Just a rant…. Sram AXS batteries stink and are always randomly going dead on me. I’m amazed how many times I’ll have fully charged a battery, gone for two rides, left it in the garage for a few weeks and than had a dead battery. I’ve replaced 3 under warranty but I still have issues with them. I have them on 5 different bikes in our house, so I really don’t think it’s just me. I’m a mechanic and know how to handle these batteries. I have the 4 battery charger…
Maybe I just have terrible luck? Never have issues with my Di2 bikes that I can use all summer without charging!
I’ve had mechanical issues when they first came out. The holding tab would crack and they would stop contacting the terminals. Electrically? Zero issues. I’ve had probably four or so and they keep going for years.
That’s strange (to me). In my AXS battery mix I still have my original two from the 11-speed AXS I got when it first came out ages ago. I couldn’t tell you which two, but I’ve never noticed any difference between my old and new batteries. I think I have seven in total now, across 3 bikes. And never had an issue in around 10 years of daily use. I take no particular care with them. Charge them occassionally. Not particularly good about removing them for travel - unless it’s a really long trip. I just have two of the OEM single chargers plugged in to charge them.
I’d say if it was only one bike maybe there is something draining them on that bike, but you have really bad luck as it’s multiple bikes. I have one bike I rarely use and haven’t had this issue.
I have had 4 bikes with AXS with no problems. I ride almost daily, but some bikes sit for quite a while between use (e.g., my MTB didn’t get ridden for a couple months this summer with all the rain we’ve been getting where I live, but it worked on the first ride without a charge). I don’t think I’m doing anything special, just charging as needed. I even store them in a pretty temperature variant garage. Though I do bring in all my batteries during the winter months. I wonder what’s going on? It seems odd that it keeps happening for you, but not a typical problem for so many others.
I have two batteries (I run 1x, so I only need it for my rear derailleur), one is in the RD, the other is my spare. I cycle through them, when the battery in the RD runs low, I put in my spare and put the other one on the charger.
I’m surprised how well this simple design works: I have had zero issues in strong rain, etc. But I was warned to not break off the tab on my Force D1 rear derailleur as that cannot be replaced separately and I’d need a new RD (seriously?!?).
The advice was specifically about paying attention when releasing the tab on the RD to remove the battery. It can “spring” up and break. Perhaps this advice is out of date, but I don’t want to test it. I simply put a finger in between the top of the tab to limit its range of motion.
I thought I had a bad battery so bought a new one. It seemed it never held a charge either. It turns out the little metal pins that contact the battery terminals were no longer fully popping out and the batteries are just fine. I was traveling and just bought a different derailleur at a shop and am hoping SRAM will warranty the original one.
I don’t think the AXS batteries are the issue. When the batteries are plugged in, even when your devices (in my case Eagle X0 Transmission RD and Reverb AXS dropper post) are in standby mode, they still draw some power from the batteries. Typically, the batteries in my AXS devices will go dead in about two months, in standby mode. The battery life is shorter when the devices are in use. If you don’t want your batteries to go dead on you, pull them out when you are done with your ride.