odessey battery question

[hipshot]

does anyone know of a "made on" date for the pc680 battery.

i am beginning to think my "bargain battery", is WAY out-dated, as it will not seem to fully charge.

most i can get in it, is about 12.85 volts.

don't know if that is hot enough to spin a v4 engine, or not.

thanks in advance.

just jt

[GeorgeS]

If after charging at 4 to 6 amp rate for about 6 hours.

Let it sit for a few hours, if Voltage level is 12.8 your good.

 

How is the battery preforming in actual ussage ?

 

I just went down and checked the voltage on mine. It was 12.7 V

Last ride was about a week ago, and two weeks before that.

20 mile rides. Last time I charged the battery was about 3 months ago.

[rhncue]

If after charging at 4 to 6 amp rate for about 6 hours.

Let it sit for a few hours, if Voltage level is 12.8 your good.

 

How is the battery preforming in actual ussage ?

 

I just went down and checked the voltage on mine. It was 12.7 V

Last ride was about a week ago, and two weeks before that.

20 mile rides. Last time I charged the battery was about 3 months ago.

 

I haven't started my bike since the last of September. I went out last week, put on the choke and cranked for around 20 seconds in 40 degree weather and the bike fired up and ran. Best battery I've ever had.

 

Dick

[GigaWhiskey]

Dunno 'bout a made on date but this battery and squids cables have been perfect.

[hipshot]

Dunno 'bout a made on date but this battery and squids cables have been perfect.

 

hey brother, glad to see you back on here.

i couldn't afford "squid's HIGH PRICED", cables, so i "appropriated " the raw materials and made my own!

lol.

makes a world of difference.

now that i can get enough power to the starter, i found that i have a starter clutch ,in need of "rebuilding"!!!!

oh well, for a 22 year old bike, that has had NO maintenance by previous owners, i guess i should expect more "irritations".

just jt

[Redneck]

Jt 12.85 volts is fine the determining factor is how many volts does it have under load. If it will hold 10 volts while under a 75 amp load it is good if the voltage drops below that and fades fast under load you have problems.

[GigaWhiskey]

hey brother, glad to see you back on here.

 

oh well, for a 22 year old bike, that has had NO maintenance by previous owners, i guess i should expect more "irritations".

just jt

 

I peep in and then chime in once in a while. I watch more than I type now.

 

In a recent post, I read you had paid a very low price for this bike. So, I would expect some issues to arise.

 

Mine cost me $3800 in '94. Glad they let me me make payments to them. And, this thing still asks for more. But that is ok, she does me right!

 

We need to roll these brownies in the Stampede!

[hipshot]

Jt 12.85 volts is fine the determining factor is how many volts does it have under load. If it will hold 10 volts while under a 75 amp load it is good if the voltage drops below that and fades fast under load you have problems.

thanks , mike.

i will put my battery tester on it, and simulate a load, to see how much it holds and for how long.

 

would "draining it, and then recharging it , help in any way?

do these things have a memory, like cordless tools?

i don't know squat about glass mat batteries.

just jt

[Guest tx2sturgis]

thanks , mike.

i will put my battery tester on it, and simulate a load, to see how much it holds and for how long.

 

would "draining it, and then recharging it , help in any way?

do these things have a memory, like cordless tools?

i don't know squat about glass mat batteries.

just jt

 

Of course you need an automotive battery load tester to do that.

 

And no...do not discharge a lead acid starting battery to try to 'refresh' it. That will do nothing except shorten its life. They do not have any memory effect. The chemical composition of certain types of batteries does make them susceptible to a type of memory effect, but thats mainly ni-cad rechargeables. ( and a few others to a lesser degree)

 

 

 

 

[hipshot]

thanks a bunch, Brian.

i'll just let my battery tender, hold it where it is, 'till i get my new starter clutch.

found one locally , for $104.and change.

don't have the time to fool with a rebuild, can't really afford the whole package, so - - - - - - no beer this month!

lol

just jt

[SaltyDawg]

Here is something I found about Odyessy batteries. I know it's for the PC545 but look under the cause and it will tell you the voltages for their batteries. 12.85 is fully charged according to them.

 

http://www.odysseybatteries.com/files/pc545.pdf

[daveg90]

does anyone know of a "made on" date for the pc680 battery.

i am beginning to think my "bargain battery", is WAY out-dated, as it will not seem to fully charge.

most i can get in it, is about 12.85 volts.

don't know if that is hot enough to spin a v4 engine, or not.

thanks in advance.

just jt

 

 

 

I have been using the same Oddyesy PCM680 battery now for about 6 years and have never had a starting problem allthough it never takes a charge over 12.9V.

 

I never use a trickle charger that can destroy these batteries and my 10Amp charger automatically shuts off after about 1 hour of charging. I will leave it on overnite but dont think that it charges anymore after the firt hour.

 

Pretty reliable battery that is well worth the money.

 

I would buy another if this one ever gives up the ghost!

 

daveg90 aka Supersport

[Tartan Terror]

Ok here is what I have found. -

 

The other day I recieved my new Odessey charger. My battery came to life. I had been using a Battery tender but now know that it was not sufficient to charge it. Odessey wants the battery charged at 6A. I read in the manuel that it charges the battery up to a full charge of I believe 14.6 volts. That number may be off a little but I will attach the link for the charger when I find it. Basicly what Im saying is the standard trickle charge is nowhere enough to to meet the requirements of this battery. Battery is a great battery but needs special care. The bike will chage it right during riding. As for the age this battery has like a 8 year warranty so I would get a car charger or just buy one like I did with the quick disconnect and you will see the difference.

