Trojan T-105

[librty02]

About to take the leap from 1 12V Group 24 to a pair of 6V. Is this a good deal for the Trojan T-105's?

https://shop.pghbatteries.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=35&products_id=5373

This place isn't far from me and I could pick them up anytime I like.

Any other suggestions you may have is appreciated also.

[azrving]

I used four Sams 12 volt rv / marine batteries in series to Power a 48 volt Ray outboard motor. I used an Lester industrial charger which finished at 61 volts on every charge. I bought them in 2008 and one failed in 2009 under warr then I replaced one in 2016 and 2017. I sold it last summer with 2008, 2009, 2016, 2017 batteries and they served the new owner all summer. These had also been run down very low a few times when visitors left an inverter on. They were never low on electrolyte.
More batteries die of under charging vs over charging

[lawrosa]

Trojan will probably give you more cycles... But is it worth the cost?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO4N_V4Azvc

[librty02]

Sounds like I am going to stick with the Sams club GC2's then....you hear so much about how the trojans are superior but in reality I guess they are not. :C

[lawrosa]

charging algorithum on the sams will not be perfect with the charge wizard..

https://www.eastpennmanufacturing.com/wp-content/uploads/Renewable-Energy-Charging-Parameters-1913.p...

[Gjac]

I have had Trojans and now Sam's club. Trojans will not last twice as long as Sam's Club which is 1/2 the cost. How you maintain the batteries will determine has long they last. When my Sam's Club batteries finally fail I will by another set.

[Gdetrailer]

DFord wrote:
The best price I've found have been through golf cart sales and maintenance shops. There's a Continental Battery Distributor near me that's will to sell Trojan's at a very good price. Look around.

Around my area, golf cart sales/parts shops are the last place to buy GC batts.

well over 10 yrs ago, I checked with several major Golf cart sales shops for 6V GC batts, I could easily buy FOUR Sams club 6V GC2 batteries for the price of ONE 6V Trojans!

I got NINE years of service out of one pair or Sam's GC2 batteries, just recently replaced the Sam's with another set of Sam's due to SLIGHTLY less capacity. Could have squeezed a couple of more yrs out of the first set.

I depend on that pair of GC2s to power my home fridge conversion while traveling and overnighting without power so I refreshed my batteries.

You are not buying "superior" batteries with Trojans, Rolls, Crown, you are merely paying a much higher price for the name brand and dealer network plus longer warranty..

Go ahead and spend the extra coin if it makes you feel warm and fuzzy, for me, I find other better things to spend the money I saved by getting the Sam's batteries..

You are camping and relaxing, not running fork lifts or golf carts for 8hr shifts totally discharging to near zero then pounding the heck out them trying to instant recharge them for the next shift..

[BFL13]

"Looks like the Bestconverter.com boondocker is also adjustable to 16.5v. I'll bet it's the same converter just rebranded.
Link "

That is correct. PMX is the supplier.

[DFord]

The best price I've found have been through golf cart sales and maintenance shops. There's a Continental Battery Distributor near me that's will to sell Trojan's at a very good price. Look around.

[philh]

I went with the progressive dynamics Wildkat unit. Not quite 14.8, but does get to 14.4

[azrving]

Crown is another big source in the industrial side. We had fleets of crown forklift and pallet truck batteries and sometimes even the GC2. A lot of the crown GC were in manlifts. A lot of the personnel and burdened carriers were Trojan. Our Trojans batteries were beat on daily. We ran three shifts and would have to go out on equipment service calls and have to stop at places in the factory to plug in because the batteries were stone dead. We’d get enough charge to make it to the next plug. No you cant run gassers in the buildings. We had an odd gas or diesel but they didn’t live indoors.

[opnspaces]

BFL13 wrote:

theoldwizard1 wrote:

azrving wrote:
I’ve also had good luck with Sams (Duracell by East Penn) GC2 but while working in industry Trojan was all we ran. They suggest a daily charge of 14.8 volts. Do you have the ability to do 14.8 and equalize if needed?

This is an issue ! Trojan charging characteristics are just a little higher than everyone else in the industry. It is difficult to find a charger that meets the Trojan recommendations.

PowerMax LK model converters all have an adjustable voltage mode that goes from 13-16.5v. They are easy to find and cost less than many other converters. That 16.5 lets you do Trojan 16.2 Equalize too.

The older "plain" models do not have this feature, so watch out you get a PM-3LK and not a plain PM3. eg this 60 amper is an LK

https://www.boatandrvaccessories.com/products/powermax-pm3-60lk-12-volts-60-amp-power-converter-batt...

Looks like the Bestconverter.com boondocker is also adjustable to 16.5v. I'll bet it's the same converter just rebranded.
Link

[BFL13]

librty02 wrote:
I planned on going with this as it's a direct replacement of my wfco 8955

https://powermaxconverters.com/product/pm3-mba/

That PMX lower portion when installed makes the adjustable voltage inaccessible, so IMO it is not a good idea. For about the same money you can get the deck mount, which can be installed anywhere, especially closer to the battery bank than your OEM converter is, which will make for better battery charging on shorter wires so less voltage drop.

Doing that, you can leave the WFCO in place, no work to do.

EDIT--you can also put the deck mount under where the lower portion went instead of using an MBA. You can orient it so you can get at the two holes in the side of the LK to operate it.

Or you can replace the whole power centre with the PMX one. The converter in it is a little different from the deck mount LK in that the three-stage mode automatic side, has two hours in boost instead of 1/2 hour. That might be enough so you can use that mode and not have to use the adjustable mode except for special jobs like equalizing. No big deal to use the adjustable though. It does need you to get at it with a small screwdriver and a flashlight and have a voltmeter to read off while you twiddle the pot in the hole.

[librty02]

I planned on going with this as it's a direct replacement of my wfco 8955

https://powermaxconverters.com/product/pm3-mba/

[BFL13]

theoldwizard1 wrote:

azrving wrote:
I’ve also had good luck with Sams (Duracell by East Penn) GC2 but while working in industry Trojan was all we ran. They suggest a daily charge of 14.8 volts. Do you have the ability to do 14.8 and equalize if needed?

This is an issue ! Trojan charging characteristics are just a little higher than everyone else in the industry. It is difficult to find a charger that meets the Trojan recommendations.

PowerMax LK model converters all have an adjustable voltage mode that goes from 13-16.5v. They are easy to find and cost less than many other converters. That 16.5 lets you do Trojan 16.2 Equalize too.

The older "plain" models do not have this feature, so watch out you get a PM-3LK and not a plain PM3. eg this 60 amper is an LK

https://www.boatandrvaccessories.com/products/powermax-pm3-60lk-12-volts-60-amp-power-converter-batt...