called the company (East Penn) to find local dealer and get specs. Told them I heard it was made in usa which is rare for mc batteries. They said yes. I purchased one locally and noticed at the counter the box said made in taiwan. Told the dealer I was told it was made in us. He said maybe the box was made there. Got it home paperwork inside showing how to fill battery said at bottom made in taiwan by Yeng Sen battery. Puzzled? The battery does have a big Deka lable on it. Never called them back, should just curious.

 

 

If your's needed to be activated with acid you bought a wet cell battery. I don't know what to tell you except your's is not an AGM, which are ready to go out of the box.. The Deka box has the 'Made in the USA' information on it. I highly doubt that it refers to just the box.

BTW, the paperwork included with the Deka battery says 'printed in the U.S.A.'

[Rocket]

Condor, just curious how you know it's made in us.

 

Maybe this page???? http://www.eastpenn-deka.com/default.aspx?pageid=510

[Condor]

OK guys, I did some calling around this AM to the local distributor of the Deka battery. The street price quoted over the phone was $84.95 + Tax. Which would still be a few bucks cheaper...for me anyway... than buying one from Virginia and having it shipped cross country for $19 bucks. I also talked to them about dealer pricing and they said the price would be less. IF anyone is truly interested in one of these things it might pay to check the Deka website dealer locater to see if one is close by and possibily save on shipping. I still haven't had a chance to install the Deka I picked up....sick... but will soon.

[Evan]

I have been an active forum member since acquiring my 88VR recently, and continue to be overwhelmed by the helpful information. Regarding batteries and their maintenance, I ran across something this weekend that others may find useful or be able to comment on. It is a Pulse Maintence Charger with patented pulse technology that apparently reduces or removes sulphates from the plates. The bottom line is that using this maintenace charger from time to time (for even a few days) apparently makes a battery perform much stronger and last up to 5 times longer due to the removal of sulphates. I am intrigued by the forum information in this thread that makes me think that the AGM technology and the Odysey battery is better than acid batteries. However, in my case, I have similar battery challenges for many other batteries (eg. my Pacific Coast, my Yamaha Venture snowmobile, several boats, my 8N and garden tractor etc.). So, I hope the $120 cash (Canadian) that I paid for this maintenace charger won't be a waste of money, and it works on gel/AGM batteries as well as acid batteries. You can see the info on this charger at www.xtremecharger.com. While they market different coloured units for auto, motorcycle, marine, I understand they are all the same.

Evan

[bobcat]

Excuse my skepticism but by using that Pulse maintinence charger a battery will last 5 times longer??? That means that the lead/acid batteries I use that are currently lasting 5 years will last 25 years....HMMM

[zlMark]

I have the Deka ETX15L. It came with a used Bike in '05 and is still going strong! I'll be buying more from East Penn for sure.

[Snaggletooth]

Went shopping today for a battery. I went to the location listed on the Deka site for Omaha and well, it isn't there. Long gone. New location and they only handle the Deka Industrial batteries. Oh well. Tried two parts houses that I deal with on a regular basis and neither one had Deka but when I gave them the specs on what I wanted they both tried to sell me lead/acid batteries. I reminded them I wanted AGM and was told that that the lead/acids were just as good. I told one counter guy that I wanted to mount the battery on it's side so I needed a sealed battery. (I lied) He told me to make sure the caps were in real tight!!!! What the *&%^?

 

And these people are allowed to sell batteries? Good Lord.

 

I asked another one about the Odessy........his answer. "Is that for the Honda?"

 

I might stop by the Interstate store tomorrow if I'm to facing more stupid answers.

 

Where do these people come from?

[Eddie]

I just replaced my oem batt, with an oem batt last week. I dont know why we feel the need to change the things are bikes come with. Mine lasted five years never charged once through our long Michigan Winters. I use Yamalube oil and oem filters and have great luck. I go to a Yamaha dealer for my motorcycle parts not AutoZone. Ask Al Bates what he thinks about them gel batteries .

[Freebird]

YAWN....how boring is THAT. Geezzz...........you need to experiment more.

 

By the way, are you planning to come to maintenance day? We missed you last year.

[Eddie]

YAWN....how boring is THAT. Geezzz...........you need to experiment more.

 

By the way, are you planning to come to maintenance day? We missed you last year.

 

yes I am, I miss everybody, I havent even seen any of the Michigan people since last Summer. Nothing like them Oberlin BBQ's

[Jbo24]

Hey guys,

 

Wow! This is one heckuva long thread. Lots of good information though, there is definitely a difference between AGM and Gel. In my opinion AGM are the way to go though.

 

There are a couple of things I would like to state:

 

First, No motorcycle battery Made in the USA will have to be filled with acid when it arrives. Basically the only company that manufactures motorcycle(powersport) batteries domestically is East Penn, and Odyssey. Big crank is just a private label for the Deka batteries.

