Generic AGM Battery Quit Today

[montmil]

...there is as a 1 inch square hole in the battery case, and the surrounding area is crushed. Corresponds to the hole in the shipping box...

Hopefully, the missing acid ate up the floor in the delivery truck. Or perhaps the deck in the UPS Boeing.[smiley=laugh.gif] Karma justice.

[Bob_Roller]

Surprisingly, there is no evidence of acid leakage in the box, or the packing materials, so these are really 'dry' cells .

Good information to know, that at least the battery won't spew forth acid, if it gets heavily damaged .

[Justin B.]

Dang!  My box was a bit beat up but everything inside was intact.  I have just about had it with UPS but a lot of places use them exclusively.

[montmil]

This was a very timely thread posting.

Saturday morning, I rolled out the '81 R65 ready to cruise down to Texas Motor Speedway for the BMW Tech Daze event. Hit the starter and click, click, click. No varoom.

VOM showed lower than usual voltage even though I had done a short 40 mile tour Friday afternoon. With daylight burning up, I yanked the battery out of the '83 R65 and installed it in the '81. Ah... varoom and we're off to the track.

Just returned from TMS and ordered the 12V-22AH #UB12220-V from Staab. I requested they not send me the "Bob Roller Special". You know. That one with the custom square hole in the battery case?

Sorry for your delay, Bob. Let's see how soon we get our batts.  [smiley=thumbsup.gif]  BTW, I found an install date Sharpied on my dead battery's case. Sept 2003. Not too bad for a service life!

Monte

[Bob_Roller]

I'm figuring on two weeks before this gets settled, UPS says it may take five business days to go through their damaged parcel process, then to get another battery from Staab .

This isn't the first problem with UPS damaging a shipment to me .

I had them damage a shipment of two wall clock kits, they left them out in the rain, when I lived in Chicago, I was out of town for two days, and when I got home, the boxes were just a couple of globs of paper slurry .

The company that I bought them from only took out the usual $100 insurance, so I was forced to dispute the charges with the company ($1400), it took around a year to get it finally settled .

My second instance, was with KONI shock struts, I had the front struts go bad on my Honda CRX, KONI would replace them .

They would send me a new set, but I had to get the defective set back to them within 30 days of receiving the replacement struts .

Got the struts swapped out, sent the old struts back to KONI in Hebron, KY .

Four weeks later I see a $600 charge on my credit card from KONI .

You guessed it, UPS lost the shocks going back to KONI .

It was about six months to get that mess straightened out .

I personally use FedEx Ground for all of my shipping since then .

[montmil]

You're scaring me, Bob!

Here's the battery that lasted only six+ years. Note the $99.95 price vs $41.95 plus $12.00 shipping for the Staab. Battery sales through dealers only which my closet dealer is Lone Star BMW in Austin, Texas... 200 miles from my house. BTW, I was at Lone Star last Saturday but I sure wouldn't pay a C-note for that battery.

Monte

[montmil]

Ordered the Staab battery on Sunday 14 June. Just got a delivery date notification  from UPS for Tuesday, 17 June. Hope it gets here safely...

Monte

[Bob_Roller]

Contacted Staab this morning, they will get one out to me tomorrow morning .

Monte, UPS is the reason, that I drove from Phoenix to San Diego to have my R65 transmission overhauled two years ago .

Two round trips of 700 miles, to avoid dealing with UPS, I have serious reservations about having anything to do with them .

[montmil]

My new Staab battery arrived on the porch at 1245 hours, 17 June, in perfect condition. VOM showed 12.65 volts as it came out of the carton... which, by the way, was in pristine shape as was the battery.

Whew! Both you guys had me a bit concerned even though I have always -knock wood- received good service from UPS.

Will install the new battery tomorrow morning along with the freshly overhauled battery box I scored off eBay for only $5.00 and a little shipping. I was the only bidder. The current box on the '81 has had the "hooks" for the rubber straps cut away. What's up with that? Bye bye bungee cord.

Will then refit the temporary battery back in the '83 where it belongs.

Monte

[DeeG]

How old is it?  I think the Gruber batteries have a one year warranty...  On the other hand the Odyssey in Barbi's '84 R65 has bitten the dust.  Worked fine a few weeks ago and now just a bunch of clicking.  This bike get very little use and is on a Battery Tender Junior all the time and I guess the battery lasted about 4 years...

4 years?  That's it?  wow.  Dropped an Odyssey in the R45 two years ago.  Bike gets ridden MAYBE 300 miles a year.  maybe.  Hasn't been fired up (or on the Tender) in at least 4 months, went out yesterday, and it cranked and fired up on the first try.   I wonder if you guys got a defective battery?

[Bob_Roller]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, for about 6 months a year here in Phoenix, the average temp is around 105-108 F.

That really degrades a storage battery, Odyssey batteries usually give up after about 4 years, so it's really the environment the battery has to live in .

This wasn't a top of the line battery either, and I only paid $25 for it .

A standard BMW battery is around $130, and if they still sell the serviceable type lead acid battery, their average service life at best is 2 years here .

[Justin B.]

I just replaced an Odyssey that lasted about 5 years in TX.  I figure if I get 4 years out of the generic at less than 1/2 the price of the Odyssey I'm still money ahead!  

I just checked my records and I bought the Odyssey in question in Mar, 2004, so it lasted just a couple months over 5 years.  Also, when I bought it in 2004 the price of the battery was $53.50 with $12 shipping.  I can see no reason in the world (other than price gouging on a now popular battery) why an Odyssey battery should have more than doubled in cost in 5 years!  

[Bob_Roller]

The lowest price I could find for an Odyssey PC680 battery online was $115, plus $8 shipping from a company in the Boston area .

[Justin B.]

Bob, I can't see how prices could increase that much in only a few years...

[Bob_Roller]

The replacement battery was delivered this afternoon, intact !!

The packaging on the second battery was a lot more significant than the first battery .