Duracell Procell vs

[TreeBass]

Originally Posted by yurtle

True life expectancy of batteries are dependent on certain assumptions, such as how often a week you run them, and how far you run them down. If you bought a set of batteries and plugged them into a DPI and never used them, they'd still eventually die, so the more often and the longer runs you have will benefit more from higher amp-hour batteries than someone who checks the mail once a week. How you you figure dollars and amp-hours will be complicated, and you have to make certain assumptions.

Its not that I'd never use them, but sometimes I dont get up there for a couple weeks.

So my average run for the past several years have been maybe a mile or two at most a day, two times a week maybe? I use it for hauling firewood, getting to the deer stand, and down to the end of 700 long acres.

In the summer, I get up there a couple times a month at best and run it around the entire 700.

So I'd be fine with my current manuel charger?

[yurtle]

Originally Posted by jakesnake27

Funny thing is is that I know the name T-105 (6v) and T-875 (8v) and I still overlooked it!!!

Maybe you're gettin' old like we all are. 'course, I'm not sure that's so funny.

[yurtle]

Originally Posted by TreeBass

Its not that I'd never use them, but sometimes I dont get up there for a couple weeks.

So my average run for the past several years have been maybe a mile or two at most a day, two times a week maybe? I use it for hauling firewood, getting to the deer stand, and down to the end of 700 long acres.

In the summer, I get up there a couple times a month at best and run it around the entire 700.

So I'd be fine with my current manuel charger?

You can never go wrong with a DPI charger, given that your batteries will always be topped off, especially if you may go awhile without any use. You say every couple of weeks, but what happens when a real long cold snap hits? I was just sayin' that if you spend $x on your batts and get t years out of them, it may be cheaper than paying $y and getting u years out of them, if that makes sense.

In general, the less you discharge a battery pack and the higher you keep them topped off, the more years you'll get from them. But with low use, the formula may change, as you'll probably never get 15 years from a pack that a pure cost/benefit analysis might tell you, without the right assumptions. Assumptions that JohnnyB gave you. Not necessarily the "right" assumptions for you, but ya gotta assume something.

[yurtle]

You also can't go wrong with a ScottyB digital volt meter. We don't know how much work your buggy does in a mile. It could be all downhill with no load, or you could be in hilly country, hauling bags of corn one way, and deer back.

Ain't no easy rules of thumb.

[JohnnieB]

Lead-acid batteries have been around for over 150 years, so the major breakthroughs in the technology have been more or less nullified by industrial espionage and free market competition. Granted, there are differences between brands, but I believe the differences in performance and lifespan between the same AH rated batteries in different brands is far less than the differences in the performance and lifespan between different AH rated batteries within the same brand.

Empirical testing by Exide, Trojan, US Battery and others has shown the higher SoC maintained, the greater number of charge cycle available and simple math shows that a higher AH battery will maintain a higher average SoC when subjected to identical usage and maintenance. Therefore, I believe that a 225AH battery will have a longer useful life in any given cart, driven & maintained by any given owner/operator in any given geographical location, than a 215AH battery of the same brand or any other brand. (Conversely, a 240AH battery will outlast a 225AH battery.)

When considering batteries with the same AH rating, the lowest cost to have the batteries sitting in the cart, will obviously have the lowest annual operating cost. However, if the higher cost for a brand with a stellar reputation isn't much more, it should be taken into consideration.

Determining annual operating cost gets more complex when considering batteries with different AH ratings because lower AH batteries don't last as long as higher AH batteries, and lower AH batteries may not have acceptable performance in a given application.

While not precise, a yardstick for measuring the bang for the buck differences between batteries with different AH ratings is comparing % difference in AH to the % difference is cost.

A 215AH battery has 4.44% fewer AH than a 225AH battery. To break even the 215AH battery should cost 4.44% less. In the case of Trojan (225AH) vs Duracell (215AH) the cost difference is 14.54%, which is well beyond the margin of error.

Here us a list of commonly used 6V batteries and their AH % above or below the 225AH de facto standard.
If the battery you are looking at isn't on the list, just pick one with the same AH rating that is on the list.

[yurtle]

Since this is true for many manufactured items, it may be true for batteries as well.

Many name brands "sell" their name and reputation to other manufacturers. Just because a name isn't on JohnnyB's list above, doesn't mean they aren't made in the same manufacturing facility as a brand that is.

Not picking on any brand, I've heard major manufacturers like Trojan may also make "generic" batteries.

[JMGreco]

JohnnieB - do you have a spreadsheet for 8V batteries? Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge and expertise. I know I speak for many of us when saying this.

[JohnnieB]

There aren't all that many battery manufacturers that actually manufacture Lead-Acid batteries and fewer still that manufacture Deep-Cycle Lead-Acid Wet-Cell Batteries.

IE: Duracell was originally the name of the alkaline battery line of Mallory, but Mallory was renamed Duracell after the company was bought out by Dart Industries. A Duracell golf cart battery isn't actually made by Duracell.

I'm not sure, but it might be a "Black Box" Trojan, which is roughly a T-605 in a different colored case.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by JMGreco

JohnnieB - do you have a spreadsheet for 8V batteries? Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge and expertise. I know I speak for many of us when saying this.

Here you go.

[yurtle]

While I've always wondered if one manufacturer who makes many different "brands" has differing QA/QC standards, it more likely that they're all the same, as it would cost more money to make different quality lines than to run a single line, where they're all the same. If so, we may be paying for a name only, yet name often means customer service, which we've discussed recently on other products.

Just speculation on my part.