Walmart Battery Comparison

[Eric212]

Roughly 5 years ago I installed three 12V Marine batteries that I purchased from Walmart. I can fit a maximum of 3 batteries on board, so I decided to go with 3 12V batteries instead of 2 6V batteries. Each was rated at 125 Amp Hours and I was very happy with their performance, especially for the low price.

I got a good 5 years out of them (with some winter use too) and now it is looking like it's time to replace.

Back at Wally World, I see they have 2 different batteries in the category I'm looking for. One of them is priced at $86.83 and is rated at 122 Amp Hours (1Amp @ 12V) Part #29DC

The other is the same basic dimensions, but the case looks slightly different. Priced at $99.97 and rated at 114 Amp Hours (1 amp @ 12V) Part # MAXX-29DC

So I would think that the more expensive "MAXX" ones are "better", but I also like the fact that the other ones have MORE amp hours for LESS money. I suppose the MAXX ones must be a little heavier duty, they are both Marine batteries, not "real" deep cycles. The cheaper ones would be a total of $260.49 for 366 AH, whereas the heavier duty ones would be $299.91 for 342 AH. That's basically an additional $40 for 24 FEWER AH. They are both made by Johnson Controls.

I have a good 4 stage charger which is always maintaining them when the camper is not in use, or when camping near shore power. But most of my camping is away from shore power so I like to have as much battery reserve on board as possible.

Which ones would you buy? I have decided on buying either one of these, so please don't turn this into a sales pitch for Trojans or Lifelines. I do realize they are better, but they are also a lot more expensive. for the purposes of this post I am only comparing the 2 batteries I have referenced.

Thanks for reading!

[bcbigfoot]

I would grab a scale from housewares, check the weights, and see if the premium one has 10% more lead for the money.

[Ed_Gee]

Eric212 wrote:

Ed_Gee wrote:
I can't offer you any opinion on which you should get, but I want to point out the rather devious marketing ploy they are using by providing Amp Hour specs at a measly 1amp draw. The Industry standard specification is a 20A draw. I suspect that for a 20A draw neither of these batteries would be rated at even 100 AH. Also makes it hard to compare to the other quality vendors who do rate their batteries at the 20A spec.

1 Amp draw for 1 hour = 1AH no?

Yes, Eric. But my point is the capacity of a battery is not linear. You may be able to draw 1 amp for 114 hours on that battery but you cannot expect to draw 10 amps for 11.4 hours. It won't last that long. The more current you pull from a battery, the faster it depletes....and as I said, it is not a linear rate. That is why most batteries are rated at a standard 20 amp draw, which is much more realistic in motor homes and trailers.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

See if Walmart has a battery intended for trolling motors.

[time2roll]

I would choose less money, higher rating. What's to lose?

[Eric212]

Ed_Gee wrote:
I can't offer you any opinion on which you should get, but I want to point out the rather devious marketing ploy they are using by providing Amp Hour specs at a measly 1amp draw. The Industry standard specification is a 20A draw. I suspect that for a 20A draw neither of these batteries would be rated at even 100 AH. Also makes it hard to compare to the other quality vendors who do rate their batteries at the 20A spec.

1 Amp draw for 1 hour = 1AH no?

[robsouth]

I think either would do the job you want. I have multiple Everstart batteries and have used them over the years with good results. May not be the best on the market, but I'm not using them industrially and for my purposes, ie: camper, boat, they have performed well. My last three are now 3 years old and going strong.

[Ed_Gee]

I can't offer you any opinion on which you should get, but I want to point out the rather devious marketing ploy they are using by providing Amp Hour specs at a measly 1amp draw. The Industry standard specification is a 20A draw. I suspect that for a 20A draw neither of these batteries would be rated at even 100 AH. Also makes it hard to compare to the other quality vendors who do rate their batteries at the 20A spec.