Sears Diehard Platinum 31M issues

[Hilldweller]

Here is a cheap 125 ah AGM battery $169.99. On the downside it is 16" long, and made in China.
http://www.amazon.com/100ah-upgrade...9790738&sr=8-20&keywords=group+31+agm+battery

Don't knock it just because of the country of origin.

Back in the day, I used to sell/install/check hundreds of batteries a week. I had very sophisticated diagnostic meters that could check internal resistance, amp-hour reserve, internal temperatures, and response to load. Long story short, I "failed" more brand-new name-brand batteries right out of the box than Chinese batteries. I had more premature failures of name-brand batteries than Chinese. And we made more money selling the Chinese stuff.
Not all of the imports are created equal. Caveat emptor and all that.

 

[BigSwede]

No doubt, Chinese isn't necessarily crap. Just a note of caution, because it can be (as I am throwing my Baofeng UV5R in the trash).

 

[Hilldweller]

What happened to the radio? I know quite a few people using them and they're still working fine after a year...

I have a Wouxun and it works, meh, okay. Has trouble rejecting strong signals and that can get annoying when you're near a county FD dispatcher with a big antenna.

 

[BigSwede]

I have seen a number of people that have had problems. Mine worked well for a year or two, then the speaker stopped working at all. They are so cheap it is hard to get all that worked up about it though.

In general, Chinese stuff is as good as the person commissioning the manufacturing is willing to pay for. They are entirely capable of making some very high-end gear. A $25 dual band hand held ham radio? Quality control is bound to be a little spotty there.

 

[4x4junkie]

Don't knock it just because of the country of origin.

Back in the day, I used to sell/install/check hundreds of batteries a week. I had very sophisticated diagnostic meters that could check internal resistance, amp-hour reserve, internal temperatures, and response to load. Long story short, I "failed" more brand-new name-brand batteries right out of the box than Chinese batteries. I had more premature failures of name-brand batteries than Chinese. And we made more money selling the Chinese stuff.
Not all of the imports are created equal. Caveat emptor and all that.

That is much more the exception than the rule with chinese-made goods...

Since it was mentioned, I too have a couple Baofeng radios (GT-3TP) and though mine have been working fine, their quality indeed is quite variable (one I received not working, for which they just sent a replacement, they're so cheap it ain't even worth sending the old one back lol). Harbor Freight is another example, nothing there is really "good", but for some items, the mere cheap price can still make them a decent value (especially if you're able to 'tinker' with / modify them a bit to address the shortcomings they invariably have, something you probably wouldn't be able to do with a chinese battery).

 

[Finlay]

I have seen a number of people that have had problems. Mine worked well for a year or two, then the speaker stopped working at all. They are so cheap it is hard to get all that worked up about it though.

In general, Chinese stuff is as good as the person commissioning the manufacturing is willing to pay for. They are entirely capable of making some very high-end gear. A $25 dual band hand held ham radio? Quality control is bound to be a little spotty there.

The speaker on mine quit. This was after I accidentally dropped the radio in a bucket of cement, but still. You can buy an external speaker/mic for like 5 bucks and frankly, it works better.

But yeah, Chinese manufacture can be real crap sometimes. Those radios are a decent value, but my next one will be the new Yaesu just because I've been frustrated with some of the limitations of the cheapies.

 

[Hilldweller]

Yeah, the radio thing has me concerned though. I didn't participate in the group buy ---- too skeptical.
But I'm a CERT member/instructor and these are the radios that our county SAR Team uses on missions. They bought the professional models, got them for somewhere north of $40 or so.
But I'd hate to see them fail in the field when we're slogging through the mud one dark morning looking for a lost kid or something.

 

[Cabrito]

I'm another one having a problem with my Platinum P1 Group31 Diehard. I run a fridge and Ham Radio. Mine does not pass the load test on my cheap tester. Sears charged it overnight and told me it's fine, but it still does not pass my load tester. I think I need to take it back and insist that they show me passing the load test.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

I think I need to take it back and insist that they show me passing the load test.

Do it before the warranty expires.

 

[Hilldweller]

I'm another one having a problem with my Platinum P1 Group31 Diehard. I run a fridge and Ham Radio. Mine does not pass the load test on my cheap tester. Sears charged it overnight and told me it's fine, but it still does not pass my load tester. I think I need to take it back and insist that they show me passing the load test.

What are they using to test it and how long after the charge?

 

[Cabrito]

What are they using to test it and how long after the charge?

See, that's the thing... When I dropped it off they had a big rolling tester thing and when he put it on he showed me that it was failing the load test and that it was a little below 12v. It had been fully charged by my big home charger and then I put it on my battery tender for four or five days. He took it into the back where I couldn't see anything and told me to come back the next day. That guy who helped me wasn't there, and when the new guy brought it out he just said "good to go". I tried to get him to tell me if it had been load tested and he sort of side stepped the question and told me that it was full charged and his tester tested it good. Then he rushed away and left me standing there. I was on my lunch brake and needed to get back so I figured I'd test it when I got home. I thought maybe I wasn't using a good enough charger.

I've tested it a few times with my tester and it's only showing about 450 CCA's where it had been showing me between 750-900. I had already purchased a new AGM Interstate because I went to death valley over thanksgiving and needed a good battery ASAP. I plan to keep the Diehard for a utility battery. I'm going to take it back and ask them to show me.

