Refurbished battery smelled like rotten eggs while charging and then died?

[DuckRyder]

I don’t know if you can visually tell an AGM battery from and Lead acid battery but the original battery looked like a typical lead acid battery.

It probably said AGM or VRLA on it if it was AGM.

If it were me i would put a quality new AGM in it. Not necessarily an OEM one.

According to Varta they appear to only recommend AGM for a 2008 Cooper S.

https://www.varta-automotive.com/en...(R56)","engine":"Cooper+S+(120+kW+/+163+PS)"}

 

[shortyb]

There is going to likely be an indeterminable line between it being "defective" and its charging algorithms inability to sense a problem with the battery and to start pulling back charging amperage.

I'd send it in for a check to be sure, but they will likely tell you sorry not our problem, or the shipping charges and possible test charge may not be worth it. The unit is basically a throwaway at today's labor cost, but check.

You are going to get tons of opinions on this matter, but somewhere up in the thread someone already said 10 AMPS is more than a maintainer and is at the maintainer /charger level.

Anything capable of more than 10% of face value (7 amps in the case of a 70AH battery) can trash a battery pretty quick especially if left unattended and something goes wrong like you experienced.

Should it have been fine - yes.
Was the battery probably gone - yes.
Could the charger itself have recovered it - probably not.
Should the charger have cooked it - nope.
It should have shut the charging process down and red lighted way before boil off.
Could that condition be dangerous - You Betchum Red Ryder.

That should cover it. /thread .

 

[lokijoker]

IF the original lasted 12 years that's a good deal. I go back with that

Part of the reason I think the original battery lasted 12 years is the way my Dad treated the battery. The car only has 34k miles for an 08. The car was never a daily driver and was only driven for pleasure, usually in the Colorado mountains and highway driving and only during warm weather months. When not being driven in the late fall and winter, the battery was on a Battery Tender.

 

[lokijoker]

There is going to likely be an indeterminable line between it being "defective" and its charging algorithms inability to sense a problem with the battery and to start pulling back charging amperage.

I'd send it in for a check to be sure, but they will likely tell you sorry not our problem, or the shipping charges and possible test charge may not be worth it. The unit is basically a throwaway at today's labor cost, but check.

You are going to get tons of opinions on this matter, but somewhere up in the thread someone already said 10 AMPS is more than a maintainer and is at the maintainer /charger level.

Anything capable of more than 10% of face value (7 amps in the case of a 70AH battery) can trash a battery pretty quick especially if left unattended and something goes wrong like you experienced.

Should it have been fine - yes.
Was the battery probably gone - yes.
Could the charger itself have recovered it - probably not.
Should the charger have cooked it - nope. It should have shut the charging process down and red lighted way before boil off.
Could that condition be dangerous - You Betchum Red Ryder.

I have left it unattended many times on my Subaru Legacy and we were leaving it unattended to charge my Dad’s mobility scooter batteries with no issues. Now, I’m afraid to use it. I am going to call NOCO and see what they say.

 

[lokijoker]

You can’t visually tell. It’s usually printed on there.

I have AGM in both Mercedes. The voltage regulator on the alternator is designed for AGM.

Numerous Mercedes owners put a lead-acid battery in their used Mercedes, because “expensive”, and then fill the forums with their complaints about the car - when the problem is using the wrong battery.

Used (and in this case, dead) batteries belong at the scrap yard, where they can be recycled, not in your car.

Actually these used, reconditioned batteries are very popular with mechanics and gear heads at least in this area. My Dad’s hobby was building and fixing up cars and engines since the 40’s up until about 2015 (He’s 93). He’s bought these batteries from this company for cars, motorcycles, his jet boats and electric scooters and they’ve tended to last close to or as long as new batteries. This is the first battery he’d bought from them since they went into business in the 70’s that we’ve had any problem with and had to use the warranty.

Maybe they are no long appropriate for new cars with all the computer electronics but they have worked more than fine for all of our cars before and are currently working fine in my Subaru (5 years) and Honda (4 years). Before that, the OE battery in my Honda Element only lasted 3 years and the expensive Optima battery I replaced it with lasted only 3 years.

