Battery price question...

pianotuna wrote:

mr_andyj wrote:
I cannot think of a single reason to use two 12 vs 2 6's.

High draw of 200 amps works much better on twin 12 volt batteries. I use a 3000 watt inverter, and I push it hard.

One of the issues is most folks skimp on the interconnect cables on 6V batteries, using too light of a ga of wire results in a pretty high voltage drop across that interconnect.

If you used standard automotive size cables as interconnects that is where the issue is. Typical automotive cables are 4 ga at best like THESE..

You might find some in 2 ga but 4 ga will be more common.

I used 1/0 wire as an interconnect and I have no issues with heavy startup surge loads from my home fridge conversion on the GC2 batteries even when the batteries are at 50% DOD.

The interconnect cable becomes part of the batteries "internal resistance" and the GC2s often get a bad rap for having a high internal resistance and some of that is most likely from using to low of a ga of interconnecting jumpers.

GC2s are a pretty darn hardy battery, they have to be as they were designed to be used all day on golf courses and that may mean more than 12hrs per day per charge so they tend to get worked extremely hard and deeply discharged but yet stand up to a full "season" of golfers..

kfp673 wrote:

- I have not Checked wall-mart or auto parts stores. Where I have found 6V in stock local to me was a battery plus location selling Energizer, a golf cart company selling Trojan, and an interstate store. The price ranges for those 3 locations for a single 6V was $128 for Energizer / Interstate up to $200+ for trojan. NAPA online is $120. I am just not seeing anything below that. I was comparing that to a 90 Ah 12V Interstate for $120 each. This is where I came up with similar AH for similar money with 2 12V . 180 Ah with 12V vs 240Ah with 6V. By the way, we are fine paying a little more, I just wanted to make sure I was not missing something since I read so many posts talking about <$100 6V batteries.

A third again more capacity for the same price is not, in my book, "similar Ah for similar money." I suppose it's partly a question of perspective, what similar capacity means.

mr_andyj wrote:
I cannot think of a single reason to use two 12 vs 2 6's.

High draw of 200 amps works much better on twin 12 volt batteries. I use a 3000 watt inverter, and I push it hard.

kfp673 wrote:
Thanks for all the replies. I have a few responses to comments made throughout these posts.
- To be clear, I am comparing 2 6V vs 2 12 v not a single 12v. I have room for either on my tongue
- The Costco option does not appear to be an option for me. My Costco no longer carries them. Said they can order but when you read on-line the reviews are horrible for that Interstate 6V battery.
- I have not Checked wall-mart or auto parts stores. Where I have found 6V in stock local to me was a battery plus location selling Energizer, a golf cart company selling Trojan, and an interstate store. The price ranges for those 3 locations for a single 6V was $128 for Energizer / Interstate up to $200+ for trojan. NAPA online is $120. I am just not seeing anything below that. I was comparing that to a 90 Ah 12V Interstate for $120 each. This is where I came up with similar AH for similar money with 2 12V . 180 Ah with 12V vs 240Ah with 6V. By the way, we are fine paying a little more, I just wanted to make sure I was not missing something since I read so many posts talking about <$100 6V batteries.
I had my mind set on going with 6V this time around but was just surprised on the prices as I had always head they are cheaper. And, I was very surprised to see such terrible reviews on the Costco website for the Interstate 6V. I do have a tendency to discharge the battery quite far when we boondock, especially if we have to run the furnace, so points made in this thread of deeper discharge might be the important focus point for our situation

Thanks again everyone. I know this topic is beating a dead horse, but it was the Value / Cost angle I wanted to look at here.

One has to be careful reading the reviews.

I toss out all the top reviews AND all of the bottom negative reviews and read the MIDDLE reviews.

Reviews are high subjective and that is a problem, one persons expectation of said item will be far different from someone elses expectation and there a lot of shill reviews on top of that.

Some folks also just abuse things and expect it to survive.. get mad when it doesn't and then writes scathing shill reviews..

YES, $90 GC2 batteries DO EXIST, however, that price may not be "available everywhere". Your not the first person that has showed up on this forum with this same issue.. I am a bit shocked because my closest city which is 20 miles away from me is so far in the dung heap for retail stores it isn't funny.. We operate on a Walmart, Target, Sam's club, a small grocery chain, Home Depot and Lowes, Tractor Supply and a Rural King.. The one large indoor mall that is still existing now has only 30% of its capacity used and those are little "one off" trinket stores..

