Odyssey Extreme Batteries Worth the Money?

[FleshEater]

Are these worth the money for a vehicle that sits over winter and isn’t driven much throughout spring to fall?

I’ve looked at them a couple times, but never pulled the trigger. Anyone have experience with them?

 

[Bebop]

A kill switch is what you need.

 

[Grendel]

I really can't say they are.

I had one years ago. It ended up swelling from sitting.

Now I just use good quality AGM batteries from local sources, with good warranties. I swap them out before they go off warranty.

 

[Outahand]

I've been having great luck with Odysseys. I have them in everything and have not had to replace one yet.

The one in my Vista Cruiser is over 15 year sold. Driven regularly. Always 12.5V or above.

2 in my Bronco are almost as old and sit a lot but fire it up every time. Probably swap them out one of these days.

 

[Will Scarlet]

I've always had good luck with Odyssey batteries, extreme or regular. However with a vehicle sitting for some time, I would suggest a good trickle charger to keep any battery in good order.

 

[FleshEater]

A kill switch is what you need.

I’ve thought about wiring one up, but they’re big and a pain in the ass to keep neat.

I’ll just pull the cables off before I deal with one of those again.

 

[bgaidan]

I’ve thought about wiring one up, but they’re big and a pain in the ass to keep neat.

I’ll just pull the cables off before I deal with one of those again.

How about one of these?

Doesn't get much easier than that.

 

[FleshEater]

How about one of these?

Doesn't get much easier than that.

Saw mixed reviews on those, coming down to quality.

I don’t drive this for about 4 months a year or so. Disconnecting is easy, but figured the Odyssey batteries would require less care as opposed to the NAPA batteries I run.

 

[WaterH]

They are probably not worth it from a strictly money perspective. (They might cost twice as much but they don’t last twice as long) But they last longer than anything else. When you have multiple vehicles and equipment, it seems like you are having battery troubles all the time. So I pay for the best To avoid the hassle as long as possible.

 

[FleshEater]

They are probably not worth it from a strictly money perspective. (They might cost twice as much but they don’t last twice as long) But they last longer than anything else. When you have multiple vehicles and equipment, it seems like you are having battery troubles all the time. So I pay for the best To avoid the hassle as long as possible.

Are you recommending them? Or something else like Optima?

 

[WaterH]

Are you recommending them? Or something else like Optima?

Yes, I recommend them. I use to know the guy that was a co-engineer of the Odyssey. He told me that Optima and Odyssey were of the same quality until they sold out to the Mexicans. The optima quality went down. (But it’s still a good battery.) Then he went to Northstar and he told me that Odyssey and Northstar were nearly the same battery, but NorthStar was slightly better for minor reasons. Now Odyssey bought Northstar, so they are the same battery. And they are the best battery on the planet.

 

[crispins]

I am running the Duralast AGM battery in my Tracker that sits for months at a time, fires up great every time.

Do recommend.

 

[bgaidan]

Saw mixed reviews on those, coming down to quality.

I don’t drive this for about 4 months a year or so. Disconnecting is easy, but figured the Odyssey batteries would require less care as opposed to the NAPA batteries I run.

I would pull the battery and stick it on a maintainer for those other 8 months. No battery is going to be happy being in storage that long.

I am running the Duralast AGM battery in my Tracker that sits for months at a time, fires up great every time.

Do recommend.

Those do not do well in long storage unless you leave them on a maintainer. I had a pair in rig I bought a couple years ago. They were still under warranty from the PO and I swapped them out. I ditched the duals and only ran one. First one lasted maybe a year and was toast. Second one only made it 6 months. I got the first one warrantied and still have it sitting in my shelf. By the time I went to warranty the second one they apparently discontinued the group 34 version so I had them swap it for one of the EFB batteries to see how they'll hold up.


I went back to a flooded lead acid in the wheeler....I can stomach losing that $90 battery every year or two vs. one of these $220 AGMs or EFBs.



Any new batteries I buy are going to come from Rural King. Less than 2/3 the price of the parts stores or walmart on most of their batteries..


I need a pair of Group 35's for my DD diesel. The cheapest lead acid locally is $99 for the bottom of the barrel with a 1 or 2 year warranty. RK has their mid-line "silver" for $89 with a 1 year full replacement and 60 month prorated warranty. For an EFB, they're $220 locally. Rural king has theirs for for $130 with a full 4 year replacement warranty (not prorated). Was actually gong to head up and pick up a pair this morning but they were out of stock. I'll hit another store when I'm up in VA next week.


I haven't found many reviews on the EFB's. Apparently they're made for the demands of those shit start/stop vehicles that shut off every time you stop. Supposedly they charge up faster after a draw compared to LA or AGMs. Wondering how they'll do on a DD as well as something with more load - like a rig winching.

 

[PAE]

Dont know bout that one but the Northstar gray deep cycle group 31 AGM Battery kicks ass.

 

[WaterH]

Dont know bout that one but the Northstar gray deep cycle group 31 AGM Battery kicks ass.

