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Duracell 6V Golf Cart Batteries

My wife works at a golf course that uses electric carts. They get drained and charged 7 days a week and last at least 3 years in hot Florida.

With a lighter draw and easier life, such as in this case, it should last longer. Just top off the water every 2 or 3 months (takes 3 minutes ber battery). If you want to know more about your batteries health you can test them with a hydrometer.

I've used many FLAs and AGM banks over the years on my boats, and FLA's almost always outlasted AGMs...if minimaly cared for. But if your friend will never check the water, go with the AGMs.
 
My concern is if he will do the necessary maintenance. Insuppose I should look at it from the standpoint of " this is what you need to do. If you don't it's on you."
 
My other choice is year old 80 amp hr AGMs (3) at $60 ea.

You have no way of checking how much life is left in those year old batteries, or if the prior owner used the correct charge profiles. If they used an FLA profile, like many people mistakenly do, they may already be toast. So that would make the decision to go with the brand new GF batteries a no brainer.
 
Those are the same batteries I am using in my RV. I have 4 in S/P for 460 AH. They are a great cost effective way to get into solar. As everyone has stated, you must take care of them.

I just purchased 4 100AH Lithium Iron Phosphat. And going to be upgrading everything.
 
I would say that the same dollar might get a heavier duty battery. Crown, Deka, others. Availability matters too.

Lead acid is fine as long as it is sized to do the job when old and cold. On a budget system, especially a donated one, there is not generally room for full monitoring and comms, lithium, agm, pure sine wave, mppt, a webcam on the control displays, or whatever else is on the baddest and best wishlists and exhibited in elaborate, exotic technical builds.

I install pv and offgrid systems for a living and i cannot afford lithium for my off grid system, no matter how much better it may perform. I absolutely know they will last longer for being discharged over long periods and will be able to be charged much faster with my oversize (for my fla and average usage) arrays.

I will continue to install lead acid where appropriate and use the remaining estimated 4 or so years left on this set before transition to a high voltage 300-400v battery system, likely lifepo4 calb or equivalent ala EVTV technology.

Still i have seen plenty of usage reports pointing to cycle life of lithium hardly being as heroic as portrayed when pumped and dumped hard. You are still going to get more cycles and hears of operation with lithium and say 70% or 50% dod use. At least that is where my perception lies.

I have no major experience with lithium aside from power tools and cell phones. All great. But am not finding a client budget allowing them in systems for serious house power or cabin power for that matter.
 
Yes, i know many labels same manufactury, but there are different grades and warranties. 3 years on some crown and deka, interstate etc. Duracells weigh less. And i have installed plenty of them because..... 200$ to 400$ battery budget, no core charge, availability, etc.

The cycles published for our crowns are higher at the same 120$ apiece. 300 cycles or 500?. 500 or 800? For a gc2. Want 1200-1500 cycles?

7 years warranty for a higher range Rolls.....
 
Based on what you all are saying, I should look at some 6v batteries in that same price range and find one's with the highest rated cycle life? Because I am footing the bill for the entire build, I set my battery budget at $250. I have a 250 watt panel and I needcto decide on an inverter for the frig and a charge controller. I need to stay at $500 max for the system.
 
Always shop around. When in doubt and with the same spec or no spec, weight is a good differentiator. Nearly always a battery with the same rating for capacity or cycle life as the next, it is the heavier one i would grab eyes closed, advertisements turned off!

A 5 pound difference in a 220ah battery will cycle differently.

I have to say, its hard to go wrong on a decent golf car battery, best instant bang for the lowest budget dollar to be up and running and in most towns, it is the duracell. Just to clarify.
 
50% dod is utterly useless as lead pretty muchbalways sulfates long before a cell shorts.

To the OP - to use those batteries you need to stay around half the amps used as ypur panels produce in order to fill them up. If 250w - 100ah a day, stick to about 50ah taken out of the bank. Number #1 caveat about lead is underestimating how much charge they need. Ideally you need like 800w to fully use those golf cart batteries.

Ive had 3 sets of those and they all lasted about 1.5-2.5 years with 400w of solar and they were completely ruined by chronic under-charge. I replaced my 3rd set with a used $450 138ah lifepo4. I get as much useable amps for 1/3 the weight, i never need to worry about getting it fully charged, and will last at least 3x longer. OMG is it nice ditching lead!
 
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I fully understand the advantage of lithiums, but again, this is a "scrape the bottom of the barrel" build, so it will be inexpensive (I guess that's a relative term) FLA or AGM batteries. If he gets his act together & gets back on his feet, he can look at litiums on his own.
 
I fully understand the advantage of lithiums, but again, this is a "scrape the bottom of the barrel" build, so it will be inexpensive (I guess that's a relative term) FLA or AGM batteries. If he gets his act together & gets back on his feet, he can look at litiums on his own.

