Looking for new batteries
 

Hello,

I am looking for new batteries. I currently have interstate but was wondering if there is a difference between Duracell and die hard batteries or are they all pretty much the same?

Thank you.

Go to Walmart and buy their brand. They last about as long as the other name brands and way cheaper.

There are only several battery mfg. in the country. They make batteries and stick whatever label on them and the quality they are mfg to dictates, to a degree, the price and warranty. Best way to shop for batteries is by the pound for a given group size. If you pick up a Never-Start and compare to an Interstate for the same group size there will be a difference in weight. Interstate is one of the better batteries for the price. Costco has them for a very good price. I you have the room or need for large reserve capacity golf cart batteries can be a good way to go. I get a lot of life out of my batteries in boat and RV by using a charger that has a reconditioning cycle.

Just be aware the Costco interstate batteries are special just for Costco. I bought one for my old boat in the fall at the end of the season right before winter storage....next spring all seemed fine...worked all summer then one day it just puked. I guess i must have left something on in the boat and killed it dead...called Costco and they said just bring it in....life got in the way and i didnt get to them for a few weeks. When i did show up at the store i was a few days past the 1yr mark and they said go pound sand there's nothing they can do. I called Interstate dealer and they could tell from the battery numbers it was a Costco special and they didn't want anything to do with it. I figured since it was toast I'll try and "recondition" it with my old school shumaker batt charger set on 50amp jump start since my "smart charger" wanted nothing to do with it either. Well i got lucky and it brought it back to life and lasted 2 more years before finally selling the boat......but i wont be buying any Costco Marine batts in the future. Walmart on the other hand i never had any problems with....if its inside the warranty they just exchanged it

My wife was able to take back one of my old Costco Interstates 2 years after the warranty expired... having a nice rack must help haha

Maybe the car batteries are different from the marine? not sure...but next time ill my wife in there instead! :D

It was a marine. It's amazing what women can get away with lol!

Stick with interstate. I just replaced 2 batteries in my center console. One was a interstate from 2013 and the other was a advance autocraft brand from 2017. 2 new interstates were $250 so if I had skimped out and gotten cheaper batteries, lets say $100 each from walmart or somewhere else, I would have gotten half the life I got out of my interstate. Its just cheaper to spend a little more now and save it years down the road.

I just picked up 2 new ones from walmart for $94 a piece. They are the same that is currently in the boat and have lasted since 2016 which is way more than I expected. If I have to replace a $94 battery every couple of years so be it.

Thanks everyone for your help. I’ve had both batteries since June 2015 and only one of them is going bad but I will replace both.

Exide, Clarios (which used to be Johnson Controls), and EastPenn (Deka) are about the 3 major companies that make batteries for about everyone.
Obviously there are some smaller deals and whatnot or some straggling behind the scenes manufacturers out there.
Point is they are a damn commodity anymore and those 3 aren't some hack organizations that produce junk or don't know wtf they are doing.
So buy whatever.

Duracell batteries are just Deka with a Duracell sticker.
Walmart's and Diehard are made by Clarios.

I'm partial to AGM myself as they seem to not ooze any acid.
FWIW, I noticed at Sam's the other day these are a damn good price, so if one is near you I'd suggest them if you don't need a deep cycle, just a starting battery.
I've had them in my boat for about past 3 years and gave $200ish each from my local battery house.
That's why I noticed them.
Battery deal

A lot of times parts stores have different price batteries for the same app, the higher price one may have more cranking power but mostly it's just a longer damn warranty.
Price and quality aren't synonymous when dealing with most batteries.

So, Anyone that thinks X brand batteries are better than Z brand batteries because they paid 50 bucks more or whatever.

You better use BP gas in your boats because it fights fuel line freeze up.
"You go or BP pays the tow"

Interstate, used about 6-8 and never had one last less than 10 seasons but I am in the North with a long cool off season..

Thanks for everyone’s help. I’ve tried calling a few places about interstate with no luck since the shops were automotive. I went to Walmart and looked at the 24ms2 and they look identical to the interstate. I’m thinking of trying the Walmart.

I've used the Walmart everstart batteries for years and never had any issues. I used Interstates years ago and never had much luck with them.

I had a fleet of about 100 Fedex trucks that I worked on for years. I personally had terrible luck with Interstate batteries. I started buying Deka batteries from the International dealer that were half the cost of the Interstates and lasted at least twice as long.

Now whether this info carries over to marine starting batteries, I have no idea, but I never had good luck with Interstate batteries in my boats either. They would just make it out of warranty then take a crap.

^^^ it's the way of the modern era, EVERYTHING pretty much takes a crap to a certain extent ( meaning it outright dies or there are costs a out of pocket shortly after to resurrect), once the warranty is up.

Yep, Planned obsolescence.

Interstate must have screwed up when they made the batteries that I have in my boat. I bought them in 2009 !

I maintain them year round, and they always test high.

It will be interesting to see how long these will go.

Guess Im the only one running Optima, they are the only thing that fits my 6 pack mounts, four + yrs and they seem fine but they are on a tender when not in the water.

That's the key for battery longevity. Having them on the charger/tender. Keep mine on 24/7 when not on the water. 4+ years on my batteries also.
I have one Deka 1000cca and one Auto Zone 750 cca. Load test them every January.

I had bad luck with deep cycle Deka group 27 lead acid, even the new replacements.

Switched to Duracell AGM from Sams and even though the boat has been down for repair 26 months with the onboard Noco smart charger they've continued to fire the engines and operate the accessories with key on / engine off without issue. I simply hook up the charger before asking for any power from the batteries, basically a top off.

I've been running Interstate marine batts from Costco. Getting 5-6 years out of them before I replace them. They stay on Battery Tender smart chargers 99% of the time.

Interstates are crap! Its not a battery company but a marketing company. Great at marketing but poor at making quality batteries. I replaced 2 group 31 Dekas with the same rated new interstates on 370 VP diesels. The Interstates would not start the engines without parallel switch. When cranking on single 1000CCA the voltage drop would trigger every alarm on the computer. Interstate would NOT accept a return because they had been installed! I Pulled them out and replaced with DEKAS and problem went away.. Used the NEW green crap batts as cores. Just sayin.... Corp would not help me and they banned me from posting truth on their FB feeds...........YAY

Would have been interesting to have a DC meter around the batt cable to see what current the Interstates were feeding.

Advertised 1000CCA...But clearly not meeting it.

Any battery suggestions for Canada?

Pretty sure our Walmart does not carry the same Battery Brand up here.

Interstates are the best, been buying since 1990, probably a dozen by now, never had one last less than 10 seasons. Battery tenders 99% of the time. I am in Northern NY state tho so long cold storage seasons, helps them last.