New Crown batteries badly sulfated

[inetdog]

You are correct. It's $25 on the bigger L16 sizes. http://deepcyclebatterystore.com/l-16-battery/

I wonder how that number compares to the salvage price of just the lead in them?

[Willy T]

I don't know how often this changes.

Miscellaneous Lead, $0.21/LB

Plastic Cased Lead Acid Batteries, $0.17/LB - $.024/lb bigger the battery, bigger price

Steel Cased Lead Acid Batteries, $0.17/LB

Wheel Weights, $0.34/LB

So a 125 lb, L-16 would be about $30 in lead value. I took in a bunch of d-8's and got $.22 last time.

[lkruper]

You are correct. It's $25 on the bigger L16 sizes. http://deepcyclebatterystore.com/l-16-battery/

I stopped by a tiny battery shop on the way home from work a few weeks ago to see what they had. They owner seemed to know his stuff. He had 4 new Interstate 6v 232H batteries and an assortment of used batteries. Those batteries were $118 each. After talking to me for about a minute he figured I had done my research and said he would bring the price down. He also offered to wave the core charge. He was going to quote me on the L16 Trojans so I know he would also order. I am wondering what kind of markup there is on batteries at this small retail level and how much room there is to bargain. If I could get Trojan T105-REs from him for $125 I would certainly get them over Costco batteries.

[hammick]

I stopped by a tiny battery shop on the way home from work a few weeks ago to see what they had. They owner seemed to know his stuff. He had 4 new Interstate 6v 232H batteries and an assortment of used batteries. Those batteries were $118 each. After talking to me for about a minute he figured I had done my research and said he would bring the price down. He also offered to wave the core charge. He was going to quote me on the L16 Trojans so I know he would also order. I am wondering what kind of markup there is on batteries at this small retail level and how much room there is to bargain. If I could get Trojan T105-REs from him for $125 I would certainly get them over Costco batteries.

If you get lucky and find a Sams Club or Costco with the 232ah Interstates I believe they are $123 each. Do the math and the better deal is the 208ah Interstate.

[lkruper]

If you get lucky and find a Sams Club or Costco with the 232ah Interstates I believe they are $123 each. Do the math and the better deal is the 208ah Interstate.

Yes, did that math. And I emailed Interstate and they said that the Costco brand also had the same cycle life as the Interstate 232 ... 1220 cycles at 50%. I also think it would be much easier returning a battery to Costco for performance/warranty related issues that anywhere else.

[hammick]

Yes, did that math. And I emailed Interstate and they said that the Costco brand also had the same cycle life as the Interstate 232 ... 1220 cycles at 50%. I also think it would be much easier returning a battery to Costco for performance/warranty related issues that anywhere else.

See post no. 14 in this thread for info on the Costco and Sams battery all being Interstate. Sams 232ah is $112

http://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f208/6v-battery-install-78149-2.html

[lkruper]

See post no. 14 in this thread for info on the Costco and Sams battery all being Interstate. Sams 232ah is $112

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...l-78149-2.html

Thanks. The price of the 232 ah would need to be $94 to match the Costco price of 83.99 for the 207 ah ... if my math is correct.

[hammick]

Thanks. The price of the 232 ah would need to be $94 to match the Costco price of 83.99 for the 207 ah ... if my math is correct.

IMHO if the extra 24ah is critical spend the extra money.

[hammick]

OP here. Happy to report the Crown's have been returned and I special ordered eight of the Trojan L16RE-As

The 325ah Crown RE battery was $78 more than the Trojan. The Crown's come with water miser caps and have the watering eye but not worth $78 more each. Both have a two year replacement warranty followed by three year prorated for Trojan and two year prorated for Crown.

I can't say enough good things about Electrolife battery in Kansas City and surrounding areas. They have a five day return policy on batteries (excluding special order).

Thanks to everyone for all their advice. Trying to desulphate the two worst of these Crown's was a good learning experience. Letting them go for hours on end at 10a did remove some of the sulfate and the SG came up to 1.270 (same as the good ones). I fully expect they will put them on their industrial charger for a few days and they will be fine but who knows.

I like knowing I will have fresh batteries and it will be completely up to me whether they sulfate.

[lkruper]

OP here. Happy to report the Crown's have been returned and I special ordered eight of the Trojan L16RE-As

The 325ah Crown RE battery was $78 more than the Trojan. The Crown's come with water miser caps and have the watering eye but not worth $78 more each. Both have a two year replacement warranty followed by three year prorated for Trojan and two year prorated for Crown.

I can't say enough good things about Electrolife battery in Kansas City and surrounding areas. They have a five day return policy on batteries (excluding special order).

Thanks to everyone for all their advice. Trying to desulphate the two worst of these Crown's was a good learning experience. Letting them go for hours on end at 10a did remove some of the sulfate and the SG came up to 1.270 (same as the good ones). I fully expect they will put them on their industrial charger for a few days and they will be fine but who knows.

I like knowing I will have fresh batteries and it will be completely up to me whether they sulfate.

Will they be selling those batteries as used?

[hammick]

Will they be selling those batteries as used?

I don't know. I'm sure they will end up in different floor scrubber machines at some point.

I wouldn't be happy if I bought them and then found out somebody had owned them for five days. However, they are in better condition now than when I bought them.

[Sunking]

I don't know. I'm sure they will end up in different floor scrubber machines at some point.

I wouldn't be happy if I bought them and then found out somebody had owned them for five days. However, they are in better condition now than when I bought them.

Hammick I know you think I was beating up on you, I was not. I was trying to wake you up and glad you got your issue resolved. I think now if you look back you would likely agree I was right about your dealer. Smart money says he will sell those batteries as new again. Only question is how many peole he sold them to before you came around?

Look at the term post on those Trojans batteries. They do not use label, they stamp the date codes on the Term Post. On the Positive post is the Born Date Code or the day they were mechanically constructed. On the Negative post is the Activation Date Code and date they shipped them from the factory to dealer/customer. It would be very difficult for the dealer to tamper or change those date codes, and if they tried very easy to spot as they would have to file them off to re-stamp them.

Being lazy today so I copy and pasted the code from Trojan for you. Now go look at the negative term post

LETTER stands for the month and could be anything from A to L (A=January, B=February, C=March, and so on),; NUMBER stands for the date.

Negative Terminal- Shipping Date. This code indicates the month and year when the battery was shipped out of our factory. LETTER stands for the month (see below); NUMBER is the last digit of the year.

Example: A battery with "I26" stamped on the positive terminal and "J2" on the negative. "I26" means that the battery was assembled, without electrolyte, on September 26th. "J2" means that it was shipped from our factory around October of 2002.

Hope you find that useful.

Good Luck to you.

SK