I bought a pair of Wanker, er, Werker AGM batteries for my APC Back UPS Pro 1100 (really a 1000, but sold at Sam’s Club and with a different designation) last July. Surprise, not even 18 months later, one or both is completely dead. The original batteries from APC lasted for nearly 3 years before failing.
I ordered my Wankers from Batteries Plus in person, only to find the store markup was so great it would’ve been cheaper to have heavy lead-acid batteries shipped to me. Of course, I discovered this after having already bought the batteries. Lovely. Batteries Plus only warranties their UPS batteries for 12 months. Apparently Wanker batteries are made by Batteries Plus itself, or rather it’s the store brand.
As it happens, Werker does suck. So does Batteries Plus. Instead, here’s some sage advice. Thanks Fred!
Update, December 24th, 2010. My last Werker finally died. What shit batteries.
20 Comments
Funny, I never had problems with Werker Brand battery. I have 4 UPS in my house they each take one 12v 7ah battery. Coming up on 4 years and running strong. Sounds like you got an APC reconditioned unit from Sams. Also, no one gives more than a 12 month warranty on AGM batteries.
Four years? Doubtful. You’re bumping up against reality. In either case, I’ll have to go with Fred on this one.
I purchased a werker A12-7.5F on 1-07-09 used it 2 1/2 months put it away charged, pulled it out in october - dead as a door nail and was told by Batteries Plus theres only a 6 month warranty, I have others the same size(different manufactures) that are 3-4 years old and are doing great. I got bent over on this werker purchase- never again!
Purchased a Werker DTB (low end of the line) at the beginning of January 2008. Eleven months and two weeks later it was having problems. Batteries Plus acknowledged it was dead two days before the one year replacement guarantee ended. They provided a free replacement. Ten months and two weeks later (Nov. 2009), the replacement is dying. This is one person who has learned a lesson and will never buy a Werker battery again.
“SHIT”. Definitely and intelligent and professional way to express yourself jasonb. …except the exact opposite. I run a business with 50 employees, all who have their own UPS at their desk. Batteries Plus has been giving me great deals for over ten years, and only a few times have their brand batteries needed to be warrantied. Thats why they have warranties, everyone in a while one product of the batch doesn’t work that well. Why else would there be such thing as a warranty. Besides, how many people go to review sites to write about how much they loved a product or service provided by a company. If you’re so uptight about one bad experience, and have such a hard time handling it that you have to go and cry to everyone on the internet, it makes me wonder what other things you struggle with. Life isn’t perfect, deal with it. Not all products are perfect and can meet your high standards, deal with it. I hope you don’t get too much “SHIT” from this life.
Hilarious. Some wanker is trying to insult me on the internets.
I purchased two IBM OP500 UPS units from Circuit City several years ago. These were manufactured for IBM by Tripp-Lite. The original batteries worked fine for at least five years before failing. When the first one died, I purchased a Werker-brand replacement from Batteries Plus. I did the same when the second original battery quit. The first Werker battery swelled up,split open and quit working after about 18 months, outside of the 12-month warranty period, so I bought another one from Batteries Plus after prying the dead one out of the UPS. Now the second Werker battery has done the same thing after 16 months.
I have since discovered that I can purchase the original-equipment Tripp-Lite branded batteries through Amazon.com and Buy.com for LESS money than Batteries Plus wants for their Werker batteries, with free shipping to boot. The Tripp-Lite batteries lasted at least three times as long and did not swell up and split open when they died, making removal MUCH easier.
At the risk of offending “jamison” I don’t think that posting a negative product review such as this is “crying.” It is a service to other consumers to help them make more informed purchasing decisions. You can see lots of both positive AND negative user reviews on sites such as Amazon.com. Maybe if we all had 50 UPS’s we could get a sweetheart deal from Batteries Plus that would make the poor service life tolerable. We’d probably have a couple of spare units to swap in while trying to extricate the swollen batteries from the dead ones. Those of us with just a couple of computers don’t need the hassle.
“jamison” is right about one thing: not all products meet high standards, so we have to deal with it. One way to do so is to NOT BUY THEM!
Pete No-H, you’re absolutely correct, and no offense in taken. I get a much better deal than a retail customer, I’m commercial customer. I’m sorry about your Werkers swelling up in the Tripplite Units. I used to use Tripplite myself. They seem to work less and less efficiently as the years go by. The batteries do swell up. They do this because of two main reasons, heat and overcharging, two things which are caused by faulty or improperly operating units; rarely is it due to a battery not releasing pressure properly. My APC UPS have much better cooling systems in them and I haven’t had as much of a problem since.
jasonb, you are also correct. I do indeed have a Wanker (notice the capital W :) ). Also, “internets”? Is there more than one?
The point being, is that unless one has more than one variable to calculate cause and effect, what they think is reality is really just a ‘guestimate’ of what really is. For example, last week, I filled my cars gas tank with gas then when i started the car, the radio didn’t work. Did the gas in the gas tank break my radio? No. They were just two things happening at once. Is Pete No-H’s Tripplite Making the battery go bad now that its aged and possibly wore out? We don’t know enough here to say.
With Batteies Plus Labeled batteries in my boat, jet skis, OHV’s and automobiles, laptop, cell phones and home alarm system, I’m pleased with them as a whole. Yes, I can afford a few mis-haps with a bad battery or so. If a battery does go bad, I don’t have to worry about paying to ship a 7 pound battery back to amazon, waiting another week to get a replacement, then going on with life. Batteries Plus gets me hooked up in munites. My business hardly skips a beat, and the money keeps coming in.
