Diehard Platinum vs Cheaper Dual Battery Setup (1 Viewer)

[Anthony.L]

Sears has the Platinum Marine batteries on sale right now. I just ordered online one of each size for free in stock pickup. The sale saved me $50 which paid for sales tax, I'm happy.

On my way now to Sears to grab them. Need to call Slee first and get the aux battery tray coming...

EDIT: Wow, make sure you park VERY close to the door at Sears when picking these up! The Group 31M weighs in around 75lbs!

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

Are you using a deep cycle marine group 34 die hard platinum or an automotive group 34? Advantages/disadvantages?

 

[4Peanut]

On my way now to Sears to grab them. Need to call Slee first and get the aux battery tray coming...

EDIT: Wow, make sure you park VERY close to the door at Sears when picking these up! The Group 31M weighs in around 75lbs!

Yikes! What's the weight capacity of Slee's tray?

 

[paflytyer]

I don't think it's the tray you need to worry about, it's the inner fender. The new Slee tray comes with an extra support to help deal with the paper thin inner fender wall. Mine has held up fine so far.
EDIT: I have a Group 34 , not a 31. Not sure of the weight difference, but the 31 weighs more.

 

[RobRed]

Group 31 is enormous compared to group 34. that's the difference.

 

[paflytyer]

Group 31 is enormous compared to group 34. that's the difference.

Yeah, a 31 will never fit in the Slee tray. Not even close.

 

[paflytyer]

The J hooks from Slee's tray wont fit a Sears Platinum Group 34 either. I had to buy longer hooks. I also finished the bare metal bracket with primer and Duplicolor graphite paint for a more finished look. I mounted the bracket upside down and used a Slee decal to give it an even better look. Disregard the wiring job, I've been in the middle of wiring and rewiring for a few weeks now. Two more things to get figured out, then I'll make it look nice. You get the idea though.

 

[Anthony.L]

Where to look locally for the longer J hooks, any ol auto parts store? How much longer approx?

The Slee tray shows up for the Sears Group 34M tomorrow.

 

[RobRed]

Where to look locally for the longer J hooks, any ol auto parts store? How much longer approx?

The Slee tray shows up for the Sears Group 34M tomorrow.

I got my longer hooks at oreilly. I cut mine to size.

 

[paflytyer]

I got my longer hooks at oreilly. I cut mine to size.

^^Same. I didn't need to cut mine though.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Careful you don't get to jiggy with the top of the battery hold down and punch a hole in your hood. Also, that crossbar should be the other way, with the two edges they could start cutting into the plastic depending on how tight you have the battery. With it the other way you have more surface area and no edge.

 

[RobRed]

He knows he has it upside down.

Sent from my iPad 2 using IH8MUD

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I know, I was pointing out a possible problem that may never exist.

 

[mint400]

Don't you need some sort of circuitry to protect the batteries from each other when they're unevenly charged? I know I've read about that here on 'mud, must be true.

I dropped in a much bigger and more widely available size 49 battery, works great, fits with no mods. https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/556173-battery-size-49-will-fit.html

There was another thread going about another big battery, required some mods to hold it, someone made some special trays and hardware at one time.

The 34 platinum fits the main tray well and works well on its own. The stock lc100 99 wiring just fits the "reversed" terminals with no modification. Simple parallel leads to the second battery is both simple and reliable... disconnect for camping; start and reconnect when you leave.


I keep the batteries married and rotate positions once or twice a year so they maintain similar capacity and character to each other over time. Jump start and charge only one in event of a complete discharge.

My friend ripped his isolator out... It never charged the secondary battery properly as the primary was always taking priority charging.

 

[paflytyer]

Simple parallel leads to the second battery is both simple and reliable... disconnect for camping; start and reconnect when you leave.


My friend ripped his isolator out... It never charged the secondary battery properly as the primary was always taking priority charging.

Mine is similar in idea but I used a Cole Hersee isolator. I flip the switch when camping to isolate the aux battery. I mounted it on the wing of the SLEE tray with the fuse block. It's nothing more than an open/close relay. Very simple.

 

[Romer]

The J hooks from Slee's tray wont fit a Sears Platinum Group 34 either. I had to buy longer hooks. I also finished the bare metal bracket with primer and Duplicolor graphite paint for a more finished look. I mounted the bracket upside down and used a Slee decal to give it an even better look. Disregard the wiring job, I've been in the middle of wiring and rewiring for a few weeks now. Two more things to get figured out, then I'll make it look nice. You get the idea though.

Worked for me, but I flipped the bracket

 

[paflytyer]

Worked for me, but I flipped the bracket

They must have used different J hooks then. Mine weren't even close, regardless of which way the bracket was mounted.

 

[RobRed]

They must have used different J hooks then. Mine weren't even close, regardless of which way the bracket was mounted.

Same here.

Sent from my iPad 2 using IH8MUD

 

[highonpottery]

The Costco batteries are a wet cell battery not an AGM battery. The comparison I made was from a performance vs. cost vs. number of batteries vs. warrantee perspective.

For the price of (1) AGM Sears battery you can get (2) Wet Cell Costco batteries with the same performance and a better warrantee (debatable) and half the cost of battery management system. Which was the question the original poster was asking because the Sears Diehard Gold is also a wet cell battery.

I just wanted to comment that some Costco's don't even carry the stock replacement battery for the 100 series. I just went yesterday to buy one after seeing it referenced as a decent wet-cell battery in this and several other threads....well in the little book the 100 series just has slashes through the available options (like book was printed this way, not like someone crossed them out) - so to me this says they don't even carry it at any stores. Not sure what battery you Costco guys are buying.

Anyways, I also weighed the price options and went with the highly rated Duralast Gold from Autozone instead of going to Sears for the Diehard Platinum/35. Duralast was only $105 and the Sears around $225. I'll see about the good battery as a 2nd if I go duals.

Stock Panasonic battery lasted our rig until Saturday night after 3 days of 100* weather. I was told to replace it around 10k ago. So that means my factory battery lasted an amazing 165k/10.5 years!!! Sure wish I had dual batteries the other day though, so I would'nt have been stuck at my sister in-laws house...

 

[RobRed]

Wet cell batteries are just fine for general use. The AGM batteries, like the DH Plat, are preferred because they are sealed thus making them recumbent - no loss of water. AGM plates are tightly packed and rigid making them shock and vibration resistant. This design makes them particularly desirable in an off-road vehicle.