6volt Trojans or Interstates.

[Gman1372]

I'm replacing the single 12v interstate marine battery with two 6v batteries. I installed a Torklift diamond plate box just behind my tanks. Looks pretty sweet. I see a lot of people here go with Trojans. My question is, I never ordered batteries to get shipped. I can get a pair of interstate 6v batteries locally. 5 minutes away in fact. Would you go with the interstates being a local pick up or order Trojans online. Also what kind of shipping rates are there with ordering batteries. They are kind of heavy.

[ttavasc]

While not RV-specific, my personal experience with Interstate 6v flooded lead-acid batteries was very good. I had a pair of Interstate L-16HCL 415ah wired in series and solar-charged - got 10 years out of them with overall moderate usage. Same situation as you describe - I could pick up the Interstates locally and they didn't carry as much of a price premium as comparable Trojans.

[Gman1372]

I don't know what an RV specific battery would be. The interstates I mention are at a local RV store. I'll take a ride over and see which model they are. It would be convenient just to get them there but there's a lot of talk about Trojans here. Just curious if I'd be sacrificing anything if I went for convenience instead of ordering

[ttavasc]

My reference to "RV-specific" was to point out that while I've used Interstate batteries it was not for an RV application. They were very good batteries for what I used them for, and based on that experience if I were looking to add 6v batteries to my own trailer I wouldn't hesitate to use the Interstate's.

[Gman1372]

The batteries are 225 amp. My dealer only has 75 amp. Both interstates. I could save $30 a pop if I give them a core. Now I'm looking around the shop for old batteries to save $60
Edit: he misspoke. Both are 75

[wanderlust]

Originally Posted by Gman1372

Would you go with the interstates being a local pick up or order Trojans online.

I'd buy local, and if you have any issues that are 5 min away.

[bansai]

I found 11 dealers within 25 miles of my house for the Trojans, are you sure you can't get them locally?

Trojan Battery - Dealers

Me personally, I would never mail order something that heavy.. the costs to do so are nuts.

[motorbreath]

+1 for Interstate, they have a warehouse with a sales office near me, good prices, service, and they do alot of business so I always get a battery with a recent date of manufacture.

Originally Posted by Gman1372

I'm replacing the single 12v interstate marine battery with two 6v batteries. I installed a Torklift diamond plate box just behind my tanks. Looks pretty sweet. I see a lot of people here go with Trojans. My question is, I never ordered batteries to get shipped. I can get a pair of interstate 6v batteries locally. 5 minutes away in fact. Would you go with the interstates being a local pick up or order Trojans online. Also what kind of shipping rates are there with ordering batteries. They are kind of heavy.

[Rustic Eagle]

Been using a pair of Interstate 6V Deep Cycle batteries for the last 5 years, no problems thus far. Couple months a year boondocking.

My install: http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f3...de-2752-5.html

Bob

[Mustang65]

[QUOTE=Gman1372;471808]I'm replacing the single 12v interstate marine battery with two 6v batteries.QUOTE]

Do you need to go with 6 volt batteries? Are you going to be doing a lot of dry-camping? Overnight stop overs? Always at CG's with shore power.

How many Ah's do you need?

Don

[Gman1372]

Thanks everyone for your opinions. I want to make sure I'm going the right direction. I don't mind making a few mistakes along the way but having to buy twice because I wasn't educated bugs me.
Mustang, please stay away my threads you will only cost me huge money. Everything you've done so far is brilliant and would fit my needs. Kidding of course. To answer your question.......I'm going the same path you have but I have to go step by step. That's why I'm asking so many questions. I'm bored with a new trailer and I want something to do. Reserving places to stay is not easy anymore with the RV boom, beach camping is where it's at for me.

[Mustang65]

Originally Posted by Gman1372

Mustang, please stay away my threads you will only cost me huge money.

Ok, now I can give you my latest MOD... no it does not take a bushel of money just a lot of brain power. So, we now have a seasonal spot right on a creek that has good flow and the water stays at about 64 degrees, even on the warmest days. So our TT is about 10 feet from the creek. Hummmm. well I purchased a 12VDC submersible pump, looking at 2 transmission coolers and my old high output 12" electric radiator fan (from my old race car), I am making an aluminum casing that will mount over 1/2 of the rear slide out window (slide to open). The slide out is on the east side of the TT and gets the morning/midday sun. The AC usually kicks on between 11 and 12 so I figure if I can pump the 64 degree water (will rise a few degrees) through the trans coolers and recirculate the air in the TT through it, I may cut a few more hours off of the AC usage or maybe even eliminate it, there by going TOTALY OFF THE GRID. DW thinks I am CRAZY but like you I get bored... I am also thinking of using a Hydraulic-Ram-Pump which would eliminate the 12VDC pump as it uses the force of flowing water. The microcontroller/sensors is another project going.