But, yet, I can walk into my local Sam's club and right on the shelves IS those $90 6V GCs.

I can also walk into my local Rural King and buy their house branded Rural King GC2s for about the same price as the Sam's Club GC2s.

I am having a difficult time wrapping my head around the idea that you live in such a bad place (I didn't think anything could be worse than my area), sounds like you are in rural Vermont (yeah, been there, don't plan to go back, too expensive).. You are sure you live in PA?

Perhaps, broaden your search area and make a "daytrip" to a different Costco or if you know someone with a Sam's membership and are near a Sams club have them pick them up for you..

I bought mine from Sam's Club in 2007 for $74 apiece. They are still going strong after 14 years of dry camping. One thing to be aware of is Sam's and Costco change who they buy from over the years. Mine were either Duracell's or Energizers. I replaced 3 Costco batteries on my cars under warranty and many complain the Costco 6 v GC are dying prematurely. I would stick with Sam's club if they still sell these two batteries brands.

Lowes Deep Cycle Batteries

Check out Lowes for Deka batteries (which in my opinion are one of the best batteries).

I am not going to tell you they are inexpensive, but Lowes has decent prices for Deka batteries.

I cannot think of a single reason to use two 12 vs 2 6's.

The Marine batts, as stated, are a compromise. Intended for a boat. Boaters use the same battery to start the motor (need lots of amps all at once) and to run the trolling motor (need small amt of amps over a long period), and then be able to start the boat engine again.

The thick plates of a true deep cycle battery cannot give the sudden burst of amps as the thin plates of a car starting battery. A Deep Cyc batt may not be able to start an engine.

The thin plates of a car batt cannot be run dead many times at all before ruin - you can count this on one hand...

Marine is a compromise, so has medium thickness plates. You can run them dead (certain percentage of state of discharge) more than a car bat, but not as many times as a true deep cyc batt.

I dont have the exact numbers but something like this:
car batt can be run dead 2 times
marine batt can be run dead 200 times
true deep cyc batt can be run dead 2,000 times.
(do a search if you want to real numbers on this, but the disparity is similar)

This is the reason for true deep cycle batts.

I was also surprised at all the negative reviews for Interstate at Costco. I went with the Duracell Ultra batteries from Batteries Plus. At 230AH I felt it was worth the extra money and they had much better reviews. I haven't really put them to the test, when camping last summer we had to use the gen to keep the AC running during the day, but had plenty of power at night even with minimal heat running in the early morning. They will get more use this summer as we will go on a couple boondock trips.

Thanks for all the replies. I have a few responses to comments made throughout these posts.
- To be clear, I am comparing 2 6V vs 2 12 v not a single 12v. I have room for either on my tongue
- The Costco option does not appear to be an option for me. My Costco no longer carries them. Said they can order but when you read on-line the reviews are horrible for that Interstate 6V battery.
- I have not Checked wall-mart or auto parts stores. Where I have found 6V in stock local to me was a battery plus location selling Energizer, a golf cart company selling Trojan, and an interstate store. The price ranges for those 3 locations for a single 6V was $128 for Energizer / Interstate up to $200+ for trojan. NAPA online is $120. I am just not seeing anything below that. I was comparing that to a 90 Ah 12V Interstate for $120 each. This is where I came up with similar AH for similar money with 2 12V . 180 Ah with 12V vs 240Ah with 6V. By the way, we are fine paying a little more, I just wanted to make sure I was not missing something since I read so many posts talking about <$100 6V batteries.
I had my mind set on going with 6V this time around but was just surprised on the prices as I had always head they are cheaper. And, I was very surprised to see such terrible reviews on the Costco website for the Interstate 6V. I do have a tendency to discharge the battery quite far when we boondock, especially if we have to run the furnace, so points made in this thread of deeper discharge might be the important focus point for our situation

Thanks again everyone. I know this topic is beating a dead horse, but it was the Value / Cost angle I wanted to look at here.

Just go to Costco or Sam's Club and get 2-12V deep cycle batteries and be done with it.