Topic: 80 day old die Hard battery.

[Don R]

 It's the fourth one that I bought all have been good until now, and #4 was weak from day one. I charged it with a quality charger but that didn't help so I returned it to Advance Auto, they couldn't get it to go through a test cycle.  The salesman said that they were having trouble with the TX14ahl--- whatever. He actually modified his bike to take a different battery after they told him this information. Yet they are still selling them.
 The problem is the warranty is 90 days from the date of purchase even after a warranty exchange. If you have bought one recently check it asap.
 I have a couple days to make this one fail, I screwed up and dropped it into my best starting bike. I'm going to fish it back out and drop it into a non-starter and make it prove to me that it's OK. I have a load tester and will compare it to other of the same batteries also.

[CycleRanger]

I used to buy Die Hards. They used to be good quality.
Now I use Motobatt or Yuasa.

[Don R]

 The last thing I heard was Die Hard was the same as Yuasa. Now I hear they are the same as Walmart. Maybe they are all made on the same production line.

[CycleRanger]

The last thing I heard was Die Hard was the same as Yuasa. Now I hear they are the same as Walmart. Maybe they are all made on the same production line.

That actually is part of the problem. There's only like three companies that make batteries and everyone just slaps their label on them.
Although I suspect those companies have different "grade" batteries they manufacture for different resellers.

[scottly]

I bought an "Everstart" battery from Walmart once, and it was labled Johnson Controls in the fine print. Johnson Controls made some of the huge industrial batteries the Telcos used in the late '80s.

[grcamna2]

I think they manufacture a battery and before it leaves the plant,they wet-charge it/fill it with acid now.
I don't think the shelf life is very long:do they have the date of manufacture on the label?
I've bought Yuasa and other 'dry charged' batteries which needed filling and it was much less $ to get them shipped,plus you could leave them sit on the shelf quite a while before filling them and selling them.

I realize AGM sealed are great & have two in running bikes,but they need to advertise the date of manufacture on it.
Do your utmost to discover the date of manufacture from the vendor before purchasing.
Look might look for a deal online for a dry charged wet-cell battery,then fill it when you get it;much less trouble.

[Deltarider]

[...]
 The problem is the warranty is 90 days from the date of purchase even after a warranty exchange. If you have bought one recently check it asap.
[...]

A 90 days warranty is a joke. My conventional Yuasa YB12A-A came with a year warranty. Last month it had its seventh birthday in my bike. All starts have been electric. I have a new one unboxed in tha basement which I have bought at least one year too early. The old one still functions OK.

[Little_Phil]

Think EU rules will give you at least one year and a slightly more limited 2 year on most goods.

[madmtnmotors]

The last Die Hard battery I got from Advance Auto also lasted about 80 days. By the time I was able to get past the denial that the battery was the problem the 90 days had elapsed. I stick with Motobatt now.

[Stev-o]

I've bought a couple Die-Hard batteries for cars, got the "Gold" model which comes with a 3 year warranty, no issues. Not cheap but I like the free replacement warranty period.

I would not buy a battery with a 90 day warranty!

[Don R]

 I'm done with wet cell batteries. I had a lot of failures, acid damage and always needing distilled water.
 I have had other Advance batteries that are 5 and 6 years old and still going. 3 of them are die-hards. This might be the end of that. It's good to know there are one-year warranties available on bike batteries, I haven't seen that for a long time, I guess not needing a warranty has spoiled me.

[scottly]

BTW, the $35 Everstart wet cell battery lasted over 3 years.

[Nicklopic]

The diehard battery’s sold by advance are not the same as the original ones sold by sears and the like many moons ago. It’s still the same manufacturer they used when they sold batteries under auto craft and carquest. Same batteries, they just paid a boat load of money for the name.
They’re made by Johnson Controls, who makes plenty for other manufacturers including autozone, Walmart everstart and interstate. Each brand/line though is made a little different based on what the end vendor requests.

The biggest problem with their power sport barriers is how long they sit. Most of the gold AGM ones you have to be incredibly careful with because it’s not uncommon to fine ones sitting on the shelf that are years old.
The reason for their warranty is people don’t store their stuff well. It’s the same 90 day warranty that’s on mower batteries. It’s wildly common that people will put a battery in, never hook up a maintainer, let it drain into oblivion and then try to get a new one under warranty every season. That’s their reasoning behind it.

Source: I worked for advance for way too many years and got to chat with a few Johnson reps

[CycleRanger]

That reminds me, I've needed a new mower battery for about a year. 

[Don R]

 Johnson Control made my furnace, it could have been labeled with any of the various stickers that came with it. Brand label batteries is a similar deal, whatever the case they apparently made a batch of weak #14's

[Stev-o]

It’s wildly common that people will put a battery in, never hook up a maintainer....

I'm definitely in that camp! 

Brings up a good point, how many of you guys use a trickle charger all season long?   I dont on my bikes but do on the classic cars.  I've read that it prolongs the life of the battery.  Seems to have worked on my Corvette, that battery is 5+ years old

[M 750K6]

"Trickle charger" is a term sometimes used to cover a "battery maintainer", but there is a difference.

My bikes are on battery maintainers when in the garage. They monitor the battery for level of charge and top up as needed. They also run discharge then recharge cycles, which, it is claimed, are designed to reduce sulfation and generally keep the battery conditioned. A constant trickle charge, if it doesn't switch off at a certain voltage, will cook the battery. If it does switch off, the battery will then start discharging.

I've not had a battery fail on the bikes since I started maintainers on them about 7 years ago. However, I've swapped some of the bikes, but the longest and oldest battery constantly in my ownership under this regime is now 4 years old, so I've not yet fully proved to myself they work.

[grcamna2]

"Trickle charger" is a term sometimes used to cover a "battery maintainer", but there is a difference.

My bikes are on battery maintainers when in the garage. They monitor the battery for level of charge and top up as needed. They also run discharge then recharge cycles, which, it is claimed, are designed to reduce sulfation and generally keep the battery conditioned. A constant trickle charge, if it doesn't switch off at a certain voltage, will cook the battery. If it does switch off, the battery will then start discharging.

I've not had a battery fail on the bikes since I started maintainers on them about 7 years ago. However, I've swapped some of the bikes, but the longest and oldest battery constantly in my ownership under this regime is now 4 years old, so I've not yet fully proved to myself they work.

I've never owned or tried a "battery maintainer" but it seems exactly what a battery would like,other than riding the bike.

[RAFster122s]

I had a battery maintainer kill a gel cell battery I had bought when it developed a fault and ai had not checked on it in several months. When I did the battery was toast. It was a low time battery from Bike master. Then I read the uncomplimentary reviews about bike master batteries...so I crossed them off the list of brands I would buy ..
...