COACH BATTERIES

[hippieforever3]

OK, first my bonafides.

I have an electrical engineering degree and worked in quality and
reliability in electronics over 30 years. While I'm not the world's
foremost expert in wet storage batteries. I have had some experience
with the quality and reliability of "backup" electrical sources.

ALL known types of rechargeable electrical storage devices (batteries
included) have "memory". The ability for the battery to absorb, store
and discharge energy is related to how much energy was stored and
discharged in recent cycles. It's very much like flexibility in
humans, if you don't slightly over stress your joints occasionally
over time you lose flexibility. You can reduce failure and extend
useful life by totally (over) depleting the battery bank once a month
or more. A perfect way to do this in an RV type application is to run
the air-conditioner until the batteries were clearly struggling then
turm on incandescent lights and leave them on for 6-12 hour AFTER you
can't see the filament glowing. Switch off all loads and use a good
REGULATED low charge rate charger, not the alternator and regulator.
Actually a trickle charger would be perfect.

Now this is not a very practical routine but the closer you could
come to the deep, deep discharge and slow full, full charge the
longer your batteries would last.

In the most basic lead storage battery, the more lead the more
overall storage capacity so in a crude sense the heavier the battery
the more ampere-hours, unless the weight is in the case not the lead.
While shear lead volume determines capacity from the standpoint of
physics, performance is determined by configuration. The thinner the
lead plates are the faster they will charge or discharge (cranking
power). The thinner the plates are the more the battery might be
prone to failure from environmental factors like temperature and
vibration. Here is the dilemma preventing you from picking the best
battery using a scale.

One really good indicator of battery quality is the case and
terminals. Is the case a heavy thick walled rubber compound or is it
a nice thin walled high performance polymer? At the factory the cost
differential is at most $2. What they are charging retail is some
indicator of value. If you can see the plate structure, what does the
workmanship look like? Check the materials of the terminals and the
seals. On almost all batteries the top is a separate piece. Check the
joint construction and workmanship. ANY inconsistency or voids is a
sign of lower quality craftsmanship. Check a couple of different
sizes and cases from the same manufacturer.

There is absolutely no inherent reason why 6 volt golf cart batteries
should be more capable of better handling numerous charge and
discharge cycles than 12 volt batteries although the design of any
battery will impact that and it may be a valid argument that
batteries specifically designed for full charge / discharge
applications will last longer. There are however 12 volt batteries
designed for these same cycles and the extra connections in a 6 volt
system negatively impact reliability and efficiency.

As a general rule you should get better performance and life from
sealed batteries. Typically they will be newer designs, often made on
more modern production lines and there is far less chance that the
electrolyte will become (even slightly) contaminated or non-optimal.

Price vs. performance vs. reliability.
Two $75 55ah 12 volt batteries will be more reliable than one $150
100ah battery but take up twice the space. You can limp in on one of
the $75 cheapies and with proper care ONE of them will last longer
than the $150 battery. Will four $37.50 six volt batteries outperform
either of the other options ... Nope, if one of those four fail,
you're walking.

If you're looking at spending $500 or more on batteries, in a none
emergency replacement, it might be worthwhile to contact the
manufacturer and get the detail specs and reliability data on the
models you are considering.

Happy to help if you have questions.

Regards,
GPSGary