Century Batteries

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by LG17

Is it the Aussie made battery or the one made overseas?
There is a marked difference.

Says 'Made in Australia' across the top of it.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by ford man xf

I just emailed them then letting them know of this particular thread and if they wanted to join the discussion, I always think its fair to give a business the right of reply in regards to customer feedback and bad experiences.

Great idea, I have send back two batteries in the the past 12 months, the Supercheap Auto Battery genius did not seem surprised the battery failed, it almost seemed like a routine process to him.

I saying that I have a Century battery in our non Ford 4x4 that has not missed beat. Its a 67MF that I fitted almost exactly three years ago (23rd of June 2019, yes I do keep track of these things)

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Itsme

XB GS 351 Coupe
Never like the idea of keeping a lead acid battery on constant trickle or float charge unless the battery charger circuit has a built in discharge mode in the charge cycle.
Most lead acid batteries are designed to be worked not sitting in a constant full charged state.
This is what I was taught many moons ago in the trade.
Cheers

I have never heard this, I have been told quite the opposite.

I have been keeping my classic cars and bikes on trickle chargers since the mid 90's, generally get 6-8 years out of my batteries, with a few freak batteries thrown in, one being a genuine Harley Davidson branded Battery, the bike was always on the charger unless it was being ridden. I fitted the battery in July 1998 and replaced it in 2008 with another genuine HD battery.

Had a another freak battery that was fitted to my 2007 BF GT purchased new, the battery was replaced in June 2019, that car was also permanently connected to a CTEC 800mA smart battery charger.

Not sure if the CTEC runs a discharge cycle. All my vehicles do get driven quite regularly.

I will however explore this idea further, but I sincerely doubt that a Battery chargers specifically designed to maintain batteries will kill a $250 extreme duty battery in 12 months to the point where it will no longer accept or hold a charge when none of my other 7 car/bike/mower batteries have any issue with the same charger.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

I have never heard this, I have been told quite the opposite.

I have been keeping my classic cars and bikes on trickle chargers since the mid 90's, generally get 6-10 years out of my batteries. 10 years being the record and that was a genuine Harley Davidson branded Battery, the bike was always on the charger unless it was being ridden. I fitted the battery in July 1998 and replaced it in 2008 with another genuine HD battery.

Had a another freak battery that was fitted to my 2007 BF GT purchased new, the battery was replaced in June 2019, that car was also permanently connected to a CTEC 800mA smart battery charger.

Not sure if the CTEC runs a discharge cycle. All my vehicles do get driven quite regularly.

I will however explore this idea further, but I sincerely doubt that a Battery chargers specifically designed to maintain batteries will kill a $250 extreme duty battery in 12 months to the point where it will no longer accept or hold a charge when none of my other 7 car/bike/mower batteries have any issue with the same charger.

Its the 'float' part of the cycle with these smart chargers where the voltage is elevated, where its just maintaining the voltage at a slightly elevated point, doing this over a long period of time is what causes issues with lead acid batteries where its sitting there at 13.5V or there abouts basically just cancelling out its self discharge.

With my cars I just charge them up every now and again and then remove the charger after its sat overnight and charged up fully.

While its a $250 'premium extreme duty' battery and given this thread and everyone's experiences as of recently, I'm hesitant to recommend Century anymore or call their products 'premium'.

Its still a lead acid battery at the end of the day and plays by the same rules as the rest of the lead acid batteries.

Maybe the Century batteries are just more sensitive to this? Or maybe they've just turned to **** for some reason.

Given you drive your cars regularly I doubt its causing the problems with the Century batteries in your specific case but if you had a garage queen sitting there for months on end on float then I'd start pointing fingers.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

I have never heard this, I have been told quite the opposite.

I have been keeping my classic cars and bikes on trickle chargers since the mid 90's, generally get 6-8 years out of my batteries, with a few freak batteries thrown in, one being a genuine Harley Davidson branded Battery, the bike was always on the charger unless it was being ridden. I fitted the battery in July 1998 and replaced it in 2008 with another genuine HD battery.

Had a another freak battery that was fitted to my 2007 BF GT purchased new, the battery was replaced in June 2019, that car was also permanently connected to a CTEC 800mA smart battery charger.

Not sure if the CTEC runs a discharge cycle. All my vehicles do get driven quite regularly.

I will however explore this idea further, but I sincerely doubt that a Battery chargers specifically designed to maintain batteries will kill a $250 extreme duty battery in 12 months to the point where it will no longer accept or hold a charge when none of my other 7 car/bike/mower batteries have any issue with the same charger.

