15 years to old battery. Got a new one

Alberto

Alberto

Joined
Sep 4, 2019
Messages
117
Age
50
Location
Georgia
Bike
ST1100
Replaced my old Varta AGM battery with a new one this weekend. Fifteen years (manufacturing code is 1611) — wow. It survived several deep discharges, but lately it couldn’t hold a charge even after just two days parked, so it was time to go.

Found a similar one, but with a gold label. Looks like it may not be made directly by Varta anymore, but by Clarios — whatever that means exactly.

Also, the led lights flickering at idle has almost disappeared.


IMG_20260628_135111.jpgIMG_20260628_135117.jpgIMG_20260628_193250.jpg
 
That’s got to be a new record in battery longevity! I had a Deltran lithium battery in my 2000 ST- I changed it to an Antigravity one after ~ 8 years - still worked but I was concerned it would fail one day- this was after the AGM in my 94 died suddenly while on a ride ~ 3 years ago. My neighbor went to Batteries Plus and got me a new one/ rescued me where I was stuck (not too far from the house, maybe 40 miles or so).
 
That is a great battery longevity . Mine lasted 10 years and died a few weeks ago after I stopped to fill up for gas. Luckily I had one of those small booster packs to fire up and get home. It was US made agm generic brand. The new one is made in Vietnam.
I did a lot of stops and starts that day with no problems. But noticed on that final stop that the digital voltmeter which fluctuates between 13.8 to 13.96 was at 14.1 and didn’t move too much. When I went to start the bike after filling up, the voltmeter went to 10 then 8 then blank, not even a click.
It just seems to work until it doesn’t.
Always kept on battery tender between rides.
Have to agree Alberto that is a record. Well done!
 
OK, since we’re discussing batteries, I have the 3 year old Duracell AGM in the 94- fires up fine all the time (and on the voltmeter is at 13.9-14.1V when bike is running, but I sometimes see resting voltage at 11.4V (when it’s been sitting NOT on the battery tender which I do use to top it off from time to time). Is it time to replace it?
 
Erdoc48 said:
OK, since we’re discussing batteries, I have the 3 year old Duracell AGM in the 94- fires up fine all the time (and on the voltmeter is at 13.9-14.1V when bike is running, but I sometimes see resting voltage at 11.4V (when it’s been sitting NOT on the battery tender which I do use to top it off from time to time). Is it time to replace it?
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Is 11.4 with just key on might be ok but if it's key is off then I would suspect a bad battery. I would definitely test it first.
 
Agreed. If the voltage drops below 12 V (which is roughly 40% state of charge) while the battery is just sitting with no load, it usually means the battery is toasted / can no longer hold a charge.
After I fully charged mine, the voltage dropped to 12.1 V by itself within a few days and it even did not try to crank engine.
 
Erdoc48 said:
I had a Deltran lithium battery
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I was thinking about getting a lithium battery, but I couldn’t find one quickly, so I decided to go with AGM again. Some people say that lithium batteries have improved recently and have become more reliable.
 
Al st1100 said:
I would definitely test it first.
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The gold standard used to be load testing - putting a large resistive (think heating coils) load across the terminals and checking the voltage. Now we have electronic testers that measure the internal resistance of the battery. These are so cheap that if you do your own maintenance you might as well buy one.
 
SMSW said:
The gold standard used to be load testing - putting a large resistive (think heating coils) load across the terminals and checking the voltage. Now we have electronic testers that measure the internal resistance of the battery. These are so cheap that if you do your own maintenance you might as well buy one.
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Battery stores, Auto zone ect. test for free. Old school method was leave the lights on for ten minutes and see if it starts. :rofl1: Load tester, I still have one.
 
SMSW said:
The gold standard used to be load testing - putting a large resistive (think heating coils) load across the terminals and checking the voltage. Now we have electronic testers that measure the internal resistance of the battery. These are so cheap that if you do your own maintenance you might as well buy one.
Click to expand...
And curiously enough some of the manufacturers of those electronic testers state that if the battery passes using their tester and is still considered suspect to confirm the results using a resistive load tester. On the other hand many automobile manufacturers will no longer accept battery warranty claims based on test results from a resistive load test. They will only honour the warranty based on the results from an electronic battery tester.

Is nothing simple anymore?
 
I recently mentioned that I have had two flooded pb/acid batteries in my lawn tractor. The first lasted 12 years and the second so close to 13 that I'll use that number. After every use I hooked the battery up to a smart charger. Towards the end of the second battery's life it took one or two hits of the key to get the starter to kick the engine over, however, once I started mowing, even if I shut off the tractor three or 4 times (safety switches usually shut the motor off if I had to get off the tractor) it started instantly. I now think the batteries were clearly beyond their useful life and had I load tested them or tried to use them in cold weather, they would have failed. I think the charger gave them a surface charge that would not have lasted under adverse conditions. My change in thinking about these batteries is because of the rapid spinning of the starter with the new battery (also flooded) - every single time I turn the key. Clearly the old ones were hobbling along with a cane and walker.
 
Wow! 15 years! The best I’ve done is 10 years on a Scorpion AGM in my ST1300. I’ve reached 7 1/2 years on a Scorpion Lithium in my Super Ténéré which is so far not showing any sighs of distress. Still kicks the bike over better than the OEM AGM ever did, which only lasted a little over 2 years.
 
Alberto said:
Looks like it may not be made directly by Varta anymore, but by Clarios — whatever that means exactly.
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I think it's safe to say you won't get half that lifespan out of your latest battery due to the 'They don't make 'em like that anymore!' law regardless of who mades it.
 
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