Odyssey PC 2150 Review

Lifting the Odyssey PC 2150, you know EnerSys put a lot of lead in the battery.  Putting another 8 lbs of lead in a group 31 battery makes a mark on your hand from the handle.  Yep they bill it as the “Extreme Battery” and a Military grade battery for the commercial market.  Those are some mighty big boasts so lets take a look at the Odyssey PC 2150.

They use 99.9% pure virgin lead and  they claim a service life of up to 10 years. Sure. . .   when was the last time you got 10 years out of a battery? ( Well there was that  Sonnenschein Gel battery I got 10 years out of ).  And I guess if I had to choose,  I would want virgin lead over say that dirty non virgin lead. However I have heard some people complain that Odyssey batteries  are over priced and not  any better than any other battery. Hmmm . . .  what gives then?  

Yes,  Odyssey does have its roots to be a  military battery.  The Odyssey PC 2250 looks an awful like the Hawker Armour- Safe battery (6 of those bad boys are in the Bradley Fighting Machine for the Marines).  After EnerSys bought Hawker they must have decided to make those batteries available to the commercial market.  For the term “Extreme battery”,  in my opinion,  the Odyssey handles heat better then any other sealed lead acid battery.  Also being an  AGM, they handle vibration better then floods by a long shot (both good news for the Marine & trucking market segment).  Here is the rub.  Odyssey batteries like to be worked hard.  They can handle tough discharges but then will need to  be charged at a high rate (IMO 2.5 volt per cell or 15 Volts across the terminals and a 25 Amp current).  So if you are putting an Odyssey PC2150 in your truck or boat with a stock alternator,  you might want to think of upgrading to a high output alternator to get the most out of your Odyssey.

The manufacturer’s specs for this battery are impressive: Reserve Capacity of 205 minutes (Reserve Capacity means that the battery can handle a draw of 25 amps until a 12 volt battery reaches 10.5 volts).  Yes, this thin plated AGM Reserve Capacity is spot on.  You are getting a battery where what is printed on the name plate is true.  Also 400 cycles at a 80% depth of discharge means you can  draw the battery down 80% from full the battery 400 times.  That is amazing for a AGM because most manufacturers only state 200 times.  This AGM is in the area of cycles of a Gel battery.  Again believe what the manufacturer says.  The Odyssey PC2150 is worth every penny as long as you give it what it needs