Quick answer: Exide Absolyte batteries are no longer sold under the Exide name in the Americas. The same product line continues as the Stryten Absolyte AGP, made in the USA by Stryten Energy (formerly GNB Industrial Power, a division of Exide Technologies). If your Exide era strings are at end of life, the like for like replacement is the Absolyte AGP through an authorized reseller such as Critical Power Battery Solutions (CPBS).
Key points
- Who makes it now: Stryten Energy builds the Absolyte line today in the USA. Atlas Holdings acquired the Americas operations of Exide Technologies in August 2020, and the industrial battery business became Stryten Energy.
- The direct successor: Exide era Absolyte GP, GX, and IIP strings map to the Stryten Absolyte AGP, the current generation of the same family, not a substitute brand.
- How to identify your string: the module or cell label carries the family name, part number, and date code. Labels from 2000 to 2020 may show Exide, GNB, or both.
- Warranty reality: coverage on an Exide era purchase depends on its original terms and channel. New AGP replacements carry the current Stryten factory warranty through the authorized chain.
- Where to buy: authorized Stryten Energy resellers such as CPBS. Send a label photo or part number to Tom Kierna at 630-984-9718 or sales@criticalpowerbatterysolutions.com.
This exide absolyte battery replacement guide answers the question owners of Exide branded Absolyte strings are asking now that those systems are reaching end of life: the vendor name on the label no longer exists as you knew it, so who makes the product, what replaces it, and where do you buy it? Absolyte strings sold under Exide Technologies branding shipped from 2000 to 2020, and with a 20 year design life, the early Exide era installs are aging out today. The short version is reassuring: the product family never stopped. It continues as the Stryten Absolyte AGP, and there is a verified, like for like path from your Exide era string to current production.
Critical Power Battery Solutions (CPBS) is an authorized Stryten Energy reseller and the battery division of Advanced Technical Services Inc. (ATS), an ISO 9001 certified, family owned company serving industrial customers since 1981. Tom Kierna, the CPBS battery specialist, brings more than 40 years in industrial batteries, including 15 years at GNB and Stryten, which means he sold and supported this line through the Exide era itself. This guide owns the brand story and the path to buy. The physical replacement procedure has its own resource: the guide on how to replace Exide Technologies batteries with Stryten covers process, sizing, and cutover in full.
Who This Guide Is For
This guide serves the people responsible for Absolyte strings that were purchased under the Exide name, and the suppliers asked to source replacements for them.
- Engineers, facility managers, and network operations teams at telecoms, data centers, utilities, and industrial sites running Absolyte strings installed between 2000 and 2020 under Exide branding.
- Procurement teams that need a defensible answer to what happened to the incumbent vendor and a clean, authorized channel for the replacement purchase.
- Third party suppliers, distributors, and bid specialists asked to quote Exide Absolyte replacements for an end customer who still specifies the legacy name.
Many readers in all three groups do not know Stryten Energy exists. That is normal: the brand changed during a two step corporate transition, and nothing about it required existing batteries to be touched. The sections below replace that confusion with continuity.
What Happened to Exide: The Buyer Timeline
Exide Technologies entered Chapter 11 in May 2020, Atlas Holdings acquired the Americas operations in August 2020, and the industrial battery business became Stryten Energy. The Absolyte line continued in production through the entire transition.
For a battery owner, the corporate history only matters where it touches your string, your warranty, and your replacement path. The table below is the timeline in buyer terms. The full brand story, from the GNB years through the Stryten transition, lives in the Absolyte battery history guide and the companion GNB Industrial Power history.
