Northstar Battery Story

[zonker]

I bit off on the upper end of batteries when I outfitted my LC.. "Dilly". Installed Northstar's on both sides of the engine bay. A 27F of course as the starter and a 27M for all accessories. Not an inexpensive proposition.. however I personally found the build quality.. predicted durability and amperage output pretty impressive.

Did something REALLY stupid early Saturday. Put in the key and put my hand on the foot brake.. moved the shifter to neutral to move "Dilly" a foot or so. Didn't want to start it up for just that and have to exhaust the carbon monoxide. Shifted back to Park and then promptly closed the door. Leaving the ignition turned on for more than 24 hours. Not good for battery life!

Discovered the situation on Sunday (yesterday) 3pm when I had NO electrical power. Grabbed the Fluke and found out I was down to 2.1 vdc. YIKES! Threw on a SmartCharger and crossed my fingers and immediately sent Northstar an email to query if I had any trade in value. That was Sunday.

Today around 10:30a I get a call from the technical director at Northstar. A phone call no less. Great discussion with him which brought me hope that the battery would survive just fine without any loss of life. As per his instructions I upped the charge amperage. Around 6 hours later the charger was in float/desulfate mode. Within 30 minutes of that I get another call from the guy to check up on the state of the situation. He assures me that the battery is more than likely at 100% with no ill affects.. especially since it is completely calcium free. Also they will go to 2v and easily recover as long as they don't sit for weeks. Never seen a battery go as low as 2.1vdc even for a short time and survive. Since I have two batteries.. if he was not quite right about durability and the 27F prematurely fails.. I can still get "Dilly" started and home.

The guy lets me know now that I have his cell phone number and to call if I ever have any problems with their batteries. Also to let him know if this one fails unexpectedly he will get a replacement out to me right away from Missouri. Last but not least at the end of the phone call it creeps into the conversation that he is on vacation this week. Apologizes for not getting back to me much quicker!

Thinking that I will buy another Northstar when I need a battery for one of our other vehicles!

 

[IanB]

Wow, that's a level of customer service you don't hear about...ever really!

 

[zonker]

Wow, that's a level of customer service you don't hear about...ever really!

Absolute true story. I was in a state of shock after the first call and blown away by the second!! Last but not least.. an incredible battery!

 

[lumbee1]

When my interstate dies, I know what to shop for. Thanks.

 

[cme4lyt]

Glad to hear this since I’m a Northstar caustomer, actually 2 of them about six months ago ! Yeah, they were big $’s but I’m feeling kinda special right now....

Thanks for sharing.

 

[zonker]

Lots of choices out in the world for batteries. From cheap to really expensive.. even more so than a Northstar. Whenever I hear about a company that provides excellent customer service.. it always makes my choice a lot easier. Certainly the same for most of us. There is obviously an added benefit to a company that believes in their customers and treats them appropriately. So I am always willing to spend extra dollars for that service.. provided that stuff works good and is reliable. If stuff works excellent and there is outstanding service attached.. personally it is easy for me to forget about the dollars I am spending!!

 

[CJF]

Awful lot of drama over an accidentally drained battery...

 

[zonker]

No drama.. just a great company to deal with when I SCREWED up! Not everyone will cover your a*s when you do something stupid.

 

[cme4lyt]

Awful lot of drama over an accidentally drained battery...

I’m sure you’d love to be in his position if you SCREWED up ?

 

[I Lean]

Next time, just shift the Tcase instead of the transmission....no key needed.

That's excellent to hear about the batteries though.

 

[Proven]

Damn, that's something I didn't expect to read!

 

[Kaninja]

I almost bought the Northstar 27F, but the price! I got a cheap ass Edmunds 27F standard battery for 1/4 the price......

 

[zonker]

Next time, just shift the Tcase instead of the transmission....no key needed.

Interestingly enough.. I thought about the Tcase after I recovered from the shock of being such an "idjit"! I knew that technical move and still my old fart brain managed to push me to insert the key. In hindsight I could of even popped the little black cover and released the shifter to move it out of park. All in all.. I thought I was being so smart!!

 

[Funner]

I have had three batteries discharge below 3volts and with enough time on a desulfatimg charger combined with agitating the case all three were restored to excellent condition. Most Arizona car batteries are toast between 2-3 years. My current batteries are 4, 5, and 7 years old and all hold voltage over 12.7 for weeks without use.
Never the less, that is great responsiveness from Northstar and is commendable.

 

[zonker]

One other little piece of this saga that I forgot about. The guy from Northstar told me that the "X2 PowerPremium" thru Batteries Plus is an OEM Northstar with NO changes in order to be sold by Batteries Plus. Only offered that info since he felt that should I need help with charging or testing I could take it to them since there was no other option in my area. He would send them a note so they would know that they were not treading on toes. Fortunately I had a Smart Charger and a whole bunch of options for load testing!

Just passing this on should you ever move to a Northstar at some point.. there is another option.

 

[sunrk]

I put two Northstar AGM 27F's in my 80 a little while back - Being an *exact* fit for N70ZZ/ZZL was really good but also the quality (compared to the s***e Optima's). The only better battery would be a Lifeline, but there's no Lifeline battery that appears to be an exact size match for N70ZZ/ZZL

Now before anyone mentions it, yes I opted for two of the same because previously I had two of the same Century lead acid batteries. I've arranged the aux battery wiring to specifically have special attention to the positive terminal wiring because of proximity to the bonnet/hood.