here today & gone tomorrow

[T Cro ®]

PC680 Odyssey Battery little over 4 years old found flat DOA put on charger and it will not accept a charge it just gets hot to the touch. Absolutely no warning as the bike was showing no signs of starting or charging issues; parked it a few days ago and when I went to start it today I got nothing at all. Dang! Now I got to deside if getting another one is worth the money as these battery are costly.

[bbroj]

Ouch! Tough break. I don't know if my '06 is still on the stock battery or not or what to expect from it for longevity. I do know it's a maintenance free type battery, not sure if they came with those or not.

[Outback_Jon]

Ouch! Tough break. I don't know if my '06 is still on the stock battery or not or what to expect from it for longevity. I do know it's a maintenance free type battery, not sure if they came with those or not.

Nope.  They came with a standard lead-acid.  Mine surprised the heck out of me by functioning with very little acid left in it.  After the third time I found it extremely low (I don't check nearly as often as I should), I retired it and replaced it with an AGM. 

[bbroj]

Good to know, thanks. At least I know I'm not still running the original and waiting for it to fail. Of course, I have no idea how old this one is either....

[Outback_Jon]

Good to know, thanks. At least I know I'm not still running the original and waiting for it to fail. Of course, I have no idea how old this one is either....

Well, it's likely got less than 6 seasons on it.     Have you pulled it out and had a look?  They often have a start of service date.  (Little circles that get removed)  I wrote it on my new one in permanent marker. 

The OEM lead acid that I removed has been relegated to generator duty.  (Generator has a backup pull-start)  I do keep a set of jumper cables in my bike due to the lack of a kickstarter. 

[bbroj]

I've had it out recently, but didn't look for the date code. I suppose when it dies, I'll know it's time to replace it!

[Centex]

PC680 Odyssey Battery little over 4 years old found flat DOA put on charger and it will not accept a charge it just gets hot to the touch. Absolutely no warning as the bike was showing no signs of starting or charging issues; parked it a few days ago and when I went to start it today I got nothing at all.

Well, Odyssey's website says they have a "3 to 10 year service life" so you were within that range, but they also claim: "END OF LIFE - Battery slowly loses power at end of life; no catastrophic failure".   

I'm curious Tony, what drove you to to get the Odyssey in the first place?

[T Cro ®]

Great reputation, maintenance free, leak proof, cold cranking amps & reserve capacity, able to retain charge for long period of time, superior construction and quality. Or at least that's what I thought at the time.

[Centex]

Sounds like their marketing department gets a gold star 

Had the common AGM types not served you well with your icebox winters and stints sitting while you're on the water?

[T Cro ®]

Sounds like their marketing department gets a gold star 

Had the common AGM types not served you well with your icebox winters and stints sitting while you're on the water?

Bought the bike new in spring of 02 and rode it for less than 2 weeks before going to work for 4 weeks, come home 4 weeks later and bike would not start; mind you that this was plugged into a Battery Tender as my bikes are always plugged in a charger when I'm gone. Jump start bike and go ride for a spell and find that bike will still not start after shutting down. Go see dealer who installed a run of the mill Bike Master battery; that battery lasted until shortly before I installed the PC680 in 06/07 so it seems I got better service out of the "add-water" Bike Master..... I'm going to double check the numbers and then give Odyssey a ration of crap for the sudden death of their battery to see if I can get any joy from them; if not I'll likely buy an AGM from a local source as it seems that $$$ no longer buys quality.

[Tele130]

I still have the original battery in my '06. I pull it every winter and store it downstairs. I've topped it off every spring and put it on the battery tender about a month before riding season starts. So far, so good. I am thinking about getting that new "Gel" battery from Biker something or other?  Id rather have a battery I don't have to worry about when I get away from home very far.

[Roadhound]

I've always been able to get far better life from the old school lead acid batteries. I can usually get 5 to 6 years out of a lead acid battery, AGM batteries have only lasted me 2 to 3 years. I've never found adding a little distilled water occasionally to be that much of a bother.

[Centex]

I still have the original battery in my '06. ............ I am thinking about getting that new "Gel" battery from Biker something or other?  Id rather have a battery I don't have to worry about when I get away from home very far.

