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Message started by stewmills on 09/23/16 at 13:10:14

Title: Life span of AGM battery
Post by stewmills on 09/23/16 at 13:10:14

I have an AGM battery that is about 3+ years old. Never gave me any trouble. IIRC, it's an Autocraft Powersport Premium from Adv Auto.

I rode as recently as last week and it performed just fine. Leaving the house this morning the bike cranked but seemed to want to chug and stall almost like it was intermittently getting fire and didn't want to run strong until I got out on the road and got the RPMs up for a couple of miles then it was fine. Reason I am wondering about the battery is because as I got to the end of the driveway (~1400 feet) the bike choked out and I had to restart it. When I did, it seemed like the battery was having a bit of a struggle and I was worried that if it didn't crank momentarily it might start petering out...but luckily it cranked.

So, do we expect sealed AGM batteries to last more than a couple of years and if I am on year 3+ I'm just fortunate and probably need to trade up before it dies and leaves me stranded one day? My electrical system is stock so no leeching of the battery on accessories, etc. and it is garage stored and not exposed to the elements, etc.

Thanks!

Title: Re: Life span of AGM battery
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/23/16 at 13:39:57

Batteries,, man, you might as well start a thread about
What do women Want from a man?

A battery can be a turd, right outta the box, or, gold, for years.
I left the key on on the backhoe, Twice. Flattened the battery.
Wal-Mart saved it. It finally started having trouble firing it off.
Five years and two months..
You described a battery puking out. The charging system is not the nicest approach to long battery life. Three years isn't bad, really. You can get it tested,, but I can't bump start it, I Want a genuine, trustworthy battery.. but the dang things can sure pick a bad time to surprise a guy.

Title: Re: Life span of AGM battery
Post by stewmills on 09/23/16 at 13:43:36

A real man can push start a backhoe!

Title: Re: Life span of AGM battery
Post by Kris01 on 09/23/16 at 13:57:23

No, Stew. It takes a real BIG man! ;D

Title: Re: Life span of AGM battery
Post by verslagen1 on 09/23/16 at 14:46:40

6B6C7D6F757174746B180 wrote:

A real man can push start a backhoe!

A real man can fart down the intake of anything to get it started.

Title: Re: Life span of AGM battery
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/23/16 at 15:14:54

The intake of the backhoe is behind a heavy guard.
I kill it by farting down the exhaust.

Title: Re: Life span of AGM battery
Post by gizzo on 09/23/16 at 15:16:15

I used to have a girlfriend who could Suck Start a small block chev.

Title: Re: Life span of AGM battery
Post by Steve H on 09/23/16 at 16:49:19

Stew,

It's been my experience that when an AGM dies, it does so rather quickly. Like it's fine one day and the next you can't get anything out of it kind of quick. Have it checked but it's probably done.

They don't leak and seem to hold up very well to vibration, temp changes and stuff. Like JOG said, some are gold, some a turd. Sounds like you got probably about average life. The charging system isn't really battery friendly. Batteries should be charged at c/10 usually. Vehicle charging systems are designed to shove as much power into the battery as fast as possible to get the charge back up for the next start. It takes a toll on the internal chemistry.

Being that AGM isn't liquid submerged, there is really nowhere for the heat to go. There's nothing other than the plates and mats to heat. No boiling off to cool or anything. Fast charging takes its toll. I've got the cheapest standard wet cell I could find and finishing up on 4 years on it. Still works really well. Keep it full. Keep it charged. Don't go below about 70 percent charge and they last quite a while. I am expecting it to die sometime within the next year. They have just gotten too good at designed obsolescence. It's only intended to last 2 years, with good care, you can get more. But, at some point, it will be consumed. I'll propbably go with an AGM when this one dies just so I don't have the constant water level hassles since the battery is such a pain to take out.

Title: Re: Life span of AGM battery
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/23/16 at 18:05:52

32282C2E2F112033353328252624410 wrote:

I used to have a girlfriend who could Suck Start a small block chev.

So, when she got ahold of your 3horse Briggs, did it, uhh, throw a
Rod?

Title: Re: Life span of AGM battery
Post by gizzo on 09/23/16 at 18:26:02

She even emptied the fuel tank! ;) ;D

Title: Re: Life span of AGM battery
Post by 12Bravo on 09/24/16 at 08:54:52

Stew,

I have the same battery in mine. I've had it for a little over 4 years now and it is still going strong. I don't ride the bike much since I mostly ride the HD geezer glide. The S40 fires up right away every time.

Title: Re: Life span of AGM battery
Post by Ruttly on 09/24/16 at 10:24:17

Never used a AGM battery. I got lithium battery (Deltran/Battery tender)
great battery until the other day started up & went for a ride came back to make carb adjustment, go to start it nothing , no warning of a slow crank or dim lights , just nothing voltage was at 5 volts , anyways put a new battery same brand & guess I will try it again !

Title: Re: Life span of AGM battery
Post by SavageMan99 on 09/24/16 at 11:54:05

I want a Samsung lithium battery so I can make bobber bomber out of mine. Talk about a bang shift... :D

Title: Re: Life span of AGM battery
Post by Gary_in_NJ on 09/24/16 at 12:30:26

Stew, from my experience they last anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 years. I'm not making a joke either. I installed one in a GSX1100 that had an internal failure just 5 minutes after installing it. With the broken plate the battery showed 12.8 volts, but it couldn't handle any load.

In a bike that vibrates like our big singles, battery life is as much luck as any other variable.

Title: Re: Life span of AGM battery
Post by Ruttly on 09/24/16 at 19:22:20

Yeah that lithium battery was close to 3 yrs old so it wasn't like it was new. Have a Shorai lithium in the sportster , they are best rated of the lithium also very expensive but it's doing well.
Guess the newer batteries give you no warning of failing , they just fail !!

Title: Re: Life span of AGM battery
Post by gizzo on 09/25/16 at 01:44:50

My lithium one is 3 yo and still kicking on.

Title: Re: Life span of AGM battery
Post by stewmills on 09/26/16 at 06:37:43

Ok...so I finally got around to testing the battery. IIRC, the CCA on the 220 rated battery tested at about 245, so that's good. The "charge" at the store was about 12.25 v. These measurements were after the bike was last ridden a few days ago Friday with no trickle charging.

I trickle charged it last night for about 20 minutes (charger said full) and it measured at about 12.75 v but after about an hour and as well this morning it is still holding steady at about 12.40 v.

So...this seems to tell me that the 3 year old AGM battery is still alive an kicking and that whatever happened Friday morning must have just been the bike having another hiccup that resolved itself. I had to get a battery for my wife's car so I bundled a new 210 CCA powersports AGM battery (they didn't have the 220 CCA rated battery in stock) to get a bulk discount, but now after this experiment I can't find any reason to keep the new motorcycle battery?