Batteries Plus Bulbs offers Odyssey brand with a 5 year warranty

[Tuesdak]

@Matt42 brought a 5 year battery warranty to our attention on the relabeled "X2Power Premium AGM" line carried at Batteries Plus Bulbs. On further research this battery is made by NorthStar battery. EnerSys, who makes Odyssey batteries, bought out NorthStar in 2019 and are in the process of converting them over to Odyssey technology.

Calling around I find there is a supply shortage of both the X2 and Odyssey batteries. (NorthStar branded 94R doesn't appear to be available anymore.) A Batteries Plus Bulbs place I called just got two 94R Odyssey Performance series batteries in and offer a 5 year warranty on them: adding 2 years to the mediocre 3 year Odyssey warranty. This Odyssey battery size and longer warranty isn't on their website at this time. Sadly Odyssey Extreme is not offered in a 94R with higher heat ratings and 4 year warranty. (The NorthStar temp range is the same as the Performance series topping out at 140F but come with a 4 year warranty. Extreme is like 176F.)

I got (typical, common, and expected) free install with no waiting and 10% off more or less matching other local prices for them. They also offer a 10% Military discount that can't be combined.

(Dealer charges $50 to install a battery. FCA's PIA warranty is horrible "replace only bad one of the pair" violating industry standards and they need the truck all day for FCA's tests/charging whatever.)

Without the longer warranty I wouldn't have bothered with AGM because of the short life from extreme heat I have seen on Optima and Deka AGM's. I hope Odyssey brings an Extreme 94R to market due to the higher temp range alone. I am curious how long they will last, but, keeping the corrosion down on the cables is the main benefit I ask of them.

 

[Wiredawg]

I've always replaced both batteries if one went bad and never had one replaced under warranty... do all battery sellers replace both the good and the bad battery if both under warranty and only one goes bad? Just never thought about it.

 

[Tuesdak]

I've always replaced both batteries if one went bad and never had one replaced under warranty... do all battery sellers replace both the good and the bad battery if both under warranty and only one goes bad? Just never thought about it.

O'Reilly Auto Parts and Interstate Batteries have always replaced both for me under warranty, with only one failed, including Optima on dual battery diesels. WalMart was a real PIA wasting hours of my time as no one was there that could test them at the time but they eventually replaced both after second manager got involved.

 

[Regcabguy]

I thought the AGM's do better in the desert heat?

 

[JR]

Of all the Interstates that have failed on me I've never been able to warranty both - only the one that tested bad. And I have known the dealer most of my life.....

AGM's vent also contrary to popular belief.
I have one in a Can Am that for the life of me can not make last longer than 12-18 months. It lays just above the engine and gets beat to hell, but in all reality it is lucky to see 30 hours a year. It spends most of its time sitting on my bench getting treated to a periodic trickle charge every month or two. At almost $100 a pop I would sure expect them to Last a little longer....

I would be curious how a lead acid would hold up in your climate if tended to on a regular basis with water/acid top offs. With AGM there is no viable way to replenish once they gas off.

 

[Tuesdak]

I thought the AGM's do better in the desert heat?

As far as lifetime in the extreme 105F+ heat: Not that I have seen in diesels. Every 10C rise in temp cuts battery life in half.

In the last 20 years, like winning the lottery, only had one Optima go the distance (7 years) in a garaged gas rig driven by retired folks, but several not so long life failures also in gas rigs. (Shorted cells some taking the GM alternator out with em.) I gave away the last two Optima's I couldn't get a refund on as they all were cracking and leaking from their (unused) terminals. The 7 year old battery was also cracked at the terminal, but, not yet leaking. AGM's don't spill, but, like a drycell flashlight battery can slowly leak.

Yeah, AGM's can vent. Shorted cell on an old charger that will blast a battery that's at 10V or lower. Open back door, trip the breaker outside, and then take video and that's 10 seconds longer than I wanted to be around that hissing snake...





Deka didn't even pass Consumer Reports heat test and one set died early for me in the 1993 at 3 months. The 2003 Dodge diesel Deka AGM's did better: made 1 year 9 months before I sold it. (Got tired of the acid always all over the battery tops on the 2003.)

My 2003 Dodge RAM. Note 1.5 years old in this picture and no acid build up on top.

For the record my 2018 RAM sat 5 months with 15 miles on it at the dealer. I am sure that didn't help battery life. The driver side battery would drop 2V on a load test at 1 year and 11 months old.

So I am really curious if the Odyssey will do any better. Better would be 2+ year life and write home about would be making it 3 years.

 

[TRAMPLINEMAN]

I have one in a Can Am that for the life of me can not make last longer than 12-18 months.

I have had agm’s in my sportsman’s since ‘07. I had to replace both batteries each year for the first three years as they were completely dead after a year. Since ‘10, I’ve been keeping the batteries in my basement whenever the machines aren’t being used. Those batteries still work fine to this day.

 

[CJ8Rockcrawler]

I'm going on 6 years now with my Diehard Platinum (rebadged Odyssey) in my 2004 CTD and they aren't showing any signs of failure. (Knock on wood)

The truck is kept on a trickle charger when not being driven regularly, but almost always sits outside through the MN winter.

I've been extremely happy with them and will be keeping batteries plus in mind for my next battery replacement. Thanks for sharing Tuesdak.

 

[Learjet]

I had a yellow top gassing so bad once...it smelled like rotten eggs.

 

[Regcabguy]

I'm going on 6 years now with my Diehard Platinum (rebadged Odyssey) in my 2004 CTD and they aren't showing any signs of failure. (Knock on wood)

The truck is kept on a trickle charger when not being driven regularly, but almost always sits outside through the MN winter.

I've been extremely happy with them and will be keeping batteries plus in mind for my next battery replacement. Thanks for sharing Tuesdak.

