Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 7/26/2014 10:06 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Sat, 26 Jul 2014 21:37:44 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

Diehards have a good reputation but I am not sure how much of that is
based on actual performance or on good marketing.

===

The key word in my recommendation is "Platinum". The Platinum
Diehards are made with Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) technology. AGMs
have a higher charge acceptance rate, superior resistance to deep
cycling damage and low internal resistance (higher cranking amps). I'm
still on my first year with them so stay tuned. So far I'm happy.
Previously I'd been using Exide 8Ds and getting really lousy service
life from them, typically less than 2 years. The 8Ds are real back
breakers so frequent replacement was more than just an issue with
cost.

My inverter bank is going on 5 years now and still performing fairly
well considering how hard the batteries are used. I switched from
Trojan T-105 golf cart batts to the heavy duty T-145s. They cost
more and are a bit heavier but I'm very happy with service life
compared to the T-105s.


Thanks. Didn't know that. The battery I bought today at AutoZone was
their mid-priced "Gold" which is lead/acid. They also sell a
"Platinum" version that turns out is of the AGM type. It was about
$32 more than the Gold version. I didn't bother because Mrs.E. is
getting the itch for a new car and the Platinum would probably end up
being a waste of money.

Side note: One of the few benefits of my experiment in having the
guitar shop was that I met many, many local guitar players, some very
good, some mediocre and some that just give you a headache. The
manager of the local AutoZone store happens to be a very good musician
and has visited the guitar shop many times over the past 5 years. I'd
always gave him a good deal on guitars, amps or accessories and in
return he gives me an employee's discount at his AutoZone store. Got
the battery at a very good price.



Networking is great. Tim helped me out with a backup starter for my
boat. A good friend of mine is a UPS driver so he has a lot of
connections. He found a Racor fuel/water separator for my boat for
under $50. That has the clear bowl so you can see if you have water to
drain from your fuel system. They are about $90 online.