Battery replacement

lryrob9301 wrote:
You can save some money buying DEKA GC2 6 volt batteries from places like Batteries Plus and others. The DEKA and the Interstate are both made by East Penn Battery Corp.

Thought Interstate was either Johnson Controls or US Battery..

But that said I replaced Interstates with Deka. Mostly because it was a DEKA store (GC2's can be a bit of an issue finding them Going to Sam's club was an option but by the time I spent the gas and the membership fee.. DEKA was cheaper).

My Interstats lasted 9 years. My Dekas the rest of the life of the motor home (Were still strong till I killed them and I do mean I killed them they did not die of old age. I ran 'em down to nothign and lef them there for a month. )

I have 2 Interstates in my diesel pickup that are 9 years old. I took them out of my race car and put new ones in there couple of years back. But when I realized that Johnson Controls made them and Wal Marts I replaced 3 of the DP batteries with Wal-Marts at 1/2 the price 3 years ago. So far so good.

BobsYourUncle,

The colder the better for storage, so long as the batteries are fully charged when they are put away.

Fully charged they will freeze at - 70 C (-94 f). At that temperature I'm sure we would have a lot of other worries.

jgrimes wrote:
Need to replace my two 6 volt golf cart batteries in my Solitude. Does anyone have any experience with the Interstate GC2ECL 6 VOLTS?

These will serve you well. Charging and maintenance is far more important than brand. Lots of Interstate dealers around if you need service on the road.

I have 4 - 6V Interstate GC2's that I bought on June 19, 2013.

They have been excellent for me in spite of the up and down charging over the years, and less than stellar maintenance by me. Sometimes they will be drained way down, other times kept right up. Many times they have been charged by my Honda 2000 genny.

They sit unused all winter in freezing Alberta weather. They have never had a trickle charger on them to maintain charge.
Every spring they have been ready for use, and even though sat freezing for months, will always power out the slide.
I have forgotten to switch my battery cutoff a few times, resulting in them draining to completely flat.

Although they are showing signs of weakening, they are still going, holding a charge and functioning well for me.

Over 8 years and counting.

I will likely replace them next spring. And I would not hesitate to buy the same batteries again.

pianotuna wrote:
Consider twin SiO2--or one 216 amp-hour unit.

Good option, if the guy can get his money's worth out of $1000 worth of batteries.
Many don't need that level of battery power though, or the cost that goes with it.

Retired JSO wrote:
Most automotive batteries made in America are manufactured by one of two companies: Johnson Controls, Inc. or Exide Technologies. The dominant replacement market brand names, Interstate and DieHard, are both Johnson Controls products, as is the Optima brand.
Usually the batteries are the same except for the badging.

Same parent mfg company has little bearing on the quality of battery as they're not all made to the same specs.
The wives tales about how all batteries are made by Johnson or East Penn, so they're the same, are flat wore out.

Retired JSO wrote:
Most automotive batteries made in America are manufactured by one of two companies: Johnson Controls, Inc. or Exide Technologies. The dominant replacement market brand names, Interstate and DieHard, are both Johnson Controls products, as is the Optima brand.
Usually the batteries are the same except for the badging.

What about East Penn???

lryrob9301 wrote:
You can save some money buying DEKA GC2 6 volt batteries from places like Batteries Plus and others. The DEKA and the Interstate are both made by East Penn Battery Corp.

Can you prove Interstate is made by East Penn?

Consider twin SiO2--or one 216 amp-hour unit.