I got 4.5 yrs out of my Sears Diehard AGM. The other was fine. I'm in San Diego and the truck was driven frequently. I've got Autozone Duralast wet cell now. 18 months with a 3yr full replacement. We'll see. I only get 2 yrs out of our Honda batteries(Interstate's). I got seven yrs out of my original batteries on my '07. I don't know what's happened with the quality.?

 

[JR]

Interstate and quality don't belong in the same sentence. I ate a lot of batteries on their crap pro rating before jumping ship. Johnson Controls is no more, they sold out to a large investment firm and now call the battery division Clario or something like that. You can bet a steak dinner the corporate bean counters had their way when the take over happened.

 

[AH64ID]

I replaced the OEM batteries on my 05 in 10 due to age. They were still going strong. I gave them to a buddy who got 4 more years out of them in a Powerstroke.

I replaced them with the Sears DieHard Platinum Odyssey P-2's...talk about a disappointing experience. They were awesome for about 2 years and then started to fade. By the time I realized they were failing they were out of the short warranty and had taken out the alternator brushes with them.

I think there is a reason they were discontinued shortly after I purchased them.

I replaced those with Costco batteries, cheap and an easy warranty. Towards the end of the warranty period the cranking sounded a little slow one day so I took them into Costco and walked out with 2 new ones... that simple.

The 2018 is still on the OEM batteries, sits on a tender when parked for more than a few days, and has already given me the battery saver mode message once. I have to take the truck to the dealer for a couple dopey things before the 3/36 runs out and see about a battery replacement. If not then off to Costco I go before next winter.

 

[seafish]

The Diehard P2 are still running strong in my 2005...despite years ago accidently overcharging them once after I drew them all the way down

 

[Tuesdak]

It's rough for me to wrap my head around the short battery life in the extreme heat out here. I watched AGM's come to the market when we were in Colorado (Early 90's) on single cylinder diesel lights plants. Lots of them ran all night on a project and vibration would take regular batteries out by the pallet. The AGM Optima's solved that problem. Pulled one out of a battery pile that was run down from the light plant running out of fuel. I then abusively deep cycled it (to point of overdischarge) on a home CB, then put it in a pickup, totaled the pickup from someone turning in front of me, used it for the CB again, and it finished it's days in a Olds 98 where it would crank but had no reserve to listen to the radio without needing a jump.

To be fair extra life may be hard to notice when flooded cells only last 1-2 years. Others are seeing mixed results, with past Sears relabel, lifespan so I set my expectations accordingly.

On the 2003 Dodge the regular flooded batteries would get more and more acid spit out on the tops as they aged. The Interstates it came with and the Deka O'Reilly relabels both did this.

The ~60A draw from glowplugs then the 10HP starter is why GM diesels have two batteries. (Yes we have a grid heater.) I wonder if this extra "heater" discharge is another reason for the shorter battery life. Esp. if they are not charged back up from shorter trips and die from sulfation.

https://www.practical-sailor.com/systems-propulsion/fighting-sulfation-in-agms

I hope the faster recharge AGM offers will help with battery life. Again for me the advantage is:
No acid fumes and hopefully no expensive battery cable damage.
Faster recharge.
Deep cycle capable if I screw up and leave the RV plugged in or drain them somehow. (I am planning on fixing the RV charge wire on all the time.)

I would be curious how a lead acid would hold up in your climate if tended to on a regular basis with water/acid top offs. With AGM there is no viable way to replenish once they gas off.

It would be best to relocate batteries to the toolbox in the bed or anywhere out of the under hood heat. Even if I could find a battery that wasn't maintenance free heat still causes trouble from accelerated grid corrosion.

https://www.odysseybattery.com/news/faq-how-to-protect-your-battery-against-the-summer-heat/

I had a yellow top gassing so bad once...it smelled like rotten eggs.

This is a rare and not well understood phenomenon. The battery is emitting H2S, Hydrogen sulfide, gas! The conditions that cause this appear to be a shorted cell and a constant charging that leads to a thermal runaway. Chargers failing and producing higher voltage can also cause it.

Had a small UPS unit on some networking equipment do this. Bad smell so call the professionals, 911, and let them deal with it. Several people sick, entire building closed over 2 days... Opened the UPS after it sat outside two weeks and the brown corrosion on everything conformed H2S gas. Yes, they limited UPS unit max age to 10 years old and replaced batteries at 2-3 years old after that: good or not.

 

[p-Bar]

Yup Interstates are junk. Bought them at Costco took them back before the 2 year mark no hassle . Only bad thing is they charge you a core for the new ones .

 

[JR]

Yup Interstates are junk. Bought them at Costco took them back before the 2 year mark no hassle . Only bad thing is they charge you a core for the new ones .

How many times can you warranty them? Reading through Costco warranty it makes mention of bits like "from original purchase date" and "legible date code of original batteries" but is vague how many times you can actually cash em in.

 

[p-Bar]

JR so you get a refund for the old ones and you just purchase the new ones so it's not an exchange. The clock restarts

 

[AH64ID]

Costco used my bad batteries as the core, and restarted the clock. It was a no cost restart of my warranty.

 

[Cummins12V98]

How many times can you warranty them? Reading through Costco warranty it makes mention of bits like "from original purchase date" and "legible date code of original batteries" but is vague how many times you can actually cash em in.

Just point to their sigh that says "Return for a full refund if you are unhappy" Or something like that. They tried to not replace the POS Optima Red Tops and I stood my ground and got a manager and pointed to the sign. FULL refund and then bought the Johnson Controls.

 

[Cummins12V98]

JR so you get a refund for the old ones and you just purchase the new ones so it's not an exchange. The clock restarts

Correct-O-Mundo.