dealer is giving me free interstate batteries...should i take the batt's or the cash?

[Bocephus]

part of the deal i made on my new wolfpack is i wanted two new batteries. the dealer wants to give me two 12v deep cycle interstates. should i take those batteries and run, or take the cash and get something else?

the specs of the batt's are listed on this page. it is the very first battery on the list Interstate Batteries

[M109Rrider]

You wanted new batteries, why would you not take them?

[tmh462]

What's wrong with the new batteries? Did the dealer get them from a guy in a trench coat on the street corner?

[KyDan]

If you want absolutely the maximum storage capacity then
ask him to upgrade to 6v golf cart batteries.
If you're happy with just average or decent power then
I'd take what he's got.

I've got 2 plain old 12v marine crank/deep cycle from
Sams. They work fine for me. If we're careful we have
gone as much as 6-7 days in summer using the fantastic
fan for a few hours at nite and even a little TV. We have
swapped out our over the table 2 bulb light for a thin lite
florescent that uses less than the power of a single bulb.
We also put LED bulb in the bathroom and one over the
couch as a "nite lite" when we're boondocking.

My 2¢

Happy Camping!

[Herk7769]

The ones you want are two of the LAST ones on that list.

NEVER buy a house battery that lists CCA or RCA numbers. They are STARTING batteries and not very good for camping at worst or "Dual Purpose" batteries that SUCK at both jobs.

Those 230AH 6 volt jobs are where you want to be.

[SaskCampers]

Well you can go for free and see how well they work for you. Or see what he will give you $$ wise off the price and go get a set of Trojan SC225 12v purpose built deep cycle batteries. Be fore warned the Trojan's are not cheap though.

[BigDTx]

I can tell you that interstate Batteries are extemely well made and not cheap!
I would take them, are they also throwing in battery boxes and a battery cut off switch? grab them and run to the exit!

[dimurrrw]

First, I have found Interstate Batteries to be of good quality.
Secondly, match your batteries to your needs. The six volt option is good for extended boondocking. Twelve volt is fine if you are going to be hooked up at a campground, because you won't be using much battery power anyway.

[Herk7769]

I recommended the 6 volt batteries because they were the only "true" Deep Discharge batteries listed. Everything else was either Dual Purpose or straight car batteries.

[jmacintyre]

I had Interstate's in our 5er for seven years with not problems. I kept them up by checking fluid level on a 3 month basis, did a pull down load test annually and had excelent service. It all depends on how you plan to use them. Occasional or heavy. If occasional get em!!

[tmh462]

Originally Posted by herk7769

NEVER buy a house battery that lists CCA or RCA numbers. They are STARTING batteries and not very good for camping at worst or "Dual Purpose" batteries that SUCK at both jobs.

Just an FYI, somewhere along the line the Feds made it a rule that virtually all batteries had to list CCA for comparison. RCA is a good number to know, it lets you know how long a battery will last under a predetermined load. Ah (amp hours) is a better gauge, but most batteries don't show that.

[Herk7769]

A quick look at several battery web sites leads me to believe that only their "Dual Purpose" Marine and RV batteries list CCA. They have plates thin enough to supply cranking amps suitable for starting the boat or truck engine, but thick enough to have "some" staying power to run 12 appliances in the boat or camper.

Deep Cycle Only batteries list AH numbers and do not list CCA since by design they have very thick plates and can not provide the hundreds of amps needed to spin an internal combustion engine in a few minutes.

Dual Purpose batteries typically have DP in their model number and DC for Deep Cycle, but there is no agreed upon convention that makes that universal.
Trojan is a good example of one that does not list that way.

Could you link that Fed requirement? I tried to look for it and was not successful.

[Bocephus]

thanks for the opinions guys. i have yet to make it back to the dealer yet because it is about 90 miles away. im still not sure what to do about the batteries.

i do plan on using the batteries fairly heavy. about 50% of my camping is primitive, and i also have a lot of "accessories" i run. the main accessory being my "jukebox" which consists of an aftermarket head unit, 850 watt amp, 400 watt amp, and of course a half dozen speakers. i dont run this for hours and hours every day, but if we are out in the boonies camping with friends....im young and like to party to some good sounding tunes .

i had two 12v deep cycle john deere batteries in my last camper (iv heard exide makes them), and they worked just fine most of the time.

my ideal setup would be 2 batteries i can dedicate to my accessories (stereo, power inverter, etc...) and then a 3rd for my primary battery. i would utilize a battery isolator so all 3 batteries would charge off the converter, but two would be isolated. that way i would not run my primary dead when i leave the jukebox playing until 4am lol.

i am just kind of dreaming here....im not sure how hard it is to utilize an isolator. nor am i sure i want to buy 3 batteries. i have the room for them in the stock battery area in my rig, i would just obviously have to make some more cables and what not...