| Year | Event | What it means for your batteries |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Exide Technologies acquires GNB Technologies | The Absolyte line is sold under GNB Industrial Power, a division of Exide Technologies; production and engineering continue |
| 2000 to 2020 | Absolyte strings ship under Exide era branding | Labels from this period may show Exide, GNB, or both; these are the strings reaching end of life now |
| May 2020 | Exide Technologies enters Chapter 11 | A restructuring of the corporate parent, not a recall or a product problem; installed strings are unaffected |
| August 2020 | Atlas Holdings acquires the Americas operations | The business becomes Stryten Manufacturing, then Stryten Energy; US Absolyte manufacturing continues without a break |
| 2022 to 2023 | The GNB name is retired | The line is branded Stryten Absolyte AGP; new production, parts, and support run through authorized Stryten resellers |
The takeaway is continuity: same US manufacturing base, continuous lineage, and a current generation product, the Absolyte AGP, standing where the Exide era catalog used to be. If you have heard the same story told from the GNB side, it is the same transition; the GNB availability guide covers that twin lane.
How to Identify an Exide Era Absolyte String
Check the module or cell label: the family name, part number, and date code identify the string, and labels from 2000 to 2020 may carry the Exide name, the GNB name, or both.
Because the Exide era spanned two decades, labeling varied over time. What you find on the label is enough to scope a like for like replacement:
- Brand marks: Exide, GNB, GNB Industrial Power, or a combination. Any of these on an Absolyte module points to the same product lineage.
- Family name: Absolyte GP, Absolyte GX, or Absolyte IIP are the family designations most often found on Exide era strings.
- Part number: the model designation on the module or cell label. Record it exactly; it is the fastest input to a replacement quote. The GNB Absolyte part number cross reference guide owns the lookup process and its worksheet.
- Date code: the manufacture date marking. It tells you the age of the string, which drives the replacement conversation. The guide on how old your GNB Absolyte batteries are owns date code reading in detail.
If the label is damaged or missing, a photo of the module face plus the string configuration usually gets CPBS to the same answer. Send what you have; identification is a normal first step, not a prerequisite you must complete alone.
Is Your String Actually at End of Life
Absolyte batteries carry a 20 year design life at 25 C, and Exide era strings shipped between 2000 and 2020, so most are now at or beyond the point where replacement planning should be underway.
Design life is the engineering basis under controlled conditions; service life is what your site actually gets, and elevated temperature, cycling, and charging history all shorten it. The distinction is covered in depth in the guide on how long Absolyte batteries last. At concept level, the signals that a string is approaching end of life include:
- Capacity test decline toward the 80 percent threshold used in IEEE practice.
- Ohmic readings drifting from baseline across cells during routine testing.
- Rising float current or cell temperature, which can indicate internal aging.
- Visual indicators such as case distortion or terminal corrosion on aged modules.
The replace or keep decision framework has its own resources: the guide on when to replace telecom backup batteries owns the decision process, and is your GNB Absolyte battery really bad owns test interpretation. When a string does come out of service, the modules route to lead battery recycling as part of the replacement project, so the outbound path is planned alongside the inbound one.
The Like for Like Replacement Path: Exide Absolyte to Stryten Absolyte AGP
Exide era Absolyte GP, GX, and IIP strings map to the Stryten Absolyte AGP family, the current generation of the same product line from the same US manufacturing lineage.
The Stryten Absolyte AGP is a sealed recombinant VRLA AGM battery: valve regulated lead acid construction with the electrolyte immobilized in absorbed glass mat separators, which is what makes it nonspillable and classified UN 2800 for freight. It is built as 2V modular cells from 104 to 4,800 Ah at the 8 hour rate, carries a 20 year design life at 25 C, and continues the modular steel tray construction the Absolyte family has always used. For the full product evaluation, the Stryten Absolyte AGP battery review owns the deep dive.
| Family on your Exide era label | What it is | Replacement path today |
|---|---|---|
| Absolyte GP | The mainline large format VRLA family of the Exide era | Stryten Absolyte AGP, configuration confirmed through the cross reference process |
| Absolyte GX | A related Absolyte family designation found on Exide era labels | Stryten Absolyte AGP, configuration confirmed through the cross reference process |
| Absolyte IIP | The earlier GNB era family that continued into the Exide period | Stryten Absolyte AGP, configuration confirmed through the cross reference process |
Two practical notes keep this path honest. First, footprint: because the AGP continues the modular steel tray approach, many replacements reuse the existing footprint, and confirmation for your specific string runs through the cross reference process and Tom Kierna rather than a blanket assumption. Second, scope: this guide hands the specification comparison between generations to the GNB Absolyte GP replacement guide, and the physical swap itself to the Exide to Stryten replacement guide and the telecom and data center field guide.