I dont think you do so I will put it more directly...youre not doing this person a favor, you might as well burn their money. 250w is not going to run a fridge and keep lead batteries healthy. It will work until theres dozens of multi-day cloud weeks and a winter season and youre back at square one. Spending a dollar to save a dime.

Might as well just get $50 walmart valuepower starting batteries for the meantime.
 
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Hi folks,

My name is mIke and I've been using/ selling solar power since 1978. Thought I'd make my first post here about lead acid batteries.

First off, the Duracell batteries from Sam's Club are actually Deka batteries made by East Penn battery company. Are they on the same level as the Dekas? I don't know. I'd say they're not. But at $100 a pop, they're a good value.

Before I retired, I used to be a Trojan battery dealer. I always told my customers, "Only the rich can afford cheap batteries." You certainly get what you pay for. Rural King Ohio as a 6 V golf cart battery for $75. It's rated at 185 Amp/hr.

Are the Trojan T-105 or the T-135 a better battery? They use to be. Trojan has really cheapened their product line during the last several years.

Most, not all, but a good hunk of off brand batteries are made by Exide. Rural King Ohio batteries are mostly rebranded Exide. There are exceptions of course.

Rule of thumb is to not discharge them below 50%. So a 220 amp/hr golf cart battery can only be discharged to 110 amp/hrs without damage. This has been stated before on this thread. Can you do a lower dishcarge? Sure, down to 80% if you want, at the price of reduced life cycles.

"Lead-acid batteries rarely die of old age—They are usually murdered."

The biggest mistake beginners make is not getting the battery charged after it has been drained. Sometimes with solar power, it gets dicey because you might have ten days in a row with cloud cover. Hard to get the batteries charged under those conditions.

The sulfate crystals become harder to break down once they begin growing on the plates. After a while, the battery is unable to accept a charge.

How long will a golf cart battery last in a solar system? Depends... I had 16 of the Duracell batteries that lasted 8 years. They were well cared for.

Mike
 
Yep, maintenance is key with LA and not that hard to perform checks without getting acid everywhere like some complain about. I’ve got a pair of Sams club Energizer 6v golf cart batteries running dusk to dawn on 2 outside led 24w yard lights for going on 9 years(on second set of leds after wearing out the first set at about 7 years) 365 days a year. Charged by a 100w mono panel thru a older tracer MPPT. Used down to 60% daily. Living in AZ is a plus for solar. Water checked/added every other week and tested with a good hydrometer still running strong. IF your careful checking it’s a cinch.
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Thats great 2 big old golf cart batteries have lasted 9 years. But when all youre doing is running 2 LED's at night in an area with 360 days of sun thats hardly a testament to anything. Its a whole different thing trying to run your only fridge and/or your entire living situation 24/7 outside the desert southwest where you get weeks to months of overcast.
 
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Thats great 2 big old golf cart batteries have lasted 9 years. But when all youre doing is running 2 LED's at night in an area with 360 days of sun thats hardly a testament to anything. Try running your only fridge and/or your entire living situation 24/7 in most places in the US where its overcast for months on end.

The point to take away from his post is...not every application requires expensive batteries. 9 years out of $200 worth of batteries in the AZ heat is great no matter how you look at it. We still don't know if those blue china LFP cells will last that long under ANY condition...time will tell. Until then, LA's still work fine, just as they've done for over a century.
 
Thats great 2 big old golf cart batteries have lasted 9 years. But when all youre doing is running 2 LED's at night in an area with 360 days of sun thats hardly a testament to anything. Its a whole different thing trying to run your only fridge and/or your entire living situation 24/7 outside the desert southwest where you get weeks to months of overcast.

The point is they have lasted NINE years. Used down to 60% In use every day. ???
Never claimed to be an authority on batteries or solar as some claim ?, I’m just stating my personal experience.

No body’s running a fridge or house hold on two only golf cart batteries geez ? a bank of 8 maybe.

Don’t know who told you AZ gets 360 days a year of sun. We’re at 4200ft elev rainy during AZ monsoon days are common. These batteries also sit inside a garage that gets over 110 degrees during the summer and down to 24 deg in the winter months.
For nine years............ Still test at 12.75 resting volts on a hydrometer.
LA batteries can last years if used, not abused and maintained correctly.
That’s my point, savy? ?

BTW I have two LiFePo battery packs I also use for other power sources. RV and shop.
They are 9 months old..... As @SolarRat said time will tell if they’re still good in nine years if also used properly?
 
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Opps im sorry. Youre right. Arizona doesnt have much sun. And since your 6v's lasted 9 years running nightlights that proves lead is fantastic. And with lithium only being around since 2017 who knows what will come of it. Thankfully the internet is here to set me straight.
 
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