Go talk to a battery manufacturer and they may give you some tips; btw a good lead acid battery always sits around the 70 to 80% charge rate.
I'm old school in my way of thinking and even with Franco Cozzo comment I agree with

With my cars I just charge them up every now and again and then remove the charger after its sat overnight and charged up fully.

I never leave any battery on constant float or trickle I just charge them up and then disconnect then use the battery as intended.
What you do is your choice but I'm only offering some advice.
Cheers

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Its the 'float' part of the cycle with these smart chargers where the voltage is elevated, where its just maintaining the voltage at a slightly elevated point, doing this over a long period of time is what causes issues with lead acid batteries where its sitting there at 13.5V or there abouts basically just cancelling out its self discharge.

With my cars I just charge them up every now and again and then remove the charger after its sat overnight and charged up fully.

While its a $250 'premium extreme duty' battery and given this thread and everyone's experiences as of recently, I'm hesitant to recommend Century anymore or call their products 'premium'.

Its still a lead acid battery at the end of the day and plays by the same rules as the rest of the lead acid batteries.

Maybe the Century batteries are just more sensitive to this? Or maybe they've just turned to **** for some reason.

Given you drive your cars regularly I doubt its causing the problems with the Century batteries in your specific case but if you had a garage queen sitting there for months on end on float then I'd start pointing fingers.

I will keep this in mind, the battery that has failed has been driven regularly, several 300-600km trips as well as regular 50-100km trips, shortest trip I would do is 50km as we live regional and driving to the closest shop is about 50-60km return, driving to work is 60km return.

If I am using the car for a few days I obviously do not bother with the charger, if I am leaving it parked for over a week I will connect it to the charger which is wall mounted in my garage.

I might do as you recommend and just charge it up every few weeks if the car is parked up. I will monitor this more closely. In saying this I have changed none of my habits since about 1996 (when I started using float chargers due to having multiple vehicles/classic cars/ road bikes/dirt bikes/ride on mowers), and I have seriously never ever had an issue with batteries, quite the opposite actually I have been getting exceptional use out of them is I feel something has changed with these batteries.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Itsme

Go talk to a battery manufacturer and they may give you some tips; btw a good lead acid battery always sits around the 70 to 80% charge rate.
I'm old school in my way of thinking and even with Franco Cozzo comment I agree with
I never leave any battery on constant float or trickle I just charge them up and then disconnect then use the battery as intended.
What you do is your choice but I'm only offering some advice.
Cheers

Like I said I will look into that, but as I have also said I have been following the same practices since 1996, with a number of cars/bikes/mowers without a single issues, if anything I have been getting exceptional use out of my batteries, My ride on mower battery is going onto 5 years, my XB Ute battery is going onto 8 years, dirt bike battery 6 years, daily driver EL is going onto 6 years, wife car 5 years sold three weeks ago still good, all working perfectly all getting treated the same.

Only seems this particular battery is having issues. Like I mentioned right at the beginning I will be contacting Century Batteries, but not holding much hope of getting a response, May be they will drop in here and enlighten us with their expertise.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

I only started the post after the issues I had with this particular battery, I then decided to Google Century Batteries Feed back in recent times.

The results made me want to take my battery back for a refund. Anyone reading this can do the Google search and see for themselves.

Countless one star reviews of these batteries failing after a very short time and poor customer service feed back.

I honestly doubt having the car connected to a smart charger is the issue reading the reviews, however I am looking into that further as I like to get multiple sources of information, I will also consult my local Auto Electrician and my local Mechanic who I am personal friends with and who I trust 110%. I will also contact Century Batteries themselves for input/advice and feed back.

[arm79]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Ariel Batteries in the SE Suburbs of Melbourne is this old bloke who literally manufacturers batteries out of his workshop, these days mostly doing stuff for vintage restoration vehicles.

Once he dies his knowledge goes with him.

That's what Cookie was doing, as did his father before him. They were hand assembling batteries in this little shed at the rear of a house for decades.

You'd walk into the shed and there'd be a bubbling pot of whatever acid in one corner and a production line around the walls. Piles of new and empty cases and parts in the next room. Still on dirt floor.

Dad met him when they were doing jewellery apprenticeship together in late 60s and early 70's. We'd been using his batteries a family from then until he shut up just before 2010.

He sold his business to a mid sized battery chain who also employed him for his knowledge. Somehow he sold his shed/workshop. I pity the new owners of that plot of land.

Unfortunately alot of knowledge went with him, wherever he is now too...

And strangely, he could never pronounce battery properly...

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

I only started the post after the issues I had with this particular battery, I then decided to Google Century Batteries Feed back in recent times.

The results made me want to take my battery back for a refund. Anyone reading this can do the Google search and see for themselves.