Warranty and Support Continuity: What Changes and What Does Not
Coverage on an Exide era purchase depends on its original warranty terms and the channel it came through. What does not change is current production support: new Absolyte AGP replacements carry the current Stryten factory warranty through the authorized chain.
- Existing Exide era warranties: whether any coverage remains depends on the original terms, the purchase channel, and the age of the string. Many Exide era warranties have simply expired with time. CPBS does not claim old coverage transferred through the corporate transition, and neither should any supplier.
- New replacement warranties: a new Stryten Absolyte AGP system purchased through an authorized reseller carries the current Stryten Energy factory warranty, stated in writing with the quote.
- Support and parts: current production, documentation, and technical support for the Absolyte family run through Stryten Energy and its authorized resellers. Your string does not become unsupportable because the brand on the label changed; it becomes a normal like for like replacement case.
The US vs Europe Question
In the Americas, the Absolyte line is a Stryten Energy product. Exide Technologies international operations continue separately in Europe as Exide Group.
The 2020 transition split the brand geography, and both successors are real companies serving their own markets. Exide Group operates in Europe with its own industrial battery portfolio. The Absolyte family in the Americas followed the Atlas Holdings path and is manufactured by Stryten Energy in the USA. For a US buyer replacing an Exide era Absolyte string, the practical consequence is simple: your replacement conversation belongs on the Stryten side, through an authorized Stryten Energy reseller. If you operate internationally and encounter Exide branded industrial batteries in Europe, those are current Exide Group products in their own right, on a separate path from the Absolyte line this guide covers.
Where to Buy the Stryten Successor and What to Have Ready
New Absolyte AGP systems are sold through authorized Stryten Energy resellers such as CPBS, and a label photo or part number is enough to start a like for like quote.
Authorization is the first screen for any replacement purchase: an authorized reseller sources new production with current date codes and factory warranty support. The authorized Stryten distributor verification guide shows how to verify any supplier claim, including ours. To get quote ready, have on hand:
- The part number from your Exide era label, or a clear photo of the module label if the number is worn.
- String basics: system voltage, cells per string, and the application, for example a 48 VDC telecom plant or a data center UPS.
- Site constraints: footprint, access, and any seismic requirements, so the configuration is confirmed against the space the old string occupies.
From there, the purchase itself, the RFQ to quote flow, lead times, freight, and documentation, is its own discipline, and the companion Absolyte battery procurement guide owns that process end to end. Third party suppliers and bid specialists sourcing for an end customer get the same support under their own deadlines.
Start Your Exide Absolyte Replacement
Send a photo of your battery label or your part number to Tom Kierna and the replacement conversation starts today. Call 630-984-9718, email sales@criticalpowerbatterysolutions.com, or begin with the pre consultation checklist and the CPBS contact page. Tom spent 15 of his 40 plus years at GNB and Stryten, spanning the Exide era your string came from, and he scopes every like for like replacement personally. The name on the label changed twice in the life of your string; the product, and the person who can replace it, did not go anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions About Exide Absolyte Battery Replacement
Are Exide Absolyte batteries still made?
Exide branded Absolyte batteries are no longer made, but the product line itself never stopped. Production in the Americas continued through the 2020 transition to Stryten Energy, and the same family is built today as the Stryten Absolyte AGP, made in the USA and sold through authorized resellers such as CPBS.
Who makes Exide Absolyte batteries now?
Stryten Energy makes the Absolyte line today in the USA. Atlas Holdings acquired the Americas operations of Exide Technologies in August 2020, and the industrial battery business became Stryten Energy. The current generation of the family sold under the Exide name is the Stryten Absolyte AGP, available through authorized resellers.
