[HIGHNOON]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Thanks Hashim, VEA. I'll have my father consider a Panasonic battery as well other than the Exide/Amaron duo.

Regards,

I Have used Amron on my Indica DLS and old 800 AND maybe their claim of having more cranking power is correct. Now and then INDICA would have starting problem when very hot. I am not sure whether the problem was with the battery alone (OE exide ) , but i shifted to AMRON and the problem vanished. My the stock Exide was still good with no cell damage.
Having said that the OE exide on my petrol accent lasted all of five years without a single hiccup! ( 2003 march TO 2008 Nov for 39500 km )
Now i have gone for the BASE POWER from Panasonic on accent because my car is getting old and i felt looking for a 60 months warranty and paying a bomb for it does not make any sense. Cost Rs.3500 INR WITH A 18 +18 warranty . Every other battery for AccENT was in the range of 5500 + for an extended warranty.
I think the extended warranty ( 5 yr or more ) on a new car is fine. But giving it for every car regardless of the conditon , is really manufacturer's way of luring the customers to shell out some extra dough for the same product.

IMHO the car electricals & mechanicals , charging system , driving habbits , audio systems and use of AC at iddling has a lot to with how well the battery lasts.

[HIGHNOON]

Now i have gone for the BASE POWER from Panasonic

Sorry guys correction .....
i believe itS BASE TERMINAL from Panasonic.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by HIGHNOON

Sorry guys correction .....
i believe itS BASE TERMINAL from Panasonic.

The choice of batteries is simply too limited. We have only 2 large mfrs to choose from Exide and Amaron....with Panasonic a niche player. Optimas seem to be rare and buyers feedback on TBHP has been rather disappointing. I read somewhere that Exide (International) would be introducing their Orbital range in Jan 09 thru the Prestolite brand. Does anyone have an update on this?

Cheers!

[lancer_rit]

Originally Posted by R2D2

The choice of batteries is simply too limited. We have only 2 large mfrs to choose from Exide and Amaron....with Panasonic a niche player. Optimas seem to be rare and buyers feedback on TBHP has been rather disappointing. I read somewhere that Exide (International) would be introducing their Orbital range in Jan 09 thru the Prestolite brand. Does anyone have an update on this?

Cheers!

Hasn't Bosch recently introduced batteries in India ? Anyone tried them on tbhp ?

[Raccoon]

What about Tata Green? Its not worth considering? And what about Amco Yuasa? Do they make batts for cars, btw? The OEM Amco Y lasted me about 7 years in my Shogun... in spite of pretty erractic use!!

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by lancer_rit

Hasn't Bosch recently introduced batteries in India ? Anyone tried them on tbhp ?

Bosch batteries are supposedly made by Amaron. Heard good stuff about them but they seem to be difficult to find. Again a niche player like Panasonic. Tata Green are too new. 100,000 km life at 10 to 15000 km a year would translate into a battery that lasts 6-10 years. Is that too good to be true or what? Well, jokes aside someone on TBHP said he wasnt too happy with them. Cant recall who.

Rgds,

R2D2

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Raccoon

What about Tata Green? Its not worth considering? And what about Amco Yuasa? Do they make batts for cars, btw? The OEM Amco Y lasted me about 7 years in my Shogun... in spite of pretty erractic use!!

TG bats are in collaboration with Yuasa Japan. AMCO Yuasa were standard OE batteries in most 2 wheelers in the '80s and '90s. Pretty good for the day. Came OE fitted on my RD, RX and Shogun. Dont think AY make batteries for cars.

Rgds,

[Hashim]

Originally Posted by Raccoon

The OEM Amco Y lasted me about 7 years in my Shogun... in spite of pretty erractic use!!

My Gladiator came with Exide battery and it lasted only about 6 months
Then it started taking ages to charge and it always disappointed me when I tried to use self starter. I used to charge it at home and then it will work fine for 3 or 4 days then again down. Somehow due to my neglegence I missed the chance of getting battery changed under warranty. At least for bike, I'll never think of exide.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Hashim

My Gladiator came with Exide battery and it lasted only about 6 months
Then it started taking ages to charge and it always disappointed me when I tried to use self starter. I used to charge it at home and then it will work fine for 3 or 4 days then again down. Somehow due to my neglegence I missed the chance of getting battery changed under warranty. At least for bike, I'll never think of exide.

