One year since my last deep discharge
 

Last year I was having difficulties with my IMA pack and I attempted to replace it with a used pack from the internet. At $300, I thought I couldn't lose.

I lost. That pack didn't work for me. Never did figure out why but I was able to sell it on to Bumbleebee as a core.

But you guys helped me through cobbling together a deep discharger and I set about the process. It took a while but I pulled the pack to a ridiculously low voltage, gave it a solid grid charge and lo and behold, it worked great.

Last week the IMA light came on again for the first time since that discharge/recharge process.

I have hooked the discharger up. It's taking its own sweet time, I don't have any larger bulbs than a pair of little 30w units that usually go into clip on reading lamps above my bed. Needless to say, the discharging is going very, very slowly. More's the better, though - according to everything I've read these things respond better when you don't rush them.

I'd say that was a success. Going a full year, or nearly so, without having the IMA light come back on and I'm still on the original pack, is excellent.

Did you already get an IMA light a year after installing a Bumblebee battery, or is this an older battery you're talking about?

If you're talking about an older battery, a year is definitely a long time to go between IMA lights! I averaged about three or four months in my Insight

Actually, it's the older battery - my HCH is still rolling with its original battery.

I tried to replace it but the replacement I bought was a dud and Bumblebee graciously took it off my hands. I DD'd the original and restored it to like-new performance.

I'll be rolling over 200K miles before the next oil change, and it's holding together pretty well.

I think if more people were willing to put just a bit of extra effort into their cars like they used to - remember having to adjust your valve lash every 20,000 miles? - fewer people would have been so quick to hate Honda for having a battery that didn't live forever.