With the life you've gotten out of the original, seems like you've proven that would be the most worry-free replacement you could get 

I've always been able to get far better life from the old school lead acid batteries. I can usually get 5 to 6 years out of a lead acid battery, AGM batteries have only lasted me 2 to 3 years. I've never found adding a little distilled water occasionally to be that much of a bother.

My 'wet-cell' experience and attitude about adding water is about the same as yours.  The AGM in my 2001 Miata is in year 3 and I put an 'Interstate' AGM in the Connie this January, so I'm yet to see how AGMs last for me.  Hopefully I've not jinxed anything by mentioning that here 

[Tele130]

With the life you've gotten out of the original, seems like you've proven that would be the most worry-free replacement you could get 

My 2000 ZRX 1100 still has the battery that was installed in her on November 14, 1999.  and 42k miles later 

But your right. As much as I'd lime to have a maintenance free battery this old school power cell seems to do better than the new kids in the block. You do know that I have now jinxed myself

[MAN OF BLUES]

Great reputation, maintenance free, leak proof, cold cranking amps & reserve capacity, able to retain charge for long period of time, superior construction and quality. Or at least that's what I thought at the time.

I am a bit surprised it went ballsup on you, they really are good batteries.
I'd buy another if I were you, but mind the "activation date" that is printed on the box..
The one I bought last for my 86 had no date on the battery, but it did have one on the box, which I stuck on the shelf.  Ody does have a different charging regimin than a wet battery, and does require a stepped charge when you use a tender, maybe that went bad and caused the failure??? I made a mention of that on another thread where people insist on "plugging in" whenever they pull into the garage, which I found a bit silly. I know your bike sits for long periods due to being on the boat, so I can't say what transpired.
For the money, I still find the Ody batt the best on the market, mine never had a charger attached to it after the first day I had it, it sat out in cold temps in the winter, and hot in the summer, and never hiccuped once over a 5 year period, it went with the bike when I sold it.

tehy do have a long warranty, so I'd try to get compensation.

[T Cro ®]

Thanks for chiming in MOB.... The PC680 comes with a 2 year warranty so by all rights they would owe me nadda but I still plan on contacting and seeing what they say.

The battery was fresh when installed as I checked my records battery was both built/dated and installed the same month.

I use a Deltran Battery Tender Junior (4-step) which is rated for use with AGM batteries; I use the charger when I'm gone and/or during the winter to which I don't "plug in" when the bike is out from under cover. I'll have to explore the charger when I return home at the end of the month but by all appearances it looked to be working correctly.

What I found so odd was there was no warning whatsoever! Bike started normal when I got home and did some riding to which I parked it for near to a week while I was doing some flooring in the house. When I went out to finally go for a ride to the gun range it was nearly flat only showing 3 or 4 volts on the Fluke DMM almost as though the lights had been left on. Plugging in my little DBTJ did nothing but get the charger hot so I plugged it into my big Silver Beauty Car Charger to see if it could be horsed back to life to which it just pegged the amp needle on the charger and got the battery quite hot. I chickened out at that point; not worth burning down the house.

I may yet get another as I see I can get one for 125.00 shipped....

[MAN OF BLUES]

I didn't buy the big batt, I bought the 545, and got it "walk in" locally at a battery store here.
I got to look at the date code on the box before purchase, it was within the month of purchase, so I was pleased.

at the time they had a 5 yr warranty, and a typical 8 year proposed life based on duty cycle.

this is from the site:
Constant voltage portable charger parameters:
 
Standby, per 12V battery  13.5-13.8V no current limit required
Cyclic, per 12V battery (16-hour recharge) 14.4-14.8V no current limit required
Typical deep-cycle life at 25°C/77°F
at a 5-hour rate 400 cycles at 80% DOD
Typical service life at 25°C/77°F Medium to heavy duty usage – 3+ years
Light duty usage – 5+ years


I suppose it's out of warranty, but if you can find someplace and do a walk in purchase, saving the postage, I'd suggest another one.

[T Cro ®]

Yep..... Purchased another PC680 from eBay for 133.00 delivered which is at least 20.00 less than I could get locally; asked the seller for the date code and this batch was 4/11 which is not too bad at all. New Odyssey batteries in this size come with a 2 year warranty. Opened the shipping box and checked voltage at 12.7.... Bike really cranked over quite well and started right up after a 5 week plus slumber.