Battery problems.

[Steve]

Went to visit my son yesterday and sort out some problems with "Freebie". Only had limited time to do a check run before my son took the bike to Florida, but a lot of the stuff was new, including an AGM battery from Batteries Plus. Same model battery I have gotten before and used with good results.

My son called me a couple of weeks ago, not long after taking the bike, to say that he was having problems trying to start the bike, it felt like the battery was weak. Well, a weak battery was furthest from my mind as it was a new battery and the bike was charging at 14.3 volts. After another couple of days, he said that he had gone to Batteries Plus and gotten another new battery. Because I had not bothered to send the battery receipt along with the bike (would you have?), he just bought another AGM battery. A few days later, he said the problem was back.

By now, I'm thinking there was a problem with the bike, after all, so I went to check it out. Battery voltage with key off was 11.9. Not good, but OK. Key ON, 7.2 volts. Not good. Pulled the headlight and signal fuses. Key ON, voltage 7.3 volts. Still not good. Checked voltage of the original battery, 12.9. Good. Swapped batteries. Key ON, voltage was 7.3. Connected jumper cables to my Wing (not running, of course), Freebie started and ran quite well. All voltages seemed normal, everything worked.

Took both of the AGM batteries to the nearest Batteries Plus store (45 miles away), found out that both of them were from a bad lot that got shipped out. Amazing that one battery was purchased in oHIo, the other in Florida, and both were bad. The only battery they had to replace it with under warranty was also from the bad lot, so we upgraded to their X2 battery, which they said they have never had any problems with. Will now have to wait and see how things turn out.

The moral of this story (you knew it was coming, didn't you?) is that, just because something is NEW does not mean it's GOOD.

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[Redman]

Sounds like a series of problems, one after the other - a battery of battery problems.

What luck!

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[hikermikem]

Glad you got it sorted out...

I'm not sure I would have been smart enough to take the batterys back & get them checked - I probablly would have gone through every electrical connection first.

Hope your issue is fixed.

[bonanzadave]

All voltages seemed normal, everything worked.

Do I remember that being low a while ago............

What was the running (charging) voltage with the new(est) Battery ?

[Steve]

Do I remember that being low a while ago............

What was the running (charging) voltage with the new(est) Battery ?

Right back at the 14.3 where it was when it left home. Also the same as it was doing when connected to my Wing battery.
(Just noticed the typo in the original post about charging voltage. It is now changed.)

It was only a bit low a while back before I replaced the wire from the r/r to the battery.

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[Steve]

I'm not sure I would have been smart enough to take the batterys back & get them checked -
I probablly would have gone through every electrical connection first.

That's part of the point. I had gone through all the connections while it was at home. Even doing the troubleshooting yesterday, I pulled fuses to minimize the number of circuits that might affect it. The only thing that made any difference was connecting a known, good battery (my Wing's). It just seemed so unlikely to have TWO new batteries go bad.

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[almarconi]

Steve,
You mentioned that the battery was from a bad lot. Do you recall what brand and lot number the battery was from? I need to get a new battery for my KZ and don't want to inadvertently get a bad one.

[lurch12_2000]

....The moral of this story (you knew it was coming, didn't you?) is that, just because something is NEW and expensive does not mean it's GOOD.

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Hey Steve,
I modified the moral of your story a little.

My new $40 Walmart battery was defective and I got my money back because they didn't have a replacement in stock. Went and bought a $42 battery at VIP and expect to get 3 years out of it with periodic off season charges. Pulled it out of the GS1000 to start the GS1100E after 3 yrs of idleness, no problems. Put a charge on it and put it back into the skunk and took it for a ride this weekend....now, your sealed AGM costs over twice as much for 3-5 yrs of life?...and yes, no fluids to add, but......

[Steve]

Steve,
You mentioned that the battery was from a bad lot. Do you recall what brand and lot number the battery was from? I need to get a new battery for my KZ and don't want to inadvertently get a bad one.

Al, it is the Xtreme brand from Batteries Plus, model XTA14AHL-BS.
The lot number is lightly embossed in the top, on the side opposite the terminals.
The bad lot starts with "C0902", then will have a couple more digits.
The last couple of digits don't matter, it's the C0902 that identifies the bad lot.

We got the upgrade for it, they call it the X2-15L.
Yeah, it costs a bit more, but has higher cranking capacity and a 2-year warranty.

The sales guy explained that the X2 series was introduced about a year ago.
It differs from the standard AGM batteries in that it uses all virgin material.
The standard line is all constructed new, but might use recycled lead for the plates.

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[twr1776]

Steve, I also have one on those batteries I purchased in June of this year. I just checked it and I have the C0902 number. I also had a starting issue when I tried to take the bike out for its last run of the year. It tested 12.7but as soon as you tried to start it the bike went completely dead lights and all. At that point I figured I would go through the harness (again) over the winter but it seemed odd since I had not had any previous problems starting, and did not blow any fuses. Fortunately there is a store here in town and I will take it back. Did they pro-rate the battery or just replace it? Thanks for the heads up.

[Steve]

Did they pro-rate the battery or just replace it? Thanks for the heads up.

Both of ours were less than 2 months old. I don't know if they are worried about a pro-rate on these because they are a known bad batch of batteries. They would have replaced both of ours straight across, but they only had one battery of the same type and it was also of the bad batch, so we paid a few extra bucks for the X2 battery. I have the second battery with me, now, I will exchange it when I get to another Batteries Plus location that has a good battery.

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[twr1776]

Again, thanks for the info. I will call my local store and see what they say this morning and report back. It looks like the upgraded model # you mention is about $ 10 more than the one I have but if they have had no problems with them I will probably go ahead and get it for the peace of mind.

[Steve]

Again, thanks for the info. I will call my local store and see what they say this morning and report back. It looks like the upgraded model # you mention is about $ 10 more than the one I have but if they have had no problems with them I will probably go ahead and get it for the peace of mind.

Yeah, I got the first battery at a discount, so we had to pay about $15 extra.

If they have one of the "regular" AGMs, that should be OK, as long as it's not from the bad batch.

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[twr1776]

Well, I made a call to the Batteries Plus corporate customer service line. The person I spoke with said they are "unaware" of any issue with this battery model and battery code having a defective batch and they suggested I take it in to be "tested" at the local store. I commented that if it is actually a defective batch per information given from a local store but still tests OK what would happen and I did not get a specific response. So far I am not getting a feeling they are going to do anything about it but I will give them a chance to make it right before "going up the foodchain." Unless they take care of this I will most likely not be purchasing a battery from them again. I will post again when I have more info.

[Steve]

Skip corporate, go directly to the store. It is my understanding that all the stores got an e-mail about the bad batch, but "corporate customer service" might not have a clue (as usual).

If that doesn't work, look up the number for the Sebring, Florida store. I don't remember the guy's name, but this is his last week there before he moves on to a new job. He can tell you how to tickle somebody's memory about getting the proper information for a replacement battery.

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