roadscholar Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Some of you may be familiar with this, but I stumbled onto it a while back and figured I'd pass it along. This battery is used mainly as a backup power supply for computers during a power outage. But it is identical to any oilhead battery (its sealed but not gel). I've been using them for several years and find they last at least as long as the name brands. I picked up another one today and told the salesman I may post this message here. He normally sells them for 49.95 but said if you mention BMW Sporttouring he'd sell it for $40.00. The only caveat is you need to drill out the hole in the pos. terminal slightly to accomodate the BMW stud. He is a nice and knowledgeable fellow and I have no connections. Randy at Sunn Battery, 1316 W. Adams St., Jax, Fla. (800) 226 4508 rbeckworth@sunnbattery.net Powertron PT2012 Its available nearly anywhere but mostly through wholsale distributors and they may not sell to individuals. I've seen what appears to be identical units with well known labels for double. Happy ohms and may your voltage be steady. Bill F. Link to comment
greer Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Speaking of less expensive batteries, seems I have read Panasonic sells an AGM battery that is less expensive than the Odyssey. Anybody know? What do most folks recommend? I don't think I want to go the gel route. Whatever is in my '01 GS is getting weak so I need to be figuring something out. Thanks for any info. Sarah Link to comment
powerman Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 I've looked at the specs for the odesey and panasonic and the odesey is so much better (lower series resitance, amp hours, etc). Not to say the panasonic won't work though, but these bikes are hard on the batteries so i opted for the more robust solution. i bought my odesy on ebay for like $65 delivered. At half the price of the bmw stocker i don't know how much lower in $ is worth saving. Link to comment
MarkF Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Speaking of less expensive batteries, seems I have read Panasonic sells an AGM battery that is less expensive than the Odyssey. Anybody know? What do most folks recommend? I don't think I want to go the gel route. Whatever is in my '01 GS is getting weak so I need to be figuring something out. Thanks for any info. Sarah That's what I got last year - around $50 from DigiKey. Free shipping with prepaid order (mail a check). The post holes were a tad smaller but the battery came with bolts and nuts which fit thru the threaded cable terminals no problem. Second season - no complaints! Link to comment
Wooster Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Olla Greer, Odessey batteries seem most popular among board members, a "680" model with a letter designation attached to the numeral. I, on the other hand, have panasonic sealed batteries in both airhead and oihead. My R11RT's panasonic has been trouble free for three years (I'll probably replace it soon to avoid any "clickity-click" events). It cost $53 in '03 at gotbatteries.com. Funny, BMW dealers used to sell Westco sealed batteries for more dollars than stock yet it turned out that westco was simply panasonic with different label. I wonder, the $50 unit Roads Scholar speaks of, may be the mother of both panasonic and westco, that is same thing but less $. BTW, welcome to the board and best wishes for you and your GS. Wooster Link to comment
bmwmick Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Speaking of less expensive batteries, seems I have read Panasonic sells an AGM battery that is less expensive than the Odyssey. Anybody know? What do most folks recommend? I don't think I want to go the gel route. Whatever is in my '01 GS is getting weak so I need to be figuring something out. Thanks for any info. Sarah Sarah, Go to digikey.com and print out the order form. Mail a check with your order and they ship free. You want the LC-X1220P Panasonic battery. I've been using these batteries in all three of my bikes since about 1997. The Odyssey is a smaller (and fewer Amp Hour) battery that works but is less powerful than the Panasonics. Model Type Volts AH CCA LC-X1220P Sealed MF 12 20 275 (R1100/R1150) Odyssey: PC 680 12 16 210 (680 HCA) http://www.odysseybatteries.com/battery/pc680.htm http://www.enersysstationary.com/ody_b.asp?routine=ody_spec&brandID=5 Mick Link to comment
