RV Deep Cycle Battery

Sloop Smitten wrote:
So, as I understand it, Walmart goes out and purchases 100,000 batteries from one of the few wholesale battery manufacurers and then put their name on it and the label creates an inferior battery. Why don't they try another label? :?

Not quite what they do. WM, costco, pep boys, anyone selling batteries under their name will go to most likely one of the 3 big battery makers in the US and give them a set of specs and design requirements, or pick from the spec's the mfg has to offer. then have the batteries built. if walmart uses Johnson controls, then they work with Johnson controls for what they want and Johnson controls puts whatever label Walmart wants on it for a "brand" . It may end up being the same as another Johnson controls battery sold elsewhere under another name or not.

There are a few battery mfg that don't sell or OEM under other names, trojan, Rolls, come to mind.

How well the batteries perform under your use condition is determined by the spec's and design requirements they choose along with the basic chemistry limitations of they type of battery.

varying plate thickness, number of plates, SG, spacers, space at the bottom for crud, lead purity all can and do affect performance and life along with costs. thick plates, lots of room for crud at the bottom of the case, low initial SG, good spacer design = long cycle life, lower AH, lower starting current and higher cost.

so two batteries with similar AH capacity may have similar or vastly different performance and cyle life.

So are the Trojan GC worth 1.5x what a Sams/Costco/Walmart GC costs??? Depends on how much use you want from them. for many folks, probably not, for others yes.

But, my guess is that batteries under different brand labels selling for close to the same price and application are probably pretty similar in life and other performance characteristics.