Battery Registration…….do you do it?

With reference to battery registration I have been amazed at the total lack of knowledge about this subject. Yes it is here and has been since about 2002 were once a battery gets changed the vehicle has to be let known that it has taken place. Especially BMW and now most modern vehicles have to have the battery registered.

Why would the common response be and it is simple? As the battery ages the charging pattern changes and the battery module changes the pattern due to the number of years it has been in the vehicle.

So often, not the same constructed battery is re installed because of price. A lot of OE batteries are AGM constructed batteries and the replacement battery is a normal lead acid type. The vehicle has different charge patterns for different types of batteries. It is normally programmed at the manufactures factory, to the type of battery fitted.

Two things happen at this stage and the charge pattern for a AGM battery is different to a normal lead acid battery or a VRLA battery. So if the vehicle is not aware of the battery change via the battery module, then it will be over or be under charged. This will lead to premature battery failure and often while still under warranty. All because of non battery registration.

This is a normal function on our Launch Pro range of diagnostic equipment and all the German manufacturers have adopted this very important feature. When logging into this module you can see when the last battery change took place as the date would be stored.

So every battery change should be done correctly as to assure the customer gets the best life from your new battery fitted. Often we hear that the original battery lasted several years but the second one only lasted till the warranty expired?

Let us with this technical information give our customers the good service they deserve, and do the job correctly.

While on this subject please remember that our EFB (Stop / Start) batteries cannot be tested in the same way normal batteries are tested.

We can cover this in the next article.