X2 battery life experience

I bought this battery November 18, 2018 and it just died last week. I honestly thought it would go longer but it has seen a few long road trips and a few well below freezing outdoor nights. Only jump started a few folks over those years.

Battery part number is SLI35AGMDP

Group 35 with 740 CCA

I bought an identical replacement since they do have a four year warranty and it gave me warning before going out. Never left me stranded.

Replacement was about $355 with core return.

How has your experience been with this brand? Seems they are made in the USA

 

I've had good luck with mine. I just had ir replaced under warrenty at 38 months. It started cranking slow for a couple weeks but never left me stranded.

 

I would have expected longer life from it, but maybe that is good for certain parts of the country.
I believe they are made by EnerSys, makers of Odyssey and Northstar batteries, so they are a good quality, USA made battery. I run Odyssey in another truck and expect them to last longer than 4 or 5 years, I sure hope they do.

I've had batteries last a long time in my Tacoma. Not used in any extreme temps, hot or cold. The factory battery lasted like 9 years, then Diehard Platinum AGM about the same, and now I have a relatively inexpensive Exide AGM that seems to be going strong at close to 3 years. Something that might be a good idea would be to fully charge the AGM occasionally. The AGM batteries want around 14.8v while charging, these Tacomas only put out around 14.2v and it drops below that pretty quickly.

 

For best AGM life they need to be charged at a higher voltage than the factory system uses for lead acid. Fortunately this is very easy to adjust on 1st and 2nd Gens.

Voltage booster thread:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-northstar-agm-battery-voltage-booster-upgrade.604478/

 

My first X2 lasted about 3 years. The store replaced it no hassle. The great thing is the replacement has the full warranty term.

 

Sounds like a 10cent diode would do the trick as well

 

Kind of. It’s best to adjust for temperature as well. They want 14.8 volts at 75ish deg F. If your battery is somwhere warmer than that, then voltage needs to go down.

 

i've never had a battery fail even on 10 year old vehicles.

 

I used to think the same way… at least 4 years but rarely got there. In my off road stuff I just get the cheapest thing that fits now, it lasts for the season and I have not had a problem. The $$$$$ they are asking for a SLA or a AGM battery is crazy.

 

Its possible. You'd want to find one right at +0.5v boost. Many are over that or vary which will shorten the life of your AGM due to over charging. You'd also want to develop a way to maintain the fuse as using a diode removes the fuse from the circuit, which poses a potential fire risk. Unlikely, but everything to the battery should always be fused to prevent electrical fires.

 

Just get a diode rated at 5 amps or so (I doubt the alt-s current is very high) at whatever forward voltage drop you want, it'll be the fuse. I just run my Walmart AGM off the standard alternator right now, not going to put a $100 regulator on it to get 0.5V extra, but a little component I could stomach (the little DIP switch array is probably just a resistor divider network anyway and will be heat-sensitive)

Seems like you were experiencing a need for more like +0.7-0.8V though?

 

If you can be sure the diode will fail at a low amp rating, yes that would work. The Alt-S circuit comes with a 7.5A fuse, but 5A should be fine. I'd likely go lower as a precaution as the circuit shouldn't see any load. When the HKB fused boosters were in stock, they were $50 AUD. So the price might initially seems high, but AUD to USD is currently $1 AUD = $0.64 USD, which makes them $32 + shipping. There are other aftermarket brands too of course.

 

That is too high. The initial testing did not factor fall/winter colder temps which leads to higher charging voltages. I put a smart voltage logger on the truck to track charge voltage over time and log voltage charge plots and saw that in the cold (Seattle area so not extremely cold) the charge voltage exceeded what the battery specifies as max voltage, which will damage the battery. Bringing it down to 0.5v instead kept the AGM in the specified charge window year round, which is about 0.5v above that of a lead acid. If you really want to play with it, you could use an adjustable method and set a slightly higher charge voltage in the summer and lower in the winter.

 

The SB150 outta work well enough https://www.vishay.com/docs/88715/sb110.pdf
Would like to know what the actual normal current draw is though

 

It's hard to have a static value to base on as it fluctuates a lot. Voltage draw is highest just after a cold start, when things are cold and the alternator is replenishing the battery from the starter draw. After replenishment it drops down a fair amount but still bounces around based on loads and temp. The target should be on a cold start in your environment, voltage should not exceed 14.8v, it should be between 14.4v-14.8v. A cold start in summer will be different than winter, so you don't want to hit 14.8v in the summer at startup either, or you'll overshoot it in the winter, unless you plan on adjusting your voltage seasonally. This is why I put a voltage logger on my truck, as you need to look at data over time and not a single point for an accurate understanding. The smart loggers are about $30 and pair with your phone.

Edit: based on my measurements/data logs, environment and conversations with Northstar technical staff, a +0.5v was most appropriate for year round use keeping within the desired charge window in both summer and winter.

 

I've bought at least ten X2s. Never had a problem. Mostly in Toyotas stored inside. I even have one in my big tractor that doesn't exactly get treated gently.

 

You jinxed yourself there....................