Panasonic Base Terminal - Useless Battery indicator

[tsk1979]

My Panasonic Base terminal battery fitted in May 2005 went Kaput, just one month after the 18 months warranty expired. And the indicator did not tell me about it. Thats the short story. Long one...

Recently my car started showing some starting troubles. It started with the starter appearing to take more load, the crank speed being lower.
Then one night it would not crank, the horn became a squeak and the central locking went into sleep mode. If your battery gives very low voltage the central locking deactivates and the only way to activate it again is disconnect the batter and give it a good power source.

Anyways after a lot of pushing(Cold engine, as battery could not sufficiently warm up glow plugs it starts).
My first instinct is to suspect the car. I look at the battery, it faithfully tells me its discharged by giving a "white" indication. Blue is for charged and Red is for "add water, or water bad".
Anyways its late in night and I drive away hoping it will charge as the alternator was giving correct current.
No problem that day. Same story next day, no problem at all, but the crank was again strained. I hook up the multimeter again and it indicates that the alternator is fine.
Do this for couple of days and then I am sure that the battery is the culprit.
Over to Base terminal service station. They hook up the multimeter first, and everythings fine. Next they start checking the water.
The cell on the extreme left has blackish water. Battery gone bad. the car is still starting fine and the battery indicator is telling "blue".
I go to Amaron, get a 65Ah battery give away the old for 400rs discount.
The car is running fine, cranking is perfect, central locking is fine.

My gripes
1. Indicator is useful only for telling discharge status
2. The red indication never came
3. 19 months and battery kaput, my original lasted around 3 years.

I have gotten one with 3 years warranty now.

[rex_varghese]

Hi,

My RX100's battery went dead. I've been trying to find a 6 Volt replacement battery for the last one week, without any luck. Looks like nobody is making 6V batteries these days. They are all offering 12V batteries, but I've no immediate plans to upgrade the electrical system to 12V.

Anybody out here has any idea about any places where I can source 6V battery?

Regards
Rex

[Hashim]

Before replacing the battery you could have tried getting it charged using a battery charger. In car the battery is also used by several electrical devices like headlight, brake light etc so it is not charged to its best in car.

Originally Posted by rex_varghese

Hi,

My RX100's battery went dead. I've been trying to find a 6 Volt replacement battery for the last one week, without any luck. Looks like nobody is making 6V batteries these days. They are all offering 12V batteries, but I've no immediate plans to upgrade the electrical system to 12V.

Anybody out here has any idea about any places where I can source 6V battery?

Regards
Rex

Exide makes these 6v battery but if you don't find them, you can use those 6v rechargable batteries used in rechargable lanterns.

[rex_varghese]

Originally Posted by Hashim

Before replacing the battery you could have tried getting it charged using a battery charger. In car the battery is also used by several electrical devices like headlight, brake light etc so it is not charged to its best in car.

Of course, we've tried charging this battery before deciding to replace the same. It has lived a good long life and it's time for it to retire. To clarify, the 6V battery under discussion is a two-wheeler battery.

Originally Posted by Hashim

Exide makes these 6v battery but if you don't find them, you can use those 6v rechargable batteries used in rechargable lanterns.

I'm not sure whether non-automobile batteries work with vehicles. Any comments from anybody?

Regards
Rex

[Raccoon]

It seems some people are successfully using sealed UPS batts in their bikes... with no apparant disadvantage. In fact they are cheaper!

[rex_varghese]

I could find an AMCO 6V battery from an AMCO wholesale dealer on KR Road. Only issue is that these batteries are from an old stock as AMCO no more makes 6V batteries. He said, he can give me a replacement if something goes wrong with in 6 months time. After that, though he says the batteries he sold are still going good, he doesn't want to give any assurance.

So, I picked one for Rs. 400/-. He has given me a bill, but no guarantee/warranty card/certificates.

Regards
Rex

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by rex_varghese

Hi,

My RX100's battery went dead. I've been trying to find a 6 Volt replacement battery for the last one week, without any luck. Looks like nobody is making 6V batteries these days. They are all offering 12V batteries, but I've no immediate plans to upgrade the electrical system to 12V.

Anybody out here has any idea about any places where I can source 6V battery?

Regards
Rex

Just bumped into this thread again. So were you able to get a 6 V battery?

Had been to an electronics shop 3 days ago. They also repair all kinds of things there. The guy had many dry sealed batterys (mainly for UPS, emergency lamps, etc) on display in his showcase. 6 V, 12 V, both were there. I asked him if its a good idea to fix them on a bike. He told them they all are using them on their bikes for years, and I could take a look myself, If i want to.

Best thing is the batteries (even the ones with higher Ah rating) are much cheaper than the lead acid batts we use normally.

I don't know how technically right it is to use these in bikes, but with people stuck with 6 volt systems like the Yamaha RXs, there might not be any other option.