 

[Astro14]

Actually these used, reconditioned batteries are very popular with mechanics and gear heads at least in this area. My Dad’s hobby was building and fixing up cars and engines since the 40’s up until about 2015 (He’s 93). He’s bought these batteries from this company for cars, motorcycles, his jet boats and electric scooters and they’ve tended to last close to or as long as new batteries. This is the first battery he’d bought from them since they went into business in the 70’s that we’ve had any problem with and had to use the warranty.

Maybe they are no long appropriate for new cars with all the computer electronics but they have worked more than fine for all of our cars before and are currently working fine in my Subaru (5 years) and Honda (4 years). Before that, the OE battery in my Honda Element only lasted 3 years and the expensive Optima battery I replaced it with lasted only 3 years.

Look, I put a brand new, genuine, Mercedes AGM battery in my Mercedes car over six years ago. Cost about $200.

Still have it. It still works.

You are the one who has a car that doesn’t work, that smells like eggs, and that is in danger of burning down.

You keep arguing against my suggestion/recommendation.

Fine.

But let’s contrast where we both are. You have a car that doesn’t work, a battery that stinks, and you’re in danger of starting a fire or explosion.

I have a car that runs great. That starts every time.

Ironically, I’ve probably spent far less on batteries in the last six years than you have with this car.

So, at this point, I’m just gonna say good luck with your car.

 

[4WD]

.

 

[Nyogtha]

If I remember correctly, that's sulfur dioxide.

As others have stated, the battery is toast.

Burned match smell is charachteristic of sulfur dioxide (SO2).

Hydrogen Sulfide, H2S, has the rotten egg odor and is considerably more dangerous in terms of personnel exposure and fire / explosion as H2S is flammable. Burning H2S produces SO2.

 

[lokijoker]

Look, I put a brand new, genuine, Mercedes AGM battery in my Mercedes car over six years ago. Cost about $200.

Still have it. It still works.

You are the one who has a car that doesn’t work, that smells like eggs, and that is in danger of burning down.

You keep arguing against my suggestion/recommendation.

Fine.

But let’s contrast where we both are. You have a car that doesn’t work, a battery that stinks, and you’re in danger of starting a fire or explosion.

I have a car that runs great. That starts every time.

Ironically, I’ve probably spent far less on batteries in the last six years than you have with this car.

So, at this point, I’m just gonna say good luck with your car.

So it’s looking like this is an issue with my NOCO Genius 10 battery charger that almost burned up the battery and not necessarily a problem with the battery other than maybe getting the first bad battery from them after over 50 years of me and my Dad and many others we know dealing with them. After calling the Mini dealer where the car was purchased and them looking up the info by the VIN number. It’s been positively determined that the original battery in the car when purchased in 2008 was a led acid battery and not a AGM battery. It’s also been determined by the Mini dealer that you can’t even register or program a new battery in this car because it doesn’t even have the software to do it. So it was likely a malfunction of the charger that for some reason switched over from 1 amp maintaining to 10 amp charging and not shutting off like it should have NOCO wants me to send them the charger at their cost to determine what went wrong. And they will replace it with a new one even if they can’t find a fault. But the NOCO rep told me no matter what was going on with the battery, the charger should have shut down and not continued to charge at the high rate.

I’ve known many people who have bought expensive optima batteries and have bought expensive OEM car company batteries that failed after only a few months and even a few weeks. Just talking to a neighbor today, he told me the battery on his new Mercedes SUV had to be replaced after only a month because it stopped holding a charge. So bad batteries happen even with new AGM and Gel batteries. I’ve had it happen.