Countless one star reviews of these batteries failing after a very short time and poor customer service feed back.

I honestly doubt having the car connected to a smart charger is the issue reading the reviews, however I am looking into that further as I like to get multiple sources of information, I will also consult my local Auto Electrician and my local Mechanic who I am personal friends with and who I trust 110%. I will also contact Century Batteries themselves for input/advice and feed back.

I used to move heaps of them, to the point where I was doing my own runs to the distribution centre to pick up more in between my usual weekly delivery run.





You can see from their cases they're the previous generation battery.

To the point I smashed a 15 year record in the region for sales of their product.

Originally I had both Bond and Century on, then I reduced Bond to just one particular battery that Century didn't do for large Euros and also the Deka Intimidator range, and basically committed my whole range to all Century.

Given the ****show its turned into now, if I did it again today, no way in hell would they be getting any floor space given what everyone is saying, to the point I feel bad that people have been burned by my suggestions on good faith.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Poor EL would have been dragging it's **** on the ground

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Some interesting reading.

https://www.productreview.com.au/lis...tury-batteries

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

Poor EL would have been dragging ints **** on the ground

That was one of my best ****box purchases ever, cost me a grand total of $750 with 150,000km on the clock, bought it off a mates grandma, they only offered her $300 for trade in so I'm like... I'll give you $750 for it

Ended up giving it to an old pensioner whose a family friend, his car flogged out from rust and he couldn't afford another so I just gave it to him and his well off kids wouldn't look after their old man, so I did for them.

Still has it to this day so there's a mid 80 year old bloke getting around with an EF with a head and cam package with pacemaker headers

[PG2]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

...

Given the ****show its turned into now, if I did it again today, no way in hell would they be getting any floor space given what everyone is saying, to the point I feel bad that people have been burned by my suggestions on good faith.

Why? You gave that advice in good faith and truth be told, it was good advice at the time. They were an excellent battery.

You given me some really good advice over the years Franco, and I really appreciate it.

As a side note...

Don't let Franco's on line persona fool any of you - he is a very smart cookie.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

Like I said I will look into that, but as I have also said I have been following the same practices since 1996, with a number of cars/bikes/mowers without a single issues, if anything I have been getting exceptional use out of my batteries, My ride on mower battery is going onto 5 years, my XB Ute battery is going onto 8 years, dirt bike battery 6 years, daily driver EL is going onto 6 years, wife car 5 years sold three weeks ago still good, all working perfectly all getting treated the same.

Only seems this particular battery is having issues. Like I mentioned right at the beginning I will be contacting Century Batteries, but not holding much hope of getting a response, May be they will drop in here and enlighten us with their expertise.

These days I don't hold much faith in them for long term use like the old days but would expect most batteries should at least attain 3 to 4 year life span, my preference is still Century and Supercharge batteries; out of the two I prefer supercharge over Century for pricing and warranty.
Maybe you just unlucky with the last two Century batteries being a duds from the factory.
Best of luck with your inquiries as I would like to hear the outcome of what they say to you.
Cheers

[arm79]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

I only started the post after the issues I had with this particular battery, I then decided to Google Century Batteries Feed back in recent times.

The results made me want to take my battery back for a refund. Anyone reading this can do the Google search and see for themselves.

I thought I'd do the same and alot of people have written that when their battery died after 12 to 24 months they purchased another. Which is strange given the warranty period seems to be 30 to 40 months... Unless they were shorter 1 to 2 years ago.

I suppose alot of people are in a catch-22 situation where they may have a warranty claim but can't be without a car so a forced to purchase a new battery. Some are writing Century were knocking back warranty claims.

If that's the case the original probably never makes it back for warranty and ends up in the recycle bin and the numbers are never properly counted.

Funnily enough I've been seeing alot of them on the local Facebook buy and sell pages. Bought wrong one, upgraded to something bigger, not needed anymore is the usual sales blurb. Maybe they are faulty and cant get warranty and are trying to flog the dud to someone else.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

That was one of my best ****box purchases ever, cost me a grand total of $750 with 150,000km on the clock, bought it off a mates grandma, they only offered her $300 for trade in so I'm like... I'll give you $750 for it

Ended up giving it to an old pensioner whose a family friend, his car flogged out from rust and he couldn't afford another so I just gave it to him and his well off kids wouldn't look after their old man, so I did for them.

Still has it to this day so there's a mid 80 year old bloke getting around with an EF with a head and cam package with pacemaker headers

That's funny.

My daily driver is still an EL GLI, been in the family since new, original owner passed away, so more or less inherited it.

Great car, I love driving it over many other cars.