 

Anytime a Deka battery will fit, use it. We have much better battery technology than China/Taiwan. The battery will last MUCH longer.

 

I have this battery available, ETX18L, at a flat rate of $82.95 including shipping anywhere in the continental USA.

http://www.bohannonbattery.com/html/deka.html

Feel free to order by phone: 386-328-9024 8AM to 5PM Eastern Time, just ask for Joshua or Jason.

 

Anyone that has ordered from me in the past can attest to the fact that my batteries ALWAYS come with the absolute best packing.

 

 

Have a great night guys,

[Snaggletooth]

Hey Josh.

 

Ok, as a battery guy, answer me this. In your opinion, between the Deka ETX18L and the Odessy 680, what are the pros and cons on these two for the Venture other than the 680 is smaller and costs a bit more. Which one will have the longer usage life (under normal use) and the highest dependability?

 

After my experiences yesterday I'd like to hear from somebody that can answer some simple questions.

 

Thanks.

 

Mike

[Condor]

 

I have this battery available, ETX18L, at a flat rate of $82.95 including shipping anywhere in the continental USA.

http://www.bohannonbattery.com/html/deka.html

Feel free to order by phone: 386-328-9024 8AM to 5PM Eastern Time, just ask for Joshua or Jason.

 

That's a nice price. The DEKA from Big Crank @ $74.95 ran me $93.00 bucks with the shipping. Jason, I noticed you have several of the Dekas labled with compatable application make and model. Is the 20L compatable with the 2ndGens?? I know the PC545 Odyssey is a little different than the OEM 20L-BS. I also couldn't find any warantee information on Penn's website. What are the limits on the Deka's, if any???.

Edited March 25, 2009 by Condor

[Jbo24]

Hey Mike,

 

What I would really like to do to answer that question would be to put a PC680 in a venture, and a ETX18L in another venture, and use them over the same terrain, to see which one fails first.

 

Thats a very tough question. Looking at what I do know, the ETX18L has a slightly higher Amp Hour Rating. What this means is it will crank for a longer period of time at a higher cranking amp than the PC680.

 

Later today I will put a Load test on a fully charged ETX18L and a fully charged PC680 to compare the actual Cold Cranking Amps. I will post my results in this thread.

 

I have been selling both Deka and Odyssey for many years, and I have never once had a complaint on either. If it were me making the choice I would chose the ETX18L. I would chose it for 3 reasons, 1 it fits the battery box perfectly, 2 it will crank for a longer period of time if I have trouble starting the egine, and 3 it costs much less.

 

Thats just me though. Both batteries handle heat and vibration extremely well, as I said its a tough question.

 

Condor the ETX20L would be a direct replacement for the 1300CC XVZ13 Venture from 1996 to 2007.

 

Deka batteries carry a 1 year free replacement warranty.

 

I hope this helps!

[Condor]

Hey Mike,

 

What I would really like to do to answer that question would be to put a PC680 in a venture, and a ETX18L in another venture, and use them over the same terrain, to see which one fails first.

 

Later today I will put a Load test on a fully charged ETX18L and a fully charged PC680 to compare the actual Cold Cranking Amps. I will post my results in this thread.

 

I have been selling both Deka and Odyssey for many years, and I have never once had a complaint on either. If it were me making the choice I would chose the ETX18L. I would chose it for 3 reasons, 1 it fits the battery box perfectly, 2 it will crank for a longer period of time if I have trouble starting the egine, and 3 it costs much less.

 

Condor the ETX20L would be a direct replacement for the 1300CC XVZ13 Venture from 1996 to 2007.

 

Deka batteries carry a 1 year free replacement warranty.

 

I hope this helps!

 

Thanks a bunch for the feedback Josh. Looking forward to seeing the results of your cca test. Your first comparison idea would be kinda touigh due to each Venture having a mind of it's own, and runing them until they fail could possibily take a more time than any of us have....Zzzz!! I've been running Odysseys for about 4 years on various bikes. I've had them go bad in as little as a year, and I've had them still running strong to this day. There's just too many varibles to get solid results.

[Snaggletooth]

Hey Josh,

 

Thanks for all the information. You sold me on the ETX18L. You have an order on your site. Be looking forward to seeing how well the lil criitter works out.

 

Thanks again.

 

 

Mike

[Snaggletooth]

Well the Deka ETX18L AGM battery arrived today from bohannonbattery. . Nicely made, not shoddy looking at all. Good heavy casing on it. Showed 12.88 volts right out of the box. It's 33 degrees here and I haven't started the bike in weeks so I dropped it in and hit the button and she fired right up. When I tried to start it before with the 11 month old lead/acid that had been on the tender for a week it still needed a jump.

