R6 Needs New Battery

[BHD]

I have a 2021 R6 with the factory installed battery maintainer/charger. It was plugged in without power failure for the last two winters. The dealership states the battery needs replaced and determined the battery maintainer/charger is not working and is looking to have it replaced under warranty. The new battery is around $400 and will not be covered by any warranty due to a "strict 1 yr battery warranty". Does that seem appropriate?
Thanks

[billk2632]

Many marine batteries only have a 12 or 24month warranty, but they are usually full replacement vs prorated. Also, most should last more than 24months, I seem to get around 4-5yrs out of my batteries - all my boats have had two batteries and I have never seen a benefit from the more expensive AGM batteries. I just stick with the basic lead acid batteries. As far as $400 to replace, if it is a lead acid battery that is too high, they are usually in the 100-150 range. If it is AGM then those are more and $400 might be a little high, but not out of the ballpark. Need to know what kind of battery you are replacing and what you are replacing it with to know if this is a bad deal. Either way if your battery is really done, it did not last as long as it should. I would make sure it does not just need a charge before I would replace it, but typically batteries do not fair well if they are fully discharged and left that way for a period of time. Also, having two batteries vs one might be another reason for at least trying to nurse that battery back to health - if you one have one battery that's a different story - you need a good/reliable one.

[jhnmdahl]

I've been buying Interstate marine batteries at my local Costco, and the oldest one's still ticking after eight years of Minnesota winters not on a charger. I run dual batteries too, with the idea that I'll swap a new battery in as the starting battery every several years and move the old starting battery to replace the house battery. I'm pretty sure this is the one I've bought in the past for just under $100: https://www.costco.com/interstate-27dc- ... 76408.html

John

edit - some people like the idea of replacing their batteries together in pairs since they're charged by the same alternator. I have the Blue Sea SCR dual battery kit, and haven't had any trouble so far with batteries of different ages but I'm not ruling it out either.

[BHD]

Thanks for the information. I do run a dual battery set up. Not sure of the type (they came with the boat new). I've already had the bad battery replaced and was really wanting to know if I should have pushed harder for some type of warranty replacement. Again, thanks for sharing insight.

[dsthomas]

Personally I wouldn't have pushed for them to replace the battery unless the charger damaged them. It sounds like it was just one battery so you probably just had a bad battery. I've fought with cobalt over warranty issues before when my dealer had done as much advocating for me as they felt was appropriate, they gave me the number and I called. They eventually covered what I was fighting for but that was an issue over two or three thousand vs a couple hundred bucks.

[VTENGR]

I think since the maintainer wasn't working properly then it caused premature wear on the battery and that should be included under warranty. I would have thrown that out there just to see what their response was.