UberXY Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Speaking of less expensive batteries, seems I have read Panasonic sells an AGM battery that is less expensive than the Odyssey. Anybody know? What do most folks recommend? I don't think I want to go the gel route. Whatever is in my '01 GS is getting weak so I need to be figuring something out. Thanks for any info. Sarah Sarah, Go to digikey.com and print out the order form. Mail a check with your order and they ship free. You want the LC-X1220P Panasonic battery. I've been using these batteries in all three of my bikes since about 1997. The Odyssey is a smaller (and fewer Amp Hour) battery that works but is less powerful than the Panasonics. Model Type Volts AH CCA LC-X1220P Sealed MF 12 20 275 (R1100/R1150) Odyssey: PC 680 12 16 220 (680 HCA) http://www.odysseybatteries.com/battery/pc680.htm http://www.enersysstationary.com/ody_b.asp?routine=ody_spec&brandID=5 Mick I'll second that. I have one in my airhead, one in my former R11S, and two in jet skis. Digikey/Panasonic is the way to go at about $50 delivered. Link to comment
greer Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 I don't mean to keep pestering everybody, but when the description specifies "sealed" does that mean absorbed glass mat and maintenance-free? One I get that tank up and the battery in there I don't want to have to think about it again for a long time. It's interesting that some folks think the Odyssey is more powerful, while others say the Panasonic is. Are battery specs hard to determine? I don't mean to turn this into a debate, just trying to make a smart purchase. Sarah Link to comment
SC_Jack Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Greer, The Odyssey is a sealed, no-mainenance battery. I have three of them in my bikes and I put a battery tender on each of them for a couple of days every week, just to keep them fully charged. I have been using the Odyssey for over three years with zero problems. Whatever you do, don't buy a Gel battery, which is also sealed and no maintenance. They are more prone to fail vs the Odyssey. This subject has been discussed, at length, over and over on this board and without fail, the Odyssey is the overall favorite of the majority of people (hundreds) who have participated in each of the threads. If you buy the Odyssey, you will not regret it. The model you want is a PC680. Link to comment
bmwmick Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 I don't mean to keep pestering everybody, but when the description specifies "sealed" does that mean absorbed glass mat and maintenance-free? One I get that tank up and the battery in there I don't want to have to think about it again for a long time. It's interesting that some folks think the Odyssey is more powerful, while others say the Panasonic is. Are battery specs hard to determine? I don't mean to turn this into a debate, just trying to make a smart purchase. Sarah Sarah, "sealed" could be anything from a true AGM to a standard Lead/Acid Wet Cell with sealed caps. As far as the specs, Odyssey likes to claim 680 HCA (Hot Cranking Amps) but most batteries are rated as CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) HCA is the rating at 80 degrees and CCA is done at 0 degrees. The Odyssey provides 210 CCA and is a 16AH battery. The Panasonic provides 275 CCA and is a 20AH battery. I replace my Panasonics every 4 years just because I don't like to have battery problem away from home. Mick Link to comment
roadscholar Posted February 2, 2006 Author Share Posted February 2, 2006 The Powertron and Panasonic are the same battery (20a). Just trying to save ya'll some money, not start a battery bashing thread. Link to comment
powerman Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 OK were are you guys getting the specifications for the pannasonic battery CCA, here is the panasonic1220 data page. They don't even show CCA or any other data above 100amps. note the 20ah capacity is at the 20hour rate, for the 10hour rate the panasonic drops to 18amphours, also the panasonic battery is only rated for standby aplications such as ups and radios. There specific data sheet list main power though They aren't rated at high pulse loads. The oddesy is designed for starting aplications. Anyhow the panasonic is probably better than stock standard battery. I beleive that the oddesy would work better for the oil heads and the panasonic work fine for air heads Link to comment
bmwmick Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 OK were are you guys getting the specifications for the pannasonic battery CCA, Eric, http://www.batteryweb.com/bmwclub.cfm is just one source of data. WestCo used those same figures when they first started re-labeling the Panasonic batteries with their label. I peeled a couple of their labels off to find the Panasonic logo underneath. I just loaned my old Panasonic ( I replace them every 4 years and this one will be 5 years old in May) to one of my riding buddies so he could make the DVD XI ride. It's still starting his 2003 R1150RT just great while he awaits delivery of his new battery from DigiKey. You can't argue with the success I've had with the Panasonic batteries. I'll keep using them. Mick Link to comment