 

[ripcord]

So it’s looking like this is an issue with my NOCO Genius 10 battery charger that almost burned up the battery and not necessarily a problem with the battery other than maybe getting the first bad battery from them after over 50 years of me and my Dad and many others we know dealing with them. After calling the Mini dealer where the car was purchased and them looking up the info by the VIN number. It’s been positively determined that the original battery in the car when purchased in 2008 was a led acid battery and not a AGM battery. It’s also been determined by the Mini dealer that you can’t even register or program a new battery in this car because it doesn’t even have the software to do it. So it was likely a malfunction of the charger that for some reason switched over from 1 amp maintaining to 10 amp charging and not shutting off like it should have NOCO wants me to send them the charger at their cost to determine what went wrong. And they will replace it with a new one even if they can’t find a fault. But the NOCO rep told me no matter what was going on with the battery, the charger should have shut down and not continued to charge at the high rate.

I’ve known many people who have bought expensive optima batteries and have bought expensive OEM car company batteries that failed after only a few months and even a few weeks. Just talking to a neighbor today, he told me the battery on his new Mercedes SUV had to be replaced after only a month because it stopped holding a charge. So bad batteries happen even with new AGM and Gel batteries. I’ve had it happen.

Not necessarily. If one of the cells in the battery developed an internal short or went bad while charging for some reason (it happens!), the charger will give 100% amperage long enough to boil the rest of the cells. A so-called smart charger should detect the bad cell, but maybe it didn't in this case.

 

[Rmay635703]

Sounds like you normally get new battery life out of used batteries on a regular basis. Time to buy a new used battery.

That’s what I do

 

[lokijoker]

Not necessarily. If one of the cells in the battery developed an internal short or went bad while charging for some reason (it happens!), the charger will give 100% amperage long enough to boil the rest of the cells. A so-called smart charger should detect the bad cell, but maybe it didn't in this case.

The NOCO rep told me it should have detected a bad cell or short and shut itself down and not continued to charge. That’s why he wants me to send them the unit. He said that if the battery had a short or bad cell, the Genius 10 shouldn’t have even switched on to charge or maintain at all.

 

[DuckRyder]

RE: NOCO - That seems like pretty good service.

I have several NOCO chargers a Genius 5 a 2d and a Harley branded which is pretty obviously theirs. As you know the lights indicate state of charge and the flashing indicates the mode. They seem to work well. The Genius 5 has a repair mode and on all but the 2d you can force modes. I believe forcing it overrides the protections. Anyway, the one thing i really don't like is that you cannot tell how many volts/amps its charging.

I also have a couple of Digital 400 Optima chargers, these don't have lithium mode (the new 400+ does) or repair mode but they do show the mode and amp/volts it is charging.

RE: Refurbished Batteries - The biggest issue I see is that you have no idea what was actually done to it or why it was replaced in the first place. Not really for me but I don't see why you are getting so much flack over it.

RE: Expensive batteries - If the Honda has a 51R in it 3 years is what they last in my experience. Though I've gotten more than that out of a yellow top. Ive got a couple of Optimas that are pretty old. Just another perspective.

i tried the repair mode on an optima from 2011 that was showing a low state of health and lowered CA, it brought it back to 100% SOH and charge and rated CA. It's still in service. I would like to see what the SOH and internal resistance of these refurbished batteries are. Optima says most of the warranty batteries they get back are not bad but are just deeply discharged, seems like if that is industry norm there's a market opportunity for these battery refurbishes and a fancy charger. Also why i always charge a suspected bad battery... anyway i digress.

Please keep us up to date on how this turns out with the Mini and NOCO.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Refurbished battery?

Exactly, where can you buy refurbished car batteries?

 

[lokijoker]

Exactly, where can you buy refurbished car batteries?

You would have to search your area to see if there is any refurbished battery shops. In the Denver area there are about 3 that I know of.

What a refurbished (or rebuilt) battery basically is, is they desulfate the battery and clean out all the electrolyte and put in new electrolyte and basically make the battery like new inside the old housing. Often these refurbished batteries can last as long or almost as long as a brand new battery.

 

[lokijoker]

RE: NOCO - That seems like pretty good service.

I have several NOCO chargers a Genius 5 a 2d and a Harley branded which is pretty obviously theirs. As you know the lights indicate state of charge and the flashing indicates the mode. They seem to work well. The Genius 5 has a repair mode and on all but the 2d you can force modes. I believe forcing it overrides the protections. Anyway, the one thing i really don't like is that you cannot tell how many volts/amps its charging.