Dont always blame the battery...I think your battery wasnt charging fully, leading to sulphation and premature failure. If the starter was sluggish, did you get your battery and charging system checked? Here's what I have noticed in Indian traffic conditions which may or may not apply to you:

Many two wheeler riders unknowingly keep the rear brake pedal partially depressed with the tip of their shoe. That leads to the stop light (about 21W/1.75A) being on continuously and the battery getting drained especially in low speed short runs. Then of course is the propensity of our janta to honk their way thru traffic. A horn takes about 3A of current. Stopping the engine at signals and using the starter when the light turns green makes it exponentially worse!

It all boils down to the kind of charging system on the bike and if it is able to keep up with the electrical drain and charge the battery at the same time. Most two wheelers have relatively weak charging systems.

Cheers!

[shreyas99]

Replaced my M800 battery with Amaron 60 month warranty battery, Amazingly this lasted for 7 years. I might have got lucky in this case but i overall this is a tension free battery with no or absolutely less maintenance.

[Xeno]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Dont always blame the battery...
It all boils down to the kind of charging system on the bike and if it is able to keep up with the electrical drain and charge the battery at the same time. Most two wheelers have relatively weak charging systems.

Cheers!

exactly. Plus batteries on these bikes are also no maintenance free. They do require electrolyte top up. Also commuting in the city and using the electric starter pretty much drains huge amounts of current from the battery.

Good thing is nowadays tail lamps are LED"s which are around 6W in consumption.

Exide's (in my Indica Lxi and Kinetic ZX ) lasted around 4-5 years with mostly city driving conditions. satisfactory. They bought the used batteries back for rs700 discount on the new ones.

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by Hashim

My Gladiator came with Exide battery and it lasted only about 6 months
Then it started taking ages to charge and it always disappointed me when I tried to use self starter. I used to charge it at home and then it will work fine for 3 or 4 days then again down. Somehow due to my neglegence I missed the chance of getting battery changed under warranty. At least for bike, I'll never think of exide.

Which batt brand did you go in for after your Exide experience? Has your experience been better with the new battery?

R2D2, though the points you have mentioned are quite valid, I still have not seen Exide perform as well as my original Amco Yuasa... and Im talking about the same bike, and usage in pretty similar conditions. Even if one compares between existing brands, and not some imaginary reference point, Exide seems to be not upto the mark... thats my experience, and of many others here.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Raccoon

Which batt brand did you go in for after your Exide experience? Has your experience been better with the new battery?

R2D2, though the points you have mentioned are quite valid, I still have not seen Exide perform as well as my original Amco Yuasa... and Im talking about the same bike, and usage in pretty similar conditions. Even if one compares between existing brands, and not some imaginary reference point, Exide seems to be not upto the mark... thats my experience, and of many others here.

Raccoon, in the past I've always sworn by Amco Yuasa for bikes and Exide for cars. I dont own a bike nowadays. Sold my 2005 Pulsar 180 DTSI just 6 months after it was purchased primarily because of lack of use.

I realise that I am probably only a handful of people who say Exide is good enough when the feedback on this forum is decidedly anti Exide. But I am acutely aware how a battery needs to be treated (regular maintenance et al) and the factors that affect its life. So most batteries, Exide or not, would last a pretty long time with me unless of course a unit has a straight forward mfg defect. Luckily I havent had a dud in decades of riding and driving. Just my good luck I suppose.

There was one experience with a dead car battery (died coz it was old) that I dont want to repeat. It's been described elsewhere on this forum.

Problem is most people dont treat batteries as units that require maintenance just as the rest of the vehicle does.

Cheers!

[invincible7]

i have been using bosch battery for quiet some time close to 2 yrs, and they are good.

[nnandi]

I have been using the stock "Exide" for over 5 years (and 28000km) in my Wagon R (Dec 2003), it has never given any problems yet (touch wood!) and still going strong.
Unfortunately, in my Dad's Wagon R (June 2005), the stock "Exide" died out in 2 years. The reason can highly be due to the driver listening to radio almost all the time.