Costco vs Sams Club 6V Golf Cart Batteries

I pulled the trigger and installed 2 6v yesterday. I dunno if, with my genny running, I could start my Dodge 2500 but, knock on wood, hopefully I wont have to try.

I was going to switch from dual purpose to straight deep cycle anyway for longer life. We most often boondock. One of my dual purpose batteries had a problem so I had to take action.

Gale,
Two 6V batteries become one 12V battery and if you want to use them as such, a set of jumper cables is the easiest method. It's not about bragging rights, to me. I think the 6v GC2 batteries are superior in a number of ways compared to hybrid marine/deep cycle and starter batteries.

d-mac1 wrote:
I'm contemplating switching from 2 12v to 2 6v but I don't understand why the 6v have an advantage. Can someone enlighten me?

Also, am I correct that the 6v need to be wired in series...seems like that must be how you get 12v out of 6v batteries, but again, what is the advantage of the 6v? I had the 12v connected parallel.

Thanks!

d-mac1 I have contemplating do doing that as well for all the good reasons stated. One think that stopped me is my under the radiator rack for the engine and 2 house batteries would require some major changes.

The big factor was it would rob me of having a back up starting battery setting next to my starting battery only requiring me to move the starting battery cables over to one of the house batteries.

When the Nissan PU battery died I just robbed the new in 2011 Interstate engine starting battery from the MH and moved the MH starting cables over to one of the two house batteries after I disconnected it from the other house battery
BUT there was no battery moving required.

If I was running out of 12v house power every night then maybe yes to two 6v batteries but that is not the case. I like having two extra batteries that will start the engine if required.

6v batteries sure have their place but sometimes it is just for bragging rights. :)

yotta see my new Lifeline with the knurled beryllium copper posts, bolts and washers. The post threads feel like a No 2 machine fit.

Heh heh heh. Buy a pair of GC220 batteries. Connect in series. One Costco or Sam's Club battery, the 2nd one an embossed Maroon Case Trojan T-105. Use them. See which battery of the pair fails first. Do this with a hundred sets of batteries. They are 5% antimony with similar ampere hour ratings. The pile of red over white batteries is going to grow mighty large.

Plus they just look cool.

Durability, Forgiveness of Abuse (to a point). Positive plates are thicker than run of the mill cyclable 6 cell batteries. Greater acid to active plate area volume.

d-mac1 wrote:
I'm contemplating switching from 2 12v to 2 6v but I don't understand why the 6v have an advantage. Can someone enlighten me?

Also, am I correct that the 6v need to be wired in series...seems like that must be how you get 12v out of 6v batteries, but again, what is the advantage of the 6v? I had the 12v connected parallel.

Thanks!

It's been discussed here so you could do a search and find more than a few threads.

My take: 6V Golf cart batteries are superior to the usual 12V marine deep cycle hybrid because of heavier construction and the application of a true deep cycle in an RV. They do stand a bit of abuse, more so than a typical 12 V, other than the true 12 V deep cycle batteries like Trojan and their counterparts. Price per AH is also somewhat better than 12V.

I'm contemplating switching from 2 12v to 2 6v but I don't understand why the 6v have an advantage. Can someone enlighten me?

Also, am I correct that the 6v need to be wired in series...seems like that must be how you get 12v out of 6v batteries, but again, what is the advantage of the 6v? I had the 12v connected parallel.

Thanks!

crcr wrote:
Hi,

I'm about to buy two new 6V golf cart batteries for my TT. I am choosing between the Costco and the Sams Club 6V batteries. Here is all the stats provided for each battery where I live:

Costco: Interstate battery, Item #517990, size GC2, Reserve Capacity, 100RC, $79.99 ea

Sams Club: Emergizer battery, size CG2, 107 RC minutes @ 75 amps, 220AH, $81.83 ea

Dimensions of the batteries is identical, at 7" W x 10 1/4" L x 11" H. I know weight is important, heavier indicating more lead plates, but I had no scale to measure the weight of each. Both have 12 month free replacement. I realize the AH is probably the most important factor here, since price is pretty close to equal, but the Costco battery did not provide that information. Can anyone tell me what the rated AH are for the Costco Interstate battery?

Any other comments about pros and cons of one of these over the other, would be welcome. Thanks in advance for any information!

To choose a real deep cycle battery just take one of the caps off and look for the one with the warped plates. A true deep cycle battery has thicker plates that warp in the drying process during manufacturing. Starting batteries have thinner plates that are straight.
MM49

I use an independent adjustable power supply, because after reading on here for months, and establishing who know what they are talking about, and can walk the walk after talking talk, I listened to reason.

It helps that I was a battery buster/tester/installer for Sears Roebuck while going to school, and saw a lot of wrecked batteries and good batteries, as well as tested them for failure.

You'd be hard pressed to not follow a recommendation by a former battery failure engineer here for one of the biggest commercial golf car and sweeper industrial battery makers that sell here in the USA. I'm talking about MexicoWanderer. Until he goes senile, you can take what he posts on the subject matter, with the common sense and test of reasonableness, to the bank.

15.0V while dry camping works for me.... daily... though YMMV. 14.4V might be good for you and your AGM batteries. 15.3 might be good if you own US brand batteries in a Group 29 or Group 31. Applications and V necessary vary by brand, materials and construction. See what your manufacturer recommends is the best you can do. This is why it is so foolish to mix sizes, types and brands of batteries, they all have varying requirements.