Are Trojans that much better?

[ReMetau]

Originally Posted by four winds

Please tell me where to get the $100 trojans on the st. Pete area.

$150 is the best I can find as well.

We bought ours in 02/2015 at $96 each from here Golf Cart Mart, inc. - Battery Sales, Golf Cart Repairs, Lease Carts

Edit: This was in Bradenton (only about 30 minutes from St. Pete)

[roland stockham]

I think a big part of the retail price of batteries is in the delivery so the extra cost may simply reflect where than are shipped from rather than the battery quality. Weight seams to be the best guide. have used trojans for about 7yrs including twice letting the get completely flat while in dry dock, in one case they lost most of the water due to a charging flat and stayed that way for some months. They still work fine!!! Seem to be almost indestructible.

[MarkSF]

Could I suggest checking out the US Battery range, as an excellent quality battery at an intermediate price.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by contrail

When discussing Trojans and amp hour capacity, I never see the other Trojan golf car batteries mentioned, just the T105's. Why not?

The T605's have a capacity of 232 amp hours and the T125's have a capacity of 240, and both are exactly the same dimensions as the T105, although the T125 is heavier. Then, with the same footprint, but maybe .8 inches taller and heavier still, there is the T145, which, I believe, holds either 267 or 287 amp hours.

My battery space is limited by height, so I go with the T125's. They are often not in stock, but are easily obtained.

Exactly my point... for some folks cost is the driving factor, for others its longevity, yet for others its maximizing amp/hrs per square foot. Since a batteries main function is to provide power it seems that you would want to maximize that function.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by zboss

Exactly my point... for some folks cost is the driving factor, for others its longevity, yet for others its maximizing amp/hrs per square foot. Since a batteries main function is to provide power it seems that you would want to maximize that function.

Of course.

Those people buy LiFePo4 batteries.

[SeaWings 38]

Hi Everyone, I haven’t posted much on the forum as I usually only read and learn. I love this discussion of batteries and all the information that I am reading. Having been in the Golf Cart Battery business for many years I just wanted to chime in here.

Firstly...the batteries that you buy from Sam’s, Costco, BJ’s etc. that are labeled Duracell, Energizer, Ray-o-Vac and who knows how many other “Buzz word Brands” are for the most part distributed and privately labeled by East Penn or Johnson Controls. However, please don’t conclude that because they are sold by East Penn or JCI that they are made by them. Most if not all of the cheaper batteries are made in Equator or Mexico. No they’re not made in China….apparently our closer 3rd world industrials have lack of distance on their side or whatever.

Trojans are probably one of the best batteries on the market...just ask them. That said, an equally good battery would be “Crown”, Google it. You can find Crown at more competitive pricing than Trojan but not as cheap as the imports.

On “Seawings” I use 6 Crown CR235 6 volt batteries, I get the better quality, same warranty as Trojan (18 months) but not the huge price tag. I choose these as I believe they are the best value for the dollar.

The bottom line on all batteries that I’ve dealt with (and that’s about all of them) is if you treat them right, they will treat you right. Think of them as a horse...you wouldn’t stick a horse in a barn for a year or two with out feeding or watering it. Like wise you wouldn’t stick $400-$700 worth of batteries in a boat with inadequate charging and watering. I’ve seen Trojans, Crowns and Duracell/Deka all last 8 years and I’ve seen them last 8 months.

[rgesner]

Wondering where you find Crown CR235's cheaper than Trojans?
atlanticbattery.com's price for T105's is $110
The least I find Crowns is over $150

[SeaWings 38]

Hello rgesner ,

I certainly was not trying to make these posts a solicitation to sell batteries. I just wanted to put my 2 cents worth in. If you want to purchase CR235 for less than Trojans PM me.

[Capt Doug]

Oh never mind, I wasn't thinking about batteries, my bad.....

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by zboss

Exactly my point... for some folks cost is the driving factor, for others its longevity, yet for others its maximizing amp/hrs per square foot. Since a batteries main function is to provide power it seems that you would want to maximize that function.

With a multihull weight is a factor as well.
LiFePo4 weighs about half per rated aH., but instead of 50% usable (or less) it's 80%.

