Another battery bites the dust

[fiend]

I bought two Odyssey AGM batteries in 2018.  One died within two years. Amazon replaced it, thankfully.  The second one just died, just short of four years out. A little disappointed given the “premium” quality of the Odyssey.  After getting the runaround from Amazon trying to warranty it (supposedly 4 years), I just picked up an AGM from the local O’reillys.  A hundred bucks cheaper. We’ll see how it goes!

[Dave]

I've had OK luck with Duralast platinum AGM from autozone.   The fist one lasted 3½ years.  I just replaced it with another.  I had considered the odyssey, but couldn't find one in stock for quick turnaround.  

[ManinBlack]

That sucks, I’ve heard that the Odyssey’s aren’t what they used to be.

Oriellys batteries are made by Johnson Controls, who make Optima as well. Hope it lasts a little longer.

 

[fiend]

23 minutes ago, ManinBlack said:

That sucks, I’ve heard that the Odyssey’s aren’t what they used to be.

Oriellys batteries are made by Johnson Controls, who make Optima as well. Hope it lasts a little longer.

 

Yeah I used to have a Sears battery that was a rebranded Odyssey. That lasted about 6 years. The newer ones have been disappointing.  

[Jdofmemi]

It seems to me none of the batteries last like they used too. 

 

I suspect it has something to do with the "good stuff" that used to be used in manufacturing being regulated out. 

 

Now, to "save the planet", we get to replace things twice as often.    I'm missing how using things half as bad, but needing twice as many of them actually saves anything. 

 

Couple this with all the parasitic draw on batteries in modern vehicles, and it's as bad deal. 

 

My 2016 Ford is on the 6th set of batteries since new. 

It was purchased in June of 26, and June or July every year since has seen a new set installed. 

Granted a couple of sets were cheapos, as times were tough. This year I sprang for top $$ AGM from Batteries+

Hopefully I can make it longer on these, since they were double the price. 

[Jetlau3]

Have you tried keeping it plugged in on a tender ? My red top died a few times when I wasn’t driving the Jeep much . Got a Noco battery tender off Amazon for AGM .  Anecdotal but cranks really well even after not driving for a few weeks

[BHaner]

Mine had a big draw that ruined the stock battery and almost had its way with an odyssey.   It would be dead after a week of sitting.  I picked up an odyssey 20w charger that can condition the battery.  It brought it back!
 

Since I had the maestro module in my alpine restyle replaced it has been good.  

[BaddestCross]

I went through a couple of the O'Reilly AGM batteries... My fridge killed them. I bought an Odyssey about a year ago, but haven't kept the fridge in the Jeep for awhile, so not sure if it's any different. I do intend to get an Odyssey tender though.

[AJK]

That sucks about Amazon,I have't tried Odyssey yet but I am on my 3rd battery since Nov 17 when I bought the jeep. This last go around I looked at the Odyssey and was shocked at the price.

[Guest]

So far so good with this battery,(2 years so far) but I still drive it daily also. 

[JKBrick]

The original 09 lasted forever in The Brick, I only replaced it because I won an Oddessy on IG. I got the large tender for it and so far so good 

[fiend]

On 1/15/2022 at 9:04 AM, Jetlau3 said:

Have you tried keeping it plugged in on a tender ? My red top died a few times when I wasn’t driving the Jeep much . Got a Noco battery tender off Amazon for AGM .  Anecdotal but cranks really well even after not driving for a few weeks

I think that was the issue. Hadn’t driven the Jeep in a month or two. I guess it got completely drained and now won’t hold a charge more than a day or two. I didn’t have it on a trickle charger. 

[fiend]

On 1/15/2022 at 7:30 AM, Jdofmemi said:

It seems to me none of the batteries last like they used too. 

 

I suspect it has something to do with the "good stuff" that used to be used in manufacturing being regulated out. 

 

Now, to "save the planet", we get to replace things twice as often.    I'm missing how using things half as bad, but needing twice as many of them actually saves anything. 

 

Couple this with all the parasitic draw on batteries in modern vehicles, and it's as bad deal. 

 

My 2016 Ford is on the 6th set of batteries since new. 

It was purchased in June of 26, and June or July every year since has seen a new set installed. 

Granted a couple of sets were cheapos, as times were tough. This year I sprang for top $$ AGM from Batteries+

Hopefully I can make it longer on these, since they were double the price. 

Yeah maybe. I guess they want us to replace every three years. At least they recycle them now, instead of tossing them into a hole. 