RFW Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 I've looked at the specs for the odesey and panasonic and the odesey is so much better (lower series resitance, amp hours, etc). Of course the Odyssey has lower series resistance and generally better specs than the Panasonic AGM battery! The Odyssey is not a typical AGM battery! It uses a completely different construction entirely. "Normal" lead-acid batteries require the lead plates to be alloyed with either Antimony (as the original type of flooded cell batteries were) or Calcium (used in low maintenance types) in order to stiffen the plates. As with any alloy, the alloyed plates have higher resistance than the pure metal (pure lead in this case). The Odyssey battery does things differently. They use pure lead plates and wind them (together with their separators) into a tight "bandage". The result is that the tightly wound pure lead plates now have terrific mechanical stability, and the cell resistance is much lower than a normal battery. Another nice result is that the Odyssey has very little "gassing" and resulting electrolyte loss, because there are no dissimilar metals in the makeup of the plates. Bob. Link to comment
baggerchris Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 "Potatoes; Potaatoes; Tomatoes; Tomaatoes; Let's call the whole thing off" Seriously tho; You guys have me going back and forth like a yo-yo. My brain is on serious overload. Bonbon needs a battery too, and I is sooo confusdicated. It's going to be a two Guinness night! Link to comment
Rob L Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 "Potatoes; Potaatoes; Tomatoes; Tomaatoes; Let's call the whole thing off" Seriously tho; You guys have me going back and forth like a yo-yo. My brain is on serious overload. Bonbon needs a battery too, and I is sooo confusdicated. It's going to be a two Guinness night! WELLLLL... why didn't you tell us that you drank guiness? Had we known that we would have sent you to the nearest Wally world for your battery Link to comment
leikam Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 the panasonic battery is only rated for standby aplications such as ups and radios. This is an important point. Car and motorcycle batteries are designed to power a starter motor and can "bounce back" from fairly heavy discharges. Batteries that are designed for backup power typically aren't built to handle the high loads a starter demands and they are less tolerant of deep discharges. It's the difference between a sprint and a marathon. Read more at howstuffworks.com. You can overspec your needs and use one for the other of course, but do it on purpose instead of out of ignorance. Heck, I ran a $20 UPS battery in my panhead, but that had an entirely different electrical load. Link to comment
bmwmick Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 the panasonic battery is only rated for standby aplications such as ups and radios. Shhhhhhhhhh, Don't let my batteries hear that. Mick Link to comment
baggerchris Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 I buy my Mobil 15/50 oil at Wally World. If you pick and choose what you buy there, you can get some good stuff, cheap. You just have to be able to tell the difference. Link to comment
mountainred Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 Chris,Walmart in sonora Ca does not carry the right size. I think I will just get a "internet" battery. Link to comment
baggerchris Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 Hey "Mountain Red", You're right about Wally World in Sonora. Pretty Bonbon is getting either a Panasonic or an Odyssey. I'm just having trouble making up my mind. Link to comment
BlueOpal99 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Some of you may be familiar with this, but I stumbled onto it a while back and figured I'd pass it along. This battery is used mainly as a backup power supply for computers during a power outage. But it is identical to any oilhead battery (its sealed but not gel). I've been using them for several years and find they last at least as long as the name brands. I picked up another one today and told the salesman I may post this message here. He normally sells them for 49.95 but said if you mention BMW Sporttouring he'd sell it for $40.00. The only caveat is you need to drill out the hole in the pos. terminal slightly to accomodate the BMW stud. He is a nice and knowledgeable fellow and I have no connections. Randy at Sunn Battery, 1316 W. Adams St., Jax, Fla. (800) 226 4508 rbeckworth@sunnbattery.net Powertron PT2012 Its available nearly anywhere but mostly through wholsale distributors and they may not sell to individuals. I've seen what appears to be identical units with well known labels for double. Happy ohms and may your voltage be steady. Bill F. hello all i have been in email contact with Randy, and i must say he's top-notch! he could have given me the brush-off on my seach for a battery for my VFR. instead once i gave him the info, he found what i needed. and even better,Mr.Beckworth is saving me close to $30.00. i am truly impressed with him and this site!! Link to comment
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