BMW’s and Mercedes come with warranties. Building material comes with warranties. TV’s, video cameras, fishing gear, computers and a million other products come with warranties. Don’t let one or two bad experiences get your panties in a bunch. I had a mustang that had a power steering pump, fuel pump, both head lamps, and the emergency break all go out within three months. No big deal, ‘SH$T’ happens. Since then, I’ve owned three Fords, and still have one.
My Dell Laptop had a hard drive go out after 16 months use, thank goodness for a warranty (and file backup on other hard drives).
I hope you’ll give Batteries Plus another chance, and next time take the time to make sure you know whats really making your batteries go bad.
You’ll note I was also annoyed that it was more expensive to pickup the batteries in person than to have three heavy, SLAs shipped directly to me. That’s a formidable in store markup indeed.
Such is life.
It’s actually cheaper to buy entire new UPSes on clearance and throw them away. I love consumerism.
Also, both my 12V units for an APC BackUPS Pro 1000 died right after the warranty expired, rendering it rather irrelevant anyway.
What’s with the panties fetish, though? Too much information.
Yes the 12v AGM Werker batteries are not top quality,,,,I used them in a wheelchair and they only lasted about a year.
This is an update to my earlier comments about Werker-brand UPS batteries from Batteries Plus. First of all, the most recent failure occurred when I had to turn off the circuit breaker that powers my computer room, in order to replace a couple of light switches. I turned off the UPS at that time. When I restored the power, neither the UPS nor the attached computer would come back on. That’s when I discovered the failed battery in the UPS; however, the computer remains dead even when plugged directly into the wall outlet. I used the HP troubleshooting guide to track the problem down to the processor or motherboard. I am wondering if the battery power from the UPS comes in downstream of the surge protection, so that a failing battery may have sent a fatal spike to the computer.
I have replaced the failed Werker battery with a Tripp-Lite RBC-51, which was the original equipment, and the UPS seems to be working properly. We’ll see how battery life compares to the Werker battery in my other IBM (made by Tripp-Lite) UPS.
Thank you, jamison, for the suggestion that the UPS itself might be contributing to the shortened battery life. It will be interesting to see how the Tripp-Lite battery holds up in the UPS that had the most recent Werker battery failure. In another location, I have two APC UPS units which have been working fine for a bit over three years with their original batteries. (Knock on wood!) If I have an early failure of the new OEM battery in the IBM UPS I guess that would indicate a problem with the UPS rather than the battery, in which case I’ll try another APC UPS.
I have to go with Jason B’s original comment. The batteries or shit. I bought 2 12v for a power chair and they wouldn’t run it after 3 months. Not learning my lesson I traded them in and the same thing happened. I took them back and batteries plus wouldn’t exchange because they said there wasn’t anything wrong with them. So what did I do. I bought 2 more just to see. I haad cash to burn…LOL. Same thing. Won’t hold a charge after 5 or 6 months.
I have two UPS running my servers. One of them has its red LED on(replace battery). As it turns out, its the Werker battery I purchased from batt+ just a little over a year ago as replacement.
After reading the other post, I’m going to try Power Sonic(PS) and see if it’s any better.
Werker batteries AND batteries plus are on my list of businesses I DO NOT buy anything from. The Werker batteries are JUNK. Batteries Plus often will sell batteries that have been on the shelf or date stamped 1 1/2 to 2 years old and want the customer to pay FULL price! Why would anyone want to buy a NEW battery that is already over a year old, sitting on concrete floors or on shelves in their stores. Found customer service just as bad. NO MORE WANKERS OR BATTERIES PLUS FOR ME!
You need to check every device you have Werker’s in. I installed them in several devices only to find they had leaked and destroyed the devices. Batteries Plus would not cover the cost of one device and had some lame excuse why. But when they see you a battery you are lead to think you are in good hands….Not true!
DONT BUY!!!! Bought the 12-7.5ah Werker brand to replace my device batteries. after 1 year they all are failing in my medical devices. I will not by from Batteries Plus again. Also I specified the WIDE spade style connections to carry the AMP load ratings, TWICE on 2 seperate orders and go the little narrow terminals in stead. Customer service is not Listening…. I am going back with the OEM panasonic batteries . I got at minimum 3 years from Panasonics. Sorry Batteries Plus. You should re-evaluate your products.
Love all this heated battery discussion! Googled “werker battery won’t charge” and landed here. Damn you Batteries+.
I’m yet another unsatisfied customer! Dual Werker SLAA12-9F2 batteries (12V 9AH AGM VRLA F2) died completely about a year after purchase. They were replacements for my original CyberPower CPS1500AVRHO batteries. The originals lasted over 5 years. The Batteries Plus replacements only last 1 year and 1 month - just one month outside the warranty period! All they could do is test the dead batteries, tell me they were dead (DUH!), and tell me ’sorry’. NEVER AGAIN. I’d have been better off buying a new UPS instead.
Yes, Werker has a bad reputation due to many faulty batteries. Its B+ brand. When you are as big as they are, there is not much care for ALL sold items to be fully charged or not sold. I found a site that is a distributor of Fiamm batteries that said all batteries go thru quality checks prior to shipment.
http://www.dataindustrialbattery.com
The best way to show your frustration with a product, is find a comparable product & buy from them instead. To those who are satisfied with Werker/B+, stay & support them. To those who are less than satisfied, find other stores, compare pricing, shop elsewhere.
You guys were so lucky with Werker batteries. I bought $35.00 (WKA12-5F)for my home security. It shut my system down in 2 days. I thought a short in my power circuit that killed battery. I took out Werker battery and it ran fine without battery. Replaced another Werker (1 year warranty), died 2 months later. I think when John Doe returned bad Werker(still take charged), Battery Plus sold to Bob, then Bob returned it, It sold (exchanged) to me…Now I end up running security without back up battery. Thieves only rob my house when power company shut down (tornado…). Thanks Werker Battery Plus.