Opinions on Interstate GC8 batteries

[NismoGriff]

Working on putting together my 96 DS 48V (6 x 8V). I will be running the DS IQ Level 4 upgrade from Revolution Golf Cars and charging duties will be handled by the Lester Summit II charger on board. I plan to do either a 4" or 6" lift and probably 22" tires (not certain yet). Cart will be a campground cruiser. Campground has some hills and gravel roads. It will mostly be occupied by my wife and myself and I am sure other people or some firewood occasionally. I am looking at the Interstate GC8 batteries which I can get for $106/each at Costco. They are the same batteries that were in the cart when I got it, however 3 had exploded and the cart was non functional. I have also considered the Duracell batteries. Thoughts?

[Budule]

i have never been a fan of interstate batteries , but most of my experience with them was automotive.....but i have ran the samsclub duracells in a few carts and had good luck ....

[NismoGriff]

Originally Posted by Budule

i have never been a fan of interstate batteries , but most of my experience with them was automotive.....but i have ran the samsclub duracells in a few carts and had good luck ....

Was looking at the Duracell's on BatteriesPlus and they got good reviews. On the Sam's Club site there are people that say they are the worst batteries ever lol. We use Interstate batteries exclusively at work. If I went through the guy we deal with I would pay $25 more for each battery but I am sure any warranty issues would be easier to deal with than with Costco. Are the Trojan T875's really worth double the cost of the other batteries?

[Reddawg454]

I've sold Interstate automotive batteries for 30 years and had very few go bad. I also ran a set in a series DS and got 5+ years out of them. If they are a decent price I wouldn't have a second thought about purchasing them.

[Hunter450]

I just retired a pack of the Duracell's and they served me well. They were 6+ years old and still would hold a decent charge. I can't comment on Interstates for golf cart use.

[Fairtax4me]

Which exact Interstate battery are you looking at for that price? They make several GC8 batteries of differing capacity. Comparing an economy line Interstate battery to a Trojan is kinda like comparing a Pinto to a Lexus. The cheapest battery always has the lowest capacity, which means shorter run time, less power output, and will have a shorter overall service life.

With a higher output motor, bigger tires, and running up and down hills, you don't want the "economy line" cheapest battery. That one's going to give you shorter run time, and less power output available due to the lower capacity of the battery.
A higher capacity battery means higher amp output when its needed, and less voltage loss when the battery is under load, which means more power to climb hills.

I'm sure the Interstate batteries will perform very well. But make sure you're getting the higher capacity battery to make sure you get the most out of your cart. Otherwise, you're gonna be playing Fred Flintstone more often than you like.

[NismoGriff]

Originally Posted by Fairtax4me

Which exact Interstate battery are you looking at for that price? They make several GC8 batteries of differing capacity. Comparing an economy line Interstate battery to a Trojan is kinda like comparing a Pinto to a Lexus. The cheapest battery always has the lowest capacity, which means shorter run time, less power output, and will have a shorter overall service life.

With a higher output motor, bigger tires, and running up and down hills, you don't want the "economy line" cheapest battery. That one's going to give you shorter run time, and less power output available due to the lower capacity of the battery.
A higher capacity battery means higher amp output when its needed, and less voltage loss when the battery is under load, which means more power to climb hills.

I'm sure the Interstate batteries will perform very well. But make sure you're getting the higher capacity battery to make sure you get the most out of your cart. Otherwise, you're gonna be playing Fred Flintstone more often than you like.

Makes sense. The specs for the Interstate GC8 that Costco sells are below.


Specifications:
Group Size: GC8
Part Number: 9-GC8-UTL
Voltage: 8
Reserve Capacity(RC) @ 25Amps: 110
Reserve Capacity(RC) @ 75Amps: 277
Amp Hours(Ah) @ 20Hr: 160
Amp Hours(Ah) @ 5Hr: 135
Length: 10 3/16"
Width: 7 1/8"
Height: 11"
Weight: 61lbs

Looks like the @ 20 Hr rating of the T875's is 170.

I see there is an Interstate GC8-HCL-UTL that is a @20 Hr rating of 170, those are actually what was in the cart when I got it. I think this would be the actual battery I would be getting from our rep at work, it is $130/each.
Group Size GC8
Part Number GC8-HCL-UTL
(RC) Min @ 75 Amp295
Amp Hours (Ah) @ 20 Hr170
Voltage 8v
Length 10 3/16
Width 7 1/8
Height 11
Weight 63

Would the roughly $150 for the GC8-HCL-UTL be noticable difference in performance or runtime?

[Fairtax4me]

Personally I would not go to a lower capacity battery when the drive system is being upgraded and the power demand on those batteries will be higher.
Battery capacity also affects the batteries voltage when under load. A lower capacity battery will have a larger voltage drop under load. That also means the battery has to produce more amps in order to run the cart. More amp output and lower voltage means you have less power and less runtime at the same time.

It's hard to say just how much difference it would make going from a 160ah to a 170ah pack. The guys who convert from 4x12v battery setups to a 6x8v battery setup tend to report about a 25-30% increase in run time going from a 150ah pack to a 170ah pack. They're also gaining more lead since the 12v batteries do not take up as much space as an 8v pack.

I see Interstate also has a 183Ah battery on their site. I would find out how much you can get that one for. The difference between a 160 and the 183ah pack would be quite a bit.
You would also get longer pack service life from the higher capacity pack. Lead Acid batteries have a finite and calculable lifespan assuming they are properly taken care of. The number of cycles you get from a battery is dependent on the Depth of Discharge or how far down you run it. Deeper discharge = fewer cycles. Less discharge = more cycles. A higher capacity pack will tend to discharge less during the time you use it, and thus will last longer overall.
So if you have to run a 160a pack to less then 50% DoD, maybe that pack only lasts 4-5 years before it needs to be replaced. Whereas 180Ah pack will normally run down to around 70% DoD, and that might make it last 7-8 years.

Either way, I would rather have the higher capacity pack.

[NismoGriff]

Fairtax4me thank you for the detailed explanation.
Before you even went into that detail I had already decided the Costco batteries were a no go. I didn't know that interstate had an 183 ah option. I will be asking our battery rep about that option.

[NismoGriff]

Well, after much debate and poking around I have found the Trojan T-875's for what I feel is a reasonable price, so I will be picking them up tomorrow. Looks like the last of my order from Dave showed up today so hopefully I will be able to start putting it back together this evening or tomorrow evening.