Batteries - Bumblebee v Greentec v ReInvolt

[northrupr]

I don't want to sell my Honda Insight (2000).
I'd put $1000 down on the "Better Battery" that everyone on this forum raved about, and it went down some hole on Staten Island that may have been washed out to sea recently. Lucky for them I live 2k miles away.

Has anyone purchased a hybrid battery from any of these companies?

I see Bumblebee Batteries Limited Liability Corporation is a sponsor / supporter of the forums, which for me means two strikes against it - one for being a limited liability company, as I'd like someone to sign their life to me, two because the forum may be biased towards them for their support. They're also very, very new - no credibility. However, I do like their claims.

GreenTechAuto seems to be a functioning shop in California, with some negative and some positive reviews. They are not BBB accredited. They claim to ship the batteries out the same day you pay, which is certainly better than the 'Better Battery' scammers did. They also offer a new battery, with a 36 Mo warranty. But it's not clear whether it is for a 2000-2006 Insight or the new one.

Re-Involt is interesting; I think they're a shop in NC. They claim they're training mobile installers nationwide. They also re-make your battery, with new cells; I've heard price estimates of $2,400-$17,000, for Prius batteries (the latter quote is absurd), here: Re-Involt, 3d party NHW11 battery source | PriusChat.


Anyone dealt with them? Bought a battery, put some miles on it?

I understand a lot of people are DIY now, but I've got shaky sweaty hands and don't want to end up crispy around the edges. I also think it's difficult ordering in small quantities from anywhere in Asia, and hard to nail a specialty battery that could easily end up not being quite right.


Also, having had my battery unplugged for months now, I can say that
1) It works fine, not even that underpowered, at least compared to my old MB diesels.
2) The sulphur (rotten-egg) smell that happens when you floor it for a while is not because of the battery - probably some fluid spilling out and burning due to pressure in a line, like the transmission fluid.
3) I can't get it inspected, because of the engine light; I live in an emission-testing area of Texas (even though it passed the actual emissions EPA gauge, some lobbyist must have succeeded in adding the computer codes+lights to the regulation).

[3-Wheeler]

Hi,

Well, you can certainly try grid charging the existing battery to see if that helps. It certainly helped mine several years back.

Check out the link below about how to add a trickle charge cable to the battery.

Picasa Web Albums - Jim - Battery Trick...

Jim.

[Willie Williford]

Well it's obvious that you haven't been reading any of the posts here at ICN, from your join date. If you have, you wouldn't be asking some of those questions.
I bought my battery from BBB. No complaints, over 8,500 miles so far.
SO what is your CEL indication?
Many problems with the IMA system has been answered here at ICN.

Do what you want, you probably will any way.
(Off my soap box)


Willie

[Eli]

Feel free to give us a call, we'd be happy to discuss your concerns.

[northrupr]

That looks interesting.

The quote from Re-Involt was $2595 for a 3yr warrantied new 8amp battery, plus about $250 to ship ~100lbs to Texas; I may go with that, but my time might not be so valuable that I couldn't rig a trickle charge.

I'd read a lot of posts about balancing the charges, trickle charging, don't let it go below 40%, battery 'memory' but I still get back to thinking - if you floor it, or let it charge while braking for a long time, isn't that a bigger factor in the wear-and-tear than imbalances, etc? I hear claims that 'these batteries should last 30 years,' but the reality is they last more like 4-6, and it seems it's because they're in a car, being discharged and charged very rapidly, and there's no way around that for a hybrid driver.

But I'm a molecular biologist, not an electrical engineer..

[northrupr]

I get it, you're a senior member, etc.
I have been reading plenty of posts.

It's obvious you don't know what the Better Business Bureau is, but apparently they sold you a great battery.

I forget the code, but it was a bad one, not an easy fix, not under warranty.

Not one of these companies is BBB accredited.
If you were referring to the Better Battery, sold by hybrid-whatever, they went out of business. There were a lot of angry posts about it, back in the summertime.

[Eli]

We'll happily match the $2595 price and ship you a battery today. (In case it doesn't come through, that was sarcasm - our price is already much lower than that )

Willie has a BumbleBee Batteries(BBB) MaxIMA battery.

We are working on becoming BBB(Better Business Bureau) accredited.

[highwater]

Originally Posted by northrupr

I see Bumblebee Batteries Limited Liability Corporation is a sponsor / supporter of the forums, which for me means two strikes against it - one for being a limited liability company, as I'd like someone to sign their life to me, two because the forum may be biased towards them for their support. They're also very, very new - no credibility. However, I do like their claims.

Bumblebee may be "very very new", but the guy behind it has been around here for a "very very long time", as in way before sponsorship. I'm glad he's here and won't have any problem ordering when my battery goes kaput.

Randall

[highwater]

Originally Posted by northrupr

Also, having had my battery unplugged for months now, I can say that
1) It works fine, not even that underpowered, at least compared to my old MB diesels.
2) The sulphur (rotten-egg) smell that happens when you floor it for a while is not because of the battery - probably some fluid spilling out and burning due to pressure in a line, like the transmission fluid.
3) I can't get it inspected, because of the engine light; I live in an emission-testing area of Texas (even though it passed the actual emissions EPA gauge, some lobbyist must have succeeded in adding the computer codes+lights to the regulation).

While I'm on "my soapbox", if you would come in here a little more humble and not so know it all, you would be more apt to extract some good info form the guys that have already posted in this thread. Some of the best have already been heard from above.

Take a picture of those fluid lines on your manual transmission 2000 model. I would like to be able to find them on mine.

I have already personally helped one Dallas area Insighter get past his inspection failure, due to the codes.

When you get to the point of asking questions, instead of proclaiming all faults, we might be able to solve all your Insight problems.

Randall

[Willie Williford]

Randall:
And I will deliver your battery for "gas only".

Willie