[Citroënbender]

Mine is a 24 month warranty, that was May this year. If this thread can stay on the rails long enough I’ll post a fully charged load test result before the weekend.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

Mine is a 24 month warranty, that was May this year. If this thread can stay on the rails long enough I’ll post a fully charged load test result before the weekend.

I should have asked for a print out of my returned battery results, he had the report there, he taped it to the old battery when I picked up my new one this morning, but I was more worried about getting my new battery then being concerned about the old one.

Would have been interesting to see.

[arm79]

Originally Posted by PG2

Why? You gave that advice in good faith and truth be told, it was good advice at the time. They were an excellent battery.

You given me some really good advice over the years Franco, and I really appreciate it.

I agree, he shouldn't be so hard on himself. Nothing wrong in recommending or advising a product you believe to be good and/or has treated you well. But as he said, if he knew then what he knew today it would be different. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Plus in reality we are talking about a very small sample out of what is thousands upon thousands of batteries made. I don't think its entirely the case, but we could just be talking about bad luck here.

Originally Posted by PG2

As a side note...

Don't let Franco's on line persona fool any of you - he is a very smart cookie.

Sure???

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

I should have asked for a print out of my returned battery results, he had the report there, he taped it to the old battery when I picked up my new one this morning, but I was more worried about getting my new battery then being concerned about the old one.

Would have been interesting to see.

I've always been suspect on those digital battery tester things with the print out, I always preferred ye olde carbon pile load tester.

This thing sorts out the men from the boys:

https://toolswarehouse.com.au/produc...1302967271537&

Rip it down to 9V-10V and see how much CCA she turns out on the gauge, its a decent 'real world' test simulating a starter motor on it, I've had the carbon pile load tester fail things that mr fancy digital printer thing thought was fine, I had both for reference as well.

Something to keep in mind that little eye thing people religiously go by on the state of the battery is only measuring the cell the eye is based in, so at best its a guide on the condition of the battery.

Entirely possible one of the other cells could be halal and the little eye is telling you its all fine, its more common than you think.

Originally Posted by arm79

I agree, he shouldn't be so hard on himself. Nothing wrong in recommending or advising a product you believe to be good and/or has treated you well. But as he said, if he knew then what he knew today it would be different. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Plus in reality we are talking about a very small sample out of what is thousands upon thousands of batteries made. I don't think its entirely the case, but we could just be talking about bad luck here.



image

Sure???

I'm still alive so his kind words still count - HMAS Fiesta ST served me well, if in doubt, more revolutions and go faster, my risk assessments just operate on a different scale to everyone else

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Something to keep in mind that little eye thing people religiously go by on the state of the battery is only measuring the cell the eye is based in, so at best its a guide on the condition of the battery.

My little indicator said charge battery, it said that for about two weeks before I had a chance to return it. if I was driving the car to the shops etc it would start again, but parked overnight would be flat in the morning.

It always said charge battery.

When I saw the Supercheap Battery genius this morning he said they charged the battery overnight on their charger, the indicator still said to charge, the voltage test passed but the CCA test failed badly.

In saying that I am only reporting what I was told, personally I do not know too much about batteries other than general knowledge and what you are told.

I never looked at the print out as he taped it to the old battery and handed me a new one he had waiting for me on the counter when I got there.

[bb_zetec]

In my Wife's Suzuki Grand Vitara, we have used Century and Delkor Batteries and only get 3 years maximum out of it, its like clock work, every 3rd Winter the battery starts slowly cranking and then fails if not replaced.

I dont know if its how they are made or due to this maintenance free design that they employ these days, but it seems Century are not the only manufacturer that seems to fail quickly, but what is the expected life of a battery now?

It currently has a Century MF one fitted in 2020, so lets see how it goes through this winter.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo;6722014[B

]I've always been suspect on those digital battery tester things with the print out[/B], I always preferred ye olde carbon pile load tester.

This thing sorts out the men from the boys:

https://toolswarehouse.com.au/produc...1302967271537&

Rip it down to 9V-10V and see how much CCA she turns out on the gauge, its a decent 'real world' test simulating a starter motor on it, I've had the carbon pile load tester fail things that mr fancy digital printer thing thought was fine, I had both for reference as well.

Something to keep in mind that little eye thing people religiously go by on the state of the battery is only measuring the cell the eye is based in, so at best its a guide on the condition of the battery.

Entirely possible one of the other cells could be halal and the little eye is telling you its all fine, its more common than you think.



