In praise of Odyssey batteries. And a question.

[FastEddieB]

I had an Odyssey PC680 battery in my K1200RS sidecar rig. Over the winter, I made a point of trickle charging it once a month. Did not get around to it in early May, and when I went to ride it the battery was so low it would barely turn over the engine. It then wouldn’t seem to take a charge. So I went ahead and ordered a new one on Amazon. It’s in now and working fine.

I looked at my “tickle board”, and it turns out I had installed it in 2010. 11 years or so in service ain’t bad at all. But my notes reminded me that this battery had also done at least a year in my Sky Arrow before being replaced by a lithium-iron battery. After 12+ years of service it certainly didn’t owe me anything.

One curiosity: when the battery arrived it was marked as below - the one on the top:

At first glance, it appeared they sent the wrong one, but the box implies they’re interchangeable:

Further curious is that the specs seemed to have dropped a bit: CCA from 220 to 170, and PHCA from 680 to 520. Reserve capacity unchanged at 24 minutes.

Anyone have a clue as to the difference? I wonder if it’s a real difference in capacity or maybe more conservative reporting of the specs. The batteries appear externally identical.

 

[Daleandee]

I've been using the Odyssey PC680 batteries for a number of years. I generally change mine out every two to three years as my plane is electrically dependent so I like having a fairly new battery and (IIRC) the warranty is for three years.

But like you I've gotten many years of service out of Odyssey batteries as I take them out of the plane and use them in the Z-turn or other powered devices. Must have eight years on one of them now. They are a bit expensive but you gain back the cost in great reliability.

I have no idea why your replacement looks like that. Maybe my next one will too.