# G C Batteries



## Rick (May 10, 2002)

Does anyone know of a better G C Battery, at a comparable price than the Trojan L-16?

There is no dealer less than a 2 hour drive from us, and it will cost the better part of 200 bucks to ship a pair to us.

Another question if I might...Is it possible to use 3 G C Batts in a bank? My gut says NO way to wire an odd number.

Thanks


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## no1cowboy (May 2, 2004)

Rick said:


> Does anyone know of a better G C Battery, at a comparable price than the Trojan L-16?


I use the T-105s myself



Rick said:


> Another question if I might...Is it possible to use 3 G C Batts in a bank? My gut says NO way to wire an odd number.
> Thanks


If they are 6v and you want a higher voltage then no! if they are 12v and your going to stay at 12v then yes!


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Try . . US Battery

www.usbattery.com

The >Trojan< name kicks up the price.
'Interstate' is made by 'Exide' . . . all reasonable bats.


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

Does anyone know of a reliable brand that offers 420 or 425 amp hours? Trojans are the only ones I know of so far.

It seems the Interstates that are assembled by US Batteries are only 375 Amp Hours, even though the USB website claims they make a 420 ah. 

The Interstate is 100 bucks cheaper and can be delivered free locally. but the storage is only 88 per cent of the Trojan. As long as I have plenty of volts from PV (or wind), I would guess the Trojans extra cost should be absorbed by carrying the cost over the life of the batteries.


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## swampyoaks (Jan 6, 2008)

Crown has good batteries also.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

............"Delivered free locally".........
Bingo . . . . . .


Your bunk hose looks comfy..............


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Rick said:


> Does anyone know of a reliable brand that offers 420 or 425 amp hours? Trojans are the only ones I know of so far.
> 
> It seems the Interstates that are assembled by US Batteries are only 375 Amp Hours, even though the USB website claims they make a 420 ah.
> 
> The Interstate is 100 bucks cheaper and can be delivered free locally. but the storage is only 88 per cent of the Trojan. As long as I have plenty of volts from PV (or wind), I would guess the Trojans extra cost should be absorbed by carrying the cost over the life of the batteries.


Might want to check and make sure both number are given on the same hour-rating. Seems as they all chose to use there own. Some batteries aer rated on a 20 hour rate and others use a 24/25 or 100 hour rate. 

Seems as I remember US battery uses the 20 hour while Trojan uses a 25 hour rate. That would easily explain the difference and you'd have to look further into the specs to get an accurate comparision.

I'd check out Surrette/Rolls. They will cost more but also have a much better warranty than others. The S-460 and S-530 are L-16 size.

http://www.wholesalesolar.com/products.folder/battery-folder/Surretterolls.html


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

I glanced in the 2009 Backwoods Solar catalog, and they are showing a different L-16, a L-16E-B

These are rated as 370 AH, and specs say 2 inches taller at 18 LBS

Per BW Solar, the L-16HC from 2008 and prior now comes with only a 1 year warranty and Trojan does not recommend these batts for renewable energy.

I thought I'd share this info.


Here is the real kicker for me- I asked the rep at BW if they know anything good or bad about "the Interstate batteries I can get locally"? He said that the feedback they receive from customers who have purchased these cheaper batteries is that the don't hold up and in a couple years and they end up calling BW because of issues. 

I hate to hear this, because I don't know if I can trust the opinion as it is hard to be objective about a competitor's product, when you stand to lose a sale.

If anyone has a further opinion, I thank you......


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## swampyoaks (Jan 6, 2008)

Crown has been used in forklift trucks, golf carts, etc for a long time. The Crown CR395 is rated at 395AH at a 20 hour rate. This is the Crown equivalant to the L16 Trojan which has a 370 AH rating at 20 hours. Don't know what it would cost but I just bought 4 Crown CR225's locally for $95 each at an industrial supplier. They are the equivalant to the Trojan T105. 

http://www.crownbattery.com/PDF/Deep%20Cycle%20Batteries.pdf


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## no1cowboy (May 2, 2004)

wy_white_wolf said:


> Seems as I remember US battery uses the 20 hour while Trojan uses a 25 hour rate. That would easily explain the difference and you'd have to look further into the specs to get an accurate comparision.


Trojan uses a 5 hour rate and a 20 hour rate on there T105 6v
http://www.trojanbattery.com/Products/T-1056V.aspx


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

One totally unknown factor is about how hard do these people use those batterys . . . ???
And/or . .will they admit that they have over discharged them many many times..............

I have one customer (shudder) who can't get it thru his head that you can't take 15 gallons of fuel out of a 10 gallon tank.
In other words he abuse's his bank of US Bats. He will not get much life out of his bat bank. He looks at the number of lit LED's on the wind turbine controller . . . and ignores the TriMetric meter data. (A disabled Nam vet on way to many pain killers)

If you go easy on the bats, the less expensive bat could do you OK.

Part of the bigger price of trojans is the snob appeal of 'name recognition' 
If you want good bats go with the Surrette.
I'm sure liking my bank of them.


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## dcarch (Jul 20, 2008)

If you get to know some people who work for companies which have data room installations, (Verizon, Sprint, etc.) each time they renovate a data room they pay to throw away lots of top grade batteries. (mostly 24VDC)

dcarch


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## dcarch (Jul 20, 2008)

Jim-mi said:


> ---------I have one customer (shudder) who can't get it thru his head that you can't take 15 gallons of fuel out of a 10 gallon tank. ----------.


I disagree with you. 
I was at a gas station to fill up my 18 gallon tank, his meter say 19 gallons of gas was pumped.

dcarch


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