Will keep you informed
Don

[Gman1372]

Geez I'm side tracking my own thread.

Lmao. Your nutz. I like it. What are you going to do to control humidity/moisture coming in, you don't want to overwork your stock AC unit. We all know AC doesn't cool it removes humidity.

[Mustang65]

Sorry about the hijack...

Back to your original battery question. Again, this question has as many different replies as there are battery types. I can only speak for 2 Interstate 12Volt batteries and the current Trojan T145 batteries. The Interstate batteries are probably the most common when you are talking 12Volt batteries and can be found almost anywhere. As for Interstate 6volt batteries, you will more than likely be able to get them from the RV dealerships, BUT unlike the 12Volt interstate batteries, they are not going to be sitting on the shelves of a majority of the dealerships. They will need to be ordered. When I was originally looking at 6 volt batteries 4 years ago, none of the RV dealers down here had them on the shelves, but said they could get them in a few days. There is an authorized Interstate dealer down here and they had the 6 volt batteries, but not the ones I was looking for.

Trojan on the other hand has dealers in most of the more populated areas and most of the golf cart dealerships/repair shops have them. They have the 6 Volt batteries as that is where their market share is. But, some locations may not have the 6volt models you are looking for and they also have to be ordered.

12 volt batteries... Interstate has the distribution easily.. but remember 12Volt batteries have 1/2 the life cycle of a 6 volt deep cycle battery. Wait, the new Trojan 12Volt (200Ah) battery has the same cycle life as the 6 volt counter parts.... but the price is as you guessed it $$$

6 volt batteries... Trojan has the market share as most of their batteries can be found in golf carts, and SOLAR battery banks.

As for performance, the Interstate batteries worked fine but I can only speak for the first few months of use in the TT, the rest of the time they have been as a backup power supply for my home office/Home Automation computers. Here it is 4 years later and they still have 40Ah each remaining of which I can only use 20Ah, they still hold a charge.
The Trojans are still performing GREAT, there is a small loss of Ah that I have noticed but should last a few more years.

The key points to understand is that I have never let the batteries drop below the 12.0 voltage level* and SOLAR has kept them fully charged an topped of daily from day 1. Water levels are checked monthly. Connections are checked semi-annually. Voltage/Amps are monitored.

So, I as others will say, I (they) will stick with what works for them.

Not much help I guess..

Don

* I performed an Ah test on the Interstate batteries a while back to see how many Ah they still had after the 4 years, that is the only time I dropped the voltage below 12VDC to 10.5Volts (0 SG) using a dump load resistor.

[RoyBraddy]

Originally Posted by bansai

I found 11 dealers within 25 miles of my house for the Trojans, are you sure you can't get them locally?

Trojan Battery - Dealers

Me personally, I would never mail order something that heavy.. the costs to do so are nuts.

Thanks for the link. Found a local TROJAN BATTERY dealer just 20 miles away from here. It turns out to be a GOLF CART place and perhaps I can find out if they have a nice supply of used batteries. Most golfers replace ALL of their batteries every year and there is no doubt some still good used batteries still able to give a few more years of use...

Roy Ken

[Gman1372]

Nearest Trojan dealer is 4 hour drive. Nobody around here owns golf carts so availability for 6volt batteries is slim. Interstates seems to have the market here.

[Seann45]

My last set of batteries were Trojans got 6+ years out of them this time went with Interstates more power for less money... I think both are equally good so just pick a dealer near you .. (to support your local economy)

[Gman1372]

I wound up getting the interstates.

[Gman1372]

They fit nice in my PowerArmor box.

[shadester]

Just another opinion. I've replaced hundreds of both of these batteries, plus the Napa brand over the years on equipment that use the 6volts. I would rank Napa #1, Trojan #2, interstate #3. I've had the least failures on the Napa brand so that's my pick. I bought a set of 6V Napa Batts last year and they were around 270.00 for the pair. So they are really not that inexpensive for sure.