batteries, Sam's club GE?

[bigpoppi]

after getting a 400 amp Alltrax and a 400/1000a solenoid installed with some help from 2g cables, I'm curious in regards to new batteries, I'm in no condition to buy a new charger and throw down for 8v Trojans, so, that being said, would a brand new set of Sam's Club GE 6v cart batteries be sufficient for 3 or 4 seasons or am I just throwing away money??? Current batteries are t-105's 08's...
What, if any benefits, will the GE's bring to the table???

Worse case scenario, my current charger dies and I have to buy another and in 3 years, another but 48v.

[cableguy_hd]

I would have bought Sam's club batteries this March when I needed some new ones.....I picked up a side job and made some extra cash and bought US batteries... They weren't that much more and the dealer was within an hr drive

[Volt_Ampere]

You at least need to compare Amp Hour Ratings when comparing batteries. That is their storage capacity when new. More is better!

[JohnnieB]

V-A hit the nail on the head.

The rating to use is AH (Amp-Hours) at the 20Hr rate.

Here is a list of commonly used 6V Golf Cart batteries. (Sorted by AH @ 20Hr rate and then by brand)

Just find a battery with the same or close to the sa,e AH rating and that is where the Sam's Club GC batteries will stack up against the rest.

Be aware that Sam's Club sells several grades of GC batteries, from super economy (lowest AH) to premium (above average AH)

Buy the highest AH batteries you can afford (at the best price). They will last longer.
(Send the AH and $ to me and I can calculate which is the best bang for the buck over the lifespan.)

[bigpoppi]

Ok Johnnie here goes nothing....

Duracell GC2, $85.00,
•20 amp hour rate:215
•5 amp hour rate:157
•6 amp hour rate:156
•BCI Group Size:GC2
•Minutes at 25 amps:395
•Minutes at 75 amps:105

Duracell EGC2, $110.00,
•20 amp hour rate:230
•5 amp hour rate:174
•6 amp hour rate:178
•BCI Group Size:GC2
•Minutes at 25 amps:448
•Minutes at 75 amps:120

These are the ones at Sam's, but availability is slim, they have a whole pallet of the $85 batteries and am checking for the $110 ones... I understand the bigger the number that better or longer lasting the battery, juice wise, but if you could, explain the 'minutes at' part, it looks like cruising time to me, but what exactly is 25 amps, 75 amps, are we talking part throttle and full throttle??? I rely on the expert response from the numbers guru... Johnnie

[JohnnieB]

This is theoretical, but if you used 67.5AH each day and recharged each night, the GC (215AH costing $85) would last about 5.4 years and the EGC2 (230AH costing $110) would last about 5.8 years, so the annual cost would be $94.17 and $114.52 respectfully.

Therefore the GC (215AH) would be the best bang for the buck dollar-wise.

Performance-wise, there is only 15AH difference, so you probably wouldn't feel any difference.

Run-time will be a little shorter for the GC2 (215AH) battery, but not much, about 8 minutes. Basically, traveling the same distance at the same speed will discharge the GC2 to a slightly lower SoC than the EGC2, so the net effect is shorter battery lifespan rather the noticeably shorter run-time.

Note: 67.5AH is the Amp-hours used when a 225 (standard) battery is discharged to 70% SoC, however the annual cost numbers stay pretty much the same with higher and lower usage.

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The minutes at 25A, 75A and so on is the number of minutes a battery can deliver when discharged at a constant mart at 80°F (27°C) and maintain a voltage above 1.75 V/cell. We don't discharge our batteries anywhere near that low, so the minute ratings are optimistic.

The typical cart draws about 50A-60A while cruising on level ground. Accelerations and hills increase the amp usage, so the 75A rate is the one used for 6V battery comparisons.

Since we don't discharge our batteries below 50% Soc, run-time is roughly half (A lot of variables, so it it very rough) of the minutes @75A. (For a 36V battery pack)

Tall tires, a high amp controller and a heavy foot also increase amp usage.

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There doesn't appear to be all that much difference between the two batteries other than cost, so cost is probably the deciding factor.

My guess is that you will most likely switch to 42V or 48V before you wear out whichever battery you buy.

BTW: Seven GC2 batteries will cost less than six EGC2 batteries, and give you a lot more more run-time as well as better torque & speed.

[Bert18]

The Duracell batteries from Sam's Club are made by Deka. I was able to purchased 6 - 8v batteries from the local Deka dealer for $93 Sam's has them for $99

[bigpoppi]

How are they, what did you have b4? I found that I have a local place that sells Trojans, will be stopping by there to check pricing, and availability. I really want to stick with Trojans, never have been one to skimp on certain thing, tires and brakes, and for the cart, batteries...

[Bert18]

I'm not very good with batteries. I've had Trojans, Energizers and now Deka. I was told Deka is a good quality battery. It's rated for 121 min @ 56 Amps. For what I use my cart it's good enough. This time I'm going to stick to the battery break in and maintenance sticky like the bible. If you don't give your batteries TLC it doesn't matter what you buy.