I also have a couple of Digital 400 Optima chargers, these don't have lithium mode (the new 400+ does) or repair mode but they do show the mode and amp/volts it is charging.

RE: Refurbished Batteries - The biggest issue I see is that you have no idea what was actually done to it or why it was replaced in the first place. Not really for me but I don't see why you are getting so much flack over it.

RE: Expensive batteries - If the Honda has a 51R in it 3 years is what they last in my experience. Though I've gotten more than that out of a yellow top. Ive got a couple of Optimas that are pretty old. Just another perspective.

i tried the repair mode on an optima from 2011 that was showing a low state of health and lowered CA, it brought it back to 100% SOH and charge and rated CA. It's still in service. I would like to see what the SOH and internal resistance of these refurbished batteries are. Optima says most of the warranty batteries they get back are not bad but are just deeply discharged, seems like if that is industry norm there's a market opportunity for these battery refurbishes and a fancy charger. Also why i always charge a suspected bad battery... anyway i digress.

Please keep us up to date on how this turns out with the Mini and NOCO.

My OE Honda Element battery (51R) size started giving me trouble before the 3 year warranty was up. I took it to the dealer and they kept saying it tested fine. It finally failed right after the warranty ended. (Wouldn’t you know it?) The next battery I bought for it was a Walmart Everstart. It lasted over 5years. Next battery I got was a rebuilt one and it’s still
Going strong so far at over 5 years old.

This place that’s been selling rebuilt batteries near us since the 70’s has a good track record and their batteries carry a one year warranty. My Dad has been buying batteries there for years as have many other old timer mechanics. This is the first possible bad battery we’ve got from them. I’m not too upset about it because it’s covered under their warranty. What is scary is that trying to charge it almost caused an explosion likely from the NOCO charger. The NOCO rep told me if there was something wrong with the battery, the charger shouldn’t have even started charging it. And if something developed as it was charging, it should have shut down.

I agree, I wish the charger told you what charging mode it’s in. The red lights pulse when it’s charging and then when it’s a solid green light, I think it’s in maintenance mode.

 

[Donald]

I bought a reconditioned battery for my 08 Mini Cooper S. The cars has been running and starting fine for the last 3 months but then was starting hard for the last week. Yesterday it was totally dead so I put it on the battery charger/maintainer (Noco Genius 10). It charged up fine within a few hours. The later in the day it started smelling like rotten eggs and the battery felt hot. It also was showing it wasn’t charging and was low. When I tried to start it today it was totally dead and only clicked. I brought it back to the store per the warranty and the guy said the battery had been totally drained. He said that something is draining the battery. He gave me another one but said until I find out what’s draining the battery, it will do the same thing with this replacement battery. Could the fact that the battery needed to be registered to the car cause this? The dealer told me that my year and model doesn’t need the battery registered. Why did the battery smell like rotten eggs?

Who buys reconditioned batteries?

 

[TheLastWord]

Who buys reconditioned batteries?

The same person who reuses a condom.

 

[lokijoker]

Who buys reconditioned batteries?

There’s been a place selling reconditioned batteries near me for over 50 years. We’ve bought batteries from them for years. Their batteries used to cost $19.99. Now they cost $49.99 and have a one year warranty. I have one in my 2003 Subaru that’s still running strong after over 6 years. I’ve had them usually last on average 3 to 4 years. The problem of the rotten egg snell
Was not with the battery but with a defective NOCO 10 Battery charger that wasn’t going into float/maintain mode and was overcharging batteries.

 

[The motor guy]

I love thrift and deals, and have had some times where cash is tight, but was not aware of this used battery market. This situation where you switch a battery, then replace with a used battery, then go and negotiate with the vendor for warranty coverage then place a third battery and it’s still a problem…. Life is too short.

I mean I guess you could dump all the acid out, clean the plates, add new acid and charge it up, but idk. This is like buying a used tire. It's just not a good idea