I'm still alive so his kind words still count - HMAS Fiesta ST served me well, if in doubt, more revolutions and go faster, my risk assessments just operate on a different scale to everyone else

When I had trouble with my Ranger battery failing prematurely a ford worker did the digital printout test showing me the battery was supposedly still good, the poor fella got very embarrassed when I did the old hydrometer test proving I had a weak cell. I had the old load tester on standby just in case.
I honestly do not have faith in these type of testers! well at least the one my ford dealer used on that day.

My pet hate with sealed lead acid batteries is that the average motorist cannot properly maintain them something I'm quite sure battery manufacturers do on purpose for the sales.

Battery warranty has always been a contentious issue when it comes to claims.

[Vesper Martini]

A lot of people on this forum recommend Supercharge batteries now, & from my personal experience they perform well.

and the catch is they are probably the cheapest to get hold of too.

I go down this path with tyres too now going for cheaper unknown brands that are quiet and grip well in the wet - they may wear out quicker, but I'm paying a lot less and have newer tyres on my car.

What I'm saying is being more expensive doesn't Guarantee better quality anymore

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by bb_zetec

......but what is the expected life of a battery now?

I would say it should be at least the warranty period. Which is 40 months on a Century Ultra High Performance.

On the cheaper ones it's less.

I used to get a minimum of 6 years out of my batteries around 7-9 years being more common.

I guess many people don't even keep cars that long, but I tend to keep my cars, the Fords anyway

My current daily driver we have had for 24 years, I have other cars I have had for 36 years, I think the newest car I have I had for 16 years.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Vesper Martini

What I'm saying is being more expensive doesn't Guarantee better quality anymore

Sadly this is the case these days.

[Charliewool]

Originally Posted by arm79

That's what Cookie was doing, as did his father before him. They were hand assembling batteries in this little shed at the rear of a house for decades.

You'd walk into the shed and there'd be a bubbling pot of whatever acid in one corner and a production line around the walls. Piles of new and empty cases and parts in the next room. Still on dirt floor.

Dad met him when they were doing jewellery apprenticeship together in late 60s and early 70's. We'd been using his batteries a family from then until he shut up just before 2010.

He sold his business to a mid sized battery chain who also employed him for his knowledge. Somehow he sold his shed/workshop. I pity the new owners of that plot of land.

Unfortunately alot of knowledge went with him, wherever he is now too...

And strangely, he could never pronounce battery properly...

“Cookie” was MOON batteries off North St Ascot Vale, near Polo Club hotel (where you’d find Cookie Jnr most afternoons lol)
Yep, all made on premises… Even the cases (and Heavy as feck!)
Young Cookie sold out to IBD (independent battery distributors) in Westside Drive Laverton Nth… He was still there before I relocated to Costa Rica 6 odd yrs ago but was talking retirement back then so probably gone now, along with his incredible battery knowledge!
Moon batteries were the ants-pants of batteries… Unfortunately got to the stage where they were cost prohibitive against multi-nationals…

[GT450]

Originally Posted by Itsme

XB GS 351 Coupe
Never like the idea of keeping a lead acid battery on constant trickle or float charge unless the battery charger circuit has a built in discharge mode in the charge cycle.
Most lead acid batteries are designed to be worked not sitting in a constant full charged state.
This is what I was taught many moons ago in the trade.
Cheers

XB i did this for 8+ years with my BF GT as i got sick of going out to it and getting the CHH CHH CHH and never had a problem, having said that i wouldn't do it with a 4 amp charger or over. And the terminal is fused too.
The Mustang is much more fickle than the FPV and will shut down all sorts of systems if the charge is low and i had that tested recently and it was pumping out better than new .
One thing i did learn with the Mustang was to put the negative terminal connector on to a body earth and not the battery as it messes with the smart charge system in the car and the voltage now reads strongly every time drive it whereas before it fluctuated .

[roKWiz]

Have to comment here.
All the Century batteries I use have had no problems bar one which was a sealed lead acid battery used in a car.
I specifically order the larger type with the removable venting cap.
Serviceable type cells.
They are fitted in every vehicle I own including the smallest in the panel van.

Our little house is solar powered by 8 x N150 wide 11 plate non deep cycle
"Heavy Equipment" versions.
The motorhome has 2 x NS70 starting and 2 x N150's house batteries see above.
The boat we lived aboard for several years has the original 3 x N150s house batteries as above.
The oldest Ford Trader starts on a N120 as above.
The Kenworth has 2 x N120's through a series parallel starting system.

The old motorhome we lived and traveled in for 12 years had a bank of the same above and lasted as long as I had it.

Imo these are the best batteries I have used and have lasted years even while being in bulk/float charging state while not in operation. I would have a hard time being convinced to use anything else. Despite all the experts.

Not one of the mentioned above as house batteries were true deep cycle.
There is no such thing as a maintenance free battery.