DECA Brand AGM Battery Grief

[Craig McClure]

I have been off Lead/Acid Batteries for years, Having found Frame rust & Chrome damage, to be unacceptable. My experience with Absorbed Glass Mat Batteries has been very positive. They hold a charge longer, have greater Cranking Power & last a long time.
  When I got my used 2010 G5 Deluxe, it came with an EXIDE Lead/Acid Battery. It started fine & I rode it alot, with no startiing issues. One of the first items I chose to change was the Battery, which had already caused some rust on nearby frame pieces, I didn't want to chance it Puking on my Chrome.
  I purchased the DECA  14ah AGM (made in USA) BATTERY on Ebay. It arrived fully charged & fits my bike well. I have had nothing but starting problems since, The first time my conections loosend from vibration, I Locktite'd those. Now it looses its charge just waiting to be ridden. some times after 2 stops, while running errands it will not crank. I can only assume it is my battery, unless there is a simple method of testing the entire charging system?
  The DECA AGM BATTERY comes with NO mention of any warantee,or even company contact info in the instructions or on the box. The Ebay bunch I bought it from will not reply. I bought the DECA because it was made in the USA-Now I wish I bought the Chinese MOTOBATT.  Not Happy with Stinking DEKA!

[barenekd]

My DEKA has been fantastic. I've had it in my bike a year and a half and have had no problems with it whatsoever. I abuse the hell out of it working on electrics with the lights on for weeks, and even left the ignition switch on for 24 hrs (no lights) and it still started the bike.
Did you give the battery its initial charge when you got it? You are supposed to give it an 8 hour charge when it's new, even though it's charged when you get it.
Apparently, the name may have changed to Big Crank. See if you can get ahold of anyone under that name to check on a warranty

 

[Singh_Chicago]

Has anyone used this - It is for $39 on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/YTX14AHL-BS-Motorcycle-Battery-ENFIELD-Electric/dp/B008BTLMXG/ref=sr_1_fed0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354208026&sr=8-1&keywords=agm+battery

[Arizoni]

Craig
Before you just blame the battery be sure to check the ground connection between the heavy ground (-) wire and the frame.
If it is corroded/rusted or loose that could explain why the battery seems to be lacking power.

If the ground connection  and both upper connections of the + and - wires at the battery terminals are clean and tight, then blame the battery.

[mattsz]

Craig
Before you just blame the battery be sure to check the ground connection between the heavy ground (-) wire and the frame.
If it is corroded/rusted or loose that could explain why the battery seems to be lacking power.

Or broken - at the battery end...

[LarsBloodbeard]

Or broken - at the battery end...

Yep, that's what I was gonna say.  What would be a great test is to throw the old one back in and see how it performs.  If everything works great with the old battery, then it seems the fault is with this one.  Not necessarily because the battery is designed poorly.  Sometimes the posts get cracked internally from shipping.

[Ducati Scotty]

IIRC that battery had large, hearty, cast teminals which was one of it's selling features.

Scott

[LarsBloodbeard]

At any rate, weeding out the battery as the culprit is the best place to start, IMO, since that was the only change.  If it is the culprit, I'm sure the company would stand by their product and replace it with a non-faulty one. 

If you have the same issues with a different battery, start checking the nervous system.  Get a multimeter, connect the negative test lead to the battery, and poke the positive against the ignition output when in the off position.  Should be zero.  Check the resistance of the battery cables (detached from battery).  And so on.

[GlennF]

Do you mean Deka ? if so this is the contact form ...

http://www.dekabatteries.com/default.aspx?pageid=355

[Jack Leis]

If all else fails, there's Big Crank. Very happy with it.

[The_Rigger]

Deka is also, if I recall right, East Penn...  I had an East Penn/DEKA AGM battery on my last GoldWing for probably six or seven years (Fair Disclosure: along with a 90A alternator), and it always gave yeoman's service... Never a complaint or failure, no matter how I abused it.  When the OEM cell on Fiona goes tango-unform (as all batteries eventually must do), I'm plannning on replacing it with a suitable DEKA AGM cell.

[gremlin]

Deka is also, if I recall right, East Penn... 

+1

[72westie]

I would take it back to the local bike shop you purchased it from and have them test it/replace it if its under warranty. I assume it has a warranty if its brand new, so the shop you bought it from should be able to help you out.

[Craig McClure]

Today, I took my Deka battery to a neighboring town 30 miles away,Where there's a Deka Dealer. I traced this bit of information down, thanks to the main manufacturers address, that was provided in this thread(THANKS!)
  The Deka guys were extremely nice, & found MY BATTERY TO BE FAULTY. They replaced it with a new one, & even oppologized for my inconvenience. Apparently a bad one surfaces, but rarely. These guys even gave me the brother-in-law deal on an AGM battery for my Miata. Pretty pleased with the way it has turned out. Thanks for the help & suggestions!