Looking for info on Trojan BT-105 Batteries

[howardq99]

My two Costco 6 volters have lasted 6 years and it's time to replace them. In looking around for the replacements I ran across a Golf Cart Supply Company offering Trojan BT-105s for a very attractive $69.99 each.

I called them up and asked them what the difference is between the BT-105s and the T-105s. I was told the warranty on the BT-105's is 12 months vs. 18 months for the T-105s and they are rated at 210ah vs. 225ah. Other than that, they didn't have any more information.

I like the fact that the Trojans are made in the USA. From the experts on this forum I know the Trojans are a high quality battery and at ~$70 seem like a superior value over the Costco 6ers at $89.

Aside from what I've mentioned, does anyone have any more information on Trojan BT-105's?

Thanks!

[RedRollingRoadb]

This is the reply that I got from Trojan. Not sure what took so long but stuff happens.

Quote: We apologize for the late response:

Trojan Response:

Trojan makes a "Black Box" 6V golf cart battery which is rated at 210Ah. This battery is non-maroon and is made for Trojan partners based on their specifications for their private label brands. These batteries are made in the same facility, on the same production line as the maroon battery. The maroon T-105 will have a rating of 225Ah and not 210Ah. This battery will be similar to the T-605 which has a 210Ah rating. The manufacturing quality is the same, but performance will be below the T-105. End Quote

[howardq99]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
14.0 is pretty mild juju. If you were say in Fargo with a temp of 52 then temp would matter a little more. So would equalization potential. Six cells in series should accept no more than 10-12 amperes when first connected then drop significantly.

In short, I wouldn't worry too much about 10 degrees 🙂

If you wish you can start the process at 6PM.

Will do! Thanks for the help!!!

[MEXICOWANDERER]

14.0 is pretty mild juju. If you were say in Fargo with a temp of 52 then temp would matter a little more. So would equalization potential. Six cells in series should accept no more than 10-12 amperes when first connected then drop significantly.

In short, I wouldn't worry too much about 10 degrees 🙂

If you wish you can start the process at 6PM.

[howardq99]

mena661 wrote:

howardq99 wrote:

Here in Phoenix we'll probably average about 90F over the next 10 days, should I dial back the volts and or the time a little?

Pull it back .168V.

I'm not sure how much I can fine tune the Mega-Watt but I'll shoot for 13.832 volts for thirty six hours!

Thanks again!

[mena661]

howardq99 wrote:

Here in Phoenix we'll probably average about 90F over the next 10 days, should I dial back the volts and or the time a little?

Pull it back .168V.

[howardq99]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Thirty six hours at 14.0 volts will finish curing the plates assuming your air temperature will be around (averaged) 80F day and night.

Here in Phoenix we'll probably average about 90F over the next 10 days, should I dial back the volts and or the time a little?

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Thirty six hours at 14.0 volts will finish curing the plates assuming your air temperature will be around (averaged) 80F day and night.

It is so easy to withhold extra Pb in the plate paste and reconfigure the pasting machine to render significantly thinner pasting of the grid that any deviation from guaranteed published specifications makes my knees wobble. Trojan or US Battery does not make intentional "over runs". When I custom spec'd a run of 8-D batteries from Trojan they manufactured "enough" extras to cover the inevitable 1-2% construction failures so common on custom runs. Surplus batteries were recycled - they never left the plant. When ABC battery custom ran four pallets of 24's and 27's for another customer, the battery failed 20-hour BCI specs and were sold at loss. "George" the president of ALCO battery just about stood on his head assuring me he could successfully build a 31 plate 8-D. One 80% DOD cycle per 12 sampled assured me he failed.

Forgive me for being suspicious.

[howardq99]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
One more fast call to Trojan...?

Do you use the same plate paste and pasting thickness on the cheapies as you do on the T-105 batteries?

Sorry to pop your balloon.

No worries, my balloon was popped many moons ago:D I appreciate your wisdom and advise. The dealer still has great prices on the T-105s at only $30 more per battery so I'll probably go that route.

I read (but I can't find the thread again) about using the Mega-Watt to zap the new batteries with an initial charge to clean the plates up, I'll be ordering the Mega-Watt PS next week so if someone could share the procedure again it would be much appreciated!

Thanks again for the sage advise!

[down_home]

I can't wrap my head around being only .05 lbs lighter but having only 210 amp as opposed to regular T105s.
Sixty nine dollars sound like a bargain. Don't wait until your sitting at Tuscon's Caterpillar shop, a very good one and they have to get them from a Golf Cart Supplier. He quoted them one price until he found out it was for MH and upped the price about 15.00 per, I think. 640.00 for four T105's installed late on a Friday. The Cat dealer was simply outstanding.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

One more fast call to Trojan...?

Do you use the same plate paste and pasting thickness on the cheapies as you do on the T-105 batteries?

Sorry to pop your balloon.

[BFL13]

If getting just a pair, get T-105s. If getting four, get BT-105s.

Note that 210AH compares with the 208AH of many Costco/Sams batteries people are buying for about $80, so the real answer is...... 🙂

[howardq99]

Update: So work has been crazy and I finally had a chance to go by the Trojan distributor today to talk about the "BT-105" batteries.

I asked him the difference between the two 105s and he said that the BTs are $30 less per battery, they are .05 lbs lighter and have 210ah vs. 225ah capacity. The warranty is for 12 months vs. 18 months and the "B" is for black because they come in a black case and they are production overruns of batteries that Trojan makes for another company.

This distributor says he goes through about 1 pallet of Trojan batteries per week on average.

They look exactly the same except the case color and the Trojan sticker. They are even shipped to him on a Trojan pallet. I did not have my voltmeter with me to check on the charge of the batteries but John told me to bring it when I'm ready to purchase and he'll let me cherry pick the batteries I want of either color I choose.

I'll be using the batteries about 1 weekend per month for boondocking and then on the yearly family vacation for 10-14 days with never a hookup in sight. I have an Iota DLS-55/IQ4 converter and a Champion 3500W genset that I've used to keep the batteries topped up while camping. When the trailer is in storage I keep it plugged in.

Unfortunately I do not know what my battery usage is while I camp as I don't have an ammeter. We usually run the gen in the morning and evening for a total of about an hour and then every few days for a 3-4 hours if I notice the voltage dropping to 12.2 or so.

My trailer is a toyhauler so when in use there is always lots of gas to feed the generator and motorcycles. It does not have a furnace, the fridge and water heater are propane; really it's just lights, music, eneloop/camera/laptop charging and propane/CO2/smoke detectors that eat up battery usage.

I've got 15+ years till I can even think hitting the road fulltime so I don't think these batteries will ever see constant heavy usage.

Last weekend my head was spinning going through all the posts I could find about battery charging, maintenance, cheapowatt, mega-watt, etc. I have a hydrometer on order and now that I've learned the deficiencies of my "smart" charger I'll be purchasing a Mega-Watt S-400-12 with my next paycheck (or use the $60 I'll save if I go with the BTs).

Soooo... T-105s or BT-105s, what say you?

[RedRollingRoadb]

Well this really raised my curiosity level. I sent an e-mail to Trojan. Hopefully they will reply.

[bobsallyh]

Being you are in Phoenix be aware that some battery sales have a waiver or something you sign that you are using the batteries for solar and don't pay sales tax. This is an Arizona thing. When asking about it, some shops will give you "that deer in the headlight look".