 

Add: The 14.6 volts is wrong. That number is what the batteries are charged to but not the At rest volts.

 

http://www.batteryweb.com/odyssey-ultimizer-detail-OMAX-6A-1B.htm

 

http://www.batteryweb.com/odyssey-detail-PC680-motorcycles.htm

 

 

http://www.batteryweb.com/pdf/Odyssey-Technical-Manual.pdf

 

The last link is for all the Warranty information and techincal info on all the products

 

BTW I just ordered an Odessey for my truck and the specs far outperform any other AGM and make the stock battery just look silly!

[SaltyDawg]

Yeah TT I figured it would need a better charger for that. I checked the specs for the Batter Tender Plus and it's only 1.2 amp. Not nearly enough. If you use the right chargers you can get a good life out of batteries.

 

I figured the Odyssey battery was a good battery if you have the proper equipment to charge it. I just can't afford both the battery and another charger at this time.

[Condor]

does anyone know of a "made on" date for the pc680 battery.

just jt

 

Yep, the 'born on' date is located on the top lable by the negative (-)anode. There's a white area with the battery serial number, and right under neath is the 4 number manufacture date. i.e. 1207= 12/2007.

Anything purchased lately will be extremely fresh as the wholesaler is constantly out of the PC545's and PC680's. Both regular and Metal Jacket.

I'm thinking about doing another group buy on the Odyssey's very soon. I just checked and they expect another supply of batteries in the first week of May. Of course they've said that before, and the batteries showed up sooner than expected..... I'll post the group buy info in it's own thread.

[k7mdl]

The amp rate by itself only affects the time to recharge a low battery. At 1.2A it just takes longer than a 6A capacity charger.

 

What is more important than capacity (if speed is not a requirement) is how it gets the battery charged to 100% without overheating it. Some never reach it. Some chargers use pulse techniques, others like at one of the links above use more standard 3 state techniques:

1. Bulk charge at constant rate current up to some point (80% often)

2. Constant Voltage charge to finish off the charge. The current tapers off as it gets to 100%

3. Maintenance charge rate, enough to overcome small self discharge and other small loads like always on electronics (backup for memory on radios for example, Speedo trip settings, clocks, cell phone chargers).

4. Temperature compensation - at the battery itself (rare) or at the charger (ambient air temp). My Ni-MH/NiCAD/Li battery charger has a temp sensor that magnetically attaches to the battery case as rapid charge rates make them quite hot.

 

When you get into large flooded cell batteries you periodically run equalizing charges and monitor the outgassing and electroyte levels and specific gravity of each cell and record them. This help optimize each cell in a battery. Way too much work for us :-). The modern chargers attempt to do that every charge for us. Submarines and telephone systems depend on the battery condition very much and failure is not an option.

 

Manufacturers of chargers have tweaks to their current and voltage crossover points, and some have externally (or claimed automatic) adjustable thresholds for AGM/Gel/Flooded cell voltages/patterns. Within each category of those batterys, there are variations for deep cycle, starting, or backup service. The lead used may be thicker, pores may be larger, insulator thinner or more porous, and the lead may be mixed with antimony, calcium, zinc, and/or other materials. These all affect the optimal voltage/current/time specs and discharge rates and capacities and charging voltages and crossover points.

 

All these variables is what makes things interesting. Unless you buy a specialized charger for each different type/manufacturer battery, the generic charger (for flooded cell, AGM, gel) on the market is going to get you just close enough. Long term some will do better than others. The bike will have yet a different charging pattern. So you must consider the combined effects which means you have less control over the long term effects and as a result this tends to decrease the justification to spend too much on specialized chargers.

 

So in the ideal world you have a specialized charger design for the exact cell technology and manufacture specs. The bikes charging system is not specialized so now you get to figure out how much specialization is worth the money and effort. It would be nice to be able to specify the bikes charging system patterns to match your choice of battery.

 

Most of us are going to purchase from the general purpose battery charger market. It won't charge to 100% perfectly (some over, some under, some slower, some faster) but close enough for the better chargers with the right patterns for the battery technology you have selected. Then make some allowance that the bike is not optimized and may undercharge some battery technologies and overcharge other over a long period of time.

 

So I would simplify the decision process to this:

1. If you spend a lot on a specialist battery and want the maximum lifetime from it, go with a charger claimed to work for that particular battery. Verify with feedback when available. Most $$, battery and charger relatively expensive.

2. If you get a normal flooded cell or generic battery of some other type, get a charger that others have reported good results for, attempting to keep things apples to apples as battery technology/manufacturer/bike varies. This is hard since the feedback is non scientific and random. Minimum dollars but the battery is cheaper too. Plan on changing out the battery sooner but overall could be cheaper and less effort/worry.

3. Avoid no-name brands as the construction methods are dubious or untested. Surprises like sudden failures due to vibration or cell/plate shorting/shifting are more likely to occur for these.

4. It is hard to tell whether some technologies like pulse versus constant voltage/current is the magic answer when applied to so many random combinations of batteries and bikes. Fall back on 1-3 above for guidance.

5. Last option - Do not worry about it!. Ride it every week, and change it when you think things are degrading. If you live up in snow country, move south for the winter!

 

Long, but hopefully sheds light on why there is not an obvious answer to battery and charging system choices in the market. I believe you pretty much get what you pay for in this area.

 

- Mike