I have duel battery’s in my project. The first is a Northstar group 65. When I called to buy a second one, they told me Odyssey bought them and I have to order a Odyssey. They claim it’s the same battery and they won’t be making anymore Northstars In auto sizes. (Only solar backup)

 

[PAE]

Northstar NSB-AGM 31M Group 31 Battery

NorthStar Marine Batteries excel at providing high vibration resistance, with the high cranking amps and reserve capacity that watercraft demand.

www.battsys.com

The group 65 looks to be gone

Northstar NSB-AGM 65M Group 65 Battery

NorthStar Marine Batteries excel at providing high vibration resistance, with the high cranking amps and reserve capacity that watercraft demand.

www.battsys.com

I have duel battery’s in my project. The first is a Northstar group 65. When I called to buy a second one, they told me Odyssey bought them and I have to order a Odyssey. They claim it’s the same battery and they won’t be making anymore Northstars In auto sizes. (Only solar backup)

 

[NDCjeepsmith]

I went with an odyssey over optima this time. I've been pleased with it. I prefer AGM In all my stuff and when a no name AGM is nearly $200 why not spend an extra $80 for an odyssey? I forgot about Northstar but yes they're both pretty much the same. Both are made in Missouri too. So another reason jumping from optima to them.

 

[rockdog57]

Only problem is odyssey’s are almost double. I priced em a few days ago and group 31’s were over $400. And they are back ordered everywhere. Even on their site. From what I can find on em is all the lead is virgin new lead. Makes sense. I’ve got John Deere batteries in my backhoe that are almost 15 years old. I paid out the ass for em at the time. But it looks like you get what you pay for sometimes.😂

 

[FleshEater]

I think I’ve killed my NAPA Legend battery. Jump started it yesterday and let it run for a while. Then stuck it on a charger. It blinked on 25% for over 3 hours and never went to 50%.

I do not know anything about batteries or how their interior components work. So just shooting in the dark with this one. I don’t know how many times you can drain and recharge a normal battery before they’re toast.

Any good recommendations on a tender?

 

[WaterH]

Only problem is odyssey’s are almost double. I priced em a few days ago and group 31’s were over $400. And they are back ordered everywhere. Even on their site. From what I can find on em is all the lead is virgin new lead. Makes sense. I’ve got John Deere batteries in my backhoe that are almost 15 years old. I paid out the ass for em at the time. But it looks like you get what you pay for sometimes.😂

Funny you mention the “virgin lead”. When I was just out of school, I worked at a battery plant in PA. It made communication batteries Designed by Bell Labs. These were giant 300 lb. round batteries. They were very high tech lead/acid and expensive. The batteries they replaced had a 1 year warrantee and typically lasted 5. These high tech ones had a 5 year warranted and lasted 30. The were two things that made them special. The round shape had about 6” of space at the top to expand without busting the case and they uses 99% pure lead. They we’re about 14” in diameter and 30” tall. They were only 2 volts, but you could melt a wrench if you dropped it on the terminals.

When the Optima batteries came out, I wondered if they shared some of the tech. (like the extra room to expand) I don’t know if “virgin lead” means pure lead. At the time it was explained to me that all batteries used antimony lead. (Whatever that is”

 

[bgaidan]

Funny you mention the “virgin lead”. When I was just out of school, I worked at a battery plant in PA. It made communication batteries Designed by Bell Labs. These were giant 300 lb. round batteries. They were very high tech lead/acid and expensive. The batteries they replaced had a 1 year warrantee and typically lasted 5. These high tech ones had a 5 year warranted and lasted 30. The were two things that made them special. The round shape had about 6” of space at the top to expand without busting the case and they uses 99% pure lead. They we’re about 14” in diameter and 30” tall. They were only 2 volts, but you could melt a wrench if you dropped it on the terminals.

When the Optima batteries came out, I wondered if they shared some of the tech. (like the extra room to expand) I don’t know if “virgin lead” means pure lead. At the time it was explained to me that all batteries used antimony lead. (Whatever that is”

I would wager there's a huge difference in batteries that are stationary and likely very well maintained vs. automotive batteries that are bounced around and beat, go through constant draw and charge cycles and are generally the opposite of "well maintained".

I've read about some HAMs running remote repeaters on some of those 30+ year-old surplus bell batteries.


I'd be curious what type of battery systems modern phone and cell gear is using.

 

[FleshEater]

I would wager there's a huge difference in batteries that are stationary and likely very well maintained vs. automotive batteries that are bounced around and beat, go through constant draw and charge cycles and are generally the opposite of "well maintained".

I've read about some HAMs running remote repeaters on some of those 30+ year-old surplus bell batteries.


I'd be curious what type of battery systems modern phone and cell gear is using.

Apple uses whatever catastrophically fails in 5-7 years.

 

[bgaidan]

Apple uses whatever catastrophically fails in 5-7 years.

They use iPhones?

 

[Yotota]

I'm a fan of Enersys/Northstar made AGM's, like Odyssey and X2Power. I'll pay the price because I've dealt with too many shitty batteries (fuck you Optima) to figure out other good options.

I've heard mostly good feedback about the Duralast AGM's as well as the NAPA AGM's. I couldn't find them in my size when I needed batteries so I never tried them myself.

 

[FleshEater]

I took the NAPA LEGEND in today and they tested it. It had 654 CCA out of 800 CCA. They put it on their old school charger for the weekend. My “Genius” charger sat on it for 3 hours and never moved off 25%.

If their charger can’t get it back they’ll warranty it. I just need to remember to disconnect it.