Duracell Batteries

[Bigfoot_16]

Greetings. In Feb of '21, I bought a Duracell battery for my '15 C14 at Batteries Plus Bulbs. A few months later, the battery was toast with a dead cell. It was replaced with the same Duracell CYL10001. That one lasted only six months before it failed a load test. The CCAs on the third battery had dropped to 4 out of 220, even though I had it on a charger. I'm currently on my fourth Duracell battery from Batteries Plus in just over 1½ years. All have been replaced under warranty at no additional cost to me.

I think it's very odd to have received three bad batteries in a row.

I've had very good success with Duracell car batteries so far. Has anyone else had a similarly rough time with Duracell motorcycle batteries? I won't be buying another one of these again.

 

[cmoore]

I had a Duracell in my '10 for somewhere between 4 and 5 years and had good luck with it. Toward the end I had to keep it on the charger more but overall I would say I got my money's worth. I replaced it about 18 months ago with an Advanced Auto battery which has been really good so far. With all the trouble you're having with the Batteries Plus product I would bail. Sounds like some serious quality issues at the factory.

 

[rlievenski4555]

I just had my old battery at a busy intersection. It was a hot day and I shut her off at the long light so she would not continue to heat up. Had to wheel her to a parking lot in front of many drivers who were not happy with me. An Advanced Auto Parts was on the opposing corner and was able to swap out for new and get back to my ride. Found out that the old battery was under sized and now have the right one in place.

The hidden point to my ramblings is that battery manufacturers are reducing warranties significantly. Newer cars with the automatic shut down at long stops are eating batteries alive. The counter person told me that many are replacing every couple years now. Glad that you are able to get replacements.

 

[2andblue]

Newer cars with the automatic shut down at long stops are eating batteries alive.

This doesn’t surprise me, extremely frequent high discharge must take a toll. Starters too I would think not far behind…

I had seen a Duracell battery in another’s machine I serviced, was a few years old and cranked fine.

My factory C14 battery has been in service 4.5 YRS. I expected a quicker degradation this year, to my surprise keeps going fine.

A couple injuries this year this machine sat for 6 WKS (and forgot to plug-in tender) voltage still read 11.9 V and cranked over without hesitation. I would expect the heated gear season now quickly coming will take its final year’s toll and we’ll swap for another factory or possible a Lithium - more research needed there.

Wayne, Carol & Blue

 

[Strawboss]

I always thought that the initial set-up of the battery was essential to the overall length of the life, meaning, if you initially put it on a charger when you get it, it can't be too much, like, 2 amps will be too much, it needs to be milliamps like a tender type. Who knows what you get when you get a "pre-charged" battery from the stores. I was told this awhile back and cannot say one way or another if it's true or not, if it is, maybe these batteries are not set-up properly.

 

[rev ryder]

When all you do is add electrolyte to a pre-charged but dry battery, the charge is usually closer to 60-75% of full. If you slap in the new battery and just head out on the highway the charge will likely rise to 75-90% but no higher. If you can get a slow and full charge on a new battery before initial discharge, it SHOULD have a longer life. At least that was what I learned growing up and pretty much matches my experience with Yuasa batteries and most others I've used over the years. When I was 13 and working at Eagle's Yamaha shop, we serviced a vehicle (including the addition of electrolyte) when the vehicle was sold, but the customer was typically asked to wait 24 hours before pick-up or delivery to allow fulling charging the new battery. It only took a trickle charger about 3-6 hours to bring it to full charge, then it would be fueled, oiled, lights tested, and started for the first time. We rarely had to warranty a battery and that was before AGM and more modern were even a thing. Kinda made a believer out of me. But I think when you buy a new battery for your car or one already sitting on a shelf with electrolyte in them, they ought to be treated the same way. I had to put a new battery in Mama's 2017 Camry yesterday. Got the Wally World 24F Special. Took it home, put it in and hooked up the charger. It showed 60% charge at 11.8 volts. So it got a few hours tricklin' to 100% before first start. We'll see if it makes it's own 3 year replacement warranty.

 

[Charby]

I had two Duracell batteries on my bike, both from Batteries Plus. The first one lasted a little over a year. Thought it was a fluke so i got another. That one too only lasted a little over a year. After the second one died, only store nearby was an O'Reillys. Got a battery from them (don't remember the brand) and it's been 3 years and no problems.

 

[Bigfoot_16]

I had two Duracell batteries on my bike, both from Batteries Plus. The first one lasted a little over a year. Thought it was a fluke so i got another. That one too only lasted a little over a year. After the second one died, only store nearby was an O'Reillys. Got a battery from them (don't remember the brand) and it's been 3 years and no problems.

Ok, your experience was better than mine. It's interesting to me that you had an almost similar experience, though. I was beginning to wonder if something was wrong with my bike.

My experience with car batteries is that they give you one free replacement during the warranty period. After that, it's your own nickel. I appreciate the fact that Batteries Plus will give you a free replacement for the length of the warranty. However, it is a pain having to replace them so often. My previous battery started going out while I was on a COG ride. Terrible timing. Sometimes after starting, I got multiple warning indicators like ABS out, traction control out among others.

 

[fartymarty]

When it comes time to replace the battery, I think it's worth it to try and get the original 14AH battery from a dealer (or other source if you can find one, I haven't found a local source other than dealer) It might be around $10-$20 more, but I think it's worth it. Despite what might have been in your bike from the dealer (they've been known to ruin batteries and then replace them with whatever) the stock battery is a Furukawa FTZ14-BS,12V 14AH ...not Yuasa and not 12AH. I'm not saying Yuasa batteries are bad, I'm just saying they aren't stock c14 batteries no matter what the internet says nor what your dealer or P.O might have stuck in there. Yuasa and Batteries plus must really be paying Google some decent AD money because the internet would have you believe they all (C14s) came with AGM 12AH batteries. I'm on my 3rd battery in 11 years & 100,000 + miles maintained by an Optimate battery tender and all batteries were replaced just to be safe on long trips, not because they let me down at some point. I don't daily or weekly ride....just trips followed by many weeks (or months) of sitting in the garage on a tender.

 

[gilbysan]

I have had a Shorai LFX21A6-BS12 Lithium in my C14 for 5 years now with no issues other than when I once forgot to turn the stove top key off and walked away only to find 2 hours later that it was ded - dead. However, I started the bike with my jump pack battery and all returned to normal after riding only a short time. So far no issues and I don't keep it on a trickle charger or conditioner for when it is sitting. To be clear it does not sit for more than a week or two even in winter so I imagine that there is not much opportunity for it to drain in that period of time.

Cranks well and starts every time!

Cheers!

gilbysan, aka - Fat Ninja