 

[gravedgr]

See, that's the thing... When I dropped it off they had a big rolling tester thing and when he put it on he showed me that it was failing the load test and that it was a little below 12v. It had been fully charged by my big home charger and then I put it on my battery tender for four or five days. He took it into the back where I couldn't see anything and told me to come back the next day. That guy who helped me wasn't there, and when the new guy brought it out he just said "good to go". I tried to get him to tell me if it had been load tested and he sort of side stepped the question and told me that it was full charged and his tester tested it good. Then he rushed away and left me standing there. I was on my lunch brake and needed to get back so I figured I'd test it when I got home. I thought maybe I wasn't using a good enough charger.

I've tested it a few times with my tester and it's only showing about 450 CCA's where it had been showing me between 750-900. I had already purchased a new AGM Interstate because I went to death valley over thanksgiving and needed a good battery ASAP. I plan to keep the Diehard for a utility battery. I'm going to take it back and ask them to show me.

I only go when I have time to stand around and watch & wait. Also, none of this "hide it in the back room" stuff. I dropped mine off in next to an empty bay and they brought their charger over. I watched it charge the whole time and we both looked at the results. On Bill's charger, we got to around 12.8v if I recall, but it started falling quickly on his multimeter. Their charger never registered above 12.0v.

Meanwhile, the Sears I went to for the replacement didn't even test it (even though they said they would have to on the phone), and didn't even care about my old battery until I asked where I should put it. A greedy fellow would have just thrown it in the back of the truck and taken it home for a utility battery, but I'm not that guy. I lugged it in and asked where to put it and someone came over and took it away.

You might try a different Sears.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

If the second guy at Sears tested it right off the charger, it may have tested good at that point in time. Or, if he "tested" it with a multimeter and it showed high enough voltage, he was just getting the surface charge and he may not know any better. Or, if he used a hand-held digital tester, he may well have gotten a false positive. One of the dealers I do business with uses the little digital testers because they get pallets of used and warranty batteries to test and recondition for cheap sale and they need to test them quickly without a lot of handling. I have purchased used batteries from them that tested good on their units and tested bad on my tester. They admit that my load tester is more reliable than theirs, but takes longer than theirs. Mine is a simple old-school Schumacher. Odyssey recommends using a carbon pile tester on these things, and you can probably find a serviceable one for $50-$75, but it's one more unnecessary expense on an already expensive battery.

 

[Hilldweller]

See, that's the thing... When I dropped it off they had a big rolling tester thing and when he put it on he showed me that it was failing the load test and that it was a little below 12v. It had been fully charged by my big home charger and then I put it on my battery tender for four or five days. He took it into the back where I couldn't see anything and told me to come back the next day. That guy who helped me wasn't there, and when the new guy brought it out he just said "good to go". I tried to get him to tell me if it had been load tested and he sort of side stepped the question and told me that it was full charged and his tester tested it good. Then he rushed away and left me standing there. I was on my lunch brake and needed to get back so I figured I'd test it when I got home. I thought maybe I wasn't using a good enough charger.

I've tested it a few times with my tester and it's only showing about 450 CCA's where it had been showing me between 750-900. I had already purchased a new AGM Interstate because I went to death valley over thanksgiving and needed a good battery ASAP. I plan to keep the Diehard for a utility battery. I'm going to take it back and ask them to show me.

It's unfortunate that they don't know what they're doing. Even worse that they don't care. No ethics...

I was in an autoparts store and a kid rolled in with a Civic, pulled the battery, and brought it in. Said he had to jump the car all week and barely made it there.
They put a load tester on the one-year-old battery, failed it, sold the kid a new battery (cheapest house brand) at full retail. Laughed at the kid when he left.
There was nothing wrong with the battery ----- the old Civic's charging system, cables, etc. And you can't test a system with a depleted battery....

 

[Thoreau]

I got in on one of these PM-1 batteries back in May of 2012 when they had a pricing error that brought them down to ~$120 (out the door.)

Been running it ragged ever since with Rigid Dually's, two ham radio installs (75 watt 2900r and 50 watt ftm350ar), numerous usb charging ports, streamlight charging dock for flashlight, and god knows what else. Drained it down pretty far on multiple camping trips just running the stereo at camp (multi-day, single-site car camping events.)

Even with the abuse, and being 3 years and 7 months old, it wasn't until this winter (subjective term being in Phoenix) that I wasn't happy with the startup cranking in the mornings.

Back in March of this year I had picked up this charger (after talking with the manufacturer and with the PM-1 battery specifically in mind) and have been using it to condition the PM-1 periodically since. (I've got a smaller P-5 battery for a backup during times when I want to take the Pm-1 completely out of the truck.)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...model 12248&qid=1451316350&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

As was mentioned early in this thread, short-trips don't do that battery any favors. It takes a lot to charge it properly. My 'commute' is less than 1 mile round trip, plus a mid day lunch trip of about 3 miles. The OEM alternator (07 FJ) just can't give that battery what it needs under those conditions. I've also found that all the phantom current draws in the truck throw off the charger's brain a little bit and it kicks into maintenance mode quicker than it should (and flags the battery as 'weak') when it's charging in the truck. Take it out and remove all those variables and it's happily charging away/desulfating/whatevering the battery nicely.

I don't have any camping trips or remote trips of any type planned in the near future, so I'll probably run the P-5 for a month or so and give the PM-1 an extended stay in the battery maintenance spa, or until I need the extra runtime again.

Honestly, I'd be happy if it died right here and now with over 3 and a half years of HARD use, in Arizona no less. But I suspect I've got at least a couple more years to go with this battery. Maybe more with the help of the Battery Minder.