Batteries?! Trojan Vs. Crown Vs. US Batteries.

[nickdalzell1]

hmm. Only time we see boil over at all is when customers over fill the batteries or one of them goes bad and charger never shuts off because it keeps trying to even the charge and the bad battery is not coming up enough.

[orangeman6]

OP, johnnieb has posted a comparison chart a few times. It has all of the ah ratings for the different batteries. It would be helpful in your decision making along with the info above. If you get ninja like with advanced search you should be able to find it.

[Hedger]

Opinion on PRO SERIES XLD? Lot of those sold around here.

[JohnnieB]

My Nov-2012 Exide batteries were purchased from Rural King and are still going strong.
Of course, they have been connected to a DPI charger set to the Exide charge profile with float charging whenever the cart is not being driven ever since they were installed.

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US Battery brand batteries require a higher finish voltage than some of the legacy chargers reach. The old ferroresonant transformer type charger shut of someplace in the 44V to 46V range while USB batteries need 45.0V to 46.8V, or dV/dT.
It the legacy charger shuts off at less than 45V, the USB batteries will be chronically under charged and age quickly.

[nickdalzell1]

In our experience re: Rural King, you get what you pay for. they cost $49 around here, have a 12 month pro-rated warranty (our local store is infamous about ignoring it, as well, preferring to charge a reduced price for a battery replacement that failed in 6 months or less over a free replacement) and are lucky to last 3 years, sometimes you get a set that lasts a decade (The oldest Trojan set i saw still holding decent charge was 20 years old!!!) but for the most part they die fast. Almost as if they were not truly intended for the load of a golf car especially a customized (read: lift kit, radio, lights, turn signals, high amp controller/motor, etc) car.

In fact, we just finished replacing a set that had one fail ONE MONTH after install, at first he was cheap and wanted just one replaced, so he bought another Rural King battery, at reduced cost (store did not believe in free replacement) and another in the set of 5 others failed a short time after, within days. We ended up replacing the entire pack with US Batteries and that worked out quite well so far.

Rural Kings are just hilarious to see in cars anymore because at least with the types here, who love high speeds and lifts and even 4x4 kits, or have Bad Boy Buggies, they are abysmal.

[Mooncarter]

$49? Where is "around here?"

[cgtech]

My opinion- no matter what you buy, you should try to be sure your charger is set correctly for them (if your charger is capable of 'modes for different brands'), and keep your cells filled about 1/4" above the plates at all times. Not filled to the highest level prescribed as "acceptable" by their specs. More fluid won't get you any more range, but "max prescribed level" will increase your likelihood of spillage of juice on top of the batteries, which is acid lost that you can't easily put back (more water doesn't fix this, that's not acid). The thing that many people don't understand is that acid delivered in a new battery is supposed to be there for the life of the battery. The chemical process that makes a lead battery work is "trading this for that" every time it is discharged and charged. The acid is supposed to stay there for the life of the battery. The components that make up water get "used" in the trade back and fourth (and minor parts of other stuff are used and converted as the battery life goes on) , and they get broken into parts that turn into gas that is expelled, this "back & forth conversion", with some losses of hydrogen and oxygen (the water components) are broken free and let loose into the air, that's why batteries make an explosive gas when charged or discharged, and also why they need "water", so we are able to refill them with 'water' as they do their thing instead of filling them up with more acid. Yep, it's a late post, so the science may have not been described perfect, but hey, at least the advice/opinion was free.

[nickdalzell1]

Around here meaning in Owensboro where i live. Rural Kentucky.

Cgtech, you want to settle the debate about whether using actual acid from a hardware store over distilled water actually works? We have heard all sorts of fantasies about how water is better or acid is better or worse/unnecessary that I just want to settle it once and for all.

[cvingr]

Thank you all for the input! I did find the comparison post in the stickies. I am leaning towards the Trojan T-875, I bought a set of those new years ago and they were great. That was 15 years ago, so I wanted to see what the latest opinions were. I will try to price the Crown-190`s as I saw Scotty recommended checking on those in a thread somewhere. It does seem with proper care, any of the `Big 3` would probably work well. Thanks again all!!

[transfixer]

I bought a set of Crown 190's a little over a year ago, I've been impressed so far with the range they give me. I know a year is nothing to go by, but I chose them because I wanted the maximum amount of stored power I could get with 6 8volt batteries, and they seemed to be the best choice.