 

I think this will be a good change for the bike. We shall see how it goes over the summer. But for the $82.95 shipping included.....it's the most inexpensive battery I've bought.

 

Now off to Rat Shack to find some resistors. Mod time.

 

And thanks to Josh at Bohannonbattery for your information and comments.

 

Mike

[jburrell]

Well, I got my new MegaMax Gel Battery installed in my 99RSV and it fit perfect. I got everything hooked back up and the bike started right up. One thing that is good it that it has 4 post. Nice if you have a lot of accessories to hook up. Bad item was that the post are lowered at each corner and is not flush with the top of the battery. When i went to install my positive cable I had to cut off a small slice of the conttector to get it to fit in the positive terminal location. Not a big thing, just that the original positive connector is twice as wide as my neg connector which casued no issues. I connedted the main lines to the front terminals and my LED and tender to the back connectors. THE battery seems to ahve good cranking amps at 320 and if I remember correctly is rated for 17ah. The battery is a perfect fit in the battery case and I have no other issues so far. Now to see how long it last.

 

[Jbo24]

I should have posted this a while back, but time has not been on my side. Better late than never, right?

 

I put a load test on 2 different PC680 and ETX18L.

 

First test:

 

1. PC680 drawn down to 9.5V with Carbon Pile Load Tester, 390CCA

2. ETX18L drawn down to 9.5V with Carbon Pile Load Tester, 650 CCA

 

Second test:

 

1. PC680 drawn down to 9.5V with Carbon Pile Load Tester, 400CCA

2. ETX18L drawn down to 9.5V with Carbon Pile Load Tester, 700 CCA

 

The first and second test were performed using different batteries. Both sets of batteries were initially charged with a 500mAH automatic charger, then left to sit for 14 days, not connected to the charger.

 

Given this information I would without a doubt choose the ETX18L over the PC680.

 

http://www.bohannonbattery.com/html/deka.html

 

 

A quick side note, if anyone is in the Central Florida area, we have a special on 6 Volt Golf Cart Batteries, they are $65.00 each. We can deliver to Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Green Cove Springs, Orange Park, Flagler County, Lake City, and Hastings, on most orders.

 

Have a great day guys,

[Condor]

I should have posted this a while back, but time has not been on my side. Better late than never, right?

 

Have a great day guys,

 

Wow!! Thanks for the info Josh.. And man if I were in FL and needed 6volts for the boat I'd be giving you a call....

[Venturous Randy]

Thanks for all your efforts and info. I put a 680 in my 1st gen last summer and it seems to be working fine, but if I had been able to see this earlier, I would have went with the ET battery.

RandyA

[Snaggletooth]

Hey ya Josh.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm happy with the ETX18L that I got from you. Tough lil critter. I installed it in the bike when it arrived and it sure spun the engine well. I've been working on the bike a lot and been cranking and running lights while making repairs. The battey has got a good work out just in the garage. I haven't had the bike running so no charge to the battery. It's been a few weeks and when I hooked up my digital volt meter today the battery still showed 12.8 volts just like the day it arrived. I put my tester on it an it showed it was at 100% charge. Good rebound.

 

I have no regrets at all on the ETX18L.

[GaThumper]

Haven't bought me a Venture yet, but had some battery info to share with you.

 

I bought a battery today from Batteries Plus for my '79 GS1000 Suzuki and I believe it is another Deka battery with a different label. It is sold by BP as the Xtreme X2 Power and my particular battery is model number X2-15L. The X2 line is the top of the line battery for my bike at BP, they had another AGM battery for about $18 less, model XTAX14AHL-BS, but I went with the X2. (not sure why 15L replaces the 14AHL, but this is also noted in the cross ref on Deka's site)

 

I had noticed while in the store that it was listed as "Made in USA" and I remembered this thread about the different batteries for the Venture talking about AGM batteries made in the USA, particularly Deka batteries.

 

Tonight I looked up the company listed on the box, Ascent Battery Supply, LLC in Hartland Wisconsin and found that it was owned by Batteries Plus. I tried to Google up the manufacturer for "Ascent" batteries, but didn't have any luck. So I just took a chance that it was made by Deka and looked up the Corresponding Deka part number ETX-15L and now I'm pretty confident that Deka makes the Ascent batterys!

 

The specs are the same and the design of the "molded top and side connection" is a good indication. The spacers and bolts in the red plastic post cover are also the same, and the color is as described on the Deka site, "black cover/grey case".

 

All the labels on the battery and the carton give no hint of the manufacturer and all have the "Ascent" info and part number. The price at BP was $89.99 with the 10% discount I get they sold it to me for $80.99. This is still a bit higher than I could get it from Big Crank, $57.95 + $12.18 shipping to GA. My model was not listed for comparison on www.bohannonbattery.com but it would probably be a better deal there!

 

just sharing my .02 and ymmv!

James