I have a single 200 aH LiFePo4 bank which includes engine starting, and the boat is outfitted with more than average stuff.
I never even have to worry about electricity. It's just THERE.

With no flooded batteries and a centerboard instead of a keel I should have named my boat "Sin Plomo". (translation: unleaded)

See the LiFePo4 thread and others about solar if you want to really get free from lead.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, SeaWings38.

[botanybay]

Originally Posted by MarkSF

Could I suggest checking out the US Battery range, as an excellent quality battery at an intermediate price.

Currently have US Battery XC2200 series golf carts installed. I have about 12 months on them at this point in a bank of 8 batteries making up 24 volts and they have been performing very nicely.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by socaldmax

Of course.

Those people buy LiFePo4 batteries.

We certainly are going lithium but they need to drop in price a bit more. As soon as i can get 280 amp/hrs out of lithium for less than $1500 then we will buy!

[GrowleyMonster]

Originally Posted by kbudd

I am replacing the house batteries in my boat. I have decided to go with flooded golf cart batteries. I can buy Trojan T-105s foR $150 each and generics (Duracell) with the same capacity and the same weight from Sam's club for $80 each. Are the Trojans worth almost twice the money? Will they last twice as long ? I will be charging them with an externally regulated Balmer alternator and a Xantrex trucharge shore power charger. Any advice greatly appreciated.

I have the Sams Club GC2 golf cart batteries for my propulsion bank and after a year they are still doing fine. Only one failure. While making the lid to my battery box I drilled a hole in one, and apparently got some debris down in the electrolyte. This cell kept coming up low or dead and I replaced that bettery. For the money, its the best deal going. The Trojans are without a doubt a better batt, but I don't think they will last twice as long, no. YMMV. I like the form factor of the golf cart batteries which are so much easier to handle than comparable capacity 12v batts, and they are designed to be shaken and stirred with vigor and keep on working. Probably don't offer as much CCA or current at high load... the voltage slump is probably greater with the cheapie batts than the trojans, but thats only a serious issue when you are trying to suck 100 amps or so out of them.

There is only one real disadvantage to 6v batteries. More cable. Cable can either be lossy, or expensive. Smaller wire and more pieces and total length, and more connections, gives higher voltage drop, which is especially ESPECIALLY relevant to a 12v system as opposed to a 48v or 32v system. Lower voltage means higher current to do the same amount of work. Higher current means more voltage drop due to wire resistance. Voltage drop depends on CURRENT, not system voltage. So lower voltage means HIGHER VOLTAGE DROP, which means a higher percentage of system voltage lost in the wiring, and that can cripple performance and place greater demands on the charging system. So it is very important to use the biggest practical conductor for hooking the batteries together, and twice as important in a bank made up of 6v batteries. Even the simplest 12v bank has two more pieces of wire than a single 12v battery. Just having wire big enough to not melt at your peak current is not good enough, if you want good performance. As important as this is when using 12v batteries, it is twice as important with 6v batteries.

I am using 2/0 welding cable for all my high current connections. It is nice and flexible and relatively inexpensive. Just sayin. If I had a bank made up of 12v batteries I might consider 1/0.

Pay more, you usually get better. Most of the time anyway. But sometimes better isn't enough better to justify the cost, especially when budget is more important than dependability. Either way you takes yer chances, and neither way are you getting badly screwed. I would definitely have considered Trojans if my budget had allowed, or even other technologies besides flooded lead acid.

BTW there are other brands of flooded cell batteries with better performace figures than the Trojans. Of course they will cost more...

[colemj]

Originally Posted by GrowleyMonster

There is only one real disadvantage to 6v batteries. More cable.

Maybe I didn't understand this part, but the only cables required in addition to those for a 12V battery system would be a single very short cable connecting each pair into series. These are typically <12" and not complicated to install.

There should be no significant voltage drop, loss of current or greater demands placed on them unless you are using lamp wire.

If you are concerned, use solid bar to connect - that's what we use because it is more convenient than short cabling.

The wiring used to connect to the loads should not be any different size between 6V and 12V cell systems because there is no difference between current drawn from 12V parallel cells and that drawn from 6V series/parallel cells (in practice, all of these systems are 2V series/parallel cell systems).

Mark