What is the direct replacement for Exide Absolyte batteries?
The Stryten Absolyte AGP is the like for like successor to Exide era Absolyte GP, GX, and IIP strings. It is the current generation of the same family, built in the USA with the same modular steel tray approach. CPBS confirms the exact AGP configuration for your string through the cross reference process.
Is Stryten Absolyte the same product as Exide Absolyte?
It is the same product family under its current brand. The Absolyte line passed from GNB to Exide Technologies in 2000 and to Stryten Energy in the 2020 transition, with US manufacturing lineage continuing throughout. The AGP is the current generation of the family, not a substitute brand, and configurations are confirmed per string.
How do I identify which Exide Absolyte model I have?
Check the module or cell label for the family name, the part number, and the date code. Exide era labels from 2000 to 2020 may show Exide, GNB, or both, with family names such as Absolyte GP, GX, or IIP. Record the part number and send a label photo to CPBS; the GNB Absolyte part number cross reference guide owns the full lookup.
How long do Exide Absolyte batteries last?
The Absolyte family carries a 20 year design life at 25 C, and actual service life depends on temperature, cycling, and maintenance. Exide era strings shipped between 2000 and 2020, so most are now deep into that window. A string from the 2000s is a replacement candidate on age alone; testing confirms its real condition.
Will Stryten Absolyte AGP fit my existing Absolyte racks?
Many AGP replacements reuse the existing footprint, because the AGP continues the modular steel tray approach of earlier Absolyte generations. Fit is still confirmed per string through the cross reference process, since configurations vary. Send your part number to CPBS and Tom Kierna confirms the configuration before you order.
Can I replace individual cells in an aging Exide Absolyte string?
Industry practice discourages mixing new cells into an aged string except as a short term measure, because the string performs to its weakest cells and mixed aging complicates charging. Have the string assessed instead: contact Tom Kierna at CPBS to review test data and whether a full replacement is the sound path.
Is my old Exide battery warranty still valid?
Coverage on an Exide era purchase depends on its original terms and the channel it came through, and many Exide era warranties have simply expired with age. What does not change: new Stryten Absolyte AGP replacements carry the current Stryten factory warranty through the authorized reseller chain.
What happened to Exide Technologies?
Exide Technologies entered Chapter 11 in May 2020. In August 2020, Atlas Holdings acquired the Americas operations, which became Stryten Manufacturing and then Stryten Energy. Exide Technologies international operations continue separately in Europe as Exide Group. In the Americas, the Absolyte line is a Stryten Energy product.
Are Exide industrial batteries still sold in Europe?
Yes. Exide Technologies international operations continue in Europe as Exide Group, which sells its own industrial battery lines there. The Absolyte family in the Americas followed a different path and is made by Stryten Energy. US buyers replacing Exide era Absolyte strings source the Stryten Absolyte AGP.
Who can help me source replacements for Exide Absolyte batteries?
Contact Tom Kierna at Critical Power Battery Solutions at 630-984-9718 or sales@criticalpowerbatterysolutions.com. Tom has more than 40 years in industrial batteries, including 15 years at GNB and Stryten spanning the Exide era, and personally scopes like for like AGP replacements. CPBS is an authorized Stryten Energy reseller.
About the author: Tom Kierna is a Battery Systems Specialist at Critical Power Battery Solutions, the battery division of Advanced Technical Services Inc. (ATS), an ISO 9001 certified company serving mission-critical power since 1981. Tom has more than 40 years in industrial battery systems, including 15 years at GNB and Stryten, and specializes in chemistry selection, application sizing, and the GNB and Exide to Stryten transition. CPBS is an authorized Stryten Energy reseller. Last reviewed July 3, 2026.
References
- Stryten Energy, Absolyte AGP Product Brochure (SE1085). stryten.com
- Stryten Energy, Absolyte AGP Basic Operating Instructions (SE1097). stryten.com
