bad brand new XS Power battery from Amazon

[caraudionoob]

I purchased one D3400 and D3100 from Amazon, brand new, sold by the seller Amazon as well. Received it in great shipping condition, checked the resting voltage ~12.8/12.9 threw it on a NOCO Genius GENPRO10X1 charger to have it topped up. Then used my battery testers (TOPDON AB101 and Konnwei KW208) on it.

 

To my surprise, it reported FAIL - REPLACE on both testers and on both the D3400 and D3100. I used the CCA test and the CA test and both failed; it reported about half the rated CCA and CA.  I ran it a couple more times over the past couple days and same result. 

 

My Dad got a brand new Odyssey Group 34 for his truck so I pulled out my same testers and both testers reported PASS at 100%.

 

So my question is: Did i receive two bad new batteries from Amazon?

 

I attached some pictures from the Group 34 test. Anyone have any ideas?

 

Edited July 24, 2023 by caraudionoob
pictures

[audiofanaticz]

the bolt on sae style posts look very corroded imo, can could be making bad contact on the battery pads, could also be making bad contact on those aluminum bars as well, or one or the other or both could be some what loose.
I say this because both testers are showing a tad bit different voltage, cca, and resistance that is about typically double to almost triple of what XS batteries are typically known for they usually come in with a internal resistance of under 2. So this screams poor connection to me.
I would take some sand paper and clean up those posts, ensure a proper connection to the battery, and retest without those aluminum bars.
No idea on who the seller was from Amazon and if they are an authorized seller but if still testing bad I would try contacting Byron at XS Power.

[caraudionoob]

Hey audiofanaticz, thanks for the input.  I love learning about this stuff so I appreciate you for not only taking the time to answer my question but also explaining it as well.

 

I will definitely do as you advised and post back with results on both the D3400 and D3100 this time as well. 

[caraudionoob]

So I'm back with an update. As you stated, The posts/terminals were in bad shape, HOWEVER, I don't think it made that big of a difference.

 

Here are the pictures. The first 2 tests are from the D3100 and the second 2 tests are with the D3400.

 

The D3100 is reporting about 860/870 CCA out of 1250 CCA (the ratio is the same with CA test) or about 70% health.

 

The D3400 is reporting about 500/540 CCA out of 900 CCA (the ratio is the same with CA test) or about ~55% health.

 

Any ideas? 

Edited July 27, 2023 by caraudionoob

[audiofanaticz]

So those are dirtier than I figured they where, but I was hoping that was the issue.

It sounds like the batteries have acid stratification meaning that the batteries sat at 80ish percent or below of a full charge for some time (who knows how long they sat in Amazons warehouse before being shipped. This basically doesn't allow the cells to be fully charged even when placed on a charger and the charger just stops when it thinks its charged because the upper part of the cells are damaged due to sulfation. 

At this point if its not already too late I would return them to that seller on amazon and buy from a store that rotates stock out a lot more frequently, or contact XS Power first and go from there. https://4xspower.com/warranties/ or reach out to both. If contacting XS Power directly link to this thread so they can see first hand that you charged and tested the batteries prior to installing them like their directions state.

Edit: I will forward this thread to Scotty @ XS Power to see if he has any idea in the meantime but he is a very busy man.

[Taxed1]

Please be careful when purchasing XS Power batteries off Amazon. Check the XS Power site, they have a list of unauthorized sellers and Amazon is full of them.

 

https://4xspower.com/dealer-locator/

Edited August 2, 2023 by Taxed1

[caraudionoob]

Thanks for the replies. Since I bought the batteries from Amazon itself (sold by Amazon LLC) , I contacted them and referred them to this thread. They decided to refund me in full and allow me to keep both batteries as well.

 

Since the batteries have 60% state of health for D3400 and the 70% state of health for D3100. Is there any harm using them? It will be hooked up in parallel for 12v.  I plan on purchasing another D3400 from either down4shop or soundsolutionaudio to supplement the missing capacity. 

[audiofanaticz]

There wont be really any bad that can happen from using them, I would just do an actual load test on them with a load tester. You can buy them fairly cheap from Harbor Freight, like this https://www.harborfreight.com/135-amp-612v-battery-and-system-load-tester-58944.html just so you know that something like a 100amp load wont bring the battery down to like 9 or 10 volts because if thats the case they are junk. If they load test fine you can try and buy a charger that has a reconditioning mode like a Noco Genius or CTEK, XS Power also offers the PSC series chargers iirc that have a recondition mode too, so you maybe able to bring some of the health back to them.

Steve Meade also sells XS Power batteries too on his store/site wccaraudio.com but as long as you go with his site, JPs site down4soundshop.com, or even skyhighcaraudio.com where stock is constantly being rotated so you'll get a fresh new battery that hasn't sat for years youll be good.