[fiend]

On 1/15/2022 at 9:07 AM, BHaner said:

Mine had a big draw that ruined the stock battery and almost had its way with an odyssey.   It would be dead after a week of sitting.  I picked up an odyssey 20w charger that can condition the battery.  It brought it back!
 

Since I had the maestro module in my alpine restyle replaced it has been good.  

I was tempted to try the odyssey charger.  But after having two batteries die I’m a little nervous about the quality of all their stuff 

[fiend]

On 1/15/2022 at 9:10 AM, BaddestCross said:

I went through a couple of the O'Reilly AGM batteries... My fridge killed them. I bought an Odyssey about a year ago, but haven't kept the fridge in the Jeep for awhile, so not sure if it's any different. I do intend to get an Odyssey tender though.

I killed one with the fridge in the past. I don’t leave it on anymore.  Just for day trips or the occasional 2-3 night trip. 

[fiend]

On 1/15/2022 at 9:41 AM, AxK said:

That sucks about Amazon,I have't tried Odyssey yet but I am on my 3rd battery since Nov 17 when I bought the jeep. This last go around I looked at the Odyssey and was shocked at the price.

Yeah $330 or something. Pretty pricy. I won’t buy another. 

[fiend]

On 1/15/2022 at 10:13 AM, Spirit said:

So far so good with this battery,(2 years so far) but I still drive it daily also. 

I think daily driving helps. Mine sat for a month or two and I think that’s what may have killed it. Or it’s just a POS. 

[fiend]

On 1/15/2022 at 1:00 PM, JKBrick said:

The original 09 lasted forever in The Brick, I only replaced it because I won an Oddessy on IG. I got the large tender for it and so far so good 

Probably a tender makes a difference. Mine was good until it was not.

[BaddestCross]

7 hours ago, fiend said:

Probably a tender makes a difference. Mine was good until it was not.

Not sure if it does. I was driving Fiona daily and when the battery was new, the fridge would run for 3 days. After 6 months maybe it would shut off before the end of the day.

[Gruff]

The battery tenders definitely help. I've been using them for years now on tractors, quads, etc and the batteries have lived longer with them. 

 

Something else I'm doing on Gruff is putting a battery cutoff switch on it. My accessory wiring is a disgrace and needs cleaned up bad. Once that's cleaned up the cutoff is going in.

[BaddestCross]

6 hours ago, Gruff said:

The battery tenders definitely help. I've been using them for years now on tractors, quads, etc and the batteries have lived longer with them. 

 

Something else I'm doing on Gruff is putting a battery cutoff switch on it. My accessory wiring is a disgrace and needs cleaned up bad. Once that's cleaned up the cutoff is going in.

If you come across or already know of some good post terminals for accessory wiring I'd love to hear about them.

[wjtstudios]

I've had two Odyssey Extremes for a couple years now on Bison with no issues with mine.  They do run my ARB Fridge continually and they are on the Odyssey tender when the Jeep in not being used regularly.  Just my experience with them.  I did by them thru my local autozone in case there are any issues with them.  

[Redline]

Odyssey batteries are great as long as they do not sit with draws on them. They tend to never lose amps on a draw test until they completely fail. Most of them do have low reserve amps compared to competitors and that is why they either need to be on a disconnect or tender when not in use.

Optimas on the other hand just die period unless you spend the money for yellow tops at a minimum. The red tops 10-15 years ago were awesome, but once they caught on I think China figured out how to make them fail fast or make them a lot cheaper on their end.

[BHaner]

30 minutes ago, Redline said:

 The red tops 10-15 years ago were awesome, but once they caught on I think China figured out how to make them fail fast or make them a lot cheaper on their end.

I had a local battery guy explain it to me a few years ago.

 

When Optima got bought out 10 years ago the new owner tried to cut costs by using recycled lead.  Apparently it doesn't work as well and virgin lead.

 

He also said that the guy who designed Optima years ago was the one who started Odyssey.  That guy had a partner who split and started Northstar.  Not sure how much of that last part is true but the thing about the lead made sense.

[Redline]

3 hours ago, BHaner said:

I had a local battery guy explain it to me a few years ago.

 

When Optima got bought out 10 years ago the new owner tried to cut costs by using recycled lead.  Apparently it doesn't work as well and virgin lead.

 

He also said that the guy who designed Optima years ago was the one who started Odyssey.  That guy had a partner who split and started Northstar.  Not sure how much of that last part is true but the thing about the lead made sense.

Sounds about right